BARCELONA, Dec 15: Fighting back tears, Sergio Aguero took a deep breath and finally made the announcement soccer fans had dreaded ever since he left a game with chest pains six weeks ago.
“I have decided to stop playing professional football,” the 33-year-old Barcelona striker said Wednesday in front of an intimate audience of friends, family and teammates from a prolific 18-year career that has come to a sad and sudden end.
Aguero, one of the world’s greatest strikers of this generation, underwent tests after leaving the field, holding his chest, during Barcelona’s match against Alaves in the Spanish league on Oct. 30.
“When they did the first test in the clinic, the medical staff called to tell me there was a very big possibility that I wouldn’t be able to keep playing,” Aguero said. “… I was still processing everything when one of the doctors told me straight up, ‘That’s enough.’”
Speaking at a specially arranged press conference on the field at Camp Nou, Aguero looked on in sadness as a highlight reel of his career was played on a screen.
There were goals shown from his time playing for Independiente, Atlético Madrid, Manchester City, Argentina and his brief spell at Barcelona, which he joined in May although only managing to make five appearances.
He smiled as he reminded everyone the final goal of his career was against Real Madrid, Barcelona’s big rival.
Asked how he would like to be remembered, Aguero – living up to his reputation as a shy person – said he wasn’t the person to ask.
He finished, though, by saying: “I wasn’t bad, right? That’s what they tell me.”
One of the world’s most recognizable players, Aguero will best be remembered as a player at Man City during which he became a great of the English game. (AP)
