Former Poland captain and Borussia Dortmund winger Jakub Blaszczykowski said on Thursday he had decided to end his playing career.
The 37-year-old, his country’s second most capped player (109) behind Robert Lewandowski (142), made his national team debut in March 2006 in a friendly against Saudi Arabia.
He retired from international duty in June in a friendly against Germany, leaving the pitch in the presence of an honor guard from both teams.
“Every road has an end… Thank you so much for the great support I received every step of the way. It was worth playing, sacrificing myself for you,” Blaszczykowski said on Instagram.
He hangs up his crampons after a second spell at Wisla Krakow, a Polish second division club, where he played from 2004 to 2007 and where he won the Polish first division in 2005 before joining Dortmund.
He made nearly 200 Bundesliga appearances for Dortmund from 2007 to 2016, helping the club win two league titles, a German Cup and three Super Cups, as well as finishing runners-up in the Champions League in 2012-13.
His spell at Dortmund ended with a one-year loan spell at Serie A side Fiorentina. Blaszczykowski returned to Germany in August 2016 on a three-year deal at VfL Wolfsburg. Blaszczykowski will bid farewell on August 5 in Wisla’s first home game of the 2023-24 season, the club said.