Andre Schurrle retires: Five footballers who retired at an early age

Bengaluru, July 20: Andre Schurrle became the latest footballer to announce his retirement from the game this week. It was an unexpected decision from a player who was only 29.

From assisting the winning goal of a World Cup final, receiving a Premier League winners medal at Chelsea and plying trade in some of the best clubs in the world, he surely achieved many things at an early age. But for the last few years, his takes were low with lower-ranked Fulham and Spartak Moscow. This could have been a reason behind his decision or could be any personal circumstances or a loss of love for the game.

Nevertheless, like him, there are other instances as well where footballers have hung up their boots prematurely. Here is a list of such five top footballers who retired from the game out of love or were forced due to injuries:

Marco van Basten

Van Basten is widely considered as one of the best Dutch players of all time, but his career sadly was cut short because of some tormenting injury problems. Injuries forced him to retire at the age of 28. But he looked extremely promising at that age already. He won three league titles with Ajax and later the same with AC Milan with two Champions league scoring 218 goals in 280 appearances. If injuries hadn't restricted his career, he could've played at the top for years to come.

Eric Cantona

Just before turning 31, the Frenchman stepped down from the game while he was at the highest level. The Frenchman was the main catalyst of United's success in the nineties, the key ingredient in ending their 26-year long wait for a league title. But in 1997, he made the shock decision to hang up his boots with four Premier League titles, two FA Cups and one FWA Player of the Year award.

Just Fontaine

The French forward is still in the history books for his 13 goal heroics in a single world cup - 1958. He was a star player for Reims as well helping them win three league titles. But he too was forced to retire at 28 years and 11 months old because of a recurring injury.

Brian Laudrup

His brother Michael Laudrup may be more popular among the two, but both almost shared the same state of success. He won league titles in three different countries, as well as the Champions League with AC Milan. He also helped Norway claim a shocking Euro 92 title and the Confederations Cup in 1995. However, his career too was cut short due to injuries. Injuries forced him into retirement in 2000 at the age of just 31.

Hidetoshi Nakata

Probably one of the best ever Asian to play in Europe, the Japanese midfielder has had great success early in his career winning the Scudetto in 2001 with AS Roma, and the Coppa Italia with Parma in 2002. But he soon had a loss of love for the game and retired at the age of 29 only. After leaving the game he joined the entertainment industry as a model.