Vieri retires from football

Italian star calls time on his memorable career

By Richard Bailey and Nadia Carminati   Last updated: 22nd October 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Vieri retires from football

Vieri: Hangs up his boots

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Christian Vieri has brought an end to his glittering career by officially announcing his retirement from football.

The striker began his career with Torino but it was at Juventus where Vieri began to make a name for himself.

From there the Italian joined Atletico Madrid in 1997 and then Lazio - spending just a season at all three - before finally settling at Inter.

The Nerazzurri were so determined to get their man that they forked out a then world record £32million to buy the frontman from Lazio in 1999.

Vieri was prolific during his six years at Inter, as he was with most of his clubs during his career, scoring an astonishing 103 goals in 144 Serie A games.

Having left Inter in 2005 the 36-year-old had a number of failed stints around Europe with Milan, Monaco and Atalanta before rekindling some of his old form with Fiorentina in 2007/08.

However, Vieri has decided to call it a day after his third spell at Atalanta turned sour with the player stating that the fans expected too much from him.

The former Pisa youngster had a trial with Blackburn last summer but a concrete offer failed to materialise.

"I don't want to play anymore and I'm not even tempted to play abroad," he told reporters.

Vieri represented his country 49 times, scoring 23 goals, and was twice named Italian Player of the Year as well as winning the Serie A title with Juve in 1997, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup with Lazio in 1999 and the Italian Cup with Inter in 2005.

Vieri is currently taking former club Inter and company Telecom to court for the sum of 21million Euros with the former player's lawyer declaring that the two companies' actions limited Vieri's rights.