While some football stars, like Lionel Messi, who eventually married Antonella Roccuzzo, were fortunate enough to find their true love before being famous, other football stars, like Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodriguez, chose to maintain their romantic relationships even after becoming well-known.
Then there are many who got married while pursuing their careers and had happy endings, while many others got married but were never truly committed to one other for an extended period of time.
However, even the most well-known football players can’t prevent their marriages from disintegrating.
Divorce is a big topic when it comes to marriage involving athletes and footballers. Let’s take a look at 10 popular football players who divorced and how it ended.
Emmanuel Eboue
He was a famous Arsenal player who in turn went broke after a divorce. He was known to be the funniest player to have ever played football, as he was always entertaining.
He once told the Queen of England if he would be the royal dog walker and also beat players down the wing for Arsenal and Ivory Coast.
He also lost his two close relatives during that period and was also suspended from playing football for failing to pay for his agent. The period was so hard for him that he was even contemplating ending his own life.
Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole realised his career peak when he was in Arsenal. He made his name while at Arsenal during the most successful season, 2003-2004, for Arsene Wenger and his men after winning the premier league title unbeaten.
He however made a dramatic exit to Chelsea where he played well and ended up being the club’s legend.
Before an awkward spell at AS Roma in 2010, Cole divorced his wife, Cheryl Ann Tweedy, a famous singer in England.
Unlike other divorced players, Cheryl did not take any money from Ashley, simply because she was richer than him. She also let him keep the $8 million mansion. He allegedly had numerous affairs during the marriage which led to divorce.
Ryan Giggs
He is a legend who played for Manchester United and also became assistant coach for Manchester United. He was extremely loyal to his club all through. However, the loyalty he had for the club did not extend to his family.
Giggs and his wife, Stacey Cooke, seven years divorced in 2017. Giggs paid $52 million after having several affairs including 8 years affair with his brother’s wife, Natasha Lever. This incidence really caught many by surprise as it was not expected of a legend like him.
Thierry Henry
Thierry Henry divorced with his wife, Claire Merry, when he moved from Arsenal to Barcelona, on June 2007. It was a very hard period for him as he was too far from his daughter, Tèa Henry. Henry did admit that it is hard to stay without having kids.
He said that earlier on he just thought of his career and he dedicated all of his time to it and doing his own things.
Henry had a great moment and a great achievement as he won the Champions League and also played with Lionel Messi, who was a youngster when Henry joined the club.
Henry divorced and paid $10 million to his wife after she found text messages in his phone to another woman.
Louis Saha
During his time, Louis Saha used to be one of the richest footballers in France. He played for Fulham, Manchester United, Everton and the France national team.
When he finished playing, most of his wealth were no more after he divorced his wife, Aurelie Saha. Saha admits that he lost half of his fortune. After realising this, he started services as he teaches players on how to manage their funds.