Former Liverpool player Martin Skrtel announces his retirement at the age of 37.
Martin Skrtel, one of the former stars of Fenerbahçe and Başakşehir, ended his football life. After a long Liverpool career, Skrtel transferred to Fenerbahçe in the 2016-17 season for 6 million euros. Skrtel transferred to Başakşehir in the 2019-20 season and went to Spartak Trnava in the 2021-22 season.
Skrtel made 35 goals and 12 assists in 617 games during his career.
On the other hand, in his speech at the press conference, Skrtel said, “After 20 years of career, I had to make a decision. I have had back pain for a long time and it doesn’t allow me to play like this anymore. I thank the fans of all the clubs I’ve played for. Thanks to my wife, son, mother, father, and siblings.
Early life
Martin Skrtel (born December 15, 1984) is a former Slovak professional footballer who played as a central defender for the Slovak Super League club Spartak Trnava. He is a former member and captain of the Slovak national team.
Skrtel previously played for Trenching and Zenit St. Petersburg, and in January 2008 he moved to Liverpool for 6.5 million pounds. After eight and a half years at Liverpool, during which he played 320 reliable video games and scored 18 goals, he joined Fenerbahce. He won the Russian Premier League and the League Cup and was named Slovak Footballer of the Year four times.
Skrtel made his debut for Slovakia in 2004 and played a total of 104 matches, making him the third highest-ranked player in the United States at the time of his retirement in 2019, behind Marek Hamsik and Miroslav Karhan. He also retired, becoming the tenth top scorer of the Slovak Championship with 6 goals, sharing this place with Julius Shimon and Miroslav Stoch. He represented the USA when they reached the final sixteen at both the 2010 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2016.
Club Career
Fenerbahçe
Skrtel was educated at Fenerbahce in 2017
On July 14, 2016, Skrtel signed a contract with Turkish club Fenerbahce for five million pounds. In his first season at Fenerbahce, Skrtel played 31 league matches, scoring 2 goals. At the end of the season, there were rumors that Skrtel might return to English football, and Stoke City, Swansea City, as well as Newcastle United, who were returning to the Premier League and at that time, was coached by Rafael Benitez, who signed Skrtel from Zenit in 2008, where everything is mentioned as golf equipment in the hope of sending a signal to Skrtel, although his manager, Karol Csonto, denied the transfer rumors, saying that "Even if it was Chelsea, he (Skrtel) would practically not return to England anymore," including that Skrtel was satisfied with his stay in Fenerbahce.
During the fall of 2018 and spring of 2019, Skrtel found himself linked with moves to Barcelona, which allegedly led to his demotion due to his role in the team, in addition to the lucrative offer of Al-Ahly Jeddah. Instead, it was stated that he could additionally join his national teammate Juraj Kucka until Skrtel's global retirement in February 2019 in Parma.
Atalanta
On August 9, 2019, Skrtel joined Serie A club, Atalanta. His agreement was terminated 3 weeks later by mutual consent. Now he was unable to adapt to the new environment, conditions, and educational strategies. In an interview a week later, Skrtel said that a player like him is simply no longer in the form of Atalanta. On September 17, 2019, Atalanta president Antonio Percassi stated in an interview that Skrtel's wife, Barbora, maybe one of the reasons for his departure. Percassi said she didn't really want to go to Bergamo.
Istanbul Başakşehir
On September 2, 2019, he returned to Turkey, signing a contract with Istanbul Bashaksehir. He played 20 matches and scored three goals in the winning campaign of the 2019-20 Süper Lig, which turned into the main indicator of aerobatics in the history of the club.
He reached an agreement to leave Basaksehir in January 2021, with his agreement expiring less than six months after he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon the previous month.
Spartak Trnava
In August 2021, Skrtel returned to Slovakia after 17 years of playing for Spartak Trnava.
On February 26, 2022, Skrtel took part in his first derby between Spartak and Slovan Bratislava. The meeting in the Technical Field ended in a draw without any intentions. After the lawsuit, Skrtel was insulted by using one of the local fans and a legitimate membership in the rookie team.
Later, on March 1, 2022, Skrtel violated the rules of membership in Trnava, becoming the oldest scorer of the club, beating Igor Shemrinets from Kosice in a Cup match against Kosice Football Arena with a score of 1:2. Spartak won. He was the easiest scorer in the history of membership over the age of 37 - exactly 37 years, 2 months, and 14 days, ahead of the previous report by Karol Tibensky.
International Career
Skrtel played for Slovakia's youth national teams around the world before making his senior team debut in 2004. He was included in Slovakia's squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which was the first for the United States as an impartial country. He played a vital role in the team's 3-2 victory over reigning champions Italy, as he performed in every one of them in the form in their World Cup campaign, during which Slovakia finished 16th, where they lost to runner–up Netherlands. Skrtel was the captain of the Slovak national team in the Euro 2016 qualifying tournament, in which the Slovaks beat the reigning champions Spain on the way to the final match in France, in which they completed the sixteenth round, beating Russia and drawing with England.
Skrtel is a participant in the 1/3 finals, the most frequently scored in the history of Slovakia, and on October 13, 2018, he scored his hundredth cap in the national team, becoming the player of the 1/3 finals in the history of Slovakia, who achieved this in the derby against the Czech Republic in Trnava, in an equal fight, while Marek Hamsik became the most titled participant in the history of Slovakia.
On February 22, 2019, Skrtel announced his retirement from worldwide soccer at the age of 34, along with other defenders of the national team Tomas Gubochan and striker Adam Nemek. The trio shared a farewell sports celebration on October 13, 2019, in a friendly match against Paraguay, which coincided with the return of the national team to the Pole position after 10 years. Skrtel played in the starting XI as captain and was replaced with the help of Denis Vavro after a few 30 minutes. Vavro is known for calling Skrtel one of his football idols. Slovakia drew 1-1.
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