Roma defender Balzaretti announces retirement

Roma defender Federico Balzaretti has announced his retirement at the age of 33 after failing to recover from a long-term hip injury.

Balzaretti has only made one competitive appearance for the Serie A club since November 2013 after suffering the injury against Sassuolo and underwent surgery in the United States in an attempt to correct the problem.

After a lengthy absence Balzaretti who won 16 caps for Italy  returned to fitness in April and, after being an unused substitute in nine matches, played the full 90 minutes in Roma s 2-1 defeat to Palermo on the final day of the 2014-15 campaign.

However, the full-back has now been forced to call time on playing days and is set to take up a role working under Roma sporting director Walter Sabatini.

I am retiring from football, he announced on Wednesday. Unfortunately the injury I ve had is forcing me to hang up my boots. It s been a difficult decision to take, but I can t continue playing the way I want to, at 100 per cent.

Last year, in my last news conference here, I said I wanted to get back on the field and play one more match for Roma.

I managed to play 90 more minutes with Roma and I d like to thank everyone here for making that last dream come true.

I m happy to have spent the last few months of the season with this group and am delighted we secured second place.

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