19-year-old Real Madrid academy player retires

6 September 2022. Madrid took on Celtic in Glasgow in Los Blancos' 2022/23 Youth League opener. Alvaro Arbeloa's side were promising themselves a 6-0 win over the Scots, but in the 77th minute came a fateful injury.

Marc Cucalon, who had been one of the team's stalwarts, suffered a heavy tackle from an opponent which resulted in a torn cruciate ligament in his right knee. It was a bitter blow for the Spanish team and the midfielder as it unwittingly brought an end to his playing career.

26 months later, the Madrid academy player announced via his Instagram profile his retirement from football at the age of just 19. He has been forced to hang up his boots at a very young age due to bacteria.

During surgery to reconstruct the ligament, a micro-organism entered the articular cartilage of his knee and caused an infection from which he has still not been able to recover. Marc Cucalon, who had a lot of trouble exercising, listened to the doctors and had to make one of the most difficult decisions of his life.

"Infinite thanks to my family. Thanks to my parents, who have always supported me in every decision and every stone along the way," he wrote on Instagram.

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