Bart Slabbekoorn10 oct 2024, 15:15
Last updated: Oct 10, 2024, 3:36 PM
European champion Álvaro Morata reveals in an interview with the Spanish radio station Cope that he had been suffering from depression in recent months. Partly because of this, the striker decided to leave Spain.
Morata won the European Championship with Spain last summer. It would have been close if the attacker had not even participated in the tournament.
“There was a period when I almost didn’t manage to put on my football boots. Three months before the European Championships I didn’t know if I would ever play another match. I didn’t know what was wrong with me,” says the captain of the Spanish football team about his mental problems.
Morata suffered from panic attacks, among other things. “When you are depressed, there is always someone in your head that you have to fight against,” he says. “It does not matter what kind of work you do or what situation in your life you are in.”
The AC Milan striker has been the target of ridicule for years and is frequently attacked on the street because of his performances. The 31-year-old Spaniard therefore no longer dared to walk on the street with his children, who no longer wanted to go shopping with him.
Morata’s mental problems and the events in Spain made him decide to leave the country. “It was best for me to leave Spain. Everyone just wrote what they thought. Things came out that I thought were outrageous. I realized that wouldn’t happen to me in Italy. I couldn’t bear it,” he says.
The striker is now doing better, partly thanks to the help of a psychiatrist, Atlético coach Diego Simeone and teammate Koke. Last summer, Morata moved to Italy. At Milan he has scored twice in seven matches so far.
