Javier Zanetti has written an open letter to Inter fans all over the world thanking them for nearly two decades of support.

The Argentine defender has played his last game for the Nerazzurri after a 19-year stay at San Siro.

And following retirement from the game, the 40-year-old has sent a heart-felt thanks to supporters of the club and the Argentina national team.

Javier Zanetti has written an open letter to Inter fans all over the world thanking them for nearly two decades of support.

The Argentine defender has played his last game for the Nerazzurri after a 19-year stay at San Siro.

And following retirement from the game, the 40-year-old has sent a heart-felt thanks to supporters of the club and the Argentina national team.

“Dear Inter fans and sports fans around the world: thank you!” the letter read of Inter’s official website.

“Thank you for having supported my family and me with your warm and loving embrace and your friendship and respect in my final matches on the pitch. It’s a beautiful lesson as regards both sport and emotion!

“Thank you!

“In my life as a footballer I put in a lot of effort when it came to training, the pitch, my relationship with the fans, in the gym after injuries and with my PUPI Foundation. During all this time I always believed that football was not only the greatest sport and the job that brings the most happiness, but that it is also functions as a school that teaches values and feelings, whether it be a game between a few friends or a match being broadcast around the world.

“This is what my father taught me when I worked with him as a bricklayer. And it’s what you have taught me with your love and support!

“Dear Inter fans, you will always remain in my heart, with our colours, our flags and our style. I hope to serve the club as a director as I did on the pitch wearing the number 4: a captain both on and off the pitch. In our trophy-winning days and our forgettable periods, we always stuck together as Interisti, and that is how we shall remain. 

“Dear Argentina fans, I had the honour of wearing the Albiceleste shirt as a captain. With you I await another victory and I will always be a fan. Just as it was when I was a child, jumping up and down on my mother’s sofa with each goal. 

“Dear team-mates who saluted me with your embraces – the same embraces we shared so many times on the pitch after a beautiful victory – and dear fans of the opposing teams. It is sporting rivalry that makes winning so great, and renders losing acceptable. Facing off on the pitch makes sport a model for life. It is where individuals do not count, but rather the team, and where goals scored and let in always provide a lesson. 

“So I say thanks. This captain salutes you, but he’s not hanging up his boots: the never-ending game has only just begun!”

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