Life confession of the former Italian goalkeeper Angelo Pagot in an interview for “Corriere della Sera”. The now 51-year-old goalkeeper told about his journey through the hell of drugs, which eventually destroyed his football career, reports Index.hr.
Pagoto won the European Championship for young national teams with Italy, and during his career he defended for Pistoiese, Sampdoria, Milan, Perugia, Empoli, Reggiona, Trieste, Arezzo, Turin, Grosseto and Crotone.
He started from what he regrets the most, which is because he is not on good terms with his mother.
– When I look back, what I regret the most is my mother’s care. I was 14 years old, Napoli invited me and I moved from Verbania. She was scared – she raised me alone. She was a worker who went to Switzerland just to secure that extra 700-800 lira a month. She gave me the opportunity to believe in my wishes, she never stopped me from dreaming. Today we are not on good terms, and I hope that one day I will find her again and that we will laugh together at the stupid things I did – said Pagoto.
Then he described what he was going through. In 1996, Italy became the under-21 European champion, and then Pagoto defended before Gianluigi Buffon.
– It was a period in which he and I were the best goalkeepers in Italy. I recently heard from him, I congratulated him on his new role in the national team. “I have to thank you, because you’re the only one who made me win the European Championship,” he joked. That team was very strong, there was him as the second goalkeeper, then Toti, Nesta, Panucci and Cannavaro, who still calls me Big Jim because of the hairstyle I had then – recalled Pagoto.
Problems were identified when he tested positive for cocaine on 28 April 2007, just before a Serie B match between Pagot’s Crotone and Spezia. He pleaded guilty and was banned from playing professional football for life at a hearing on July 30. He appealed and his sentence was soon reduced to eight years. The ban expired in 2015, when he was 41 years old.
– For me, cocaine was an escape, especially when I had no goals. At that moment I was in Krotone, I didn’t play much, my career was over. I met a lot of bad people that I couldn’t say no to. Drugs cut me off from reality. I thought that solved the problems, but it didn’t. I was an addict for three years and suffered from depression. I haven’t gotten off the couch in six months, and I’m still taking medicine.
Today, he says, he is a happy man
– I have a woman I love by my side, I hope to have another child, even though at 51 I am no longer a kid. I have many goals. I won’t be happy until I get to them. I want to return to Serie A as a goalkeeper coach. I have already gained important experience in Avelin. Today I train goalkeepers in Prat. I see myself also on the field running a football school where future talents can breed”.
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Source: www.vijesti.me
