Wesley Sneijder was a talented footballer. A phrase recently came out of his own mouth: “If I had proposed, it would have been a Messi or a Ronaldo, but I preferred to enjoy myself and not generate pressure.” Now a controversial biography of the Dutchman was known, who at the time came to be considered by the Spanish press as “the new Di Stéfano”, after his first matches at Real Madrid. But Sneijder would shine more in another country, Italy. He had his best stage in Inter, when trained by José Mourinho he was champion of the Champions League and was about to win the Ballon d’Or.
His book, written by journalist Kees Jansma, is forecast to be a best seller. Among other things, because it reviews some explosive and unpublished episodes about his professional career and personal life, focusing on his failure in business, his nights out and his addictions. “I wanted to feel honest and naked,” Sneijder said during an interview introducing the biography with the De Telegraaf newspaper.
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The former attacker is happy to have related his successes as a player, his marital crisis, his great losses in business and even his attachment to vodka and parties well into the early hours of the morning, which were frequent during his time in Spain. “At Real Madrid, the bottle of vodka became my best friend,” she said.
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The former footballer, who turned 36 this month, confessed that he had serious problems with alcohol when wearing the meringue shirt and that his attitude “was unworthy” towards the club. He admits that as a young man he enjoyed excess success. “It wasn’t about drugs, it was about alcohol and rock and roll, and I got used to it,” he acknowledged. The Madrid night became a regular thing for him when he was a White House player. He was 23, 24 years old.
The Dutchman admits that he wasted thousands of euros at night, that he drank more than necessary for a long time and that he was never able to stop going out. “I cannot say that I resisted enough. I always went with some other player, usually with Guti,” involved the then-prominent midfielder, who emerged from Real Madrid’s own youth team. Between bad decisions and bad company, in those two years he felt he had sunk: “I lied to myself saying that everything was going well. I defended myself with my football intelligence, but I sank physically,” he revealed.
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The Goal.com site says that there came a time when partying was usual for him, even accompanied by Hollywood celebrities. “I remember once, my wife and I partied with George Clooney and Megan Fox until 6am. The next day, I was playing Werder Bremen for the Champions League. I played, scored and attended. So, as I saw it was able to do that going out the night before, I wasn’t afraid to repeat it, “he explained.
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The midfielder, who played three World Cups and scored five goals in South Africa 2010, started his campaign in Ajax, went through Spain and Italy and ended his career in Turkish football at Galatasaray. In that World Cup he was runner-up and obtained the Silver Ball and the Bronze Booty, and scored the two goals that turned the result and eliminated Brazil in the quarterfinals. In addition, in Brazil 2014 he was the starter in the semifinal in which Argentina marginalized Holland by penalties, that afternoon when Javier Mascherano said “today you become a hero” to Sergio Romero. The goalkeeper saved two penalties; the second was that of Sneijder. Later, Maxi Rodríguez sealed the classification.
Argentina – Holland, in Brazil 2014
In his heyday as a footballer, Sneijder enjoyed that everyone adored him, and went out and spent his money for himself and his friends. He was not depriving himself of anything. Arjen Robben and Ruud van Nistelrooy, his teammates and compatriots in his time at Real Madrid, tried to warn him about his behavior, but he ignored them. He had signed for five seasons, but in the third he was transferred to Inter for 16,000,000 euros, nine million less than what the merengue club had paid Ajax for his pass. Last year, Wesley hung up the booties.
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