Franck Ribéry, one of the best French footballers of the last two decades and a Bayern Munich legend, today announced his retirement at the age of 39, beset by knee problems at his last club, the Italian Salernitana.
Although it was an open secret, the striker published a tweet in four languages (French, Italian, German and English) in which he thanks the support received in his career and in which he includes a video.
“If I have managed to complete almost 20 years of career, it is because you have been with me in difficult times,” added the man known in Germany as “Franck Kaiser” for his 12 successful seasons at Bayern, crowned in 2013 with the Champions League and with a third place in the Ballon d’Or that same year.
Ribéry, born in a disadvantaged neighborhood of Boulogne sur Mer (north) and who suffered a serious car accident when he was only two years old that left him with serious consequences on his face, had a less glorious time for the France team, with which he played 81 games and scored 16 goals.
Although he is remembered for his great World Cup in 2006, when he was runner-up and one of the revelations of that tournament, he was involved in the famous riot in Knysna, at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and subsequently suspended some matches.
He returned to Les Bleus, with whom he lost to Spain in the Euro 2012 quarterfinals, and missed the 2014 World Cup due to injury. However, he will be remembered for having been one of the craftsmen of the comeback that allowed France to be in that tournament by beating Ukraine 3-0 in Saint-Denis (2-0 against in the first leg).
In the club arena, apart from the 12 seasons at Bayern (between 2007 and 2019) that resulted in 9 Bundesligas, a Champions League and the world club title (2013), he played for clubs such as Metz and Brest, which They served as a springboard to sign for a great in France, Marseille (2005-2007).
He played for a few months at Galatasay with financial problems and, after his time in Germany, he was at Fiorentina (2019-2021) and Salernitana. He arrived at the latter club in 2021 and contributed to this small club in southern Italy being saved from relegation when everyone considered it hopeless.
However, recurrent knee discomfort prevented him from playing this season.
On a personal level, Ribéry was splashed, along with Karim Benzema, by the “affaire Zahia”, an underage sex worker with whom they allegedly had relations in 2009. However, both were acquitted in 2014 by the French Justice of the accusation of having resorted to an underage prostitute.
Ribéry married a Franco-Algerian in 2002, with whom he has five children. In 2006, he declared that he had converted to Islam. EFE
