Ezequiel Lavezzi, the former Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain forward, has revealed that he is still taking medication for depression years after retiring from professional football, saying the illness set in once his playing career came to an end.
The 41-year-old Argentine spoke about the struggle in an interview with Amazon Italia, conducted by retired Italian striker Luca Toni.
He said that when he stopped playing, a void opened up in his life and there was nothing to fill it. He said he faced problems with depression, was hospitalized in a clinic and has followed medication and therapy since.
He said he is recovering little by little, and that the birth of his son changed his life, giving him so much joy that it makes him feel alive and gave him the strength to keep going.
Star years at Napoli, a different player at PSG
Lavezzi was one of the standout players in a strong Napoli side during the tenure of coach Walter Mazzarri, playing alongside Edinson Cavani, who led the line as the team's main striker. Napoli, based in the southern Italian city of Naples, enjoyed one of its most competitive spells under Mazzarri, qualifying for the Champions League with a squad built around Lavezzi's pace on the wing.
He said that once he completed his multi-million transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, a lot changed and he was never the same player again. Paris Saint-Germain became one of European football's richest clubs after a change of ownership in 2011 and signed a string of high-profile players in the years that followed, including Lavezzi.
Support from Messi, Aguero and Cannavaro
Lavezzi credited close friends with helping him through the difficult period, singling out Lionel Messi, his former teammate on the Argentina national team.
He said that to anyone who suffers, he would say that with humility and determination, it is possible to overcome it. He said the football world showed him incredible support.
He said so many people stood by him, among them Messi, Sergio Aguero and Fabio Cannavaro. He said he has a special friendship with Messi, that the two talk about many subjects, and that Messi is a wonderful person.
Messi, widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport and a World Cup winner with Argentina, played alongside Lavezzi for the national team for several years. Aguero, another former Argentina international, and Cannavaro, the World Cup-winning former Italy defender who also played for Napoli earlier in his career, were among those Lavezzi named as sources of support.
