Former Inter and Roma defender Walter Samuel announces he will retire at the end of the season.The centre-back lifted six Scudetti in his time in Italy, one with Roma and five with the Nerazzurri, after returning from Real Madrid.
The Argentinian is now at Basel, but has told a local newspaper that he will hang up his boots at the end of the season, when he’ll be 38.
“There comes a time where you have to listen to what your body is telling you, when everything hurts and mentally you’re tired,” Samuel told Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
“I still want to play, but I’m having physical difficulties. It’s not an easy decision, not at all. I like being a footballer, training, being with my teammates.
“But now it takes me longer to recover than the others, when the younger players are ready to go it takes me two or three days.
“They’re also faster. I try to keep up at the same pace, but it’s not the same.
“What will I miss most? The dressing room. For me it’s like school, once you’re on holiday you can’t wait to get back and see your friends and enjoy the banter.
“That’s what I’ll miss the most, not so much the playing, because I played a lot of matches.
“I’ll find something else to keep me busy. I’m still young. Not for a footballer, but for other things.”
Samuel won the treble under Jose Mourinho at Inter in 2010, and insists his demeanour is very different in the dressing room compared to the Press room.
“We won the Champions League with him. Those two years weren’t just formative for Inter as a club, but all of us [players].
“In public he seemed very confrontational, but we knew what he was really like.
“That aggression was probably part of his persona.”
