Former Germany defender Marcell Jansen has quit professional football at the age of just 29 following his release by Hamburg.
In 2007, Jansen had the world at his feet when he joined Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich having been part of the Germany squad which finished third at the 2006 World Cup on home soil and he played in the Euro 2008 final when Germany lost to Spain.
But having failed to break into Bayern’s first-team, Jansen was sold to Hamburg in 2008 where he has spent recent seasons battling relegation. His decision to quit came despite offers from England’s Everton and Benfica Lisbon.
The left-back says he now just wants to play football as a hobby and refuses to play half-heartedly for a new club just to further his career.
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"I've been thinking about things a lot during the summer break," Jansen told daily newspaper Bild, having made 242 appearances in Germany's top flight.
“There were great offers. But, for me, moving on is not an option.
“I could not play somewhere for two or three years where I do not stand behind it 100 per cent.
“I can’t suddenly kiss another badge now.
“Recently, football has been my job, but I’m looking forward to getting it back again as a hobby.”
Jansen won the last of his 45 caps for Germany in March 2014, when he started in a 1-0 friendly win over Chile, and although he was included in Joachim Joachim Low’s provisional World Cup squad, he was cut from the final group which went on to win Brazil 2014.
Having already set up his own company and started a gym-clothes line, Jansen is already thinking about a new career.
“I’d like to get involved with a start-up business, for example, it’s something I have been dreaming of with 100 percent passion,” he said.
“In 11 years of Bundesliga, I have been lucky enough to have earned good money, which means I am free to decide my next step.”
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
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Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
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About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
