Former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan was rushed to hospital after suffering a shocking injury while playing in a veterans game.
Forlan announced his retirement back in 2019 at the age of 40, calling time on a decorated career which began with Independiente in Argentina and finished with Kitchee in Hong Kong.
He then moved into coaching with Penarol and Atlas but neither spell went particularly well and resulted in sackings on both occasions.
However, he has continued playing well into his forties - playing in legends fixtures and turning out in the over-40s Liga Universitaria in his native Uruguay.
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On Saturday, the ex Atletico Madrid striker, who also plays professional tennis, played for Old Boys in a 4-1 win over Old Christians.
But Forlan suffered a nasty injury which required being taken to hospital immediately. In a collision with an opposition player, he landed awkwardly and was in instant discomfort.
As per Referi, it was later uncovered at hospital that Forlan had broken three of his ribs and suffered pneumothorax - a partial lung collapse caused by air leaking into the space between the lung and chest wall.
Because his lung filled up with fluid, he needed it draining and will remain in hospital until Tuesday even though progress has been made with his condition.
Forlan joined United in 2002 for a fee of £7 million but had a difficult start to life at Old Trafford and failed to score in his first six months at the club.
He ended up scoring 17 goals in 98 appearances for United, including a winning brace against Liverpool, before moving to Spain and scoring a total of 128 goals for Villarreal and Atletico Madrid.
He later represented Inter Milan, Internacional, Cerezo Ozaka, Penarol, Mumbai City and Kitchee in a diverse end to his career.
With Uruguay, he scored 36 times in 112 appearances - including five in a stunning 2010 World Cup campaign which saw him claim the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament in South Africa.
Topics: Diego Forlan, Manchester United, Uruguay
Josh Lawless