FORMER Real Madrid star Predrag Spasic was once destined for glory.
But he ended up working in a warehouse for just £330 a month after battling depression and going bankrupt.
Former Real Madrid star Predrag Spasic went bankrupt and suffered from depression[/caption]
Spasic, 59, hails from Serbia, formerly Yugoslavia, and was once tipped to be a world-class centre-back.
The ace made his name in his homeland with Partizan Belgrade.
And in 1990 Real Madrid came calling in an exciting move.
But things did not work out for Spasic at the Bernabeu.
He only played 22 games during his single season at Real.
And Spasic achieved infamy by scoring a decisive own-goal in their 2-1 Clasico defeat to fierce rivals Barcelona.
It still haunts him to this day, with Spasic saying: “One bad game is to blame for everything. My life changed after meeting Barcelona at Camp Nou.
“I didn’t want to score an own goal, I swear, and then it was terrible. I remember every moment. The ball hit me, entered the net, I wanted to die.
“Camp Nou buried me as a player. I will never forget chanting in that stadium ‘Spasic, Spasic’. It’s just that it came from the Barcelona fans.”
He then spent the next three seasons in Spain with Osasuna.
Yet his time there finished with the club being relegated in 1994.
Spasic ended up playing just 13 more times throughout his career with Atletico Marbella and Radnicki Beograd.
He also won 31 international caps for Yugoslavia.
Yet his career fizzled out in 1997 at the age of 32.
And Spasic ended up going bankrupt after making some bad investments in a business project that collapsed due to the Yugoslav wars.
It forced him to take up a job working in a warehouse which paid just £330 each month.
I lived in silence, I locked myself away
Predrag Spasic
He said at the time: “I need financial help, I live one day at a time. I am in a difficult situation. You need to be strong to overcome everything.”
Spasic soon spiralled into a deep depression.
But he is now on the up after being aided by a group for veteran footballers, with Relevo claiming his former club Real also lent a helping hand.
Spasic continued: “I fell into depression, some other bad things happened in my life, so I fought with myself for 10 years.
“I managed to stabilise and recover from depression with the help of my family, my brother Bojan and the doctor who helped me a lot.”
He added: “I’m very happy now. I’m proud. Maybe that was my mistake before. Everything that happened to me affected me a lot and I didn’t talk to anyone.
“I lived in silence, I locked myself away. When I returned to my country I suffered from depression.
“I had good friends who helped me through difficult times and thanks to psychologists I managed to get out of it.
“It was everything: one thing, another, another… everything came together and in the end I exploded.”
