Top 4 Football Players Who Switched To Other Sports

Advertisement

Have you ever wondered what exactly football players do after announcing their retirement from professional football? Over the years, numerous prominent football players, including Adam Gemili, Rio Ferdinand, Paolo Maldini swapped to other sports after hanging their boots. Even after mastering the sport of football, these legendary football players decided to swap their ways and went ahead to dominate other sports with the same courage, determination and passion and undoubtedly succeeded in leaving behind a legacy that still resonates in the realms of those sports.

Advertisement

In this article we will take a look at the top four football players who took up other sports and shocked the fans with their unanticipated switch moves.

Top 4 Football Players Who Switched To Other Sports

• Paolo Maldini

At the first spot in our list of top four football players who switched to other sports after announcing their retirement from professional football, we have former Italian football player Paolo Maldini, who is still often regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all-time. Maldini holds the joint-record for most European Cup/UEFA Champions League final appearances, i.e. 8.

Maldini spent all 25 seasons of his playing career in Serie A with Milan and retired at the age of 41 in 2009. He won 26 trophies with Milan: the European Cup/UEFA Champions League five times, seven Serie A titles, one Coppa Italia, five Supercoppa Italiana titles, five European/UEFA Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups, and one FIFA Club World Cup.

After dominating the world of professional football, Paolo Maldini switched to tennis and made his debut  at the Aspira tournament alongside Stefano Landonio.

• Rio Ferdinand

At the second spot in our list of top four football players who decided to switch sports, we have former English professional football player Rio Ferdinand. Rio Ferdinand played as a centre-back and represented the English national football team between 1997 and 2011 for a phenomenal total of 81 times. Additionally, Rio Ferdinand was also a member of three FIFA World Cup editions.

Often regarded as one of the most lethal and influential English defenders of all-time, Rio Ferdinand left the fans shocked after he announced his official retirement at the apex of his football career in September 2017 and professionally shifted to boxing. In one of his interviews, Rio Ferdinand revealed that he made this shift in order to cope with the tragic death of his wife.

• Diego Forlan

Next, at the third spot in our list of top four football players who switched sports, we have former professional football player, Diego Forlán. Forlan is a two-time winner of both the Pichichi Trophy and the European Golden Shoe at club level. Additionally, Diego Forlán also concluded the 2010 FIFA World Cup as a joint top scorer with a record-breaking total of five goals, clinching the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player.

At the age of 45, Diego Forlán announced his retirement from professional football in 2019 and took up tennis professionally. Diego Forlán made his professional tennis debut at the Montevideo Challenger alongside Argentine tennis player Federico Coria at the ATP doubles event in Uruguay. Although the duo ended up losing against Bolivian duo Federico Zeballos and Boris Arias, this debut marked Diego’s official entry into the professional world of tennis.

• Gerath Bale

At the fourth spot in our list of top four football players who decided to switch sports after announcing their retirement from professional football, we have Welsh former professional football player, Gareth Bale, who played for Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid, and the Wales national team for the majority of his professional football career.

Often hailed as one of the greatest football players of his generation, Gerath Bale clinched both the PFA Player of the Year and PFA Young Player awards in the 2012–13 season, becoming the second Premier League player to achieve this feat after the legendary football player Cristiano Ronaldo.

After the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Gerath Bale officially announced his retirement from football and took up golf professionally. Over the years, Gerath Bale has participated in multiple tournaments, such as AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and BMW PGA Pro-Am.

Advertisement