Mark Van Bommel retires

Former Dutch international Captain Mark Van Bommel who announced his retirement  from football in May 2013, officially said goodbye in a testimonial match arranged in his honour between his last club PSV and Bommel and friends this evening. In attendance were several
of his club and  National teammates as well as other football stars from other parts of the world. Notably among them were French star Frank Ribery, Swedish International Zlatan  Ibrahimovich, Marc Overmars, Jaap Stam, Wesley Sneijder, Dirk Kuyt, Philip Cocu, Luc Nilis etc. The match ended 4-3 in favour of PSV in front of a packed crowd at the Philips stadium in Eindhoven.

In a career spanning 21 years, the 36year old Dutchman played for Barcelona, Bayern Munich and AC Milan in between two spells at PSV where he played until a couple of months ago. Although a very good and accomplished player, he was also renowned for his sometimes rash challenges that earned him a fair share of red cards in his career. Incidentally, his last competitive match sadly ended with a Red card. What an ironic way to bow out.
Here's wishing one of European football's big names from the last 2 decades all the very best for the future.