Aguero: I was lucky I didn’t have a heart attack

FT Desk

22 Feb 2022 11:15 GMT
3 min read

Sergio Aguero has revealed he was lucky not to have a heart attack, having been forced to retire from football due to health problems.

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Ex-Barcelona forward Aguero announced his retirement from professional football at the age of just 33 in December due to a cardiac arrhythmia – an irregular heartbeat - that would have made it dangerous for him to continue to play sport at the highest level.

The issue first arose during Aguero’s participation in a La Liga match against Alaves on 30 October, with the Argentina international forced to be replaced during the game as he was suffering from chest pains.

Barcelona initially announced that Aguero would be forced to take three months out of the game while investigations were done into the issue.

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But eventually Aguero was forced to retire with immediate effect and he held a press conference at Camp Nou on December 15 to announce the news.

Nos tomamos un día más pero no queríamos dejar de despedirte como te lo merecés.

Este mimo nuestro es una muestra más de cariño de todos los argentinos.

¡Te vamos a extrañar, @aguerosergiokun! 💙 pic.twitter.com/O7KFZh26BW
— Selección Argentina 🇦🇷 (@Argentina) December 16, 2021

During the press conference alongside Barcelona president Joan Laporta, Aguero broke down into tears.

Aguero has now revealed that doctors told him he was lucky that he didn’t have a heart attack.

"Today I want to play, but I'm scared. I trained all my life to the maximum and in big competitions. I don't watch football or the news, I don't care what's going on,” Aguero told TYC Sports.

"I concentrate on what I like the most, like friends. Returning to play comes into my head from time to time but I know it's something I can't do.

“They told me I was lucky because I could easily have had a heart attack. Now it time to relax. I'm happy with what I'm doing.”

Aguero only joined Barcelona last summer on a Bosman from Man City, but made just four appearances in La Liga and scored one goal.