At just 26 years old, Belgian international Zinho Vanheusden announced his retirement in a particularly moving message posted on Instagram. The former Inter Milan defender, presented at a very young age as one of the great hopes of Belgian football after his training at Standard Liège, saw his career shattered by repeated injuries. He had just suffered a third rupture of his anterior cruciate ligament while playing for Marbella, in the Spanish third division. Having passed through Standard, Genoa and AZ Alkmaar without ever really winning at Inter due to his physical problems, he played his only meeting with Belgium in 2020.
In his message, Vanheusden mentions a decision “which he never thought he would have to take at this age”after 22 years of football marked as much by strong moments as by silent suffering. He says he “gave everything to come back” despite the operations, treatments and constant uncertainty about how his body would react after each session. “Deep down, I always want to be a footballer, but my body tells me stop”he writes, explaining that he now wants to preserve his health and his role as a father. “I want to be able to live without pain, play with my son and enjoy life with my family”he concludes, turning the page on a promising career, but cruelly thwarted by injuries.
