Norway defender John Arne Riise, a former Liverpool star, has announced his retirement from football. 

The 35-year-old was part of the Liverpool side that lifted the Champions League in 2005, while the player made 10 appearances for his Norwegian club Aalesund this term.

‘My inner goal was to play football at the Norwegian top level until I was 40. But that is not to be. It stops here’, Riise wrote on his personal website, admitting he could not longer keep up with the physical demands of the game.

‘Lately there has emerged a completely new feeling in me that I am no longer strong enough to perform at my best.

‘I like to play football but the motivation is still not strong enough to run the race at the highest level. This body – and this head – has been through so much over the last 20 years.’

Riise made 110 caps for his national side over the course of his career, playing for a range of clubs across Europe including Monaco, Roma, Fulham, Apoel and Delhi Dynamo.

‘It is heavy and painful admission and very full of emotion but it is most of all honest,’ Riise concluded.

Image: Riise Website