Injury forces Overmars to retire

HOLLAND star Marc Overmars has retired at the age of 31 because of a chronic knee injury.

“I can no longer play at the level I set myself,” said the Barcelona player who had been released at the end of the season.

Overmars, capped 86 times for Holland for whom he scored 17 goals, joined Barcelona from Arsenal in 2000 after making his name with Ajax Amsterdam from 1992 to 1997.

He won the European Championship with Holland in 1988 but says his greatest goal was in Arsenal’s 2-0 FA Cup final win over Newcastle in 1998 which clinched the league and Cup double.