Former Real Madrid footballer Wesley Sneijder's shocking physical change that went viral

This Friday, a photograph showing former footballer Wesley Sneijder playing in a charity match he organized in Utrecht, his hometown, to raise funds to be allocated to Ukraine, within the framework of the invasion of Russia. The image shows the 37-year-old Dutchman with a very different physique than he had in his time as a professional.

Sneijder, who made his debut at Ajax in the 2002/03 season, excelled in the Dutch team and in 2007 was signed by Real Madrid. With his mid-distance hit and standing ball as his main virtue, the attacking midfielder could not adapt to the white squad but did succeed at Inter Milan, where he landed in 2009. With the Italian team, he won the 2010 Champions League under the leadership of José Mourinho and was one of the figures of that team in which Samuel Eto'o, Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambiasso, Lúcio and Diego Milito, who scored two goals in the final with Bayern Munich, among others, also stood out.

The Dutchman's career continued successfully at Galatasaray in Turkey and with his country's national team he reached the semifinals of the 2014 World Cup, where he lost on penalties to Argentina and precisely his shot was one of the saves by goalkeeper Sergio Romero. Then, he had a forgettable stint at Nice in France and finally retired in 2019 when he defended the colors of Qatar's Al-Gharafa.

This Friday's photograph in which he is seen participating in the friendly match shows him notoriously overweight in relation to his career as a professional. It is evident that after hanging up his boots he has reduced the hours of gym and training and has neglected his diet.

Millions of users on social media have been surprised to see him like this when it has been barely three years since his last professional match, but they have also made positive comments so they remember his performances on the playing fields. It is that the Dutchman, who is now 37 years old, left pleasant sensations in the clubs where he passed and thus managed to win the admiration of fans around the world.

In his biography published in 2019, Sneijder acknowledged that during his career he stopped behaving professionally long before his retirement: “Once, Yolanthe (his ex-wife) and I were at a party where Megan Fox and George Clooney were also present. We got home at six a.m. sharp. In the evening I played against Werder Bremen in the Champions League, scored a goal and gave an assist. When I saw that it was possible, I moved on.”

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