Where Are They Now? A Look at 10 Alternative Careers of Former-Champions League Players
One would think with all the money footballers make that they wouldn't need a second career after football. However, many still have ambition to do more than being remembered as a footballer so we've compiled a list of 10 ex-players to have played in the UEFA Champions League and have a somewhat spectacular change of career after hanging up their boots:
Thomas Gravesen (Poker)
The former-Everton footballer was a surprising recipient of a bid from Real Madrid in January 2005 - a surprise given that the Spanish giants were signing stars for huge sums. The Danish midfielder gladly accepted the move but only lasted one season before Madrid realised it was probably the other bald headed centre midfielder from Everton they should have gone after - Lee Carsley. He did make eight Champions League appearances for the club
Gravesen lasted a season-and-a-half at Bernabéu before moving to Celtic where he would play another six games in Europe's elite club cup competition before calling it a day in 2008.
Despite earning millions during his playing career, Thomas Gravesen then became a professional poker player in Las Vegas where he is now worth more than £80 million. We wonder if he's ever bet on the football with Paddy Power?
Fabien Barthez (Motor Racing)
The eccentric goalkeeper made 57 Champions League appearances during his career with Marseille, AS Monaco and Manchester United, as well as a further 41 Europa League matches.
Fabien Barthez was France's starting goalkeeper when they won the 1998 World Cup and was also Marseille's starting goalkeeper when they won the 1993 Champions League - the first addition of the tournament following his rebranding.
These days, the former-footballer is now a racing driver which included driving at the Le Mans 24 in 2014.
Romário (Senate of Brazil)
Sir Bobby Robson brought a 22-year-old Romário to Europe with PSV Eindhoven in 1988 and the rest became history. The Brazilian football legend played five seasons in the Netherlands, scoring 165 goals in 167 games in all competitions for the Dutch side, winning the title three times.
Romário transferred to Barcelona in 1993, reaching the Champions League final where they were hammered 4-0 by AC Milan. He scored 12 goals in 24 appearances in the competition overall but it is one trophy that evaded him.
After hanging up his boots in 2007 and then very briefly coming out of retirement in 2009, the Brazilian heading into politics where he became the Senate of Brazil for four years, starting in February 2011.
Kakha Kaladze (Minister of Energy and Deputy Prime Minister of Georgia)
The long-serving AC Milan left-back made his debut in the Champions League with Dynamo Kiev back in 1998 before going on to lift the trophy on two occasions with the Italian giants.
Kakha Kaladze played 70 games in all in the competition during a very successful Milan side before finishing his career with Genoa in 2012.
Later that year Kaladze was appointed the Deputy Prime Minister as well as Minister of Energy in his native Georgia - positions he still holds today.
Tasos Mitropoulos (Politics)
In 1998, Greek midfielder Tasos Mitropoulos became the first 40-year-old to make an appearance in the Champions League when he was brought on in the closing minutes of Olympiacos' 2-2 group stage draw with Rosenborg.
During his football career, Mitropoulos played for all three of Athens' big clubs - winning the Greek Super League with each; Olympiacos, AEK Athens and Panathinaikos.
After retiring, he became a politician, serving in the Piraeus city council. Later he would run for Parliament in 2004 for the New Democracy party.
Tim Wiese (Wrestler)
Time Wiese experienced a fairly successful career in his homeland with Kaiserslautern and Werder Bremen, playing 20 Champions League games for the latter. Then his career turned sour following a move to 1899 Hoffenheim in 2012.
The goalkeeper had played six times for the German national team and was part of the 2010 World Cup squad that finished third. However, a string of poor performances at the start of his time with Hoffenheim saw the crowd turn their back on Wiese. He then bulked up, later saying that bodybuilding helped fight his depression.
That led to Tim Wiese being picked up by WWE wrestling, seemingly as a publicity stunt in Europe, or Germany in particular. His career never took off and he returned to amateur football in Germany at the start of this year, now 35 years old.
Bixente Lizarazu (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu)
After starting his career with Bordeaux, diminutive full-back Bixente Lizarazu enjoyed a successful career with Bayern Munich following a brief spell at Athletic Bilbao. Including numerous trophies with the German giants, he lifted the Champions League in 2001.
Lizarazu played 97 times for France and was their starting left-back won the won both the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.
Following his retirement in 2006, Bixente Lizarazu got into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu where he became European champion in the Blue Belt Senior 1 Light Division in 2009.
Eric Cantona (Actor)
The charismatic Eric Cantona was often in the spotlight during his time at Manchester United. If he wasn't winning the Premier League he was kung-fu kicking a spectator.
Cantona actually won the English league title in every full season he played in England - once with Leeds in the old Division One and then four seasons with Manchester United - either side of 1994-95 where he was suspended for half the season and Blackburn Rovers took the crown. He retired just before his 31st birthday in 1997.
Post-football, Eric Cantona played beach football for the French national team before getting into acting. Some films he starred in include Elizabeth and Looking For Eric, whilst he is a regular in the Kronenburg TV ads.
Gaizka Mendieta (DJ)
Not many footballers leave the wonderful city of Barcelona and their world class football club to head for the not-so-glamorous Middlesbrough, but Spanish international Gaizka Mendieta did just that in 2003 after just one season at the Camp Nou.
Mendieta had previously enjoyed successful spells with Valencia and Lazio, where he played Champions League football for each, including the 2000 final loss in the all-Spanish affair against Real Madrid.
These days the former-Spanish international is often seen on Sky Sports' La Liga coverage as a pundit but he's also a successful DJ.
Djibril Cissé (DJ)
Despite showing early promise as a youngster at Auxerre, the height of Djibril Cissé's football career was probably his transfer to Liverpool in 2004. However, the pacey striker failed to live up to expectations at Anfield with only 13 goals in 49 Premier League appearances before returning to France and Marseille.
Cissé's career somewhat bottomed out after that, spending a season on loan at Sunderland before joining Panathinaikos and then briefly moving to Lazio. He then played a few times for Queens Park Rangers in the Premier League before spells in Qatar and Russia before coming back to France to play for Bastia. He called it a day in 2015 after a very short time in the Réunion Premier League - a French overseas territory.
These days Djibril Cissé is a DJ and earlier this year he even DJ'd for Mariah Carey.
