Football Update: Ruben De la Red Retires From Football
Real Madrid midfielder, Ruben De la Red, has been forced to retire from club and international football. The Spanish international was facing heart problems that forced him to miss an entire season, before announcing his retirement.
De la Red first came to know about his illness in a Copa Del Rey match against Real Union in October of 2008. The midfielder collapsed on the field around the 13th minute mark, with no player in his proximity to cause the fall. However, the player
gained consciousness and was rushed to the hospital immediately. First, the doctors diagnosed that the midfielder collapsed because of fatigue. Later on, he was identified with heart problems, and the doctors advised him to rest before a solution is found.
Due to this illness, De la Red missed the whole 2009-2010 Season.
The midfielder was a great product of Real Madrid’s youth system and he made his debut for the first team in 2005. However, he was sent away to Getafe in 2007, with a clause to buy him back. Madrid did call their player back after only one year, after his
incredible performances for Getafe. The midfielder was also a part of the Spanish Euro 2008 winning side. He also scored for his Spanish side in their victory against Greece in the tournament.
But, De la Red’s football dreams were cut short in the same year. After missing a lot of action in the coming years, De la Red finally announced his retirement from professional football. This decision has been made solely on advice of the doctors, who have
advised the youngster against doing heavy physical exercises. Also, there have been two set-backs for the Spanish side, as they lost two of their players, i.e. Antonio Puerta and Dani Jarque, so a cautious approach is being adopted as well.
Antonio Puerta played his football for Sevilla FC and was a part of Spanish national side as well. Puerta collapsed during a match against Getafe and was diagnosed with a hereditary cardiac disease. Due to rapid cardiac arrests, the Spanish left back suffered
multiple organ failures and irreversible damage to his brain. After three days of collapsing in the field, the Spanish international died in August 2007.
Dani Jarque was a central defender playing his football for Espanyol FC. During a pre-season training in Italy in August of 2009, Jarque died in his hotel room while talking on the phone. He was also diagnosed with heart problems and he suffered a heart
attack at the time of his death. The talented youngster was a part of Spanish U19 squad that won the World Cup as well.
With both of these recent occurrences, Madrid has played it safe with De la Red. The midfielder is a potential dead man while playing on the pitch, which was the major decision behind his retirement. However, Real Madrid is not letting him go for good. He
has been offered a job to work as a coach with the youth academy of the club.
While talking to the press, De la Red announced his retirement and accepted the opportunity being thrown his way by Real Madrid. Despite his illness, the youngster is not yet ready to let football go from his life. The midfielder expressed his desire to
learn the coaching skills and develop that aspect of his life. Also, he showed his desire to help all those athletes who suffered like him and whose careers had been cut short because of heart problems.
Although, De la Red did not have a lot of say in his retirement but he did retire at a wrong time in his career. At this moment, both his clubs and country are going for unimaginable heights but he cannot be a part of their glory. The fans only hope that
he learns his way around as a coach and return as a great manager in the future.
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