Francesco Toldo admits he promised himself he’d retire if Inter won the 2010 Champions League.
The then-38-year-old was backup to Julio Cesar during the Nerazzurri’s run to the final, and retired that summer despite having another year on this contract.
“At a certain point I decided it was time to stop, even though I was relatively young,” Toldo explained to vita.it.
“I never lost my passion, but when the weight of responsibility became so egregious that it was clouding my freedom to play, I retired.
Francesco Toldo admits he promised himself he’d retire if Inter won the 2010 Champions League.
The then-38-year-old was backup to Julio Cesar during the Nerazzurri’s run to the final, and retired that summer despite having another year on this contract.
“At a certain point I decided it was time to stop, even though I was relatively young,” Toldo explained to vita.it.
“I never lost my passion, but when the weight of responsibility became so egregious that it was clouding my freedom to play, I retired.
“In 2010 we won the Champions League and I retired, as I’d promised I would do if we won. I had another year on my contract but I had decided.
“The Inter President [Massimo Moratti] asked me what I wanted to do within the club, but I didn’t want to coach – I was tired of training camps and away games.
“I asked if I could take care of the social part.”
Toldo was also asked about the next generation of Italian footballers, and wasn’t positive about their attitude.
“The lads today only think about money, they want quick cash and they collapse at the first difficulty.
“I’ve gone back to working with the youth to convey this to them, because if you sacrifice you’ll benefit later, but if you’re like skittles you’ll fall to the ground at the first opportunity.
“Economic wealth can make it easy to buy things, but happiness and self-sacrifice can’t be bought. Young people today don’t understand the value of those things.”