Holger Badstuber has officially decided that it is time to end his career, even though he is only 33 years old. The former defender of Bayern Munich and the German national team had a nightmarish 10 years and that is due to frequent injuries.
He was a member of the German national team, playing for Bayern when he suffered a serious injury in the derby against Borussia Dortmund in December 2012, tearing the cruciate ligaments of his knee. At that time, he could not have guessed that in the next five years he would play only 28 matches and that he would end up in the fourth league, and he would take a break for more than 1,000 days.
After the serious injury, Badstuber underwent surgery and the prognosis was that he would be able to return to the court in eight months. However, after less than three months, the doctors confirmed that there was inflammation in the knee and that a new operation would have to be done. This inflammation of the knee happens to every 10th football player who has such a serious operation.
After a 629-day break, Badstuber returned to the team, and Pep Guardiola had full support for the footballer who missed the World Cup in Brazil, where Germany became world champions.
Badstuber was a standard player at Bayern and was about to return to the national team, but then something new happened. He injured his left thigh and had to undergo a new operation and new rehabilitation. After four months he returned to Bayern, and Guardiola welcomed him with the shout: Holger, I love you!
Badstuber simply had excellent support from the coach, but the injuries were relentless. He hurt his thigh again, and then broke his ankle. After the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti in Bayern, the defender had to leave, so he put on the shirt of Schalke, but he did not stay there for long.
In August 2017, he went to Stuttgart, and after playing 28 matches in the season, he got a three-year contract. However, he got injured again soon after, so he ended up even in the reserve team of Stuttgart who played in the fourth division.
The last club that Badstuber played for was Lucerne in Switzerland, but after he left there, there was no new offer and simply the footballer, who suffered a lot of injuries in the past 10 years, had to end his career.
