A 37-year-old EMS Taubaté Funvic outside hitter Dante Amaral announced his retirement at the end of an ongoing season.
“It was a very difficult night to sleep because I’ve been doing this for 22 years and I’m only thinking about volleyball. It’s not easy to handle the emotion and I need to thank all the people who were part of my career, especially my family, friends and my wife who gave all the necessary support to me,” Dante, the 2004 Athens Olympics winner with Brazil national team, said after announcing the end of his career.
“Your head says ‘go’ but, at the same time, your body does not respond as you think. My whole life I thought about ending my career playing volleyball at the level that I imagine I can play, not playing less than I would like. I want to leave a very good image for my fans and for those who follow volleyball,” a three-time FIVB World Championship gold medalist and a seven-time FIVB World League winner, explained he has reached his physical limits for competing.
No.4 Taubaté will start the 2017/18 Superliga playoff quarterfinals against No.5 Minas Tênis Clube at home on March 25.
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This season, he probably never expected that he will start over Lucarelli or Ivovic but injuries happened on those players and he played above his minutes that his body cannot handle anymore. It is still a great year of volleyball for this guy to hang up his boots in Brazil.