He couldn't hold back his tears.
Hailed by all his Salernitana teammates this Saturday before the meeting against La Spezia on the 11th day of Serie A, Franck Ribéry gave a glimpse of his emotion when receiving this warm welcome.
The former Bayern Munich or OM player announced on Friday the end of his career at the age of 39.
In the columns of the
Gazzetta dello Sport
, the now ex-player of the France team announced his desire to graduate and train.
The former star of the France team and Bayern Munich, forced to hang up due to recurring knee pain, made a lap of honor before the match against La Spezia, applauded by standing tifosi, before embrace all its partners.
For this farewell to the field, on which he has not played since August because of his pain, "
FR7
" had put on his player's outfit, with the Salernitana jersey N.7.
During this lap of honor, he could not hold back a few tears even if he will stay at the Campania club, in the technical coaching alongside coach Davide Nicola.
He does not intend to say goodbye to the world of football
Read alsoFoot: new retiree, Franck Ribery confirms his desire to train
“
In the future, I would like to be a coach.
I like being on the pitch and being close to the team
,” Ribéry explained in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport on Saturday.
“
I told my teammates that the hardest thing for me was not hanging up but not being able to help them every day.
I will continue to do so, in a city where football is lived as I like it: with passion
,” he added.
"
Today, one of the greatest champions of the last twenty years bids farewell, a legend of football
," said Salernitana president Danilo Iervolino, on the microphone of the broadcaster DAZN.
“
We were honored to have him as a player and we still are.
“, he welcomed.
Ribéry has officially put an end to more than two decades of career as a professional player, spent by many clubs in France at the start of his career (Boulogne, Alès, Brest, Metz, Marseille), in Turkey (Galatasaray), but especially in Germany (Bayern Munich) and Italy (Fiorentina, Salernitana).
He also wore the jersey of the France team 81 times, with whom he notably reached the World Cup final in 2006.