Real Madrid icon Roberto Carlos explained in a recent interview how he went through a financial crisis in which he lost 99% of the savings from his entire football career overnight.
Real Madrid legend Roberto Carlos attended the second day of the "Portugal Football Summit" and took part in the panel "Beyond the pitch: building a brand and a legacy in football." There, he explained his strategies for securing his future after retiring from professional football, as well as the difficult situation he faced after losing all his savings overnight.
"I always thought about the stage after my career. It is about building a story as a player and making the most of your image. When I decided to leave football, I already had my sporting director license and was working with many brands. I had problems with people who left my account at zero. Because of agents and family matters, I lost 99 percent of everything I had earned in football.
I made mistakes and, because of that, I ask the younger ones not to do the same. Paul reorganized my life. With 'Entourage,' I managed to restructure my financial and family life. I had a serious problem with my former agent. I had a very serious family problem. On a Thursday, I went to sleep at midnight and, on Friday, I received a pile of papers whose existence I did not know about. There I lost my whole story," he revealed.
It is impressive that stars of Roberto Carlos's caliber have been through situations like that. A member of Los Galácticos and a creator of great feats with the team. Like the mythical "impossible goal" he scored against Tenerife in 1998, in which the Brazilian ran down the left wing to keep the ball from going out over the goal line and took a powerful shot, practically with no angle, but it produced such a large parabola that it fooled the goalkeeper and ended up in the back of the net.
Without a doubt, he is one of the most historic foreigners in Real Madrid's history. With 527 official matches and a total of 69 goals, a surprising figure for a defender. For many years, he held the record for most appearances by a player not born in Spain - which would later be surpassed by both Karim Benzema and his compatriot Marcelo.
He is currently a Real Madrid ambassador and is greatly loved by the merengue fanbase. During his time as a player, despite spending 11 seasons at the Bernabéu, the fans whistled at him only once. Something that today seems surprising, since players like Vinicius Jr. spend every match - playing at home - being whistled at, because the fans are fed up with the collective performance. Something Roberto Carlos can simply achieve.
