“I will always be faithful to football”: Schweinsteiger announced his retirement

“I look forward to new challenges in life”

The news of the completion of a career by Bastian Schweinsteiger, perhaps, did not come as a big surprise for the fans. A week ago, the German Chicago Fire team lost their last chance of reaching the MLS playoffs after a draw with Toronto, and the player said that this match could be his last.

As a result, Bastian entered the field again, in a duel of the final round of the regular season, in which Chicago defeated Orlando City - 5: 2, and Schweinsteiger spent all 90 minutes on the field. And after that, the world champion officially announced his retirement.

“Dear fans, it's time to announce that I am ending my sports career at the end of the season. Thanks to all my teams, namely Bayern, Manchester United, Chicago Fire and the German national team - you made my career incredible! Of course, I thank my family for their support. I am sad to say goodbye to the player’s career, but I look forward to new challenges in life. I will always be faithful to football. The time devoted to this sport will forever remain in my heart! Your Basti, ”the athlete wrote on Instagram.

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Liebe Fans, nun ist die Zeit gekommen: ich werde meine aktive Karriere zum Ende dieser Saison beenden. Ich danke Euch und meinen Mannschaften @fcbayern, @manchesterunited, @chicagofire und @dfb_team - Ihr habt mir diese für mich so unglaubliche Zeit ermöglicht! Und natürlich danke ich meiner Frau @anaivanovic und meiner Familie für ihre Unterstützung. Mein Abschied als aktiver Spieler stimmt mich ein bisschen wehmütig, aber freue mich auch auf die spannenden Aufgaben, die mich bald erwarten. Dem Fußball werde ich treu bleiben. 1000 Dank für die gemeinsame Zeit, ich werde Euch immer im Herzen tragen! Euer Basti. Dear Fans, the time has now come, and I will be finishing my active career at the end of this season. I would like to thank both, you and my teams @fcbayern, @manchesterunited, @chicagofire and @dfb_team. You made this unbelievable time possible for me! And of course, I would also like to thank my wife @anaivanovic and my family for their support. Saying goodbye as an active player makes me feel a little nostalgic, but I am also looking forward to the exciting challenges that await me soon. I will remain faithful to football. Many, many thanks for the time we spent together, I will always have a place for you in my heart! Yours, Basti.

Posted by Bastian Schweinsteiger (@bastianschweinsteiger) Oct 8, 2019 at 7:00 PDT

The former captain of the German national team will definitely not have problems with further employment. No sooner had the football player announced his retirement, the chairman of the board of the native for Schweinsteiger “Bavaria” Karl-Heinz Rumenigge announced that he would be glad to see Bastian in the club. They are waiting for the midfielder in the Bundestim. Head coach of the national team Joachim Loew noted that he was ready to appoint Schweinsteiger to one of the posts in the national team.

“Basti is one of the best football players in German history, we always have a place for him if he wants to,” said Leuv, quoted by Bayern & Germany on Twitter.

And the former partners of Schweinsteiger could only wish him good luck. One of the first to do this was Philip Lam, with whom Bastian played 445 matches for both tournaments.

“Now it's your turn. Dear Basti, playing with you side by side has always been something special, in the youth team, in the final of the Champions League with Bayern or in 2014 at the World Cup with the national team. I wish you and your family all the best for the future! ”Lam wrote on Twitter.

The defender of Lokomotiv Benedikt Höwedes also joined in what was said. Together with Bastian, he became world champion in 2014.

The legend of German football

Schweinsteiger has become a landmark character not only for Bavaria, but for all German football. During his career, he won a huge number of trophies and became the most titled player in the country (8 Bundesliga gold medals, 7 victories in the German Cup). For the national team, he spent 121 matches (the fourth figure in history) and became the world champion, and also played in the final of the European Championship.

But in childhood, little Bastian could not even dream of such a thing. He just wanted to keep up with Tobias’s older brother. As a result, he only played in the lower leagues and began his career as a coach, and Bastian achieved incredible success. Schweinsteiger Jr. began to play football in his native Colbermore, who in addition to Bastian gave the country one of the best defenders in the history of German football, Paul Breitner.

At the age of 14, Schweinsteiger entered the Bavarian school. And already in 2002, Schweinsteiger made his debut for the main team of Munich. A young 18-year-old midfielder was thrown into battle at the end of the Champions League match with Lance - 3: 3. Surprisingly, on the same day, Lam first played in Champions League.

Gradually, the talented midfielder began to be more and more actively pulled to the base. Starting from the 2004/2005 season, he already regularly entered the field. The midfielder had to return to the youth team for a short time only with the arrival of Felix Magat on the coaching bridge.

In the early years, Schweinsteiger played mainly at the edges of midfield, but really blossomed in the center of the field, where Louis van Gal put him. And perhaps the best season in Bastian’s career was the 2012/13 season. Then Bayern scored a golden hat-trick, including winning the Champions League. For Schweini, this success was especially important, because a year earlier he had not scored a penalty shoot-out in the final of the main European Cup with Chelsea.

And in 2014, the midfielder probably achieved his main victory - he became the world champion. He also has two bronze medals, a silver medal of Euro 2008 and two bronze medals of the championship of the continent.

At the club level, Schweinsteiger was always devoted to Bayern and did not leave it even in 2010, when he was interested in Chelsea and Juventus. At that time, the captain of the team extended the contract with the club for six years, and announced this publicly, taking the microphone from the announcer immediately after the match with St. Pauli.

As a result, the agreement with Bastian, which became his native club, did not work out to the end. In 2015, he decided to take on a new challenge and went to Manchester United. But Schweinsteiger did not succeed there. Jose Mourinho did not trust the veteran and even sent him to the youth squad, and in 2017 the German left for the USA. A year later, Bastian returned to the Alliance Arena to hold a farewell match for the team. He was also included in the Munich Hall of Fame. Now, probably, Schweini will be able to help the club in a new position.