Former France & Barcelona Defender Eric Abidal Calls Time on Odds-Defying Career

So much of Eric Abidal's playing career has been remarkable—the stuff of myth. But on Friday, at the age of 35, the defender announced his retirement.

His final match was on Wednesday, in which he played the full 90 minutes of Olympiakos' 2-0 win over Panionios.

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Eric Abidal has retired from football. He will become a coach at Barcelona's academy. pic.twitter.com/RsqliYguYy

— All Football News (@AllFootballLive) December 18, 2014"

Abidal joined Olympiakos on a two-year contract during the summer, but on Thursday manager Michel told Nova TV that the Frenchman had already made his decision to retire back in October, according to ESPN FC.

"I am proud to have been his coach this season," Michel added. "Personal decisions take precedent over those on the pitch."

It's expected Abidal will take on a coaching role with Barcelona's academy. It was during his time at Camp Nou, after all, that he experienced both the highs of on-field success and the lows of a health crisis.

In March 2011 the then-31-year-old was found to have a tumour in his liver. After undergoing surgery, he was rallied around by the entire football world, and even Real Madrid—Barcelona's eternal rival—posted a message of support on its stadium scoreboard.

Two months later, Abidal was starting the Champions League final against Manchester United, and following Barcelona's 3-1 victory, captain Carles Puyol gave him the armband so he could be the first of his teammates to lift the trophy.

It was the France international's second European Cup, and by then he had also won three La Liga titles, a trio of Ligue 1 championships with previous club Lyon and a pair of Copas del Rey.

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

But a year on from his initial liver procedure he required a transplant, after which he spent two months in hospital. This time a comeback to football was rather less certain, and it wasn't until the following October that he was able to resume training.

Nevertheless, Abidal persevered, and in April 2013 he returned to first-team action with Barcelona.

The following season he signed with Monaco, where he had first played professionally. He made 26 Ligue 1 appearances as the principality outfit finished runners-up to Paris Saint-Germain and qualified for the Champions League.

Michael Regan/Getty Images

In July he made the move to Greece, but despite agreeing to a two-year pact he quickly resolved to retire before 2015.

Whether his body—challenged with so much in recent years—simply couldn't hold up to the rigours of day-to-day football any longer, or if he was merely eager to get into coaching at La Masia, will be revealed in due course.

On Friday, Abidal would only acknowledge that he knew the time had come—that his mind and body were no longer in it.

"The reasons are personal," he said (per Yahoo). "Every top-level player understands that there comes a time and my time has come."

On his future, he added: "Now what I want to do is rest and enjoy spending time with my family and then I will take some decisions as far as my future is concerned."

Whatever the case, he will leave the game with a legacy of someone who loved football so much that he overcame the odds to come back to it not once, but twice, and at the very highest level.