![\"\"](\"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/malaysia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2020\/01\/de-rosssi-pc.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWorld Cup winner Daniele De Rossi has decided to retire after 18 years playing professional football.<\/p>\n
The 36-year-old Italian only joined Boca Juniors on a free transfer last summer after leaving Roma but he only manage to make six appearances as he cancelled his original contract in order to return to Italy.<\/p>\n
“No one in my family has health problems. I want to clarify that for the things that were said on social media,” De Rossi said at news conference.<\/p>\n
“I just need to be with my daughter, my family. That’s the only thing, I think it’s a valid reason at this age. I’m 36 years old and I think that, maybe at 25, it would have been different.<\/p>\n
“I had no problem with the executives or with Boca vice president Juan Roman Riquelme or with anyone. They treated me with love; they understood my decision.<\/p>\n
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“When I informed them, they asked me to take a couple of days to think about it, but I had already made the decision.<\/p>\n
“Not only did I say goodbye to a club that entered my heart, I said goodbye to a sport that was my job, my passion. It was something that was going to happen soon, not something that was going to happen in 10 years.”<\/p>\n
Despite joining Boca for only few months, he was grateful with the time he spent with the club and hopes more European players plying their trade in South America.<\/p>\n
“Boca means a lot to me. I won’t forget the players, the people I’ve met here. They welcomed me as a brother, and I won’t forget it.<\/p>\n
“I find it hard to leave without having left something on the pitch, something important, mainly due to injuries. I hope I’ve opened up a new address for European players.”<\/p>\n
De Rossi made 616 appearances for Roma and 117 caps for Italy, winning the World Cup in 2006.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/malaysia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2020\/01\/de-rossi-italy.jpg\")
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He now plans to become a coach.<\/p>\n
“My desire is to be a coach,” he said. “Now, I will have a few months of holidays, but I always enjoy being close to football.<\/p>\n
“I’ll certainly contact a few coaches, travel, meet them, ask them about it. If I don’t become a coach, I’ll be an executive. I’ll certainly do something related to football.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/malaysia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2020\/01\/de-rossi-roma.jpg\")
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“I didn’t make the decision from one day to the next. I started thinking about it in October or November. I couldn’t sleep.<\/p>\n
“It’s not easy to leave football. Many times, I thought of carrying on playing, in this wonderful place, with great team-mates who then became friends, but the decision was made.<\/p>\n
“I played for two teams I really love. All that will stay in my memory and my heart. The life of a footballer ends, that’s how it is.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"