AC Milan and Spain striker Alvaro Morata has spoken about experiencing depression months before his country’s 2024 European Championship win and his concerns it would force him to retire from football.
The 31-year-old striker joined Milan from Atletico Madrid this summer after captaining Spain’s Euro 2024-winning side. In July, Morata said he was “happier” outside of Spain and spoke of his belief that Euro 2024 would be his final international tournament.
Morata explained he had a “really bad time” playing in Spain and said he experienced depression and panic attacks. He added it was “the best thing” to leave the country to return to Italy this summer.
“I thought I wouldn’t be able to put my boots on and go out on the pitch again,” Morata told Spanish radio station Cadena Cope.
“I received a lot of help from people, like (Atletico Madrid head coach, Diego) Simeone, (club captain) Koke and (Atletico president) Miguel Angel Gil, and my psychiatrist.
“What you see on TV or social media often is not real and is just an image because it is your job, but often I could not do simple things like lacing up my boots and there were times I went home early because I could not speak and my vision became blurry.”
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Morata featured seven times at Euro 2024 but said just three months before the tournament started he was “wondering if I would play another match”.
“I didn’t know what was happening to me but it was very complicated and delicate,” he said. “At that moment you realise that what you like most in the world is what you hate the most, it is complicated.”
Morata has scored two goals in seven appearances for Milan this season, having had two spells each at Real Madrid, Juventus and Atletico, in addition to a stint at Chelsea.
Euro 2024 was the 18th major trophy of the striker’s senior career.
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