Former Inter Milan midfielder Fredy Guarin has opened up about his battle with alcohol and depression.
Guarin – who retired in 2021 – said in a recent interview with Radio Caracol that at one point he drank up to 70 beers a night while living with Vasco da Gama in Brazil.
The 38-year-old already had problems with alcohol before leaving Inter to join Shanghai Shenhua in 2016, but the ex-Colombian star started drinking much more heavily after moving to China.
“From the first day I arrived in China, I became a real alcoholic,” he recalls.
'I got up to train and went drinking straight afterwards. I would rest a bit, train and then drink. Every day was like this.
'I started to get better in Brazil. I felt like the luckiest man in the world for six months, but then the pandemic struck.'
Guarin joined Vasco da Gama in September 2019 after four years in China. He previously played for Inter, Porto and Saint-Etienne in Europe, as well as Envigado and Atletico Huila in his native Colombia.
Brazil went into lockdown in early 2020 due to the global COVID outbreak. With training and competition suspended, life for Guarin went dark and almost ended completely.
“I drank 50, 60, 70 beers in one night,” he explained. 'I completely lost control, hung around in the Favelas, looking for danger and adrenaline. I had a 10 day straight run and was completely drunk, I woke up with a beer by my side.
'I lived on the 17th floor of an apartment building and was so disconnected from reality that I jumped from a balcony. Luckily there was a net underneath and it bounced me back, but I didn't even notice. I had no idea what I was doing.
'Then I realized that if I got drunk again I would die. I hope my testimony can reach many corners of the world, touch many hearts and save some lives.”
Big things were expected of Guarin when he arrived in Porto in 2008.
He was touted as a 'prodigy' in the video game Football Manager.
Although his real-life success didn't quite live up to his virtual hype, he won nine trophies with Porto, including the 2010–11 edition of the UEFA Europa League.
Guarin moved to Inter in January 2012 and it was in Italy that his problematic drinking began.
He added: 'I started to make a name for myself in Italy and that's where another problem off the pitch started.
'At first I dealt with it quite well because I would get drunk two days before a match, then play, score one or two goals and the team would win. I think it all started from a lack of understanding.
'I drank at home, in nightclubs, in the restaurant. I already had a family and that was so bad because I knew very well that what I was doing was wrong. I failed in every goal, both football and personal, because I felt like there were no limits.
'I was so affected by the alcohol that they told me through my agent that I could no longer stay in Milan. The club warned that I had to leave there immediately.'
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