Ronaldo Nazario opens up: “You feel as if someone close to you had died; I suffered severe depression, I gained a lot of weight”
Ronaldo Nazario retired in 2011 as one of the biggest soccer stars in the world. At that time, he was only 34 years old and had a whole life ahead of him. But, like many others, he had not prepared to leave elite sport and competition overnight.
This led him tosuffer from “severe depression”, as he has now confessed for the first time in his latest interview on the YouTube podcast ‘Football Legends Talks’, in which he has been together with other Rio ‘cracks’ such as Romario and Roberto Carlos. The reason, furthermore, why gained a lot of weight, as he has also said.
“When you decide to stop playing, You feel like someone close to you has died. I suffered from severe depression, I gained a lot of weight. It was very difficult to leave football. The idea of not playing again for a while was devastating,” the Brazilian began by commenting.
And he added: “Then you realize that you have other things to do in life, you can reinvent yourselfbut the idea of not competing for a while stuck in my mind,” he said.
But that took a while. It wasn’t until 2018 when it took over a majority share of the Real Valladolidwhich he got rid of last year. Later, in 2021acquired control of Cruzeirothe team in which he began his career as a footballer, although it only lasted three years.
Furthermore, during this time, Ronaldo has combined his business side with work ambassador and television commentator. And also carries out solidarity work with his foundation.
