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BREAKING: Dirk Kuyt Retires From Football Days After Famous Hat-Trick

BREAKING: Dirk Kuyt Retires From Football Days After Famous Hat-Trick

Cult hero status well and truly earned.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

Just days after scoring the hat-trick that secured Feyenoord's Eredivisie title former Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt has retired from football aged 36.

It's not very often that footballer's, or sportsmen and women in any sport, get to choose to go out at the top but that's exactly what Kuyt has managed to do after an incredible hat-trick at the weekend.

What an incredible way to bow out of football. Image: PA

Feyenoord were the second club side of his senior career, moving there from Utrecht in 2003, before moving on to Liverpool where he gained cult hero status for his happy knack of scoring important goals, and his incredible work rate.

At Anfield he only won the League Cup but was still very popular for the Reds, especially because of his hat-trick against rivals Manchester United, one of only four players to score a hat-trick against them in the Premier League.

Kuyt, David Bentley, Romelu Lukaku and Samuel Eto'o are the only men to have scored Premier League hat-tricks against United. Image: PA

After a stint at Fenerbahce the Dutchman returned home to Feyenoord last season. In his first year back at the club he helped them win the KNVB Cup but it was this season where he had his greatest contribution.

The 36 year old scored 12 goals in the league all season and his hat-trick against Heracles on the last day of the season gave Giovanni van Bronckhorst's team a 3-1 win and their first league title since 1999!

Kuyt won the Dutch Player of the Year award in 2006 and twice was part of Netherland squads that finished in the top three in the World Cup, runners up in 2010 and third place in 2014.

His record for Feyenoord though is where he really shone. The club legend scored 102 goals in 164 Eredivisie games for the Rotterdam club and finished his career as the club's third highest ever goal scorer.

He might not have been the flashiest of players but he was certainly an effective one.

Happy retirement Dirk!

Featured Image Credit: