Franck Ribery made an emotional farewell to football on Saturday at Italian team Salernitana. He was unable to control his tears as he stood on the pitch for the last time as a professional footballer.
Before Salernitana’s Serie A match against Spezia on Saturday, the former France international bid football a sorrowful farewell.
Due to a lingering knee ailment, Ribery announced his retirement at the age of 39. He broke down in tears as he greeted fans at the Arechi Stadium.
Ribery’s 19-year playing career, which included 17 championships with Bayern Munich, came to an end officially on October 22, 2022.
The winger joined Salernitana last season, but owing to a chronic knee injury that forced him into retirement, he only played as a substitute once this year.
The Frenchman will continue to be a non-playing member of Salernitana. As the team’s technical partner, Ribery will assist head coach Davide Nicola in his duties.
Franck Ribery
Franck Henry Pierre Ribéry, a former professional football player from France, was born on April 7, 1983. He mostly played as a winger, usually on the left side, and was renowned for his speed, intensity, skill, and accurate passing.
Ribéry is a player who is swift, cunning, and a brilliant dribbler with excellent control when the ball is at his feet.
He gained international recognition as one of his generation’s top players while playing for Bayern.
Ribéry has been called the “jewel of French football” by former French national team talisman Zinedine Zidane.
Rise To Stardom
Ribéry’s career began in 1989 when he joined his hometown team Conti Boulogne as a young player. After seven years, he left the club to join Lille, a professional team, however after three years he left Lille due to adjustment issues.
Ribéry played for US Boulogne for two years beginning in 1999. After playing for two more clubs (Alès and Brest) in the amateur leagues, Ribéry secured a transfer to Ligue 1 team Metz in 2004.
After spending six months with the team, Ribéry left to join Galatasaray in Turkey in January 2005, where he won the Turkish Cup. He spent six months at Galatasaray before controversially leaving the team to join Marseille in France.
Ribéry played for the team for two seasons, assisting the Marseillais in back-to-back trips to the Coupe de France final.
Ribéry joined German club Bayern Munich in 2007 for a then-club-record €25 million transfer fee.
He achieved a then-club record of 24 titles with Bayern over twelve seasons, including nine Bundesliga crowns (at the time a Bundesliga record), six DFB-Pokal, one UEFA Champions League, and one FIFA Club World Cup. This includes five doubles and one triple.
He was included on the three-man shortlist for the 2013 FIFA Ballon d’Or together with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo due to his performance for Bayern in the club’s treble-winning 2012–13 campaign.
During his lengthy tenure at Bayern, Ribéry was particularly well-known for his successful pairing with fellow winger Arjen Robben; the two were collectively known as Robbery.
Robben resigned from football in 2021 after he departed Bayern in the summer of 2019 to join Groningen in his home country, the Netherlands.
Ribéry made 81 appearances for the France national team between 2006 and 2014. He participated in two UEFA European Championships and two FIFA World Cups (2006 and 2010).
Ribéry has won the French Player of the Year award three times and the German Footballer of the Year award once. He is the first player to hold both awards.
Additionally, he was selected for the UEFA Team of the Year and recognized as France’s Young Player of the Year. The UEFA Best Player in Europe Award went to Ribéry in 2013.
He also came in at number four on The Guardian’s list of the world’s top players in 2013.
Ribery is currently the technical consultant of Salernitana, the Italian Serie A team that was also his final club as a player.
Ribery to tow the coaching line
Despite his retirement from football, Ribery will remain at Salernitana, according to head coach Davide Nicola, though he will probably also pursue his coaching credentials.
The Salernitana manager has confirmed that the former Bayern Munich striker will join his coaching staff after retiring from professional football, so his football career is far from over.
Salernitana coach Davide Nicola revealed that Ribéry, who said goodbye to his club career at the weekend, would play a part in his coaching setup prior to the team’s match against Spezia on Saturday, October 22 which ended 1-0 in favour of Salernitana.
