The sad end/ He won 16 trophies with Bayern, the former European champion "hangs up his boots"

2022-09-07 09:22:51, Sport CNA

The once great defender of Bayern and the representative of Germany, Holger Badstuber, has been forced to end his career even though he was expected to play much longer and achieve even greater successes in life.

Badstuber played for Bayern for eight years and won a handful of trophies during that time. With Bayern, the 33-year-old won six league titles and became European champion by winning the Champions League in 2013.

However, then the incredible injury problems began. In 2017, Stuttgart decided to give him a chance, when they transferred him from Bayern, but there were more problems.

In four years, Badstuber made just 61 appearances in all competitions for Stuttagrt and was mostly off the field. Stuttgart let him go to Lucerne, but he didn't play well in Switzerland either. All this became tiring, so he decided to end his career.

The very talented defender has suffered quite serious injuries during his career and at key moments when he should have reached the top of the world. He suffered his worst in December 2012 when he tore knee ligaments, came back six months later and tore the same ligaments again.

After that he tore the tendon in his left thigh and then in 2015 he injured the same part of the muscle again and had to have surgery. He injured his ankle in 2016, and then had problems with his form. When he came back, he hurt his calf and adductor, and then the disease appeared.

In his career, he missed 212 games due to injuries, according to Transfermarkt data. Finally he said goodbye with emotional words.

"At the end of the day, I can look back on a very successful chapter in my life, but I wish I had had fewer injuries," Badstuber said.

He played 31 games for the German national team and played in European and world championships. He won 16 trophies with Bayern.