Farewell Scholesy... Sportsmail takes a look at the highs and lows of a glittering career

Zinedine Zidane on Scholes:

‘He’s almost untouchable in what he does. I never tire of watching him play. You rarely come across the complete footballer, but Scholes is as close to it as you can get. 
One of my regrets is that the opportunity to play alongside him never presented itself during my career.’

It all started in a League Cup tie at Port Vale on an autumnal evening in 1994 and ended 17 years later in the bright lights of a Champions League final against Barcelona at Wembley.

After celebrating his 24th club medal in a glittering career at the pinnacle of the game, Manchester United’s Paul Scholes has called it a day having made 676 appearances for his only team. He has become a true legend at Old Trafford.

Scholes has been an integral part of United’s success under Sir Alex Ferguson and he also notched up 66 caps for England in a seven-year international career.

Here, Sportsmail looks back at some of the highlights (and the lowlights) of the 36-year-old’s journey in football.

Farewell: Paul Scholes will be sorely missed

Best goal

Treble winners United were at Bradford on March 25 2000 and in typical fashion displayed an exhibition of football that saw them destroy their opponents 4-0.

Scholes’ stinging volley was the highlight of the show as he hit David Beckham’s corner first-time past Matt Clarke with such venom that Dwight Yorke had to take drastic evasive action.

Other contenders include a similarly well struck volley against Aston Villa in December 2006 and his opportunistic effort from 25-yards that sent Manchester United to the Champions League final at Barcelona’s expense in 2008.

Best United moment

His hat-trick in a 6-2 win at Newcastle in April 2003 came during arguably his most impressive season where he notched 20 goals from 52 games.

Hat-trick: Scholes celebrates his third at St James' Park in 2003

The treble at St James’ Park was a pivotal moment in the campaign as it came against a Toon side that would go on to finish third in the table. It was a key game in a fine late season run that saw United snatch the league title from under Arsenal’s noses.

His two goals on his debut against Port Vale gave him a perfect springboard on to future success, while he will also take personal satisfaction from scoring an injury time winner at rivals Manchester City in 2010.

Xavi Hernandez on Scholes:

‘In the last 15 to 20 years the best central midfielder that I have seen - the most complete - is Scholes. If he had been Spanish then maybe he would have been valued more.’

Worst United moment

Missing the entire second-half of the 2005/06 season due to an eye injury, followed by three months out with knee ligament damage a year later. The class was still there afterwards but his body could no longer deliver every single week.

Being absent for  the 1999 Champions League final was also a severe blow but he found redemption nine years later when he started in the final win against Chelsea.

Scholes was also criticised for making a high number of reckless tackles in his career, only Lee Bowyer and Robbie Savage have earned a higher number than his 89 Premier League yellow cards.

Worst moment? Scholes is booked against Juventus in 1999 - ruling him out of the Champions League final

Best England moment

Is fully responsible for ensuring England maintain some bragging rights over Scotland after scoring twice at Hampden Park in 1999 that helped secure a 2-1 aggregate win in a Euro 2000 play-off.

Earlier in the campaign Scholes also scored the first England hat-trick for six years in a 3-1 win over Poland at Wembley – Kevin Keegan’s first game in charge. He would go on to feature as one of the more consistent performers in an otherwise deeply disappointing era for the Three Lions under Keegan.

He would score on his World Cup debut in a 2-0 win over Tunisia at France 98 as well as find the net in his penultimate game for England – a crucial equaliser against Croatia at Euro 2004.

Thierry Henry on Scholes:

‘For me the best player, and every time we [Arsenal] used to play against Manchester United, we always used to be scared of Paul Scholes. For me, he was the best I have seen in the Premiership in the middle of the park.’

Worst England moment

Was harshly shoved to the left side of the midfield at Euro 2004 to accommodate for the new Frank Lampard/Steven Gerrard partnership under Sven Goran Eriksson.

It led to his international retirement and a biennial national debate over whether the Chelsea and Liverpool midfielders could play together.

He regrets not answering Fabio Capello’s emergency World Cup call last summer where he could have come in and been the driving force in a midfield that was a shambles at best in South Africa.

Finest hour: Scholes rises to head home his second goal against Scotland at Hampden Park in 1999