Ghanaian central midfielder Stephen Appiah has officially ended his professional football career on Wednesday.
According to the website Supersport.com, 34-year-old Appiah, who played for Turkish club Fenerbahce from 2005 to 2008, mentioned a sense of "fulfillment" after a long career
"I wish this day never came because football was life - my life. It made me whole. From the sandy pitches at Indadfa park in Accra where my career was honed to the grassy green field in Turin, Italy where my career blossomed, I tell with profound humility a great true story of a Ghanaian patriot who with nothing, from nothing, rose to become a global icon thanks to the power of football," Appiah said in a statement.
The former Fenerbahce and Juventus midfielder stared his career in a Ghanaian team, Hearts of Oak, in 1995, before joining numerous Italian clubs such as Udinese, Parma, Brescia, Juventus, Bologna and Cesena.
With Istanbul's Fenerbahce, he won a Turkish Super League title and a Turkish Super Cup trophy.
Appiah's last team was Serbian Vojvodina. He has been free agent since July of 2012.
Ghana's former captain scored 16 goals in 69 international appearances.