Atiba Hutchinson announces plans to retire following Concacaf Nations League finals
Atiba Hutchinson is set to hang up his boots for club and country following the conclusion of the Concacaf Nations League finals, telling OneSoccer "it would be hard" to make it out to the Concacaf Gold Cup later in the summer.
Hutchinson, 40, brought to a close his long tenure at Turkish outfit Besiktas earlier this week, and almost immediately hopped on a plane and made his way to Canada camp for upcoming matches to wrap up the 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League, beginning on Thursday vs. Panama in the semi-finals.
With 334 appearances for Besiktas to compliment his all-time record 103 caps for Canada, Hutchinson has had quite a long and storied career in football. In the interview (video, above), he reflects on those highs and lows, and makes clear he's ready for the next chapter.
What might that be, though?
Our Andi Petrillo reports from training in Las Vegas that there have been talks, at least off-hand, of Atiba remaining a part of the Canada Soccer set-up, though no concrete moves have been made of yet.
Atiba's last dance ✨
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 14, 2023
Our @AndiPetrillo is in Vegas to take in #CanMNT in the #CNL Finals, but the big story in training? Atiba Hutchinson's retirement 🇨🇦
Here's Andi with more details, including a hint, perhaps, at what the future holds and next steps for this Canadian icon 👀 pic.twitter.com/okJYmG9Aag
And, Atlético Ottawa of the Canadian Premier League have made it clear that they'd love to have his signature for one last season back home, should he desire it. But whatever Hutchinson decides, these next two Concacaf Nations League matches will be bittersweet, as Canada look to lift their first trophy since 2000, and the man we know simply as Atiba brings to a close a career spanning decades.
