“I once said that I would either commit suicide or change radically” | Relief
Julio Alberto and Dani Benitez have much more in common than just their profession.. They were both footballers with enormous talent and an undeniable ability to conquer the world. However, they fell deeply into drug addiction, from which they recovered so much later. A problem that complicated the sports career of one and the end of the career of another, and which is now remembered in El Salvados. Saved by the name “Unforgiven”. “Socially he is still condemned for this mistake.”says Gonzo, explaining the motto, which well defines the trials his protagonists have to go through even when they overcome their problem.
Salvados travels to the third division match in which Dani Benitez spends his last minutes as a professional. From First Division to clay football, the positive for cocaine that changed everything. But before we go to his hell, it’s time to remember who he was in a program more aimed at the general public. Monchi says: “It was very difficult to stop at speed and driving. He had incredible technique. He was brash, just like in his life on the field. He played his game. I know you had a hard journey through the desert. I hope he comes out and doesn’t come back.”
Dani Benitez takes the floor and changed course: “My life brought me to this training ground. Together with a friend, I started a project to produce natural products. I grew up in a modest area, in a small town, and I got used to it.” Born in Lloset, the former footballer spent his childhood with a ball sewn to his foot. Already as a cadet, he signed a contract with Mallorca. and he didn’t go before because his parents couldn’t afford to take him to the village. A difficult childhood always accompanies him: “.There were a lot of fights between my parents, it was hell. I didn’t have the kind of affection that is passed on to a child. “I left home before I turned 16.”
A nightmare that creates a series of traumas that explain his future problems. “In Mallorca, few people knew about my personal life. My mother came to watch me play, my grandmother… Then I came to Granada, shortly after my mother died, and everything changed. I would say this is the most difficult moment of my life. He died at 45 from cancer,” he recalls.
Then came sporting success, which he used to help people, but he also spent money excessively and lost control: “My mother always told me that I should reach the First Division. When she died, I had a sense of duty to her. We did it. rise. As a footballer he was very happy. Young, with money to do whatever he wants. Every Sunday was better. I was living the dream, it was shit. He helped many people. I filled the refrigerator at their house. “I bought clothes for seven or eight friends, paid for my cousins’ education, helped the families of my friends who were in prison.”
Read the interview in Relevo, in which Dani Benitez spoke in detail about his problems.
The day that changed the life of Dani Benitez: “I wasn’t happy, I didn’t care”
Little by little, Dani Benitez fell into a hole, although the prospect for the future seemed fabulous, based on his situation: “I did crazy things. I once spent 25,000 bucks on a party and casino. Of course you think that “You have already decided on your life, but then failure comes.” Even Monchi’s Sevilla tried to sign him, as the sporting director now admits: “It was already known that he was a little boy… But this was not the main reason for his exclusion.. There was a report that he was an extroverted boy, somewhat crazy, scruffy… But nothing too serious that would make us rule him out one hundred percent.”
Benitez, of course, was a different, strong footballer. In fact, one of his most memorable moments was a tight end in a match against Clos Gomez that cost him a twelve-game suspension after he was caught on camera. Perhaps this was the beginning of the end, because upon his return he was injured and little by little he began to be questioned even by his own fans: “I became something of a black sheep, people called me a party animal, a drunkard. When I was accused of robbery on the Granada Field… It gets funny after a while. The President called me because the police wanted to talk to me. I was accused of participating because, since I knew the people…”
He had nothing to do with it, although he was condemned: “They didn’t call me to apologize.” Then it happened. He took cocaine at a pre-training party, took an anti-doping drug after a weekend game and admitted it to a doctor, who encouraged him to pray: “I won’t pray, I don’t believe in God.” At that time I no longer saw the horizon: “I wasn’t happy. He had already gotten what he wanted and had lost hope. It killed me. I would have a couple of drinks and forget everything. “I didn’t care about anything.”
He, of course, understood that he had lost everything. He turned off his phone, locked himself in the house, and there were 30 cameras at his door. After thinking for many hours, they even brought the purchases home to avoid such exposure. “I was a stinker, no one wants to settle scores with me“, he recalls. His father did not call him that time, although he did not miss him.
Dani Benitez decided to return home to his family and all this even crossed his mind: “I even thought about taking my own life.” He continues: “The day came when I said that either I would go out of my way and commit suicide, or I would change radically. It was difficult for me, but I changed. I forgave myself, of course. If you do something like that, and if you don’t, demons will come knocking on your door. This was the key to forgiving myself. Nothing else can happen to me. I may have had a bad day, but I get up and carry on. “Now I say with a big mouth that I’m proud of who I am.”
Time healed, and Dani Benitez returned to Granada for his daughter, who always accompanied him wherever he went, no matter what. The president of Arenas, when the team was in the Honor Division, invited him to return to the field: “Everyone put their hands on their heads. People called me everything: drug addict, drug addict…” However, he is consoled by the love of the people, although he avoids Los Carmenes: “I’ve only been once, I try to avoid it because of the memories it brings me.”
Ad Julio Alberto: “Your life goes by so fast that in three days anyone becomes your friend. “You can’t stop thinking about his intentions.”
On the other side of the country, Julio Alberto presents himself as a legend, a classic of our football. He is supported by his experience working in the national team, in Atlético, in Barcelona… Endless successes, titles: “Half remembers Julio, half remembers the problems.” The former player was worried when Salvados first called him, mainly because of how he was going to be introduced. Then Gonzo gave him the opportunity to prove himself: “I am an extremely simple person who has been through a thousand things: resilience, success, failure, I have won a battle that I am proud of.. You have to fall in love with life, we only have one. Money can’t buy love, it can buy a house but not a house, it can buy a party but not friendship. I realized this later.”
Now Julio Alberto dedicates his life to a foundation that is responsible for prevention and work to prevent the normalization of drug use in this society: “There are people who make a pilgrimage to my house, I don’t even know how they find it, to ask me for help. I’ve been working in prisons, juvenile detention centers… for twenty years.“Like Dani Benitez, his childhood was difficult. When he was little, he was separated from his parents and had to figure out how to succeed. he fell so hard.
“I came to football by accident. I sent a letter to Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid. First I received a call from Atlético, thank God (laughs). And three years later in the First Division. I didn’t like football. I wanted to become a cyclist, but in Madrid that’s all we could do. My first salary was 68,700 pesetas. I worked as a messenger at the Bank of Spain, which earned much less. I took out the envelope and my mother told me where it was. got it and she told me. kicked out of the house I couldn’t believe that we were talking about football: “Either you return what was stolen, or you don’t come back here.” They had to come to my house to convince her that this was my first contract.. The first thing I did was fill the refrigerator, buy my mother pajamas, a robe and slippers. And I gave my brothers a tracksuit and sneakers so they could play sports,” he says.
The former footballer started working as soon as he arrived in Madrid. He was a child, he was 14 years old, and he had to take on the role of a family man. He acted as an older brother, as a financial supporter… And when he was already completely immersed in the elite, Barcelona appeared. “Success is difficult to manage, especially when it is accompanied by money and fame. Nothing ever happens to you. Your life goes by so fast that in three days anyone can become your friend. You can’t stop thinking about his intentions. There are so many in this circle who are approaching…,” he continues his complex life story.
Read the interview in Relevo in which Julio Alberto talks in detail about his problems.
“You want to tell me what the hell I was doing buying sweaters in New York?”
Like Dani Benitez, Julio Alberto had everything even though he had nothing. However, once fame and success came, he fell into a vicious cycle of spending and made him forget about what was really important: “One day my mother called me to go home to eat and I told her I couldn’t. She asked me why and I replied that I had things to do. It was a lie. I was shopping in New York. You want to tell me what the hell I was doing buying sweaters in New York?Do you know how much time I lost having dinner with my mother and brothers? I didn’t need it. I regret it because I wasted a wonderful time. “Now I can build another one, but my mother is no longer here.”
Over time, he is able to sum up in an instant, with a breaking voice: “I don’t think I was a good father or a good son. Now I am. I was so attentive to myself that I was not attentive to myself.” other.” “. But he still had to fully delve into his worst nightmare and inspire Dani Benitez himself with his speech: “I would tell him not to run away. You need peace of mind. Ask yourself: “Who am I?”“.
The question he asked himself when leaving Barcelona at the age of 31: “I was exhausted, I needed a change in my life. I could have played another four or five years.” Perhaps I would like to push it a little more. Gaspard offered me three more yearsHe could have won the Champions League, but he hung up his boots to devote time to it. He soon became horrified: “Many circumstances have come together, but I prefer not to talk about it.”
And in his case, he prefers to focus on the moment of rebirth: “It’s a long, long way. I wouldn’t change anything. The worst moments also have their advantages. It’s logical that you have to pay for it.” your mistakes, but there are many closed doors and a long road ahead of you. This will teach you a lot. Any difficulty of others will seem insignificant to you.“.
But throughout this journey he suffered from a feeling of exclusion that surpassed all the successes achieved: “Athletic pressure for children versus isolation and social rejection. This part is very difficult. It will take you twenty years to get well again. It really hurt me.” Despite this, he reached a point where all his goals became reality: “My motivation was to have a family again, my only goal. Now I have it, I believe in it. Everything I dreamed of in my life since childhood, I have today. Everything is done. I have a wonderful daughter, three German shepherds… I didn’t dream of playing football, I dreamed of a fireplace because of a movie I watched as a child and remembered it. And my foundation wanted to fight, educate, be with children so that the influence of drugs would be less. Fight addictions. Let it become less and less every year.”