This article was originally produced by the public account Sivah Sports
With the expiry of his contract with The Victory Boat Kobe, Vermalen also announced his official retirement, while his connection with football has not yet been severed as he will join the Belgian national team coaching staff as an assistant coach for Martinez. For a glass-bodied player like Vermalen, retiring at the age of 36 is already an ivy tree.
In 2000, Vermalen joined the Ajax youth academy and was promoted to the first team at the age of 17. In the 2008–2009 season, Vermalen took hold of the main force and wore the Captain Jaffa armband, where he scored five goals in 40 games for the team's debut in all competitions. In the summer of 2009, Vermalen joined Arsenal for a transfer price of 12 million euros. Debuting at the Emirates Stadium, Vermalen became the backbone of Wenger's defence and conquered fans with his knife-wielding bodyguard performance: he made 45 starts in all competitions, scoring eight goals and providing 1 assist. In the 2010-2011 season, the capable Vermalen encountered the "second-year wall" and had little playing time due to injuries. However, when Vermalen returned to the main force the following year, his performance still lived up to expectations. Later, with the defection of Van Persie, Vermalen inherited the captain's armband and also buried the departure buff. In the 2013-2014 FA Cup final, Vermalen laughed at Arsenal "killing Wu Guan" on the bench, and his story with the Gunners ended with a championship trophy.
In the summer of 2014, Vermalen moved to La Liga for the giants Barcelona, coinciding with the latter's peak season with the MSN Trident. Vermalen vividly explains what it is better to come sooner than not to come by chance, if Barca were all powerful that season, it must be because a Belgian sacrificed himself, absorbed the injuries of the whole team, and silently carried it all. After contributing 0 goals and 0 assists in just one appearance, Vermalen won La Liga, copa del Rey and champions leagues with the Rossandre. After five years with Barcelona, Vermalen has been injured 14 times, leaving aside the period when he was loaned to Roma, the Belgian has only made 53 appearances for Barca, but has won a total of 12 trophies with the team, including 4 La Liga and 1 Champions League, which I would like to call the strongest lying title.
In the summer of 2019, Vermalen bid farewell to Barca and joined The Victory Kobe as a free agent, reuniting with former teammate Iniesta. For two and a half years, Vermalen helped the team win the Japan Emperor's Cup and the Japan Super Cup. It is worth mentioning that in 2020, Kobe Victory Ship also transformed into a super dark horse to break into the final four of the AFC Champions League, creating team history, which is probably the result of the "high priest" praying for the team. It is reasonable to say that the players who went to japan's J-League to pan for gold have defaulted to the twilight of their careers, and their competitive status is much worse than before. At last year's European Championship, the Belgian national team was full of talent in the midfield, but the back line was not enough, so the 35-year-old Vermalen was still selected as the main center-back. It is worth mentioning that in the third round of the European Cup group stage Belgium against Finland, Vermalen did not dishonor the veteran style to stand up, not only played a solid role in the defensive end, but also caused the opposing goalkeeper to break the deadlock for the team when the header was attacked.
From knife-wielding bodyguard to high priest, Vermalen's playing career was indeed faltered by injuries, but he was able to keep many championship honors under the account. Choosing to retire now is a wise move for the Belgian, away from the dangerous arena, and I hope that Vermalen will continue to shine in the coaching bench in the future.