Knee injury got too much. I feel really sorry for him, he's only 31. Had several offers from italian clubs apparently but had to turn them down. Anyway thank you Marc, you've been a great servant to Dutch football.
Here's a link for those who can read Dutch: http://www.vi.nl/vi/show/id=62802/contentid=61483/sc=b9e4b4 No cartilage left in his knee apparently. Amazing that he managed to put in a decent performance in Portugal still. Tough as nails he was.
the article is also now in english on skysports. http://skysports.planetfootball.com/transfernews.asp?type=article&id=215943 he is one of my fav players ever. i really wanted to see him play a yr or 2 in england (i was hoping he would go there).
Real shame for him, but credit to him for calling it a day instead of slowly declining and going out with a fizzle rather than with a good Euro2004 behind him. He was truly scary when playing for Arsenal, just so quick.
although a lot of people criticized him while at barcelona, most likely due to his transfer price and the injuries, but on his day he was amazing. his best game of this previous season was probably the first match against sociedad. he came on in the 70th or so minute i think and immediately scored for the equalizer and then assisted (i think).
Definately going to miss watching Overmars playa.. he was an all time great player that has impressed me ever since the first time I saw him playing in competitive football. I think he really made his mark at Arsenal.
That sucks for Mr Overmars. From experience I can say that having no cartildge in one's knee is not fun and is certainly not condusive to playing soccer. Or walking to the mailbox to get the mail. Happy retirement Marc!!