Athletic Bilbao Icon Aduriz Announces Retirement From Football
Athletic Bilbao legend Aritz Aduriz has announced his retirement from football at the age of 39 after doctors advised he undergoes surgery to fix a hip problem.
Aduriz announced before the start of the season that he will draw the curtain down on his professional career at the end of the 2019/2020 campaign but the coronavirus pandemic has brought an air of uncertainty as to when the season will end.
He was due to feature in the Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad but the game has also been pushed back.
Aduriz made 14 appearances – all from the bench – for Bilbao in La Liga this season and his only goal was a stupendous overhead kick in a 1-0 win over Barcelona on the opening day of the season.
The 39-year-old has cemented his place in Bilbao folklore, spending 12 seasons in total at the club across three different spells. He scored 141 goals in 296 games for Bilbao.
"The time has become," Aduriz wrote on Twitter. "Many times, I have said that football will leave you before you leave it.
"Yesterday, the doctors told me to go to see the surgeon, sooner rather than later, to get a prosthetic to replace my hip and to try and go about my everyday life, as normally as possible.
"Unfortunately, my body has said 'enough'. I can't help my team-mates the way I would like to, nor the way that they deserve. That is the life of a professional athlete. Simple, very simple."
"Unfortunately, we are living through situations much more grim and painful; the pandemic that we are suffering from has left us with irreparable damage and we have to keep fighting it, together," he said.
"Therefore, I don't want you to worry about me, this is just an anecdote. Let's forget about the finals we dreamt about, because we will have time to say goodbye. And yes, the time has come to say goodbye, and this is how the road ends for me - unforgettable and marvellous, from beginning to end.
"Thank you, from the bottom of my heart."
Aduriz also featured for the likes of Real Mallorca, Real Valladolid and Valencia, and has been capped 13 times for the Spanish national team, scoring two goals.
In November 2016, at the age of 35 years and 275 days, Aduriz became Spain’s oldest ever goalscorer when he found the back of the net in a 4-0 win over Macedonia in the qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
