Andrés D'Alessandro will play his last match as a professional at age 41

The talented Argentine midfielder Andrés D'Alessandro will put an end to his enormous career tomorrow, in the match that Internacional de Porto Alegre, the club of which he is an idol, will play on his court with Fortaleza for the second round of “Brasileirao”, Brazil's first division football tournament.

Born on April 15, 1981, at the age of 41, D'Alessandro made his debut in the First Division in 2000 with the River Plate jersey, which he reached the age of 12 from Argentinos Juniors.

He then played in Wolfsburg (Germany), Portsmouth (England), Zaragoza (Spain), San Lorenzo de Almagro, Nacional (Uruguay) and Inter Porto Alegre, where he is going through his third stage.

With the shirt of the Argentine national team, he was champion in the U20 World Cup that was played in the country in 2001 and won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, in 2004.

On his social networks, and since weeks ago he announced that today would be his farewell, D'Alessandro has been collecting various signs of affection and yesterday he posted a photo of what he called his “last birthday as a football player”.

In addition, he shared an emotional farewell video in which he “breaks” in tears: “It's hard... I prepared so much to be an athlete that it's hard to suddenly accept that it's over.”

The match between Inter and Fortaleza, a team led by Juan Pablo Vojvoda and which comes from losing to River Plate at Monumental for the Copa Libertadores, will start at 18 (Argentine time).

“Hello torcedor colorado. D'Ale here. It's probably the last time I'm talking to you as an athlete, with the red mantle on my body. I wanted to ask you that on April 17, in the game of the second round of Brasileirao, at our home, at Beira Rio, against Fortaleza, you can be in a moment that will be very important for me in my career within the club, in these 14 years of Inter, and a very important moment in my life, in our relationship,” said D'Alessandro at the first part of the images that were recorded in the stands of the Beira Río.

The Porto Alegro team presented D'Alessandro's farewell match as La Última Boba, the move that Andrés patented, which includes a double tread with amague. It should be remembered that this technical gesture was named this way by Eduardo Coudet when Chacho was his teammate in River.

D'Ale's story with the red jersey marks the importance of his time at one of the most important clubs in Brazilian football. In Inter, he won 12 championships: eight of them were state championships and four were international, among which were the 2008 Copa Sudamericana and the 2010 Libertadores, the second in the history of the institution.

D'Alessandro left his mark on the Porto Alegre team with 56 goals and 74 assists. But more importantly, he will retire from football as the second most played player in Inter history with 524 appearances.

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