Former Roma midfielder Erik Lamela has announced his retirement from international football due to hip issues.
The Argentine winger has been having hip pain since 2017 which made him get surgeries on both hips. Even though he tried really hard to get better the pain just wouldn’t go away so he had to quit playing.
The Argentine, while contracted to Sevilla, announced his retirement at the age of 33 and last night took to social media to explain his decision.
“I want to announce that I have made the decision to end my professional career. It’s a decision I’ve been thinking about for a long time, and the time has finally come.
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“For those who don’t know, I have hip problems. They started 11 years ago, and in 2017 I had surgery on both hips, with the left one being more affected. It was a difficult year, I was very scared… I thought it might be the end of my career, and I was 25 years old.
“After the operations went well, they gave me four more years of career. They told me I’d get worse over time, and that’s what I’m experiencing now. With a lot of sacrifice, spending hours with the physiotherapists, strengthening myself in the gym, and with an endless series of injections and treatments, I’ve managed to play more than twice as much!
“This is an effort that only those who have been close to me can truly understand. It hasn’t been easy at all. Being in pain, playing and training with problems has become the norm over time.
“For five years I’ve been taking pills for every match to be able to play in the best possible condition, starting with the lowest dose and recently taking the maximum two days before the match to be ready.
“Now I decide to put an end to all this, now all this effort ends”