Soccer: De Rossi hangs up boots

(ANSA) - Rome, January 7 - Former Roma skipper and Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi is hanging up his boots at the age of 36.
    De Rossi is leaving Boca Juniores halfway through a one-year contract he signed after leaving the Giallorossi last summer.
    The Roma great said he wanted to spend more time with his family.
    "My daughter needs me," he said, referring to the 14-year-old girl he had from his ex-wife and who he has custody of, Gaia.
    De Rossi said he wants to stay in the football world and one day even manage a team.
    "Leaving playing football has been very hard for me but now I want to stay in this world and coach," he said.
    De Rossi is the second last of the Germany 2006 World Cup winners to stop playing, with Juve keeper Gigi Buffon the only one now still active.
    As for Boca, De Rossi said "everyone welcomed me like a brother and I leave a piece of my heart here too".
    But De Rossi will be forever identified with Roma, where he was long "Future Captain" while fellow great Francesco Totti was playing, until becoming captain in his last three years with the Roman club.
    De Rossi played 459 times for Roma between 2001 and 2019, scoring 43 goals.
    He won 117 Italy caps between 2004 and 2017, and scored 21 goals for his country, the 12th-highest scorer for the Azzurri.