CSKA Moscow and Russia veteran defender, Sergey Ignashevich, who turns 39 in July, has decided to retire from football.
Ignashevich, who is Russia’s most capped player with 127 international appearances, started for the national team in all of their five FIFA World Cup matches this summer and played all 90 minutes of normal time in Saturday’s quarter-final against Croatia in Sochi, which the hosts lost 4-3 on penalties.
“This World Cup is the last one for me. It was the last tournament and the last match of my football career. If it wasn’t for the World Cup, I’d have retired a little earlier,” Ignashevich said.
The 38-year-old originally retired from international football following UEFA Euro 2016 but was called up to the squad in May by Russia head coach Stanislav Cherchesov to replace injured Rubin Kazan defender Ruslan Kambolov, becoming the oldest player ever capped both for the USSR and Russia.
He was also part of the national team during Euro 2008, with Russia finishing third at the tournament for the first time in history. Ignashevich played for CSKA since 2004 and made a total of 521 appearances for the club, winning the Russian Premier League six times and lifting the UEFA Cup in 2005.
Russia were eliminated from this summer’s tournament after reaching the knockout stage for the first time since the end of the Soviet era and going as far as the quarter-finals.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off on June 14 and will continue until July 15, with the final set to be played at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.