Pep calls it a day

By europeanfootballnews.co.uk
November 14 2006

Former Spain and Barcelona captain Josep Guardiola has retired from football aged 35. The midfielder confirmed his decision in an interview by radiostation RAC-1.

Dubbed one the most stylish midfielders of our age, Guardiola left FC Barcelona after representing them for 15 years to join Serie A minnows Brescia in 2001 and later AS Roma. His stay at Italy was an unhappy one though, and included a four-month ban after testing positive for nandrolone. The autumn years of his career he played in Al Ahly in Qatar and Dorados de Sinaloa in Mexico, before now admitting, that his body can no longer cope with the demands of professional football.

One of the symbols of Catalunya represented Spain 47 times, and won 6 Spanish championships and the Champions League in 1992. He also won the Olympic gold medal in the same year with Spain.