Ex-Inter star drank 50 to 70 beers in one night during COVID

Updated: 20 Nov, 2024 • 0 • min read

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Ex-Inter star drank 50 to 70 beers in one night during COVID

Photo: Getty Images

Former Inter Milan midfielder Fredy Guarín has revealed how he had fallen into alcoholism and would drink 70 beers in one night during the pandemic.

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

Whilst he was a talented player, his alcoholism prevented him from reaching his potential and even cost him his place in the Inter team, leading to his exit in 2016.

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In an interview on Colombian TV station Caracol Televisión, Guarín described how his addiction began and the devastating impact it had on his life.

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

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.

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.

His drinking habits got worse when the COVID pandemic hit during his time at Vasco da Gama, which resulted in Guarín drinking up to 70 beers a night.

I felt like the happiest man in the world for six months, but then the pandemic hit.

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.

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

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.

Guarín played 141 games and scored 22 goals in five seasons with the Nerazzurri.

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