Ex-Inter star Guarin: ‘I was an alcoholic, jumped off a balcony’ | OneFootball

Former Inter midfielder Fredy Guarin revealed how he had fallen into alcoholism during his playing days, to the degree that he ‘drank 70 beers in one night’ and ‘jumped off a balcony.’

The Colombia international is now 38 years old and announced his retirement in the summer of 2021.

His time in Serie A was at Inter from 2012 to 2016, where he played 141 competitive games, scoring 22 goals and providing 38 assists.

It was at this time playing for the Nerazzurri that Guarin started falling into the trap of addiction, which he confessed to Caracol Television.

“I started getting a name for myself in Italy and that is also where a different issue started off the pitch,” said Guarin.

“Initially, I dealt with it pretty well, as I’d get drunk two days before a game, then play, score one or two goals, the team would win. I think it all started from a lack of understanding.

“I would drink at home, in nightclubs, at the restaurant. I already had a family and that was so bad, because I knew full well that what I was doing was wrong. I failed in every objective, football and personal, because I felt like I had no limits.

“I was so swept up in alcohol that they told me via my agent that I could no longer stay in Milan. The club warned I had to be taken away from there, right now.”

Guarin asked to leave Inter in 2012

epa04621337 Inter’s Fredy Guarin (R) celebrates after scoring the 2-1 lead during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Atalanta Bergamo and Inter Milan at Atleti Azzurri d’Italia stadium in Bergamo, Italy, 15 February 2015. EPA/PAOLO MAGNI

Guarin had been on the verge of a transfer to Juventus that fell apart, then moved to Shanghai Shenhua in January 2016.

However, with that move, then a return to South America for Vasco da Gama and Millionarios, the situation off the field did not get any better.

“From the first day I arrived in China, I became a real alcoholic. I would get up to train, then straight after that go to drink. I’d rest a little, train, then drink. Every day was like that. I started to get better in Brazil, I felt like the happiest man in the world for six months, but then the pandemic hit.”

With no training or matches to play, Guarin found himself sliding ever deeper into an alcoholic stupor and it almost killed him.

“I would drink 50, 60, 70 beers in one night. I totally lost control, would hang out in the Favelas, I was seeking out danger and adrenaline. I had a run of 10 days in a row being completely drunk, I woke up with a beer at my side.

“I lived in the 17th floor of an apartment building and I was so detached from reality that I jumped off a balcony. Fortunately, there was a net underneath and it bounced me back, but I didn’t even realise it. I had no idea what I was doing.

“I realised then that if I got drunk again, I would die. I hope that my testimony can reach many corners of the world, touch many hearts and save some lives.”

Guarin’s career started in Colombia with Atletico Huila, moving on through Boca Juniors, Envigado, Saint-Etienne and FC Porto until the transfer to Inter in January 2012.

Before him, Inter were dealing with another player who lapsed into alcoholism and self-destruction, as described by Adriano.