FILE PHOTO: Malaga's Oguchi Onyewu poses on the bench during an interview with Reuters on the eve of their Champions League soccer match against AC Milan at La Rosaleda stadium in Malaga, southern Spain October 23, 2012. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo

Former United States men’s national team player Oguchi Onyewu announced his retirement on Monday on his Instagram account.

He posted online: “From a lanky kid growing up in Olney MD, to playing for some of the greatest clubs in the world... this sport gave me so much! #Blessed #BeginningAndEnding”

Onyewu, 36, earned 69 caps for the national team and was a member of the 2006 and 2010 World Cup teams. He scored six international goals, making his first national team appearance in 2004 and his last in 2014.

The towering central defender spent most of his professional career in Europe before playing for the MLS Philadelphia Union in 2017. He scored one goal in 22 games.

Onyewu was the 2006 U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year.

--Field Level Media