Ryan Giggs reveals how injury torment almost forced early retirement | OneFootball

Ryan Giggs enjoyed a very successful Manchester United career, playing until the age of 40.

However, he has surprisingly opened up on how his injury hell almost forced him to walk away long before that.

A series of niggling hamstring problems when he was nearing the age of 28 almost caused the Welsh winger to pack the game in out of frustration.

Everything came to a head for Giggs on the eve of a Champions League group stage game at Bayern Munich in 2001.

“I remember we were playing Bayern away and I did my hamstring the night before the game,” he recalled, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

“It happened in the last two minutes of training and I seriously considered giving up because I was so disappointed.

“I kept getting injured and I went back to my room and thought ‘I’ve had enough of this’. That was a huge game for us.

“It was at a time when I was flying and I got injured. People may think I’m over-exaggerating but I kept missing big games.

“It is the depth of feeling that you get, you are so gutted you missed the big games.”

A change of diet and embracing what yoga had to offer him proved pivotal in extending Giggs’ career long after he expected that night in 2001.

“I was about 27, 28 and I started all the yoga and a different diet, which takes time to know what you body can take,” he added.

“A lot of the time you are thinking ‘I can get away with it’ but the amount of times my hamstring was tight, sometimes I didn’t.

“It is a gamble. If there is a big game, you want to be part of it and if you can get away with it, then you can go for it. Suddenly, it hits home.”

His decision not to hang up his boots proved a smart one, both for Giggs and United.

He went on to win a further seven Premier League titles, an FA Cup, Champions League and Club World Cup after deciding to keep playing.