'Little Prince' Marchisio announces retirement

Rome (AFP) – Former Italy and Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio announced his retirement from football on Thursday after failing to recover fully from a knee injury.

The 33-year-old, who won 55 caps for Italy and played in the 2012 Euro final defeat against Spain, joined Juventus when he was just seven, earning himself the nickname of “Il Principino” — The Little Prince.

“I was a kid from Turin who dreamed of playing for Juve and who did it,” Marchisio told a press conference at Juventus Stadium.

He played his first professional match in 2006 with Juve and wore the bianconero jersey for 12 seasons, until 2018, without interruption except for one year he spent on loan at Empoli.

Marchisio played almost 400 matches for Juve, winning seven Scudetto titles and four Italian Cups. 

He also played in two Champions League finals, losing to Barcelona in 2015 and, as a substitute, to Real Madrid two years later.

A bad knee injury in 2016 reduced his capacity and he was released by Juventus in August 2018. 

Marchisio joined Zenit St Petersburg but only played a handful of matches as they won the Russian Premier League.