Ex-Belgium centre-back, Toby Alderweireld has come out to say that his health problems forced him to retire from international football. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.
According to him, all the stress of football made his heart beat at a rate of a thousand an hour at some point, and he started battling several panic attacks.
Alderweireld added that he definitely had a great time with the Belgian national team, but it was time to close that chapter.
His words, “After the lost cup match against Union I was angry and frustrated. I couldn’t sleep that night and went to the club early the next morning to do a strength session. Before I left, I took a caffeine pill because I don’t like coffee.
When I was in the car, my heart suddenly started beating at a rate of a thousand an hour. I thought: I’m going to have a heart attack. I’m done for, I’m never going to see my children again. I pulled over, walked into a furniture store and asked if they could call 911.
It turned out that all the stress made my heart pound. That gave me a panic attack, which made my heart beat even faster. You actually drive yourself crazy. And at a certain point you think you’re going to have a heart attack and die.
We did a lot of tests, but everything was okay. Then I started talking to people and they said it was due to too much stress. Purely a panic attack. Now I still suffer from that sometimes, but I can accept that because I know it’s nothing.
That’s why I quit the national team. I had a great time there with five major tournaments and was able to close that chapter.”
WOW.
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