Lilian Thuram: A Farewell To One Of The Best

France legend Lilian Thuram has confirmed his retirement from football at the age of 36. The decision follows the breakdown of his proposed transfer to Paris Saint-Germain due to the discovery of a cardiac malformation.

In my opinion this is a huge loss to the game of football. Thuram was a true great of the game and he will be sorely missed from it.

The former Juventus and Barcelona man has played more games for France than any other player in history (142), and is up there in the top five players the country has ever seen. Yes, he is up there with Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini in my opinion.

A huge part of France's "Golden Era," I wouldn't just put him up there with the best French players of all time, but one of the best players of all time.

I think he is the second best right back to ever grace the game, behind only Cafu and narrowly ahead of Carlos Alberto. And the fact that he was just as good in the centre of defence shows his pure quality.

One of Thuram's great strengths was his longevity, shown by the record he holds for amount of appearances in European Championship matches, with 16, and also the huge amount of caps he has amassed.

He is a highly decorated player as well. At international level he was an integral part of France winning the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championships in 2000, as well as helping them to another World Cup final in 2006.

In his early career with Monaco he won the Coupe de France, followed by a UEFA Cup, Coppa Italia and Italian Super Cup at Parma.

A big money move to Juventus saw more trophies go Thuram's way, including four Serie A titles (two of which were later stripped due to the match fixing scandal), and two more Italian Super Cups.

He signed for newly crowned Champion of Europe Barcelona in 2006 where he won a Spanish Super Cup in his first season.

He was also given the honour of being named in Pele's 125 Greatest living footballers countdown.

He truly was a great of France and a great of football and it really is a shame to see him be forced out prematurely, despite him being 36.

It is also a shame we never got to see him in the EPL. I think he could have flourished here in England.

But the footballing world will have to say goodbye to one of the greatest defenders it has ever seen.

Goodbye, Lilian Thuram!