translated from Spanish: Mario Mandzukic announced his retirement from football

Striker Mario Mandzukic announced his retirement from football after 17 seasons as a professional. The historic Croatian attacker had been released in June after having ended his contract with Milan of Italy.Mandzukic, 35, has gone through major European institutions such as Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich. In addition, he played in other teams such as Dinamo Zagreb, Wolfsburg, Al Duhail and NK Marsonia.In the Croatian national team he was a fundamental part during the 2018 World Cup in Russia, as he scored three goals in the contest. One of them was in the world final against France, where he scored one of the goals in the 4-2 defeat.

On the other hand, Mandzukic posted a letter on his Instagram account referring to his retirement: “Dear little Mario,While you put on these boots for the first time you can’t even imagine what you will experience in football. You will score goals on the most important stages and win the most important trophies with the most important clubs. Proudly representing your nation will help write the history of Croatian sport.” He added: “You will succeed because you will have good people around you: teammates, coaches, fans, family, managers and friends who will always be there. You will be eternally grateful to all of them! Above all you will succeed because you will always give your best. In the end that’s what you’ll be most proud of. You will sacrifice a lot but you will know that it was worth it for all the incredible moments. You will recognize the time to retire, to put these ankle boots in a closet and you will not regret it. Football will always be part of your life, but you will expect a new chapter.

Original source in Spanish