For several years now, Fabio Macellari has been up every night and spends most of his days in the woods.
It is not for the pleasure of enjoying the night hours, or because he likes natural landscapes and exotic places.
The former footballer of Bologna, Cagliari, Lecce and Inter, today lives from his work as a baker and, if necessary, as a sawyer.
The reason? Macellari explains it himself, admitting that he spent everything professional football had given him.
He changed his life, not willingly, but out of necessity. The good night life, the discos, the friendships, the crazy spending and the standard of living that he could afford running after a ball when he was 20 years old is now being secured by the sweat of his brow.
"I made some mistakes and even used drugs," he declared during an episode of the program "Non è la d'Urso."
"When you're a young man, certain profits arrive, you have an increasingly higher standard of living, you don't understand what can happen to you next."
For Macellari, the abyss came after his career as a footballer of a certain level ended. From 2005 to 2015 (the year he "hung up his boots") he found himself playing in the minor leagues, in categories that no longer guaranteed significant visibility and earnings.
"Returning to a normal rhythm of life is not easy for a footballer, who is used to all the good things. I was very generous when I played football, I paid like a devout person for everything. I went down the drug tunnel. So, I spent all the savings of my career as a professional footballer. In these cases you understand that you have to start from scratch or die."
Today, the 45-year-old Macellari has returned to live in Bobbio, his hometown, away from the noise of football, which he still follows, having a coaching license. Together with his son and family, the former Inter player tries to set a good example, especially for the younger ones, who today have fame and money: "They live the same life that I once did, when I went to nightclubs. Be careful!".
Players have often found themselves on the edge of the precipice and this has even cost them their lives, failing to appreciate what they didn't have and what they had next. /Telegraph/
