Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has announced his retirement from football at the age of 39.
The Denmark international has been sidelined with a serious shoulder injury since February, despite playing on for almost a year since initially sustaining the blow against Portugal for his national team.
Now, after going under the knife, the veteran has decided to hang up his boots. "When my contract with Celtic expires in June, I will be bringing my playing career to an end," he told Danish media, "This is a decision that has been made for me.
"I have consulted with various surgeons and experts regarding my shoulder, and they have told me that I should not expect to return to playing top-flight football.
"I have given it a great deal of thought, but I believe that now is the right time."
On the injury that has ended his career, Schmeichel continued, "I didn’t realise how bad it was back in March. It’s been a long process. When I landed on it in February, I could tell straight away that something was seriously wrong.
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"I’ve been travelling around getting assessments and looking into what can be done and what the options are. The message here has been that there isn’t much that can be done, and the conversation has instead been about what kind of life I want to live afterwards.
"Will I be able to lift my children? Will I be able to go out and lead an active life? The dream and the hope was that I would return to playing football again, that I would have surgery and be able to fight my way back, but I also want to be able to perform at a certain level, and the assessment was that this would be very difficult.
"I suppose everyone dreams of saying goodbye on the pitch, but you don’t always get what you want. I’ve gained so much else along the way, so football doesn’t owe me anything. I’ve had so many opportunities and experiences in my career.
"So many memories."
Reflecting on his career, Schmeichel added, "What stands out most clearly are the friendships and connections I’ve made. The moments I’ve shared with them, through thick and thin.
"I would have loved just one more match, but unfortunately that wasn’t to be."
