Injury forced former Charlton striker into early retirement | OneFootball

Igor Vetokele announced that this season was his last in professional football. Last week the Lommel striker put out a post on social media to confirm that he is retiring from football due to a hip injury that has continued to hamper him. In an interview with Sven Claes, the former Charlton striker said that even playing football in the back garden with his children has been impossible.

Vetokele began his career with Gent and was capped at youth level by Belgium before changing his international allegiance to Angola. After a season with Cercle Brugge where he scored nine goals in 40 games, he ended up moving to FC Copenhagen. Two seasons in Denmark, with 18 goals in 52 games, was enough for him to earn a move to England with Charlton. Vetokele spent five years in England, although for the 2016/2017 season and the 2017/2018 season he was loaned out to Zulte Waregem and Sint Truiden back in Belgium. Vetokele scored 18 goals for Charlton before returning to Belgium and joining Westerlo in the summer of 2019. He left the side at the end of the 2022/2023 campaign having scored 18 goals in 92 games. He spent the last few seasons with Lommel, where injuries limited his ability to help the side in pushing for promotion.

GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson