Former Bayern and Germany defender Badstuber retires aged 33

Former Bayern Munich and Germany defender Holger Badstuber has announced his retirement from football.

Badstuber made 178 appearances for Bayern in all competitions after making his debut in 2009, though injuries reduced him to just 28 games between the end of the 2012-13 season and his 2017 departure. 

The defender, who won 31 international caps and played at the World Cup in 2010 and then Euro 2012, later featured for Stuttgart and FC Luzern.

But Badstuber had been without a club after leaving the Swiss outfit by mutual agreement last December, and has now pledged to pursue a coaching career after hanging up his boots at the age of 33.

“Dear fans… after 13 years of professional football, I’m announcing the end of my career as an active player,” he wrote on Twitter.

“With 31 senior international matches, World Cup and European Championship appearances, six German championships, four DFB-Pokal victories, winning the Champions League, the Club World Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and three national super cups, I can look back on a successful period.

“Of course I would have wished for a few less serious injuries, but the joy of what has been achieved is very great. I am thankful for everything.

“I will stay true to football, my passion. I will follow in my father’s footsteps and start a coaching course.

“I hope that I will stay with football for a long time, albeit in a different role. Many thanks to all my companions and to you fans.”

Badstuber won five Bundesliga titles and four DFB-Pokal trophies during his long spell with Bayern, as well as contributing to their 2012-13 Champions League triumph.

Herzlichen Dank an all meine Weggefährten und an euch Fans.
⁰Euer Holger pic.twitter.com/8oFuEwkNPf

— Holger Badstuber (@Badstuber) September 5, 2022