Former Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina retires from professional football

Goalkeeper Pepe Reina, World Cup and double European champion with the Spanish national team, announced on Monday that he is retiring from professional football at the age of 42, after 26 seasons as a professional, and said that “the time has come” and that he feels like “closing it here” to embark on a career as a coach.
In an interview with ‘Movistar’, ‘Pepe Reina has something to tell’, the Madrid-born goalkeeper said: "A very beautiful career is coming to an end, a very complete life, I feel very fortunate for what I have lived, there have been many years... I did not expect it, but I think the time has come and I feel like closing it here".
The goalkeeper will continue to be linked to football as a coach at Villarreal, who offered his former player to take the reins of the youth academy team, where he will begin his coaching career next season.
"I decided to quit last January. I spoke with my wife, and we decided together," confessed the goalkeeper, who could play his last match against Inter on Friday in the last matchday of Serie A.
The goalkeeper was currently playing for Como 1907, a team recently promoted to the Italian Serie A and that under the orders of his compatriot Cesc Fàbregas has managed to save the category, in which with one matchday to go is tenth with 49 points.
"The satisfaction is that now I want it to end. Last summer there was a moment when I had a hard time, because I couldn't find a project that excited me and I had that little thorn in my side. I had more to offer and this year has been the one that has made me see that I am now empty, in the sense that I can no longer offer more to football from this position," Reina confessed.
About his experiences in the world of football, he added: "I am very fortunate. It has been a privilege. Now you don't value it so much, but when I look back we will continue to be one of the leading teams in history, I have been very lucky. I've shared a dressing room with some great people.