Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny retires from professional soccer at age 34
FILE - Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny watches a header from Manchester United’s Ji-Sung Park go into the goal during their English Premier League soccer match at Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Monday Dec. 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny retired from professional soccer on Tuesday, two weeks after he left Juventus.
The 34-year-old Szczesny, who started his professional career at Arsenal, made 84 appearances for Poland with the last two at this summer’s European Championship.
“I played the game at the highest level with the best players in history without ever feeling inferior,” he said on Instagram. “Everything that I have and everything that I am I owe to the beautiful game of football.”
Szczesny joined Arsenal’s academy from Legia Warsaw in 2006 as a teenager and was on loan at Brentford (2009-10) before his five years with the Gunners. He played a total of 181 times for Arsenal, helping the club win the FA Cup in his final game there. He was the joint-winner of the Golden Glove award in 2013-14 with Petr Cech.
He signed with Juventus in 2017 after a two-year loan to Roma. Earlier in August, Juventus and Szczesny agreed to terminate his contract.
Szczesny made 252 appearances for Juventus and helped the Italian powerhouse win three Italian league titles, three Italian Cups and two Italian Super Cups.
“I feel that right now it is time to give all of my attention to my family,” Szczesny said.
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