Portland Timbers winger Steve Zakuani announced his retirement from professional soccer on Wednesday via his Web site.
At 26 years old, Zakuani recently completed his sixth MLS season, the first five with the Seattle Sounders, but has been limited to just 39 league games over the past four seasons (compared to 58 in his first two years) due to a series of injuries.
"When my career became more about the injections, MRIs, surgeries, doctors visits, painkillers and limited physical capabilities than the playing, enjoyment, love and passion for the game, I knew it was time to call it a day," Zakuani said in a message written on SteveZakuani.com.
Selected No. 1 overall in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft by the then-expansion Sounders, Zakuani led MLS rookies in goals and assists in 2009 and was a finalist for the league's Rookie of the Year award. He set career highs with 10 goals and six assists in league play in 2010 and added one goal in the postseason. Zakuani was a key contributor in Seattle's runs to the 2009 and 2010 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup titles.
He suffered a broken right tibia and fibula on April 22, 2011, on a tackle by Colorado Rapids midfielder Brian Mullan, who was red-carded on the play and received an additional nine-game suspension. Since then, Zakuani has battled recurring injuries, returning to the field and playing in Seattle's postseason run in 2012 but making only eight regular-season appearances in 2013.
Zakuani was selected by the Timbers in Stage 1 of the December 2013 Re-Entry Draft and appeared in 17 league games for the Timbers in 2014, contributing three assists.
A native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo who was raised in London, England, Zakuani played two years of college soccer at the University of Akron under current Timbers head coach Caleb Porter.
