How Cicinho hid his alcoholism during his time at Real Madrid

Cicinho, who played for Real Madrid between 2005 and 2007 and for Villarreal in 2011, has spoken about his problems with alcohol during his time as an active footballer.

The Brazilian full-back, who hung up his boots in March 2018 after playing for Botafogo, Atletico Mineiro, Sao Paulo, Real Madrid, Roma, Villarreal, Sport Recife and Sivasspor, struggled with alcoholism throughout his career, although the defender said it was easy for him to hide his state during training.

"If you ask me if I ever went drunk to train with Real Madrid, I did," told told the 'Ressaca' programme on EPTV.

"I drank coffee to cover up my breath and I bathed in perfume.

"In my profession, as a professional footballer, it was easy. I didn't need money to get a drink, people gave it to me happily in restaurants.

"When I was 13, that's when I tried alcohol for the first time, and I never stopped.

"I lived in the countryside and on weekends we would get together with friends and go out to the squares, discos. I would ask the adults to go shopping and I would drink behind my parents' and the police's back."

The defender proceeds to highlight the struggles of being an alcoholic and the damage it inflicted on his personal relationships.

"Alcohol surrounds you with people who like that lifestyle, and the people who really love you are excluded," Cicinho stated.

"When they hold you up against a wall and tell you it's not right, you don't want to hear it.

"I have a 15-year-old son and I'm always apologising to him. At the time he was two years old and he didn't even understand it properly, but in my head it stuck."

Cicinho is now 41 years old and rehabilitated. The defender would now like to share his experiences of his struggle with alcohol in order to help other people avoid a similar fate.

"Football was a phase in my life, but now my phase is to show my testimony and helping people so that they don't fall into the path I did," he added.

"I give motivational lectures. I am not fit to play, my mind is an ex-footballer, my body is used to it."