Franck Ribery breaks down in tears in final appearance as a professional footballer

• Former Bayern Munich and France winger Franck Ribery recently announced his retirement
• The 39-year old made an appearance for his latest club Salernitana on Saturday where he was honoured for a stellar football career
• The Frenchman broke down in tears in front of tens of thousands of fans as his curtains fell on what has been a fairytale career for him

Franck Ribery could barely contain his emotions as he was unveiled for the final time as a football player on Saturday, October 22.

There were initial suggestions that Ribery, 39, would feature for Italian Serie A newcomers Salernitana for one last time in the game against Spezia.

However, following his retirement announcement on Friday, the Frenchman was omitted from the squad, but focus was fully on him prior to kick off.

In a video shared by the Serie A official page, Ribery was unveiled in front of a packed stadium and applauded heavily by his teammates at Salernitana.

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Ribery then took a brief stroll around the stadium to applauding fans and at some point, he was overcome by emotion as both home and away fans chanted his name.

In the video, an emotional Ribery is seen shaking his head, almost as though he is in disbelief that his 22-year old football career was coming to an end.

Ribery terminated his contract with Salernitana after making peace with the fact that his recurring knee injury would likely not get any easier.

He participated in his team’s opening fixture of the season against AS Roma, but has not featured again since because of the knee injury.

On Friday, he confirmed every fan’s worst fears, that he was calling it quits as far as his career was concerned.

"The ball stops. The feelings inside me do not. Thanks to everyone for this great adventure," he shared on Twitter.

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He made 25 appearances for Salernitana, notching three assists.

Higuain cries in final game

Elsewhere, Sports Brief also reported of Higuain’s emotions as he also hung his boots.

Despite representing giants of football including Real Marid, Juventus, Chelsea and Napoli, Higuain’s final game was a lowly 3-0 defeat for Inter Miami against New York City FC in the first round of the MLS playoffs.

The striker was spotted hunched down on the pitch after the defeat confirmed his inevitable retirement.