World Cup winner Schurrle retires

World Cup winner Andre Schurrle has confirmed his retirement at the age of just 29.

Earlier this week the forward's contract at Borussia Dortmund was terminated a year early, Schurrle having made 33 Bundesliga appearances across two seasons for the club before spending campaigns on loan at Fulham and Spartak Moscow. Now he has confirmed he is stepping away from the sport for good. Alongside an Instagram picture of him lifting the World Cup with Germany in 2014, Schurrle wrote:

"I want to let you know that I'm stepping away from playing professional football!! On behalf of myself and my family I want to thank everybody who was a part of these phenomenal years! The support and love you shared with me was unbelievable and more than I could have ever asked for! Now I'm ready and open for all the beautiful possibilities that are coming towards me"

It was Schurrle who delivered the cross from which Mario Gotze scored the extra-time winner in the 2014 World Cup final against Argentina. He won 57 caps for his country, scoring 22 times, and played for Bayer Leverkusen, Chelsea and Wolfsburg prior to joining Dortmund in 2016. However, in an interview with Der Spiegel he explained he had now fallen out of love with the game.

"The decision matured in me for a long time," Schurrle said. "The depths became deeper and the highlights less and less."