Italian midfielder Simone Muratore, 26, announced this Saturday his early retirement from the field. The reason is a brain tumor, diagnosed three years ago. In a moving account on his social media, the now former player said he had to relearn how to speak, walk, run and write, as if he had “become a child again”.
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Simone Muratore was diagnosed with a neurocytoma in the left ventricle in 2021 — Photo: Reproduction / Instagram
Former athlete for Juventus, a team with which he was Italian champion twice, and Atalanta, his last match was in October 2021, for Tondela-POR, a Portuguese team to which he was on loan at the time. Muratore returned to Atalanta in 2022, without having played again. The young Italian thanked the three clubs for being by his side during his treatment.
“Today (Saturday) I put an end to my playing career, I tried to go back to the end, I put in tears and sweat, but it wasn’t like before, I realized that I was still lucky enough to be cured and be well”, explained Muratore. “There were days when I was struggling to even get out of bed, even though I felt better.”
The news that changed his life and those around him came in 2021, with the diagnosis of a neurocytoma in the left ventricle, a brain tumor. Despite this, the former player says that he always tried to “be seen as strong in the eyes of others”, from the day of diagnosis until moments before the surgery he underwent, with his mother in the hospital room. At the health unit, however, Muratore admits to having cried “like a baby”, for “fear of not waking up” or “not being the same as before.
After having to “start all over again”, referring to simple habits such as walking and talking, the Italian decided to retire. He highlights the “luck of playing with extraordinary players”, who became friends off the field. “They were magnificent years, the field, the dressing room, the passion, these are things that are difficult to explain”, says Muratore, who concludes: “You learn to give importance to things when you are one step away from losing them. Life is a gift wonderful”.