Problems with alcohol
Paul Gascoigne
As all English media wrote in the late 1990s, Paul Gascoigne is one of the most talented football players and also the most famous alcoholic in the world of football. And here’s why — after a victorious match for the England national team, Gascoigne could almost always be seen in the pub closest to the stadium. He sat at the bar wearing his national team uniform and boots dirty from the lawn. This lifestyle led to problems — the athlete often missed training, clashed with coaches and got into drunken brawls.
After 1998, the midfielder did not stay long in football clubs — in six years he managed to change at least five. They simply didn’t want to take him on to the team, and the clubs in the “basement” of the standings withdrew contract offers at the last minute. Gascoigne repeatedly went to clinics to get rid of addiction, but could not overcome the addiction.
Adriano
While playing for Inter, Adriano found himself in the whirlpool of Milan’s fashion scene — at some point, the football player began to be seen more often not at training, but at parties in nightclubs. The striker left the establishment in the morning in an inadequate state, and publications noted that fame and money had gone to the athlete’s head.
After finishing his career at Inter, Adriano admitted the reasons for this behavior and addiction to alcohol. “After my father died, I fell into a depression from which the only way to escape was through drinking. I only felt happy when I drank, so I drank incessantly. I drank everything I could get my hands on: wine, whiskey, beer. I came to training drunk. I didn’t sleep so as not to be late for training, but I arrived at the base in an indecent state“, the footballer said in an interview with the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
Oleg Romantsev
The legendary coach of the Spartak football club Oleg Romantsev began to notice a frequent turn to alcohol towards the end of his career. In the recently released documentary series “The Time of Spartak” on Kinopoisk, attention was also paid to this topic. In one of the episodes they even showed a fragment of a press conference at which Romantsev appeared in front of journalists while intoxicated.
The changes in the life of the head coach are associated with severe stress, which he tried to relieve with the help of alcohol. Romantsev took on a lot as the leader of the Moscow team — at some point he lost control, and not everything began to work out. Failures unsettled the man, which made him decide to take such measures.
Injuries
Eduardo da Silva
In February 2008, Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva was seriously injured. During the game against Birmingham, Martin Taylor flew into him. After the collision, da Silva remained lying on the lawn, but at that time none of the coaching staff, teammates and fans at the stadium understood what exactly happened.
The Arsenal striker suffered an open fracture of his leg and an open dislocation of his left ankle. This moment was so difficult and scary that during the live broadcast they didn’t even show a replay, so as not to shock the audience.
Da Silva then had numerous surgeries and months of recovery. Arsenal physiotherapists and attending physicians doubted that the football player would ever be able to return to his usual level of play. “In case of such an injury, there is a risk of losing a leg. An ordinary person will recover from such an injury for about six months, Eduardo will need at least nine,” Tim Allardyce, a physiotherapist at the London club, said at the time.
However, the athlete reappeared on the field just a year after the injury — in 2009, in the 1/16 finals of the FA Cup, he appeared in the starting lineup and scored a double against Cardiff City. Subsequently, da Silva continued the recovery process and was able to regain his previous form.
Richard Zednik
The situation with hockey player Richard Zednik is one of the most terrible in the history of world sports. In 2008, during a match between the Florida Panthers and the Buffalo Sabers, Zednik’s teammate Olli Jokinen lost his balance after colliding with an opponent and cut the Florida forward’s carotid artery with his skate. The hockey player was unable to dodge the blade in time — seconds later the entire ice was covered in blood.
As Zednik himself recalls, after the incident he somehow managed to close the cut with a leggings and get to the substitutes’ bench. In the locker room he was already unconscious — the athlete had lost about two liters of blood. Doctors managed to stop it and sew up the carotid artery. Such an injury does not require long-term recovery, so after a few months Zednik returned to the ice and continued to play hockey.
Elena Berezhnaya
In 1996, during training, figure skater Elena Berezhnaya was practicing a difficult element and received a terrible injury. Her partner Oleg Shlyakhov accidentally hit the girl on the head with a skate — the blow was so strong that fragments of the temporal bone damaged the outer shell of the brain. Due to the injury, the right side of the skater’s body was partially paralyzed, and doctors could not give any guarantees for the athlete’s full recovery.
After two complex brain surgeries, Berezhnaya learned to talk, read and walk again. She was able to return to the ice and did so with a new partner, Anton Sikharulidze. Already in 1998, the couple took silver at the Olympics in Nagano, and after that they had successful performances at the European Championships and the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.
Depression and stress
Oleg Romantsev
By the 2000s, Spartak had changed irrevocably: the “golden” years of crushing victories over rivals had passed, forwards left the team, and the ideology of the Moscow club was changing due to countless newcomers and foreign players from other countries. In the documentary series “The Time of Spartak”, they specifically focused on this, since all this had a strong impact on the head coach Oleg Romantsev.
He led Spartak for a long time, and his body was repeatedly under severe stress. Therefore, Romantsev “crumbled” and at some point could no longer approach his responsibilities with the same responsibility. The nervous system was destroyed not only by intense experiences, but also by insomnia and two packs of cigarettes — that’s how much the coach smoked per day.
Many Spartak employees and friends continued to support Romantsev. One of them was the second coach of the “red-whites” Alexander Tarkhanov — he tried to be closer to the head coach. “The Time of Spartak” also shows a striking episode in which Romantsev asks Tarkhanov to sit next to him on the trainer’s bench. This was prohibited by the rules, because at that time Alexander had already left the team headquarters, so they placed a chair nearby and so that Romantsev could see him.
Michael Phelps
In 2021, the most decorated Olympian, Michael Phelps, revealed that he suffered from “post-Olympic” depression. After each successful swim, Phelps took a long time to come to his senses — he could not return to training, saw no point in competing and doubted his skills and future victories.
This went on for ten years — the swimmer became aware of the problem only after 2014. Then he turned to a psychotherapist and learned more about what he was faced with. “I learned why I work, how I work, why I am the way I am. I had the opportunity to dive into some things that I had suppressed inside,” Phelps said in 2021.
Clark Carlisle
Clark Carlisle is known as one of the brightest football players in the English championship. The athlete played more than 500 matches, became president of the Professional Players Association and constantly improved his ball handling technique on the field. Now he is also known as a public figure: he tries to raise many important topics in sports — racism, social inequality, depression. The latter also affected him.
While playing for Queens Park Rangers, Carlisle threw himself under a truck. As the athlete himself explained his actions then, “he no longer had the meaning of life.” Shortly before this, the football player lost a large contract with a television channel, and spent all the money on a casino. Carlisle survived the accident with only a broken rib and a shattered knee. Thanks to the support of the team, he continued to play and continued to fight depression.
Bullying
David Beckham
During the decisive game at the 1998 World Cup in the 1/8 finals, England player David Beckham unsuccessfully collided with an Argentina player and kicked him. For this, the athlete was shown a red card and removed from the field. England did not win that match — Argentina turned out to be more successful in the penalty shootout.
The next day, all English fans were not only depressed due to the loss of their favorite team, but also made Beckham their main enemy. Journalists portrayed the football player in a bad light, and fans booed him in stadiums and did not allow him passage on the city streets.
However, Beckham managed to cope with the attacks of the fans — thanks to the head coach of Manchester United Sir Alex Ferguson and his teammates. In the new season of the English Championship, he showed a brilliant performance on the field, scoring beautiful goals for the Red Devils against their opponents. The fans’ hatred instantly disappeared — they supported Beckham, and he gave them victory in the FA Cup, the English Premier League and the Champions League.
Thierry Henry
Already a former player of London’s Arsenal and Barcelona, he was always considered a role model and a true gentleman. However, in 2009, the France striker became the most hated player in the entire football world during a play-off match for the 2010 World Cup against Ireland. In extra time, he made an assist with his hand, which allowed the French team to advance to the World Cup.
Ireland fans were furious at Henry’s “hand of God” — they shouted abuse, made death threats and stood watch for him outside the training ground. Such a reaction from Irish fans left its mark on the footballer’s career. After a while, Henri admitted to playing with his hand, apologized to his opponents and even offered to replay the match.
At the same time, the French football player was supported by many — French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowan, one of the leaders of the French national team Damien Duff and many others. They believed that there was nothing serious about the violation, since all the blame lay solely with the referee, who did not notice the handball and did not blow the whistle.
Luis Suarez
Luis Suarez is undoubtedly considered one of the most “hated” football players among both fans and players. A brute, a malingerer and a cannibal — that’s all about the Uruguayan striker. Suarez has repeatedly demonstrated inappropriate behavior on the field. Due to an excess of emotions, he could trip up his opponent, bite him on the neck, quarrel with the referee and speak unflatteringly about nationalities.
Many disqualifications, red cards and a bad character did not particularly affect Suarez’s career. The fans booed him repeatedly, and the players did not spare him during the tackles. However, the striker continues to play — this is exactly how he sees football: rough and tough. Despite all his antics, Suarez is considered the most effective player.
Who helps athletes cope with burnout, stress, injuries and other problems
If a coach is responsible for the physical development of athletes, then a sports psychologist works with various mental problems. It helps to cope with emotions and stress, teaches you to control emotions, concentrate, accept defeat and mentally recover from serious injuries.
The coaches and team also provide great support to the athletes. There are many stories in the history of world sports when athletes returned to games and regained their former form thanks to their comrades. Among them are football player David Beckham, gymnast Simone Biles, swimmer Michael Phelps, basketball player DeMar DeRozan and many others.
When it comes to injuries, doctors and physical therapists are the primary care providers for athletes. With their help, they can recover and return to training in a fairly short time. For this purpose, special rehabilitation programs are being developed that help restore muscle tone to normal and develop limbs after injuries.
Also, during training, they are given individual exercises to make it easier to return to their usual loads and physical fitness.