Dan Carter

dedicated half his life to rugby, where he was twice crowned world champion with New Zealand (2011 and 2015) and was chosen three times as the best player on the planet (2005, 2012 and 2015).

On Saturday, at age 38, the best starter in history announced his goodbye after 19 seasons in the elite.

He was the perfect number 10, able to combine elegance and efficiency, creativity in the game and amazing precision thanks to his left foot.

Carter's simple farewell lived up to his fabulous legacy with the All Blacks (112 games).

"I cannot thank enough to those who participated in my career, especially you, the fans. Rugby will always be part of my life. Thank you," he commented on his social networks.

Last June, he had surprised with the return to his country to sign for the Auckland Blues, alongside

Beauden Barrett

, another of the great New Zealand idols.

However, a lack of motivation, as he recognized in a recent interview with the

New Zealand Herald,

ended up frustrating this latest adventure.

Knees and Achilles heel

Carter debuted at the 2003 World Cup, where the All Blacks could only finish third, the same disappointment suffered four years later in France.

The long-awaited 2011 title did not represent a total satisfaction for Carter either, he lost in the final due to a problem in his right leg.

Really, complete bliss didn't come until 2015, when he scored 19 of his team's 38 points in the final against Australia.

For the first time in history, a selection revalidated the title.

The main drag on his career was injuries, which affected both of his knees and the Achilles heel of his left foot.

However, even these did not detract from the precision of his left foot, with which he set a world record.

His 1,598 annotations allowed him to overcome the previous record of Englishman

Jonny Wilkinson

(1,246).

His career at the club level focused on the Canterbury Crusaders, the best in his country, where he played between 2002 and 2015, with a temporary stage in Perpignan (2009).

In this famous team from the city of Christchurch, he shared a dressing room with

Richie McCaw

, his best partner in the national team.

Together they played 70 international matches, with only one draw and seven defeats.

Racing Metro 92

In 2015, Carter's transfer to French Racing Métro 92 caused such a stir in New Zealand that there was even talk of changing the Super Rugby system.

That contract, worth almost two million dollars a year, prevented him from playing with his team, given the strict rules of the most important championship in the Southern Hemisphere.

Carter's record was rounded off with six Tri-Nations Tournaments (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010) and his successor, the Rugby Championship (2012, 2013).

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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