Legendary midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger announced his retirement from club football/soccer today, posting a tweet just a few minutes ago.
The midfield maestro, who achieved his highest glories with Bayern Munich and the German national team, had a brief stay with Manchester United and then finished his career with the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer, tweeted the following below:
Nun ist die Zeit gekommen: ich danke Euch und meinen Mannschaften @FCBayern, @ManUtd, @ChicagoFire und @DFB_Team. Natürlich danke ich auch meiner Frau @AnaIvanovic und meiner Familie für Ihre Unterstützung. pic.twitter.com/SrCdP8m6ia
— Bastian Schweinsteiger (@BSchweinsteiger) October 8, 2019
The Captain of the 2014 World Cup champion German national team, who retired from international competition a couple year ago, made his announcement about an hour before his team held a major news conference event.
The Fire, founded 22 years ago today, to coincide with the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire, staged an event at the lakefront’s Soldier Field facility, to celebrate their return to the venue. They will no longer play their home games in a very poorly located stadium, far from the urban core.
https://twitter.com/PaulMBanks/status/1181599473383792642
“Basti has meant so much to our Club,” said Chicago Fire Owner and Chairman Joe Mansueto.
“It was an absolute pleasure to watch him play. His soccer IQ is so elite, you can see that he’s three steps ahead at every turn. He’s a leader, a great teammate and a generational player who put Chicago Fire on the world map. I’d like to say, on behalf of the Club: Danke, Basti.”
“It was a great pleasure and experience working with Basti during the last three years, and we’re honored that we accompanied him in his last adventure as a fútbol player, said Chicago Fire Head Coach Veljko Paunovi?.
“Although we celebrate with him the culmination of a career filled with success, greatness and charisma, we’re very sad that he’s leaving. We will always remember the powerful moment when he announced his retirement to the team in the locker room after the game against Orlando.”
“It’s a memory that will last a lifetime.”
“Through his love and knowledge of the game and his experience, Bastian was a great resource for everyone in our Club, and I personally feel like I’ve learned a lot from him. We’re happy that we can proudly say that ‘Die Fussballgott’ will be a part of our fútbol family forever. Danke, Basti.”
Schweinsteiger told Paunovic that he was going to retire ahead of the season’s final match. He told the team afterwards. We’ll have more, with Paunovic, tomorrow about what might be ahead next for Schweinsteiger.
Danke, B A S T I! ???? @BSchweinsteiger #DieMannschaft #Weltmeister pic.twitter.com/TUdqSEo4mT
— DFB-Team (@DFB_Team) October 8, 2019
The tributes from all around the football world have poured in. Obviously, we can’t list all of them, but here are the salutes from all his former clubs.
The exception is Manchester United, who haven’t posted anything, at least not yet. Below is Bayern Munich’s tribute, which was the best one of all.
We're not crying, you're crying. ?
? #DankeBasti ? pic.twitter.com/abSGya6A80
— ?? FC Bayern US ?? (@FCBayernUS) October 8, 2019
Best of luck to Bastian Schweinsteiger in whatever is next in life after football (We’ll have more on that tomorrow, and more on the future of the Fire later today)
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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