“My heart has stopped”
Near-death experience: Ex-national player ends career
April 5, 2026 – 1:51 p.mReading time: 1 min.
In November, Oscar collapsed at the São Paulo FC ground. Now the former Brazilian international has drawn the conclusion.
Former Brazilian international Oscar has ended his football career. The 34-year-old is struggling with heart problems – in November he fainted during a routine examination at São Paulo FC’s premises.
Oscar described his experience in an Instagram video on Saturday. “My heart stopped for two and a half minutes,” said the midfielder. “Everyone says that when you have a near-death experience you leave your body. I had similar sensations.” He explained that he saw his son who asked him to “come back to life.” He is now ending his career, which has taken him “practically around the whole world”.
His stops took Oscar from his youth club FC São Paulo via Internacional Porto Alegre to Chelsea FC. With the “Blues” he became English champion twice and also won the Europa League in 2017. He then signed with Chinese club Shanghai Port FC. Oscar played there for eight years and won, among other things, three championship titles and the national cup once. He then returned to São Paulo.
Fans in Germany will remember Oscar primarily because of the 2014 World Cup semi-final. Shortly before the end, he scored the consolation goal for the tournament hosts in the DFB team’s brilliant 7-1 victory over Brazil.
