Former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Emmanuel Petit has decided to bring an end to his career after failing to recover from persistent injury problems.
The 34-year-old had trained for a few weeks with the Gunners at the end of last year but failed to regain full fitness.
"Just before Christmas I became certain that I would never get back to my physical level," Petit announced today.
"I knew it was over."
Petit won 63 caps for France, most memorably scoring the third and last goal in the 1998 World Cup final win over Brazil, and was also a member of the squad which won Euro 2000.
He started out with Monaco but it was his move to Arsenal which kickstarted his career. Alongside Patrick Vieira, he played a prominent part in the Gunners' double-winning season in 1997-8.
He then moved on to Barcelona before returning to London to play for Chelsea whom he left last summer.
Petit added: "As a whole I am obviously very proud of my career. The only regret I have is to have finished it because of injuries like Marco van Basten or Glenn Hoddle.
"As a competitor it's very hard to come to terms with."
