The former German national team striker impressed with his appearance 1.5 years after his retirement. Photo.

Former German forward Max Kruse shocked his fans online by appearing at a friendly match. The 36-year-old footballer, who retired from professional football a year and a half ago, has gained a lot of weight.

Kruse has played 14 matches for the German national team in his career, scoring four goals. He also played well for Borussia Mönchengladbach, Werder Bremen and Union Berlin.

"Six months ago, I had a general checkup to find out what percentage of body fat I actually have in my body," Kruse says onthe Flatterball podcast he co-hosts with another former professional football player, Martin Harnik, "My doctor said it was 33 percent body fat."

This diagnosis struck even him. "A third of my body is just fat."

For comparison, a professional football player has an average body fat content of 8 to 13 percent. The normal value for adult men is between 10 and 22 percent.

"I was a little embarrassed for a moment. 33 percent is crazy. In the end, I lost a few kilograms since then, but now I'm back under 100 kilograms," said Kruse, who is 1.80 meters tall. "My doctor and I are planning to use an injection to remove the fat. I can no longer play sports every day," added the former Borussia Dortmund player.

Kruse realizes he needs to change.

"I'm not going to eat like I did for the last six months, when I was bingeing on everything left and right," he said: "That's definitely one of the things that contributed to me gaining 15 pounds. We've been living relatively well for the last 15 years. But I just don't have the motivation to say I'm going to keep doing it now."

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!