Real Betis defender Sokratis announces his retirement at the end of the season | OneFootball

Real Betis head into a crunch match on Sunday evening against Real Sociedad, in a tie where the winner is likely to gain a spot in the Europa League next season.

Ahead of the tie however, Greek defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos announced his intention to retire once the season finishes.

The 35-year-old, who has been at Betis for only one season, is well known for his stints at Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal but has played in Greece and Italy as well.

Highlights of Sokratis’ career include winning the FA Cup with Arsenal in 2020 and winning the DFB-Pokal with Dortmund in 2017.

He has two matches to go before he officially hangs up the boots, however, as his Betis side faces Real Sociedad as previously mentioned, before heading to the Bernabéu to face Real Madrid in the final match of the season.

A career spanning 573 games and 26 goals across five countries is nothing to sneeze at, and a total of 90 caps for Greece makes him their seventh most-capped player of all time.

GSFN | Ciaran Currie