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After spending 20 years as an expert footballer, former Juventus and Arsenal full-back Stephan Lichtsteiner introduced his lengthy and distinguished profession to an finish final season.
The previous Switzerland captain spent the 2019-20 marketing campaign with Augsburg in Germany and had initially deliberate to bow out after Euro 2020. Nevertheless, the event’s postponement till this yr compelled the veteran to vary his plans and produce ahead his retirement, calling time on a taking part in profession that landed him 16 main membership trophies and two Champions League runner-up medals.
Ex-pros’ new careers: Music | Food & Drink | Art | Tech | Politics
Now 37, Lichtsteiner is forging a second profession, although not one that you simply would possibly immediately count on a former footballer to decide on. Somewhat than making the compulsory transfer into teaching or media work, he has begun retraining as a watchmaker, beginning a six-month internship with Zurich-based timepiece producers Maurice de Mauriac.
“I wish to do one thing productive,” he instructed Reuters. “If you’re a banker, you are able to do that for all of your life, however if you’re a footballer when you hit your mid-30s, you must discover one thing else to do.”
Lichtsteiner is hoping to finish his first watch, the “L3 Sees Red,” from scratch throughout his internship earlier than promoting the piece for charity. Whether or not or not he continues within the watchmaking career past that continues to be to be seen, however Maurice de Mauriac are smitten by their new trainee and his prospects.
“We had numerous functions however Stephan was essentially the most enthusiastic,” firm co-owner and artwork director Leonard Dreifuss stated, whereas CEO Massimo Dreifuss added: “We’re aiming for a long-term partnership and can transfer step-by-step.”
Lichtsteiner turns into the newest ex-footballer to retire and retrain in one other business solely. However he’s removed from the primary, with gamers taking over roles in a various vary of vocations — some extra stunning than others.
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Music
Properly that is “watch Gaizka Mendieta DJ” ticked off the to-do checklist pic.twitter.com/DAVvM1DYAO
— Jack Lang (@jacklang) October 19, 2019
In fact, many gamers have dabbled in music through the years although primarily as a sideline or ardour venture; an extra-curricular distraction from their day job, quite than a full-time pursuit, Nevertheless, each former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse and Valencia midfielder Gaizka Mendieta have discovered common work as membership night time DJs since calling quits on soccer. In the meantime, since being compelled to retire by damage, former Porto striker Jackson Martinez has started over as a hip-hop artist in his native Colombia.
In the meantime, former Barcelona goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto briefly labored as a music producer (and even had one of his songs featured on the “Fast & Furious 8” movie soundtrack) earlier than extra not too long ago qualifying as a fitness instructor.
Food and drinks
As you would possibly count on from a few cultured midfielders, each Andrea Pirlo and Andres Iniesta each have sidelines within the refined world of winemaking. Pirlo has owned a 15-acre winery in Brescia since 2007, whereas Iniesta’s household have a complete bodega arrange of their dwelling province of Albacete, Spain.
Artwork
Daniel Agger was identified to be a fan of tattoos throughout his soccer profession with nearly all of his physique coated in artwork, together with a huge Viking-inspired mural throughout his complete again and “YNWA” throughout his knuckles in tribute to Liverpool FC. Since retiring, the Dane has qualified as a tattoo artist himself and posts semi-regular pictures of his handiwork on social media. In a extra conventional sense, former Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Jody Craddock is now a positive artist, specialising in incredibly realistic celebrity portraiture.
Know-how
Main the sphere within the know-how sector is former Arsenal and AC Milan midfielder Matthieu Flamini, who has devoted his post-football profession to creating advances in inexperienced vitality. Certainly, the Frenchman heads a pioneering biochemical company which goals, amongst different issues, to good a course of of producing Levulinic Acid, an artificial substitute for crude oil. On the digital aspect of issues, former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes has an curiosity within the tech world having created a Spanish dating app called “Hola.”
Politics
Such is his recognition in his dwelling nation that Andriy Shevchenko felt impressed to stand as a candidate in the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election. He was unable to win illustration, however now he manages the Ukraine nationwide workforce so in a approach he nonetheless received. Romario‘s foray into politics proved a bit of extra profitable, with the previous Barcelona striker getting elected to the Brazilian senate in 2014 after garnering essentially the most votes ever acquired by a candidate from the state of Rio de Janeiro. Nevertheless, maybe essentially the most profitable world class striker-turned-politician on document have to be George Weah, who was voted in as president of Liberia in 2018.
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