Ashley Cole at the time of Rome (photo Ansa)
LONDON – In an interview with Sky Sports UK, Ashley Cole announced his retirement from football. "After careful consideration, it's time to hang up the boots and watch my next chapter, which hopefully can be a coach," he said. Cole made his professional debut in 1999 with Arsenal: first with the Gunners (until 2006) and then with Chelsea (2006-2014) he turned out to be one of the strongest left-backers in Europe.
In his career he also wore the jerseys of Crystal Palace, Rome , Los Angeles Galaxy and Derby County. Negative his parenthesis in Italy, already arrived in the descending phase of his football parable: in the Capital in two years he has collected just 16 presences.
With the Giallorossi jersey, Cole played eleven matches in the Italian Serie A soccer championship, two games in the Italian Cup and took to the field three times in European cups (Champions League and Europa League).
After the Italian bankruptcy, he was able to re-launch himself between Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer and Derby County in the second division of English football. The defender, born in 1980 in London, has reached 107 appearances in the England national team and is the most successful footballer in the history of the FA Cup, for having raised the trophy seven times.
He also won the Premier League twice with Arsenal – including the 2003-04 "Invincibles" season, in which the Gunners remained unbeaten – and once with Chelsea. Cole won the Champions League with the Blues in 2011-12 and the Europa League in the following season.
"It was amazing. As a kid, I never expected to play a game or be a professional, thinking back on it now I can say I played World Cup matches, Champions League finals and I was lucky enough to raise Premier titles, "explained Cole to Sky Sports UK (source AGI).
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Source: Blitz Quotidiano