Andrea Pirlo: Italian star announces retirement football

The 38-year-old made a 116-minute Italian match and helped them win the World Cup in 2006.

Pirlo started his career in Brescia and played Inter, AC Milan and Juventus before joining the North American Football League (MLS) two years ago.

"It's not just that my time in New York has reached the limit but also my journey as soccer player has come to the finish," he said.

In a statement on his Twitter account, Pirlo also thanked "every team I got to play with" and "every player I've had to play with.

His former club Juventus has described him as "a real jagger".

New York City manager Patrick Vieira said Pirlo "changed the football forever".

As well as helping Azur to be world champions, Pirlo won his soccer match in his 22-year soccer match.

He was in the Milan squad victory over the two Serie A trophy, two Champions League Championships and the World Cup Club between 2003 and 2011, and then contributed greatly to the fourth leg of Juventus league between 2012 and 2015.

He moved to New York before the start of the 2015 MLS season and joined the former England midfielder Frank Lampard with former Spanish striker David Villa in Manchester City's club.

He helped the club with his trainer Patrick Vieira to reach the match for a championship two seasons ago, but he could not win the cups with them.