Match of the Day star Hansen to quit show

He said: “I am contracted to do the World Cup and I will do that as it will be a good way to go out, but I have had a great run.

“I’ve been in football for 41 years and I’m going out right at the top, just as I did at Liverpool.

“The plan was always that I would retire at 55. I kept going, but I finally decided to retire during Euro 2012.

“I had just signed a two-year contract and felt that, by the end of it, I would have had enough. But I have worked for a great organisation with wonderful people on the most fantastic programme.”

Fellow football pundits paid tribute to him after the announcement yesterday.

Match of the Day anchorman Gary Lineker described Hansen as “consistently the best, opinionated, knowledgeable and tactically superb”.