It’s really over – Former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner announces retirement

Former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner has announced his retirement at the age of 33 years. The Danish International player had stints at Sunderland, Juventus and Arsenal in his career. Bendtner scored 30 goals in 81 International appearances in his career of 12 years.

Bendtner had celebrated his Euro 2012 goal by dropping his shorts to reveal a pair of Paddy Power underpants. The 33-year old was fined a whopping 80,000 Euros for the same.

In fact, Bendtner wanted to be the best striker in the world but unfortunately could not achieve his goal.

“I want to be top scorer in the Premier League, top scorer at the World Cup and, within five years, I want to be among the best strikers in the world,” Bendtner once said. “Trust me, it will happen. I look around at other players, I see my own ability and I can’t see anything that tells me it won’t happen, I’m sure people will think ‘What is he talking about?’ But as I have done before, and as I will do again, I will sit at the other end and laugh at those people when it is all done.”

Bendtner made his debut back in 2005 for Arsenal. The highs of his career were when he won a Serie A title with Juventus, a German Cup with Wolfsburg and two Norwegian championships. He is considering moving to a coaching role now after hanging his boots.

“I think I’ll spend a lot of time understanding that it’s really over now,” Bendtner said upon announcing his retirement. “Now I will find something else that gives me what football has given me in all the years. Football is a big part of my life and I cannot leave it.”

“That is why I am in the process of taking the coaching education. I hope it will give me as much or maybe more than it did as a player. That way, I will always be a part of football.”