Spain forward Alvaro Morata revealed that he suffered from depression and panic attacks before his EURO 2024 campaign.
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Morata opens up about his depression, panic attacks
Morata, 31, spoke about his difficult relationship with fans and how criticism has affected him and his family.
He served as Spain’s captain in their EURO 2024 championship run.
“When you have really tough moments, depression, panic attacks, the job you do doesn’t matter, what job you do, the situation you have in life, doesn’t matter,” Morata told Cope radio on Thursday.
“You have another person inside you, and you have to fight against them every day, every night. For me it was best to leave Spain. The moment came when I couldn’t stand it.
Morata previously mentioned that he is considering moving abroad over fan abuse.
“I had a really bad time. The moment came when I thought I wouldn’t be able to put my boots on again. Three months before the Euros, I was thinking whether I’d be able to wear the Spain shirt again, and be captain. I was thinking if I’d be able to play again.
He added: “I don’t know what was happening to me. I felt embarrassed to be with my kids, to go out into the street… Every time I went out with them something would happen, people would ask about football, talk about something that had happened in previous games.
“In the end, [my kids] didn’t want to go to the supermarket either. People said so many things to me that I was embarrassed to be with them.”
On his move to AC Milan
Morata signed a four-year deal with AC Milan from Atletico Madrid.
The forward was expected to stay at Atleti, but the backlash in Spain became too overwhelming for him.
“At first I thought I’d stay at Atleti. I really wanted to,” he told Cope. “But I did an interview, where I said I wasn’t sure if I’d stay with the national team or not, and there was a big fuss… There were some news stories that for me were out of proportion.
“I realised that in Italy, that just doesn’t happen. I’ve played for two teams there, but people there respect me. When you get a certain label [here], it’s hard to remove it.”
