5 footballers who retired before the age of 30 

#3 Ruben de la Red

de la Red spent his short professional career playing only for Madrid based clubs

Ruben de la Red was an academy product of Real Madrid who broke into the first team in his teenage years and played in the central midfield role. He made only a few appearances in his debut season but was called up by Fabio Capello for the 2006-07 campaign.

The following season, he was transferred to another club based in Madrid, Getafe CF and then in the subsequent year, Real exercised their buy-back clause and brought him back to the Bernabeu. His impressive performances at Getafe led to a Spanish national team call-up for the 2008 European Championship.

Until then, de la Red hadn't suffered any major injury in his career. However, the first major blow for him was when he collapsed on the pitch in a Copa del Rey game and was immediately taken to the emergency room. He was ruled out for the rest of the season as a precaution advised by the medical experts.

It was evident that he had a heart condition. In 2009, further tests provided inconclusive results which meant that he would miss the entirety of the 2009-10 campaign. Later, tests resulted in Real Madrid attempting to declare de la Red's heart problem a common condition and that would fund a minor portion of his treatment.

In November 2010, however, de la Red announced his retirement from football aged just 25. His heart condition was a consequence of him never being able to return to the pitch. He decided to stay in the Spanish capital and pursue his career as a youth coach at Real Madrid.