‘Football? I prefer beer and BBQ…’

By Football Italia staff

Dani Osvaldo reveals he left football because “I prefer beer and barbecue to money”.

The former Juventus, Roma and Southampton striker retired from football to pursue a career in rock & roll, and he insists he has no regrets.

“I decided to quit at Boca, there was too much gossip,” Osvaldo recalled, speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport.

“I couldn’t go out, I was afraid of people. I couldn’t do it anymore. I had offers from China and clubs in the Champions League, but I was detached.

“I was beginning to hate what I had always loved. Football deserves respect, and I prefer asado [Argentinian barbecue] and beer to money.

“Do you want a laugh? In December 2016 [Jorge] Sampaoli contacted me, he was at Sevilla at the time.

“He said to me: ‘Dani, I’m not asking anything of you, you can do what you want on the pitch and off, but I need a striker’.

“I told him ‘but boss, there’s the Cosquín Rock festival!’. He said ‘I forgot! Go, of course, you can’t miss it’. Two crazy people!

“Do I miss Italy? I’ll be back after the winter, I don’t remember the Bergamo snow fondly.

“And football? I’ve played in important shirts and with great champions. At the time you don’t realise it, you take it for granted.

“Today I understand that fortune, but I don’t miss it. Believe me.”

Osvaldo famously left Inter after a clash with Roberto Mancini, and that is something he regrets.

“I threw a punch at him after that famous Juve-Inter game - ‘Do you want a fight?’. He said: ‘Don’t tell me that in front of everyone’.

“If he hadn’t expelled me he’d have lost authority. Then I went to his office crying, I was ashamed. He’s a great Coach with a good character.”

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