FC Barcelona striker Sergio Aguero in tears during his retirement press conference in Barcelona on Wednesday.
Highlights
- "This conference is to communicate that I have decided to stop playing football," says Aguero
- "It is a very difficult moment. The decision I have made, I have taken it for my health."
- "That is the main reason for my decision, for the problem I had a month and a half ago."
Argentina and Barcelona striker Sergio Aguero took an abrupt retirement from professional football at the age of 33 after being diagnosed with a heart ailment.
Aguero was diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia since he was brought off after 41 minutes of his first start for the club after suffering from chest pain.
"This conference is to communicate that I have decided to stop playing football," said Aguero during a FC Barcelona press conference on Wednesday. "I have decided to stop playing professional football. It is a very difficult moment. The decision I have made, I have taken it for my health. That is the main reason for my decision, for the problem I had a month and a half ago. I was in good hands of the medical staff that have done their best and told me that the best thing would be to stop playing."
The star forward, who had a glittering career with former clubs Manchester City and Atletico Madrid, said it was a difficult decision especially in the first two weeks when he was indicated that to continue playing wouldn't be an option anymore.
"I feel ok right now. Obviously, the first two weeks were really difficult. When they did the first physical test on me in the clinic, the medical staff called me to tell me there was a big possibility that I couldn't keep playing.
"I tried to process it all. It wasn't easy. I still process everything that the doctors told me straight up, "that's enough." It took a few more days to process it all. As the days passed I got a little bit more hope. I was just thinking, "nah, right now I'm ok". But I know it was difficult," he said.
When asked about his future plans, Aguero said he hasn't figure that out yet and has time on his side to plan his future course of action.
"Like I said before, it's better it happens to me now at 33 and things happen for a reason. It's positive as right now, I'm here. I don't have to count down and see if anything else happens. It's positive they've found something now rather than before. I'm trying to be happy outside of football, trying to enjoy all the things.
"As football players, people say it's easy. I can tell you now it's not. You train, have to travel, play. I think most people have respect for football players. I think I will stay connected to football and enjoy it a bit more," Aguero said.
When further asked, how he wants to be remembered, Aguero said he will let the football fans decide that.
"I'm going to keep calm. I'm not going to do anything for a while. I'd prefer people say what I deserve. That they know the name that I've represented my entire career. I don't know, I'm not the one who decides what people remember me by," he said.
Aguero scored a club-record 260 goals for City and was a key player in the growth of the team as a major force in England and Europe.
He had a record 12 hat tricks in his total haul of 184 Premier League goals, the most for an overseas player and the fourth most all-time.
He also scored arguably the Premier League’s most famous goal, the dramatic stoppage-time winner against Queens Park Rangers that clinched the title for City on the final day of the 2011-12 season.
Aguero, who joined City from Atletico Madrid in 2011, struggled with injuries in his final two seasons at City and missed the start of his first season at Barcelona because of fitness issues.
He only played in five games for the Catalan club.
For Argentina, Aguero scored 41 times in 97 matches — putting him third on the national team's all-time scoring list — after making his senior team debut in 2006.
That came between two world titles for Argentina's youth teams.
Aguero's only major title with Argentina came at this year's edition of the Copa America, in which he barely featured, and he also won the Olympic gold medal in Beijing in 2008.
Aguero was one of the youngest players to make his debut in Argentina’s top division, at the age of 15 for Independiente.
He had spoken about potentially finishing his career at the Buenos Aires club.
