Belgian central defender Thomas Vermaelen, a former Ajax, Arsenal, Barcelona, Roma and Vissel Kobe footballer, hangs up his boots to the 36 years old and will become part of the technical team of the Belgium national team led by the Spaniard Roberto Martínez.
“Until the view, Verminator. Thank you, Thomas”, the Belgian national team has fired the veteran player after learning this Friday that he is abandoning his playing career through the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, after 17 years as a professional and 70 International matches with the “Red Devils”.
According to that newspaper, the player will become an assistant in Martínez’s team, who officially had no second coach since the departure of Shaun Maloney last December to train Hibernian in Edinburgh.
The footballer, who played in the last European Championship with Belgium, had been released from his contract at the end of his relationship with the Japanese Vissel Kobe in which the Spaniards Andrés Iniesta play, Bojan Krkic and Sergi Samper.
Thomas Vermaelen (36 years) announces his retirement. He will join the Belgium coaching staff. Despite his glass body, watch out for the winners:
4 Liga🇪🇸
3 Cup🇪🇸
1 Super Cup🇪🇸
1 League🇳🇱
2 Cup🇳🇱
2 Super Cup🇳🇱1 Cup 🇯🇵
1 Super Cup🇯🇵1 FA Cup🏴 🏴 1 Champions🇪🇺
1 Super Cup 🇪🇺
1 Club World Cup 🌏 pic.twitter.com/xVyHN0yoDw— Manu Heredia (@ManuHeredia36) January 21, 2022
Born in the Flemish town of Kapellen, Vermaelen won his first professional title in 550 with Ajax, becoming champion of the Dutch league. With the Amsterdam club he also won the Dutch Cup and Super Cup, both in 2006 and in 2007.
From there he jumped to Arsenal, where he played for the club between 2009 and 2015 and with the who did not get titles but was selected in the “ideal eleven” of the Premier of 2010.
Belgian defender former Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen announces his retirement from professional football at the age of 36 years being crowned champion of the FA Cup with Arsenal in 2014. 🇧🇪🏆 pic.twitter.com/urvtIy73HZ— England Soccer (@Mercado_Ingles) January 21, 2022
From the English league he moved to the Spanish league with FC Barcelona, a club where he played between 2014 and 2022 winning the league four times (2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019), three the Copa del Rey (2015, 2016 Y 2018), once the Champions League (2015) and once the Club World Cup (2015), before joining the Japanese team where he finished his career.
However, injuries did not allow him to have continuity in the Blaugrana club, where in his most active season he played 20 games, before joining the Japanese team where he finished his career.
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