Rio Ferdinand: Ex-Man United defender reveals lasting injuries | OneFootball

The legendary defender of the English national team and Manchester United, Rio Ferdinand, spoke about the aftereffects that his career has brought. Retired since 2015, the former player mentioned to Men’s Health UK that he is frequently hospitalized and suffers from severe back pain.

“I’ve had back problems for a long time. I have injuries from my career… For six years I played relying on pills and injections,” said Ferdinand.

“It has affected me. I have moments of such severe back pain that I need to stay in the hospital for a few days and use a wheelchair. It’s crazy, but it comes out of nowhere,” he stated.

The 47-year-old Brit also mentioned that he had conversations with his coach at the time and that he was having frequent injuries. As captain of Manchester United, Ferdinand was an essential part of the team’s squad.

“I talked to Harry Redknapp, who was the coach, and he said he would manage my minutes, that I didn’t need to train every day. I thought I could do that easily, but it wasn’t the case,” he commented.

“I was having injuries and needed to push myself too hard to play and train,” the former player concluded.

Ferdinand’s Career Numbers

Throughout his career, Rio Ferdinand took the field on 702 occasions, scoring in 13 matches and providing 12 assists. The Englishman won the Champions League, Club World Cup, English Championship, and the League Cup with the Red Devils.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.