Soccer is one of our favorite sports and the season is well and truly underway globally. The MLS is coming to the twilight time of the year, whereas the European leagues are around 20% of the way through. It is at this point things usually start to heat up, in the run up to the Christmas period. Sure, we love following our currently sporting stars, but it doesn’t stop us feeling nostalgic about some of our former heroes who have since gone on to retire. He won a FIFA World Player of the Year trophy, what happened to him? He scored a goal in the final to win the Euros for Spain, what happened to him? Scroll down below to see just what happened to a few of those stars that we once truly idolized.
Russia World Cup 2018
Ronaldinho – Former Brazil & Barcelona Star
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, or better known simply as Ronaldinho, was certainly one of the most skillful players we ever saw grace the beautiful game. He mostly played as an attacking midfielder, but would often spend time on the wings. Ronaldinho won two FIFA World Player of the Year awards, as well as a Ballon d’Or trophy. He truly was one of the best ever in the game. The midfielder achieved most of his success with Barcelona in a 5 year stint between 2003-2008, but was also successful at Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan. So what happened to Ronaldinho?
Since retiring in 2015 Ronaldinho has hit the headlines, perhaps for the wrong reasons. We all remember that Ronaldinho enjoyed a party-life style basically throughout his whole career, which may have prevented him from becoming the best player of all time. This certainly continued when he retired and most recently he was incarcerated in a Paraguayan jail, accused of entering the country on false passports. This is simply bizarre! Pairing this with a $2.5 Million fine for environmental damage, losing his Brazilian passport and some dodgy business dealings, Ronaldinho really has to calm down to preserve his reputation as a once footballing legend.
David Beckham – Former England & Real Madrid Star
Becks! Loved by everyone, hated by no-one. A top, top player in his day, and a great person off the pitch too. Beckham enjoyed stints in Spain with Real Madrid, England with Manchester United, the U.S with L.A. Galaxy, Italy with AC Milan and France with Paris Saint-Germain. Wow, that was quite a mouthful. The player won many trophies over his career and was known for the wicked whip he could put on the ball and spectacular free kick taking skills. Perhaps one of the best ever in that regard. So what has Becks been up to since retiring?
Unlike Ronaldinho, Beckham’s life and reputation has only risen. Beckham has performed many charitable acts and was a big player in the campaign to get England to host the 2022 World Cup which was ultimately decided to happen in Qatar. Additionally, he has put much effort into his Beckham brand. Most recently however, he has started his own MLS franchise, Inter Miami. Now a proud owner of a fully functional soccer team, this is quite some feat for Beckham. We can’t wait to see how far the side can go and if the franchise manages to expand into Europe one day.
Fernando Torres – Former Spain & Liverpool Star
Having retired in 2019, it hasn’t been a super long time since Torres hung up his boots. Despite this, we’re still curious to see what happened to the former star. Torres is known for his prolific spells at Atletico Madrid and Liverpool, where he scored many goals. Additionally, he was excellent for Spain, participating with them in six major tournaments. He even won three of them; two Euros and a World Cup. It was in both the Euros tournaments that he scored in the finals. Despite declining once leaving Liverpool, possibly due to injuries, the striker enjoyed a fruitful career which took him to Spain, England, Italy and Japan. Where is Fernando now?
Since retirement Torres took a certainly well-earned break. Most surprisingly however, if you search for recent pictures of Torres you will see that he has bulked up! The man looks very tough now, and if he was still playing, a target-man to scare defenders. It’s a shame he didn’t do that during his playing career, he could have spent another two years dominating Japan with that physique. Most recently, he has taken up coaching in the Atletico Madrid ranks. He was even appointed manager of Atletico Madrid B not so long ago, and if he continues to be successful there; we can see him possibly taking over from Diego Simeone when the time comes for him to inevitably depart.
