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🇬🇷 Greece /Sports

Rubén Pérez announces retirement in emotional farewell post

From Ta Nea · () Greek

Translated from Greek and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Outcome reported
  • Spanish midfielder Rubén Pérez announced his retirement from professional football after more than two decades in the sport.
  • Pérez represented Spain at under-21 level five times and won the European Championship with the team in 2011.
  • His final years included spells at Panathinaikos, where he won two Greek Cups, and Kifisia.

“Today the moment has come to say goodbye,” Rubén Pérez wrote as he brought his professional football career to an end. The 37-year-old Spanish midfielder announced his retirement in an emotional post that looked back on more than two decades in the game.

Pérez began at Écija Balompié, the club in his hometown, before joining Atlético Madrid. He said Atlético helped him grow as both a player and a person, from the academy through to his dream of playing for the first team.

Today the moment has come to say goodbye.

· Rubén PérezPérez opened his retirement announcement with a farewell to professional football.

His career then took him through Deportivo La Coruña, Getafe, Real Betis, Elche, Torino, Granada, Leganés, Panathinaikos and Kifisia. He also represented Spain five times at under-21 level and won the European Championship with the national team’s under-21 side in 2011.

Today I stop being a professional footballer, but I will never stop being a footballer.

· Rubén PérezHe described how retirement would change his professional status but not his identity in the sport.

Greece became an important part of the latter years of his career. At Panathinaikos, Pérez won two Greek Cups. Kifisia was his final club.

Pérez devoted much of his farewell to the people who accompanied him, thanking supporters, teammates, coaches, technical staff and club employees. He reserved his strongest thanks for his family, saying they stood beside him through every decision, move and difficult moment. “Today I stop being a professional footballer, but I will never stop being a footballer,” he wrote. “Thank you, football. Thank you, everyone. It was a privilege.”

Thank you, football. Thank you, everyone. It was a privilege.

· Rubén PérezHe closed the post by thanking the sport and the people who supported his career.
About this summary

Originally published by Ta Nea in Greek. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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