Iker Casillas of FC Porto during the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal first-leg match against Liverpool on April 9 in Liverpool, England. Photo: VCG

The end of every soccer season also marks the final whistle for several playing careers. This year is no exception and some of the biggest names in the game have called it a day. 

Iker Casillas

The Spanish goalkeeper is only 38, which is no age at all for a custodian, but a heart attack on the Porto training pitch has forced the stopper to hang up his gloves. Casillas will be remembered most for his time at Real Madrid, where he made 725 appearances, the second most in club history. He also played 167 times for his country since making his debut nearly 20 years ago. Won tournaments everywhere he went, Saint Iker was World and European champion with both club and country.

Robin van Persie

The Flying Dutchman lived up to the name when he scored an outrageous diving header against Spain to help secure the Netherlands a fine 4-0 win over holders Spain in the opening game of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. 

Van Persie courted controversy by moving to Manchester City from Arsenal but he had the last laugh by winning the league.

The striker left Old Trafford for Fenerbahce in Turkey then went back to first club Feyenoord for a final season. He played his last match against ADO Den Haag and left to a standing ovation.

One of the finest technicians of the last 20 years, Van Persie won an FA Cup with Arsenal, Premier League with United and was a runner-up to Spain in the 2010 Fifa World Cup Final, also finishing third in 2014.  

Xavi Hernandez

One of the finest players of his or any generation, the Spanish schemer is best known for his time alongside Andres Iniesta in the heart of the Barcelona midfield.

Xavi was there for the Catalan club's most recent heyday, after coming up through from the club's famed La Masia academy.

He won eight La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League crowns with the Blaugrana, as well as a World Cup and two European Championships.

They are part of a total of 31 trophies for Barcelona and Spain that are only bettered by his longtime partner in crime, Iniesta.

Xavi left the Camp Nou for Qatari side Al Sadd, where he won one league, before calling time this year, in a career that saw him win 133 caps for Spain in a storied career.  

Andrea Barzagli

The defender won the World Cup with Italy despite being perhaps the least proclaimed member of the BBC backline - with Leonardo Bonucci and Domenico Chiellini - in the Juventus backline.

Barzagli had started in Serie D, the fourth tier of the Italian league, and he worked his way up to be one of the country's very best.

He finishes his career with an incredulous eight titles in a row for Juventus, the last one secured this month, and four Coppa Italia trophies.

His time in the black and white stripes also saw him finish as runner-up in the UEFA Champions League twice.

At 38, he has decided to call it a day. 

Petr Cech

An English Premier League stalwart for a decade and a half. The Czech stopper moved to Arsenal from Chelsea in 2015 having spent 11 years at Stamford Bridge.

Cech won four Premier League titles with Chelsea, four FA Cups, three League Cups, a Europa League title and one Champions League.

The keen drummer also recorded a track with Roger Taylor of Queen, as well as becoming famed for a protective helmet that he began to wear after being injured during a game by Reading's Shane Long.

That headgear became a joke, that Cech responded to via Twitter, thanks to the last instalment of the FIFA video game series.

Cech had 124 appearances for his country.

Heurelho Gomes

The Brazilian keeper made his name at PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands before moving to England with Tottenham Hotspur and then Watford.

He reached the UEFA Champions League with his Dutch side and won four Eredivisie titles in a row in Eindhoven, as well as one KNVB Cup.

Gomes was less successful in England, but his cult status was secured with runners-up medals in the League Cup, Football League Championship and this season's FA Cup.

He also won two Confederations Cups as Brazil keeper.

Gomes has ended his career having decided to take up pastoral work as part of his deep Christian faith.

Tim Cahill

A man that ended his career as a legend despite never hitting the heights, Cahill was the finest player of his nation and scored at three different World Cups to prove it.

He made his name at Millwall, taking the lower tier side to the FA Cup final in 2004.

Cahill is his country's all time leading scorer and ended his career with Indian side Jamshedpur earlier this year.

In the meantime he became a cult hero at English sides Everton and Millwall, MLS club New York Red Bulls and even Shanghai Shenhua of the Chinese Super League.

The only trophy of note he won in club soccer, and he came close to many, was the Australian FFA Cup in 2016 with Melbourne City.

Cahill won the AFC Cup with Australia in 2015.  

John O'Shea

The Irish international came through at Manchester United and as a young player his career seemed destined to be at left back, a place in the side long occupied by countryman Denis Irwin.

He was famous for chipping in a goal at Arsenal during a 4-2 win and nutmegging Luis Figo when the side played European royalty Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.

O'Shea's utility was the death of his career at Old Trafford, and after becoming a midfielder and central defender, the Waterford man moved on to Sunderland, where he played over 200 times, and then Reading.

His career ends with 118 caps for Ireland.