Deco's decision to quit was his own: Fluminense

Deco

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 27 (IANS): Fluminense have denied that former Portugal midfielder Deco was pushed into retirement.

Deco Monday ended his decorated career, admitting his body could no longer cope with playing, reports Xinhua.

Fluminense’s football vice president Sandro Lima said the club had no influence on the decision.

“It was a personal decision,” Lima said.

“It’s always difficult for a player at the highest level to stop playing but we respect his decision and lament it due to everything that he has done for Fluminense.”

The announcement followed a string of injuries that reduced Deco to just five appearances in the Campeonato Brasileiro this season.

He has also been the subject of controversy after testing positive to a banned diuretic earlier this year.

Deco faces a retrial before a Rio sports tribunal next month after prosecutors appealed a 30-day ban already served by the 36-year-old.

In the original sentence, a panel accepted that Deco had unwittingly taken the substance in a vitamin supplement.

Deco expressed his gratitude to Fluminense, where he won two Brazilian league titles after joining the club from Chelsea in August 2010.

“It was a very happy period for me at Fluminense and I would like to have helped the club more this season, but my body would not let me,” the former playmaker said in a written statement.

Deco, who was capped 75 times for Portugal, is one of only nine players to have won the UEFA Champions League with two different clubs — Porto (2004) and Barcelona (2006).