5 talented footballers who retired too early

#3 Andre Schurrle - 29

Andre Schurrle.

In 2014, Andre Schurrle, just 23, had the world at his feet. He scored in the epic World Cup semi-final against Brazil and provided the assist to the winning goal in the final as Germany won the competition. Belief that the life of a footballer can be cruel is epitomised by Schurrle's story.

The wide forward hung up his boots earlier this year, admitting that the loneliness and mental demands of the game were proving too much for him. Another one who left the game when he had lost all vestiges of fun in it, Schurrle won a Premier League with Chelsea in 2014-15 and is a two-time winner of the German Cup.

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#2 Marco Van Basten - 30

Marco van Basten.

One of the greatest footballers ever to have played the game, Marco van Basten actually played his last match aged 28 before finally giving up on the game two years later.

Despite his early retirement, van Basten won the Ballon d'Or three times and won the European Cup twice as part of a great AC Milan team, with whom he also won three Scudettos.

Van Basten was a complete striker with dazzling goal-scoring ability and an astonishing array of skill-sets, netting 277 times in 227 games during his career played out at Ajax and Milan. He also won a European Championship with Netherlands, for whom he turned out 58 times.

He still ranks highly in many all-time footballers lists. Unfortunately, his career was blighted by several injuries and he couldn't recover from a serious ankle injury. It was a tragic loss for the game.

Van Basten moved from a footballer to a manager after his retirement.

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#1 Just Fontaine - 28

Just Fontaine.

Just Fontaine's story is even more of a what could have been that van Basten's. While van Basten ruled the European game for a while, the charismatic French striker only played in one World Cup which made him a legend. In the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, the prolific footballer netted 13 times in six matches - a record for a single edition that stands till today.

Fontaine was a prolific goal-scorer whenever and wherever he played, scoring a hat-trick for the Les Bleus on his debut and netting 121 times in six seasons for Reims in Ligue 1. He scored an astounding 30 times for France in 21 games. In 1962, Fontaine's career as a footballer was over due to a recurring injury.

He came like a blaze and left like one. His early retirement did not stop Pele from naming him in his list of greatest living footballers in 2004. Who knows what would have been if sports science was as equipped then as it is now and Fontaine played into his 30s.