Former Dutch International and Liverpool attacker Ryan Babel has announced retirement from the game at age 37.
Babel played his last official match in August 2023 for Turkish club EyĆ¼pspor. He left Turkey in September of that year and since then the attacker has only occasionally participated in charity matches.
Babel played 69 international matches for Oranje, in which he scored ten goals. Babel was part of the Oranje selection for many years, but only played minutes at one final tournament, that was the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where he played 35 minutes in the group match against Argentina.
Babel was also part of the selection that reached the final in South Africa in 2010. However, the Amsterdammer did not play a single minute there. Babel’s last international match was in 2021.
Babel also had a rich club career. He started his career at Ajax, where he returned twice. In 2004 and 2013 he became champion with the Amsterdammers. He also won the KNVB Cup with Ajax in 2006 and 2007.
Babel played for Liverpool, Besiktas and Galatasaray. With Besiktas he was crowned Turkish champion in 2017. The European title with Jong Oranje in 2007 is also on his list of honours.
