Kewell announces decision to retire
Former Liverpool forward Harry Kewell has announced that he is to retire from professional football next month after a career that has spanned almost 20 years.
The naturally-gifted Australian arrived at Anfield in the summer of 2003, with the Reds defeating serious competition from at home and abroad to capture his signature.
Kopites were treated to a series of high-quality performances from the versatile attacker during his opening six months with the club, as he notched 11 goals during his maiden season.
Although the years that followed were regularly interrupted by injury, Kewell clocked up a total of 139 appearances for Liverpool and registered 16 strikes.
The Sydney-born star, widely regarded as the greatest footballer Australia has ever produced, won a Champions League and FA Cup as a Red, although he was substituted due to injury after starting both finals.
Kewell's final game for Liverpool occurred in February 2008 and later that year, he completed a move to Turkish outfit Galatasaray. He would go on to represent Melbourne Victory, Al Gharafa and most recently Melbourne Heart.
His last match for Heart, and of his career, is expected to be the A-League fixture against Western Sydney Wanderers on April 12.
The decision to retire was announced at a press conference on Wednesday, where the 35-year-old explained in detail why now is the time to bring the curtain down.
"The body's great - I felt it was the right time to go out on my terms," Kewell said.
"I wanted to be able to finish where I could still do things outside of football, all the things I couldn't do as a footballer. I can do these things now."
On my way to officially announce my retirement.. Thank you for all the kind tweets you've sent so far.. #EndofanEra
— Harry Kewell (@HarryKewell) March 26, 2014