André Schürrle, one of the world's best players retired from professional football at the age of 29 on July 17, 2020, after playing in Europe's elite leagues.
The footballer shocked many with his early retirement since the majority of players normally quit the beautiful sport at the age of 34 years.
Injuries play a major role when one wants to retire. Why did the German retire at 29 yet he was physically fit?
After his retirement in 2020, Schürrle went off the radar and he resurfaced recently by posting clips of himself trekking the snowy Sniezka Mountains in the Czech Republic at a height of 1,603 metres, while dressed in shorts.
Why would one retire early only to go hiking wearing shorts only, in a snowy environment when there are much better things to do out there?
According to Schürrle, he really needed something that would make him feel alive after disappearing for three years.
"Day 3 of the experience and up the summit with our beautiful crew!! The hardest mental and physical thing I ever did! The last minutes I couldn’t feel anything and I had to find something deep inside me to keep going!
"An experience that I will never forget! -19 degrees, 100 km/h wind in our faces, heavy snow and rain! What I learned…My body and I are stronger than I thought if I put my mind and soul to it I can do everything," posted Schürrle.
Going shirtless at -19 degrees is actually insane considering what can transpire in terms of health.
Catching a cold or Pneumonia the likely to be the end result of going to such extremes. On the other hand, we hope that Andre enjoyed the trek and that he is coping well.
Former Chelsea striker and teammate Didier Drogba has commended Schürrle for his efforts but ended up admitting that his body is not capable of standing in extremely low temperatures.