World Cup winner Karembeu announces retirement

French soccer international Christian Karembeu announced his retirement on Thursday.

The 34-year-old Karembeu, who was part of the France team that won the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European championship, has been without a club since Bastia was relegated to Ligue 2 at the end of last season.

The midfielder was born in the French Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia, won 53 caps for France, scoring one goal.

After five seasons at Nantes, he embarked on a journey through Europe that took him to Sampdoria, Real Madrid, Middlesbrough, Olympiakos and Servette.

He returned to France last year, joining Bastia, but could not prevent the club going down.

Karembeu was a French champion with Nantes in 1995 and was a member of the Real Madrid team who won the Champions League in 1998. He also won two Greek titles with Olympiakos.

Source: Xinhua