A day after helping Spanish club Malaga secure a spot in the UEFA Champions League next season, former Dutch international striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy has announced his retirement.

Van Nistelrooy, 35, scored 35 goals in 70 appearances for the Netherlands while representing his country at the 2004 and 2008 European Championships and the the 2006 World Cup. At the club level, he played for Den Bosch, Heerenveen and PSV before joining Manchester United, for which he scored 150 goals in 219 matches from 2001 to 2006 while it won a Premier League title and an FA Cup.

With Real Madrid, he scored 46 goals in 68 games and won two La Liga titles. He played the 2010-11 season for Hamburg before moving to Malaga, for which he scored four goals in 28 matches last season.

At a press conference, Van Nistelrooy said, "Yesterday was my final game as a professional footballer. I wanted to play in the Champions League, but it is the moment to leave. I have arrived at my physical limit and I can't play at the maximum level. I couldn't have had a better send-off than this."