TFC captain Frings announces retirement

TORONTO – The mystery over the future of Toronto FC captain Torsten Frings has finally been cleared up.

He’s retiring.

The 36-year-old former German international is calling it a career after 18 seasons, formally announcing his retirement during a Tuesday morning press conference at BMO Field.

A tough and physical midfielder on the field, Frings cited a lingering hip injury that he re-aggravated earlier this month as the reason for his retirement. He also claimed his body was broken down and too weak to carry on.

“It’s an emotional day for me because I decided to retire. I think it’s the best for the club and for me because I need too much time to get 100 per cent fit again,” Frings told reporters.

He later added: “I think it’s the best for because I have a life after my soccer career.”

Kevin Payne, the club’s president and general manager, called it a sad day but understood Frings’ decision.

“Anytime a player as accomplished as Torsten reaches the end of his career, soccer loses a little something. Toronto FC certainly loses a lot with our captain stepping away,” Payne stated.

Frings will remain in Toronto for a short period of time before eventually returning to his native Germany. Payne said Frings will continue to work with TFC, helping the club form a relationship with Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen (one of Frings’ former clubs) and act as a scout for German talent. Frings revealed he plans to take courses and coaching licenses with an eye towards becoming a coach.

Frings’ future at TFC became the hot topic of discussion earlier this month when the club said he left pre-season training camp in Florida and returned to Toronto for personal reasons. That led to speculation that the German midfielder was not fully recovered from hip surgery and that TFC was looking to buy out the final year of his contract.

With a salary of $2.43-million, Frings was the highest-paid Toronto FC player in 2012, although only $350,000 of that counted against the cap. With Frings gone, that valuable cap space is now freed up, as is another designated player spot on the roster.

MLS teams are allowed to buy out one player from his contract per season. And although Payne declined to comment if that’s what happened, the fact he admitted this frees up salary cap space and a DP roster spot suggests that they did, in fact, buy the German out of his contract.

Frings saw his 2012 MLS season cut short last September with a hip injury. He underwent surgery but last month he told local reporters that he was fully fit and would be ready to play on the opening day of the new MLS campaign. He also reaffirmed that he was looking forward to playing in the final season of his contract with TFC.

So what changed between now and January?

“After my surgery I tried to get fit, and I ran a lot and worked out a lot. But during the pre-season amp in Orlando I (hurt) my hip again. I can’t help the club if I’m not 100 per cent fit. I need too much time,” Frings said.

Newly acquired veteran Brazilian Julio Cesar will likely fill Frings’ holding midfield role.

Eric Hassli, another DP, was traded to FC Dallas earlier this month for a draft pick. Dutch striker Koevermans is the last DP on TFC’s roster but he’s still recovering from knee surgery, and is not expected to return to the line-up until June at the earliest.

Frings joined Toronto FC along with Koevermans in June 2011. With 79 caps for Germany to his credit and having played at the 2002 and 2006 World Cup, Frings was easily Toronto’s most high-profile and accomplished designated player.

Injuries restricted Frings to 33 league games during his tenure with the club, as he struggled to display the deft touch and sublime passing skills that made him a star earlier in his career with Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

His experience, presence and leadership also wasn’t enough to prevent the team from finishing in last place during the 2012 MLS season, suffering one of the worst campaigns in league history as it failed to make the playoffs for a sixth consecutive year.

There was some modest success, namely a 2012 Canadian club championship, and he helped the Toronto become the first team to reach the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions League.

But even though he didn’t reach his best form with the Reds or help the team qualify for the post-season, the German said he didn’t regret his decision to play the final years of his career in Toronto.

Frings recalled a COCNACAF Champions League game against the LA Galaxy at the Rogers Centre last year and another Champions League affair in Nicaragua versus Real Esteli as two of his personal highlights of his tenure with TFC.

He also had great things to say about the city of Toronto, a city he loved because it afforded him anonymity when walking the streets, unlike back home in Germany.

“It’s a great city. I love Toronto. … I want to come back every year maybe for vacation. It was a great experience for me, a great opportunity to play for this franchise,” Frings said.

Payne confirmed that a new team captain hasn’t been named, and that it will be up to new coach Ryan Nelsen to choose Frings’ successor.

“It’s not possible for us to replace the experience and the leadership qualities that Torsten brought to our team. … (Players like Frings) don’t grow on trees. We’re going to have ask other players to step up and assume a greater responsibility,” Payne said.

Toronto opens the news MLS season on the road against the Vancouver Whitecaps on March 2.

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