The former defender felt bad on the pitch in 2014: “I would have won the Scudetto with Roma and played in the World Cup with Brazil… But that’s where my career ended. I came back but it wasn’t me anymore”
Life, for better or for worse, can be a treasure chest of surprises. Leandro Castan experienced it firsthand, in the silence of his muscles, in the words of those who were beside him when everything was dark and there was no light to be seen at the end of the tunnel. “I was afraid of dying. I was diagnosed with a cavernoma, which is a vascular malformation of the brain. That’s where my career ended.” In a moment everything changed. You go to sleep as a footballer, you wake up feeling like you’re not one anymore. The defender, when he talks about it, relives the drama. The defender was 26 years old, had played around sixty games in Serie A and was part of the Brazilian national team. “The tumor swept my dreams into the stands. I would have won the Scudetto with Roma and played in the World Cup with Brazil.”
Castan, the end of his career has very specific coordinates: it was 14 September 2014, Roma were playing at Empoli. Maicon realized that something was wrong…
“In those 15 minutes it all ended. Maicon went to Garcia and said “Leo is sick, change him”. I left the pitch and never returned. The next day I woke up with a particularly severe headache, I went to hospital and had an MRI. My body was no longer responding, I was afraid of dying.”
Then came the diagnosis. She was told she had a cerebral cavernoma. Do you remember his reaction?
“At the beginning Roma didn’t communicate anything to me, certainly to protect me. I understood that they were worried, they just told me to stay calm. When I found out it was terrible. I went from fighting to win the scudetto with the Giallorossi to being in a hospital bed fighting with a tumor. A nightmare, I was vomiting every day. I had lost 15 kg in two weeks. The objective had become survival, of course. Football in those moments comes second.”
Do you remember a particular message you received after the operation?
“Yes, so many. Many of these were unexpected. I remember Baresi wrote to me, it was incredible. Then Del Piero, Bonucci and others. In addition to all my teammates, they were fantastic.”
After a long rehabilitation he then tried to return. But it wasn’t easy. Did you feel like your body was no longer responding to commands?
“I’ll tell you this. I remember perfectly the first ball I tried to go for. I tried to stop it but it went under my legs. It was as if I didn’t have control of my body. A terrible feeling.”
Have you ever thought about quitting?
“Yes, many times. I can’t explain the disappointment in words. You don’t recognize yourself, you want to reach a level but you can’t. In that period, I was always crying. And I even got into arguments with my teammates. Like that day with Dzeko…”.
“In training Edin turned and gave me a slap. I took it and after 5 minutes I came at him hard, making him a bad foul. He insulted me, a few words flew. Then in the evening I called him and apologised, today we are good friends. It also happened with Keita. We argued in training, I was sick and I warmed up immediately. Then everything went back to the locker room with Seydou too.”
Were they close to you at Roma?
“Yes, a lot. I can’t help but thank the club and the people who lived that period with me. Walter Sabatini was like a second father, but Rudi Garcia was also fundamental. After every training session he came to my house and spent half an hour with me. It happened every day. It was his way of making me feel part of the group. I’ve never said it before, but it’s something I carry in my heart.”
Spalletti, however, practically left her out of the squad after the match against Hellas Verona…
“He called me into his office to tell me that he wanted to relaunch me. “What should I do to find one of the strongest defenders in the championship”, he asked me. At the beginning, in fact, he put his trust in me. Then after that terrible match against Verona, he chose not to let me play anymore. He called me and told me that I would have to leave, that my level was someone who could play at Frosinone. Then in Serie B. It was bad, not so much for the choice but for the ways used. I felt humiliated. However, I don’t think I’m the only one who has discussed it over time…”.
There, in fact, his experience with Roma ended. Have you learned to convince us today or is it still a regret?
“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to stay at that level. I tried hard, it wasn’t enough. My success was already being able to get back on the pitch. At a certain point, however, training had become detrimental. Roma didn’t renew my contract and I chose to return to Brazil. After a couple of years, then, I gave up on everything.”
What memories do you have of your Rome?
“We were very strong, there were world-class players. Today a team like that would win three championships in a row. Salah, Edin, Francesco, De Rossi Benatia, Nainggolan and so on. We just had the misfortune of catching an incredible Juve who never lost.”
The strongest he played with?
“I would like to say Totti, but you know… I played with Ronaldo. Ronnie has always been my idol, sharing the locker room with him was incredible. In the first 4 steps you never caught him and he already had a belly!”.
What is your relationship with football today?
“Until two years ago I couldn’t even watch a match. I had a knot in my stomach. Now I’m back to watching it, in fact I’d like to coach. On the bench I’d like to take back what bad luck took from me as a footballer.”
Do you ever think about how it would have gone if…?
“Every day that passes, believe me. For a long time I wondered why it happened to me. The tumor swept away my dreams. I think I would have won the scudetto with Roma and played in the World Cup with the Brazilian national team.”
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