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.