Source: Daily_Mail
Why I had to retire - Injury-prone skipper Laursen bids farewell to Aston Villa
Martin Laursen bid an emotional farewell to Aston Villa today after confirming his career was over.
The Denmark defender admitted defeat in his battle to overcome the latest knee injury that brought a premature end to his Villa Park stint.
Laursen has fought against a succession of complaints but this current one, suffered during last December's 1-0 victory at West Ham, forced him to quit.
He had been out of the game for 12 months in 2005 when he spent a year rehabilitating from a similar problem in Bologna, earning manager Martin O'Neill's unfettered respect for his determination to recover.
However, this latest setback was to prove too difficult an obstacle for the 31-year-old to overcome.
He said: 'I'm retiring from football. I can't recover from my injury - so I've got to retire. I've spent a while making up my mind, thinking about things. Deciding whether I wanted to go ahead with an operation and see if I could come back or whether I should retire.'It would have been a big and difficult operation. At this point, I think it's better for my health and future life to say: 'That's it.' 'It's so strange, so wierd to be sitting here, making an announcement that I'm not going to be playing any more. Five months ago, I was flying.
Goodbye: Martin Laursen
'I was in the shape of my life, playing every game and felt so well, phyiscally. Really, I was on top of my game. Now, I'm sitting here, not being able to play. I'm really sad. I've had time to think about it. Right now, I feel better. I can honestly say: 'That's life.' And it has to go on for me as well.'
Laursen, capped 53 times by his country, played for 45 minutes during Villa's pre-season tour in 2005. Those matches in Holland and Germany were O'Neill's first in charge at Villa.
The defender, appearing for the first time since his year-long lay-off, came through one-half of a game against Nijmegen - and thrived under the Irishman's tutorship. He became an ever-present and was spared some of the more physical duties due to the condition of his knees.
He was awarded the club's player-of-the-year award by supporters in 2008 and a new contract by a manager for whom he never played without giving full commitment to the claret and blue cause.
After the rumpus caused by Gareth Barry's on-off transfer saga to Liverpool, O'Neill threw the captain's armband to the defender who responded as only he knew how - by leading from the front.
Laursen added: 'It's strange. Football has been my life. I've been a professional since 1997. I've not done anything else. For the past two years I've been playing the football of my life for Villa and that's the sad and frustrating thing about it.
'But I'm looking at all the good things that have happened.
Especially after my big injury. I'm almost 32, not 22 and you have to stop at some point. You can't keep playing football forever.'
