Cicinho opens up about his alcoholism: I drank 10 beers a day Real Madrid The Brazilian has revealed a secret

Former Real Madrid player Cicinho has admitted to suffering from alcoholism during his playing days.

The Brazilian represented Los Blancos in 2006/07, and he's no spoken about the problems he endured.

"I started drinking at about 13 or 14 when I went to Botafogo de Ribeiro Prato," Cicinho revealed in a column in newspaper Estado de Sao Paolo.

"They told me that the beer was good so I drank.

"It all started with that first drink and I didn't stop until I was 30.

"I spent almost 20 years drinking more or less 10 beers a day."

The Brazilian explained that, at first, he "only drank beer" because he "had no money", but then as his funds grew he "started drinking everything".

Smoking followed, and between 1999 and 2010 he also smoked heavily.

"I smoked for 11 years," he continued. "I only smoked when I drank, but look how much I drank... it was all day."

But Cicinho only identified that things were going wrong when the joy of playing football started to fade.

"I was always in love with football," the former player wrote.

"When God gives you a gift but you don't know how to manage it, it's because something is wrong.

"I had no pleasure in going onto the pitch anymore, in training either.

"I was 30 years old and I was playing for Roma when I realised."

He kept playing though before announcing his retirement from football in March 2018, at 39, due to regular knee problems.

Now sober, Cicinho credits meeting his wife as being what got him on the path to rehabilitation.

"She encouraged me to get back to my principles," he wrote.

"Which were oriented to the word of God.

"That's how my transformation came.

"I haven't had problems with alcohol or cigarettes for eight years.

"I don't betray my wife and I live by the principles that God asks of me."