5 world-class football players who retired early

#5 Didier Deschamps - 32 years

The former French captain retired at 32

Often considered by many as one of the greatest French defensive-midfielders of all time, Deschamps led his team to the 1998 FIFA world cup trophy, doing something that was extremely unbelievable from the French side, and is one of the only players to win the world cup as a player and as a coach. His expertise in the holding position has inspired some of the modern midfielders, such as N'Golo Kante, Claude Makelele and Lassana Diarra to be the power-packed midfielders. Known mainly for his time at Juventus, Deschamps also played for clubs like Chelsea, Marseille, and the Spanish side Valencia.

However, Deschamps did something completely unpredictable when he announced his retirement in 2001 at the age of 32. For some, the reason was due to injuries, and for many speculators, it was the mere fact that he had already made up his mind.