Former Liverpool defender John Arne Riise has announced his retirement from football at the age of 35.
The left-back, a Champions League winner with the Reds in 2005, has made 10 appearances for Aalesund, the club with whom he started his career, in his Norwegian homeland this season.
However, he has decided to walk away from the game after realising he is no longer able to cope with the physical demands.
"My inner goal was to play football at the Norwegian top level until I was 40. But that is not to be. It stops here," he wrote on his personal website.
"Lately there has emerged a completely new feeling in me that I am no longer strong enough to perform at my best.
"I like to play football but the motivation is still not strong enough to run the race at the highest level.
Former #LFC defender @JARiiseOfficial has confirmed his retirement from football: https://t.co/1bvXU0pasx pic.twitter.com/cpNhVLHy06
- Liverpool FC (@LFC) June 13, 2016
"This body -- and this head -- has been through so much over the last 20 years.
"It is heavy and painful and painful admission and very full of emotion but it is most of all honest."
Riise also played for Monaco, Roma, Fulham, APOEL and Delhi Dynamos.
