Amavubi and AS Kigali right-back Michel Rusheshangoga surprised football fans when he announced his retirement from the game at just 26 on Monday, December 28.

"I want to take this opportunity to say goodbye to football and thank all my teammates. I am now about to start a new life different from football,” he told Times Sport in an interview.

The right-back has been one of the mainstays of AS Kigali, a club that is competing both on the local and continental stage.

Rusheshangoga has featured for the national team level since 2009 at all levels in the U-17, U-20 and senior Amavubi teams.

His first international match was a friendly between Rwanda and Ghana in 2010 where the Black starlets trounced the junior wasps 5-0.

And as preparation for the 2011 Africa U-17 Youth Championships that was supposed to be hosted in Kigali, Ferwafa sent the U-17 team to the 2010 CECAFA U-20 Championships held in Asmara.

Rusheshangoga was part of that team that finished fourth behind champions Uganda, hosts Eritrea and Kenya.

He was also part of the Amavubi youth team that competed at the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico.

On club level, he featured for local outfits including Isonga and APR as well as Tanzanian side Singida United.

Recently, he received a call-up to the national team that is gearing-up for the African Nations Championship (CHAN), a continental showpiece that will take place in January 2021 in Cameroon.

The defender is understood to be on the way to the United States of America to be with his young family and he is not expected to play football while in the U.S