Former France and West Ham midfielder Payet retires from football

[p]The 38-year-old, who has been without ‌a club for nine months following a stint with ‌Brazilian side [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/vasco/2RABlYFn/"]Vasco da Gama[/a], made ‌the announcement during an emotional live interview ‌at half-time of the Ligue 1 match ‌between hosts [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/marseille/SblU3Hee/"]Marseille[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/lille/pfDZL71o/"]Lille[/a] at the Stade Velodrome.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/payet-dimitri/8QcadiBC/"]Payet[/a] struggled to contain his tears ‌as he confirmed the decision ⁠at the home ‌of the club where he enjoyed his most ​successful years across two separate spells.[/b][/p][p]The Reunion-born player began his professional career ​at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/nantes/veuetnGG/"]FC Nantes[/a] in 2005. He went on to earn 38 caps for France, scoring ⁠eight goals, ​and was a prominent member of the squad that reached the final of the European Championship in 2016, where they were defeated ‌1-0 by Portugal after extra time.[/p][embed guid="ad942f58-fef7-4a60-bdb3-cc56f595020f" url="https://x.com/Footballtweet/status/2035770079770480654" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"I want to take two minutes to thank everybody - to thank all those who shared these 20 years with me. It was something exceptional," he said.[/b][/p][p][b]"I come from an island and my dream was to become a professional. I made it and did it ‌for 20 years at the highest ​level. I managed to play for the ‌national squad, and today is the end of a beautiful journey."[/b][/p][p]Despite a career without a major trophy, Payet established himself as a premier set-piece specialist at both ⁠Marseille and ⁠Premier League side [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/west-ham/Cxq57r8g/"]‌West Ham United[/a].[/p]