"I am 100% alcoholic and also a recovering addict. There were moments when I wanted to die," - ex-Inter star

Freddy Guarin, a well-known midfielder of Italian Inter, Portuguese Porto and the Colombian national team in the recent past, spoke about a dark period of his life.

"Unfortunately, at some point I became addicted to alcohol. It caused me to make a lot of mistakes, make bad decisions, hurt a lot of people and made my family and friends feel bad. Alcohol has always been the worst trigger of everything that has happened to me.

I am 100% alcoholic and I admit it. I am also a recovering addict. I was an alcoholic for a long time. After I left Milionarios (the last club in Guarin's career, which he left in 2021 - ed.), I reached the lowest point because my addiction became very serious during those years. I didn't train anymore, I lost my dignity, the trust of my loved ones and the most important thing I have - my three children. I lost a lot of things in a moral sense.

There came a point where I could no longer go on like this. I had to seek help, I did it several times, but always failed. There were moments when I wanted to die.

But now it's different, and this is the decisive moment. I have already knocked on the devil's door and I know that the way is God, who gives me strength and a sober life every day. To be able to give my children all my love. I am now being helped by professionals, with their help I hope to fix the situation and regain the trust of my children, my family and my friends.

I have a tattoo with a phrase that I wrote myself, "I am afraid of death and prison". Subconsciously, I have lived in prison on death row. And it's true that on that dark road I was close to death, because for me there were no borders, no limits: every day I was getting closer and closer to the gates of hell. And I never want to go back to that life. These are not good people I lived with then. I didn't realize what I was risking when I was drunk.

I lost a lot of friends, but there were some who stayed by my side. Now I know who my real friends are: Falcao, Jamez Rodriguez, Juan Fernando Quintero, Ospina, Cuadrado, Zanetti, Cordoba and others who were there for me in those dark moments," he told Semana magazine.

Translation and stylistic adaptation - Dynamo.kiev.ua, when using the material hyperlink is mandatory!