F1 legend Michael Schumacher once skipped training with the football club Manchester United after suffering an injury.
Apart from his exceptional talent at the race track, 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher was also an avid footballer.
His passion for the game was so much that he used to play about 30 games a season from his Swiss club side even when his F1 career was at its peak with Ferrari.
The German legend was often invited by big clubs to train with them given his fame on and off the track. In one such incident, Schumacher was invited to train with Manchester United in 2004 but he had to cancel his plans because he had suffered an injury.
Imola, 1996. The F1 testing was suspended by the rain and Michael Schumacher decided to pass the time by playing football with his crew. Mattia Binotto, who recently joined Ferrari, played on his side against the Ferrari mechanics and Marelli guys.
📷Filippo di Mario/RmcMotori pic.twitter.com/3HayydiPiL
— Out of Context Mattia Binotto (@OfMattia) February 20, 2022
Schumacher was supposed to train at the club’s Carrington training base but his injury which came after crashing into a goalkeeper while playing for his team in Switzerland, FC Echichens.
Apart from this, the German driver was also due to participate in a penalty competition at Old Trafford but had to skip that as well due to the injury.
Also Read: Ferrari paid Michael Schumacher a salary of $60 Million for the first two years in the team
Football training felt relatively lax to Michael Schumacher
While Schumacher was quite disappointed by not being able to participate in the training session as he would not be able to give his 100%, the German legend did not miss out on other opportunities of such kind.
Some of his training sessions with the Italian clubs Juventus and Bologna and national teams such as Switzerland and Argentina did go ahead.
However, Schumacher, renowned for his supreme fitness levels in F1, expressed shock at the dull training sessions of the professional footballers.
In his biography, written by James Allen, Schumacher revealed that the proper training in winter is far above his level of workout. He could not imagine being a cyclist or a professional footballer saying that his bones wouldn’t be able to take the intensity.
Also Read: 7-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton broke another Michael Schumacher record after US Grand Prix
Michael Schumacher participated in multiple charity football games
Schumacher was always active in donations and played several charity football games to raise money for the needy.
He participated in charity games alongside Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane after Ferrari team principal Jean Todt had allowed the German star to play. The 7-time world champion would often have a kickabout with his engineers in the paddock as well.
