A former teammate of Messi revealed the suffering he endured at Barcelona: “I couldn’t swallow my food before the games”

Fans and the press often overlook the pressure that is exerted on athletes at the time of analysis, from whom the best is always expected regardless of the circumstances. In this sense, there are athletes who tend to cope better with this kind of demand, but there are also those who suffer it more. This is the case of Ibrahim Afellay.

The former Dutch footballer who emerged from PSV Eindhoven had stood out for several seasons in his team due to his imbalance on the pitch and by the end of 2010 his level attracted the attention of none other than Barcelona. The Catalan cast, which was directed at that time by Pep Guardiola, paid 3 million euros for his signing and in December of that year he signed a contract for four and a half seasons hoping to shine with the Barça shirt.

That campaign, Barcelona won La Liga and the Champions League, the second under Pep. But far from enjoying those months, for Afellay they were a suffering: “I had a lot of problems with meals, I couldn’t swallow food before games. It was very difficult, but I forced myself to eat, “he told this week at NOS Studio Europa, where he works as a soccer analyst.

The nerves and pressure for the young man who was 24 years old at the time were too much: “It was really hard for me”. The Dutchman had a lot of participation in that half of the campaign, but in the next he barely had a place in the team and played only five games, so in 2012 he was loaned to the Schalke 04.

During his stay at Barcelona he shared a squad with Lionel Messi, who was already a consecrated star of the team and world football, but also constantly grappling with the demands he had on him: “Of course I was able to experience it up close. With Messi the pressure was so great that, just before leaving, he would often vomit in the bathroom. And sometimes you saw it in the game, just before the start ”.

At that time, these episodes were in the focus of the main portals of the world and others were a concern for Barcelona, ​​even Gerardo Martino, who was in charge of the Catalan team, had expressed his alarm: “It is not normal, and he has already seen several specialists. Even so, it does not affect his work ”. Before the start of the 2014 World Cup, Jorge Messi, Lionel’s father, had explained that his son’s retching were a thing of the past: “For years the issue of vomiting has been controlled. It is a little stress and a little organic ”.

The truth is The flea He was able to overcome that inconvenience, but it is still present in Afellay’s mind: “This man has achieved everything you can achieve in life. There will never be a player like him again, I think. If such a person, who has nothing to prove to anyone, still experiences that pressure… That means something, I think, “said the former footballer who retired in February this year.

The Dutchman closed his career at PSV Eindhoven, after a long stint at Stoke City in England, where he spent three seasons, after having played a year in Greece with Olympiacos. The former midfielder was never able to regain the level he had at the beginning of his professional stage and that had placed him in the best team on the planet.

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