Spanish Football Legend Santi Cazorla Ends Illustrious Career

Spanish football legend Santiago Cazorla is bringing his professional career, spanning over two decades, to a close. The 41-year-old playmaker, who won two European Championship trophies with Spain in 2008 and 2012, will retire from football after 23 years on the pitches in his homeland, England, and Qatar.

"Now that everything is coming to an end, as I hang up my boots and the noise turns to silence, everything falls into place because the end wasn't just anywhere – it was at home," Santi Cazorla stated in a video posted on his social media accounts.

As an active player, the Spaniard secured two consecutive FA Cups with Arsenal in 2014 and 2015, along with two Community Shield trophies in the same years. He also lifted the UEFA Intertoto Cup with Villarreal in 2004, and towards the end of his career, celebrated two league titles and a domestic cup with Al Sadd in Qatar. He was named Spanish Footballer of the Year for the 2006/07 season and also earned Arsenal's Player of the Season award in 2012/13.

Last year, Cazorla helped his boyhood club Real Oviedo achieve promotion to the top flight of Spanish football, playing his final season with "the Blues" in La Liga.

Santi Cazorla retires with 143 goals in 776 appearances for clubs including Villarreal, Recreativo Huelva, Malaga, Arsenal, Al Sadd, and Oviedo. For the Spanish national team, "La Furia Roja," he earned 81 caps and scored 15 goals between 2008 and 2019.

"Cazorla decided to return, accepting the minimum salary allowed by the league, and donated all his image rights to the club. In return, he only requested that 10% of his jersey sales be entirely directed to Real Oviedo's youth academy to contribute to the development of future generations," Oviedo stated in a press release.

The second-division club announced that they would like him to remain in any role he chooses and that makes him happy. Cazorla also received tributes from the official social media pages of Arsenal and Villarreal.