Barcelona and Argentina striker Sergio Aguero broke down in tears as he announced his retirement from football on Wednesday due to a heart condition, bringing the curtain down on an 18-year career during which he scored more than 400 goals.

Aguero, 33, was taken to hospital on October 30 after experiencing chest pain and breathing difficulties in Barcelona’s 1-1 draw with Alaves.

The club announced a few days later that he would be out for at least three months following cardiac analysis before doctors advised him not to play again.

“This news conference is to communicate that I’ve decided to stop playing soccer. It’s a very hard moment but I’m at peace with the decision I made,” Aguero told a gathering at the Camp Nou.

“It’s a decision that I made to preserve my health. It’s what the doctors said to me, that it would be better to stop playing. I made the decision around 10 days ago.

“I’m very proud of my career, it was a dream come true. I just wanted to be a professional player and never thought that I would play in Europe.”

“The first weeks (after the diagnosis) were really hard. When I took the first physical tests after the incident... the doctors told me that there was a big possibility I could not play again,” Aguero added.

“So I started to process it, that I could never play professional football again. When they gave me the definite diagnosis, I was prepared. It hurts, of course, it was a really difficult process to go through, but I’m good now.

“I’m positive about it... That I can live my life happy after professional football, that nothing more serious happened. Now I can live a normal life and do other

things with my family as a regular guy.”