Some footballers go their own way after retiring, including Martin Hinteregger. After leaving Eintracht Frankfurt, the Austrian was no longer drawn to the field professionally, but into the air and on television. He also talks about the process leading up to quitting.
Huh, what's going on there? Flying a helicopter and playing in the "Mountain Doctor" certainly has nothing to do with football: After the abrupt end of his career as a professional footballer at Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer, Martin Hinteregger is pursuing completely different plans. According to reports by the Austrian news agency APA and on Ö3, the Europa League winner founded a helicopter company in Carinthia in 2022 with ex-ski jumper Thomas Morgenstern and wants to complete his training as a commercial pilot in 2023.
He also dreams of TV appearances in the ZDF hit series "Bergdoktor". As a fan of the series, it would be "fun" for him to play a paramedic or, when a party is filmed, "just be there", said the trained defender, who played as a leisure kicker in the Carinthian lower league for SGA Sirnitz striker runs up.
According to Hinteregger, retiring as a professional footballer was a process of months that began in autumn 2021 during the injury period. That was when the pressure was off him. "That was a different attitude towards life for me. That's when I started thinking that it would be nice not to be a professional footballer anymore." Hinteregger polarized because of his lifestyle and his statements, but enjoyed great popularity in Frankfurt. "The whole of Frankfurt was behind me," said the 67-time Austrian international. It's "great to be the darling of the public," but that increases the pressure to perform.
Human, personal success is much more important than sporting success. "It is often the hardest thing for anyone to be who you want. Being happy is the more important success. Happiness is when you have a lot of people around you who you trust." His heart rises when big children's eyes look up at him. "It shows that you stayed down to earth, you stayed human."
