Home » Lozano: “In Naples for Ancelotti’s court. I was afraid of dying on the pitch”

Lozano: “In Naples for Ancelotti’s court. I was afraid of dying on the pitch”

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Lozano: “In Naples for Ancelotti’s court. I was afraid of dying on the pitch”

The blue winger told The Players’ Tribune: “Carlo called me every week. When I was injured, the damage to my spine made me fear the worst. The hardest moment? The lockdown alone with my parents in Mexico: I was about to go crazy”

Depression, the fear of dying on the pitch, the experience at Napoli and the special relationship that has been created with Carlo Ancelotti. These are just some of the topics that Hirving Lozano covered in a long letter written for “The Players’ Tribune”. The “Italian” story starts right from the phone call from the current Real Madrid coach in 2018: “When I heard his name I almost went crazy. He wanted me to go and play for him in Napoli. He called me every week, if I got injured he asked me how my recovery was going. How could I tell him no? Carlo is a great coach, but he is even better as a person. On his first night in Italy he took my family and I to dinner with his wife. He was very important to me, because sometimes people don’t realize how difficult it is to change countries as a footballer. Especially for South Americans, because European culture is so different. But Ancelotti knew how to make you feel at home and that humanity has remained with me”.

Pandemic

After the exemption, the coronavirus pandemic broke out shortly after Gattuso took office. “My wife and kids were back in Mexico, suddenly all flights were canceled and I was trapped on my own halfway around the world. I thought this would be resolved in a few days. After a few weeks, I told the club I couldn’t take it anymore. I begged them to let me go home. But they made me understand that I risked prison. Eventually, like many people at the time, I spent three months on my own, and it felt like I was going crazy. There have been other obstacles in my path, but I’m lucky because I’ve always bounced back. We won the Coppa Italia, when the leagues restarted after the lockdown, and I became the first Mexican player to win a trophy in Italy. I was also the first to score in Serie A. I’ve had other great coaches from whom I’ve learned a lot. Very different characters, such as Gattuso (a person who wants to live at 100 per hour) and Spalletti, who tries to harness the little devil I have on my shoulder”, he continued. Last year, during the Gold Cup, Lozano was seriously injured after an accidental knee received by the Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper. The dynamics of the impact immediately let us fear the worst, as the Mexican explains: “My neck was rotated 180 degrees, my spine was damaged and my eye exploded. I was very scared. I cried a lot. I feared for my life, honestly. Thanks to the surgeon, I was only out for three months, but many doctors told me it was a miracle that he survived, let alone that he was able to get back on the field so quickly.”

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“Earth shaking”

Finally, a message to all his compatriots as they approach the World Cup: “In these four years we have experienced many things, some good, some bad. But we are the same country. We will all live these moments together, 130 million people. We will suffer and you will suffer. We will feel joy and you will feel joy. If you believe, we will believe. Even when we’re on the other side of the world, we hear you. I have heard it. Let’s make the earth tremble.”

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