Ex-Liverpool Star Martin Skrtel Retires From Football At 37
Former Liverpool and Slovakia defender Martin Skrtel has announced his retirement from football at the age of 37.
In an emotional press conference, via Sport SK, Skrtel said: 'By coming to Trnava, I fulfilled my dream. I think that even at this age I still have something to offer the team and I could play at the top level.
'But then there is a medical condition. I have problems with plaques, they limit me not only in football, but also in my personal life.'
'I don't remember a day I spent without pain. I have been training and wrestling under pills and injections in recent months,' he added.
'I had a problem walking with my son a hundred metres. The pain is pretty bad. The worst issues are running, jumping and the impact. This is something we need in football.
'Therefore, I had to decide that the match with Dunajska would be the last. The last one not only in Spartak, but also in my career.'
'I couldn't imagine life without football, but it's time to start following the mind, not the heart. We have only one health. I have civil life ahead of me and I want to have it on some level, not in pain,' he concluded.
Skrtel spent the last season of his career back in his homeland with Spartak Trnava but has been forced to retire because of health issues.
Skrtel played for the likes of Zenit Saint Petersburg, Istanbul Baseksehir and Fenerbahce but he is mostly remembered for an eight-year stay with Liverpool.
The no-nonsense defender made 320 appearances for Liverpool, winning the League Cup in the 2011/2012 season.
Skrtel won 104 caps for his country and featured at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and EURO 2016.
