Toronto FC midfielder Torsten Frings has called his retirement from professional football.
The 36-year old former Germany international has drawn the curtain on a career spanning close to two decades which saw him represent five clubs with pride.
Frings has been battling an ongoing hip injury and felt it was the right time to end his contract with TFC after arriving in June 2011.
"It's an emotional day for me," said Frings. "I think it's the best for the club and for me. I think I need too much time to get 100% fit again. So we decided to do this. That's it.
"I felt it pretty fast after one or two training sessions. I thought maybe it would get better every day, but it was not the case. That's why I left (pre-season training in) Orlando because I wanted to think about everything."
Frings started his career with Alemannia Aachen back in 1994 before moving onto Werder Bremen in 2007. He made over 300 appearances for Bremen in two stints either side of time spent with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich prior to making the move to MLS in 2011.
