Andrea Pirlo Announces His Retirement From Professional Football

"The time has come." Andrea Pirlo, one of the greatest of all time, has announced that he will retire in 2017.

715 games, 116 Italy caps and 18 trophies later, the former Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan midfielder has come a long way since making his Serie A debut for Brescia against Reggiana in May, 1996, but his playing days are almost over.

In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Pirlo admitted that "the time has come" - he will retire when the MLS season finishes in December:

"You realise that the time has come. Every day you have physical problems, you cannot train as you want because you always have some problem.

"At my age, that's enough. It's not that you can go on forever until the age of 50. I'll do something else.

"At 38, it's just right to give young players room. I'm not angry. Instead, I will give a hand to team-mates and to the coach."

Andrea Pirlo

From Champions League trophies to World Cup glory in 2006, Andrea Pirlo will go down in history as one of the very best.

The six-time Serie A and two-time Champions League winner's game, particular as he's got older, has always been to run the game from deep and let the ball do the work.

Pirlo is widely viewed as one of the most technically gifted players ever to play the game, as he makes everything look easy and effortless. He really is the epitome of cool, calm and collected.

Thank you Andrea, for all the memories.

Here's how social media reacted to his retirement:

Don't go, Andrea.

Football just won't be the same without you.

Topics: Juventus, Milan, Italy

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

@jackkenmare_