SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Former Brazil and Barcelona star Rivaldo officially retired on Saturday after a 24-year career that he said was built "upon a miracle" that allowed him to overcome financial challenges and disappointments. The 41-year-old midfielder, a World Cup winner with Brazil in 2002, hadnt been playing at a top level for several years and finally decided to end his career with an announcement on his Twitter and Instagram accounts. FIFAs player of the year in 1999, Rivaldo had been playing sparingly for minnow Brazilian club Mogi Mirim. He is expected to remain as the president of Mogi Mirim, where his 18-year-old son is now playing. "With tears in my eyes today I would like first to thank God, my family and all the support (and) the affection that I received during those 24 years as a player," Rivaldo said in a statement published both in Portuguese and in English. "Today, I communicate to all my fans in the world (that) my history as a player came to the end." The talented playmaker thrived in Brazil and abroad in the 1990s, winning two Spanish league titles with Barcelona and the 2003 Champions League trophy with AC Milan, which was his last top European club, before spending time in Greece and finally returning to Brazilian football four years ago. The last top team he played in Brazil was Sao Paulo in 2011, but he was released after an unsuccessful stint in which he played only a few matches as a starter. Before rejoining Mogi Mirim, the team that launched him to the national scene in 1994, Rivaldo played for Kabuscorp in Angola and then for Sao Caetano in Brazil, which he left last year citing knee pain. In his statement, Rivaldo mentioned the hardships that he had to overcome early in his career. He said there were "many obstacles, challenges, waivers, longings, disappointments," but also "much greater joys, achievements, growth (and) change" that allowed a "distant dream" to come true. "I built my career upon a miracle, (living) in (the small city of) Paulista, no financial resources, no businessman, incentives only of my family, discredited by doctors and trainers," he said. "With persistence, dedication and especially with the hand of God, I came to be recognized as the best player in the world, world champion." Along with his statement, Rivaldo published a photo of him with tears in his eyes and another of him alongside his son, Rivaldo Jr. Last month, they got to play together in a Mogi Mirim match and Rivaldo said he fulfilled a longtime dream. Rivaldo also played in the 1998 World Cup, when Brazil was runner-up to France. With the Selecao, he also won the 1997 Confederations Cup, the 1999 Copa America and a bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Rivaldo also previously played for traditional Brazilian clubs Palmeiras and Corinthians, as well as for Deportivo La Coruna in Spain, Olympiacos and AEK Athens in Greece, and Bunyodkor in Uzbekistan. 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Vincent Trocheck Jersey . - Buffalo Bills running back C.MIAMI -- It was arguably the signature moment of Alonzo Mournings career. He blocked a shot in the final minutes of Game 6 of the 2006 NBA Finals, then wriggled on the floor in what appeared to be celebration for a few seconds. Turns out, it was anger. Mourning was unimpressed by his chase-down block of Dallas Jason Terry with 8:55 left in the game where the Miami Heat would clinch their first NBA title. Instead, his memorable air-punching, arms-flailing reaction was borne from how Heat teammate Gary Payton had thrown the ball away seconds earlier and then argued with a referee at such a critical moment in the game. His fire was on full display in that moment. And it was that fire that led him to the Basketball Hall of Fame "So I had to sprint back to try to cover his butt for making that mistake, and I was mad," Mourning said. "Then I got up and I was like, Gary, what are you doing, man? Oh, I was mad. Maybe like two people really know why I was acting that way. The thing is, I was cursing Gary out. Thats what happened." After a career where he averaged 17.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocked shots, the 6-foot-10 Mourning will be part of the class enshrined in Springfield, Massachusetts on Friday night, when the surest bet in sports will be that his speech will exceed the 10-minute recommendation he was given for his remarks. "I think I deserve it," Mourning said, laughing. Few would disagree. He was a seven-time All-Star, is one of only eight players to win the defensive player of the year award at least twice, an Olympic gold medallist and has already had his No. 33 jersey retired by the Heat in a star-studded ceremony that went way longer than planned, slightly raising the ire of an Orlando Magiic team that wasnt planning on a never-ending halftime that night in 2009.dddddddddddd "He had to be the first one to have his jersey retired by this franchise," Heat President Pat Riley said. "He earned that, many times over." But Mournings story is more about the journey than any statistic or award. He was raised by a foster mother who took him and 48 other kids into her home. From there, Mourning became a star at Georgetown, then an NBA icon who couldnt even be derailed by a kidney disease that necessitated a transplant while still in the prime of his career, and finally a champion with the Heat. "You dont think about going to the Hall of Fame. Its your reward," Mourning said. "This was the last thing on my mind. I had an amazing career. The journey was spectacular for me, personally. If no one else saw it that way, then so be it." Mourning, 44, will be presented by John Thompson, his coach at Georgetown, and Riley, his coach with the Heat. Thompson and Riley are two of the people who Mourning credits most for making him what he is. The other is Fannie Threet, the foster mother who died last year at the age of 98 and the person who Mourning speaks with more reverence for than anyone else. Thompson, Riley and the woman he still calls "Miss Threet" might seem like three wildly different people, but Mourning sees parallels in them all -- mainly discipline, devotion and a balance between toughness and compassion. Add them up, you get Mourning, who plans to spend his speech thanking just about everyone he can remember. "Its the pinnacle of the sport," Mourning said. "And outside of the birth of my children and winning a championship, its the pinnacle of it all." 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