Calcio icon Gabriel Batistuta has revealed the sheer extent of his post-playing hell. “I thought about getting my legs amputated.”
Batistuta’s ankle problems did not stop him from scoring 242 goals for Fiorentina, Roma and Inter, as well as 54 for Argentina.
However, the 48-year-old – while in better health now – confessed he was close to reaching breaking point after he had hung up his boots in 2005.
“My relationship with football was professional and mutual. I gave everything,” he told Marca.
Calcio icon Gabriel Batistuta has revealed the sheer extent of his post-playing hell. “I thought about getting my legs amputated.”
Batistuta’s ankle problems did not stop him from scoring 242 goals for Fiorentina, Roma and Inter, as well as 54 for Argentina.
However, the 48-year-old – while in better health now – confessed he was close to reaching breaking point after he had hung up his boots in 2005.
“My relationship with football was professional and mutual. I gave everything,” he told Marca.
“I had serious problems with my ankles. An arthrodesis [artificial joint] was applied to the right one. My mobility is poor, but luckily I’m not in so much pain anymore.
“For a while, it was difficult to even get up to go to the bathroom. I took lots of painkillers. It was like being in prison.
“The head handles everything, but it can’t always solve physical problems. Now I’m fine, happiness also depends on many other things.
“I’d also thought about getting my legs amputated. One day I went to a clinic and told the doctors that I couldn’t bear the pain anymore, so I asked them if amputation was possible.”