MADRID (AP) – Former Brazil international and Real Madrid defender Roberto Carlos has undergone surgery for a heart condition, Spanish daily sports newspaper Diario AS reported on Wednesday.
The 52-year-old former full-back, who is now Madrid’s ambassador, was reportedly on holiday in his home country when tests revealed he had heart failure.
According to AS, Roberto Carlos initially requested tests to see if he had a small blood clot in his leg. However, a full-body MRI scan revealed that his heart was not functioning properly. He was admitted to the hospital for surgery to insert a catheter.
The surgery was expected to take 40 minutes but was extended to nearly three hours due to complications, AS said, adding that the surgery was a success.
Roberto Carlos is said to be out of danger but remains under close observation and will remain in hospital for another 48 hours to ensure his continued recovery.
The newspaper contacted the former Brazil national team star and his close aides, who said he was “fine now.”
Roberto Carlos is one of the most attacking left-backs of all time, winning 125 caps for Brazil and playing for Madrid for 11 years.
He was part of the World Cup squad that reached the final in 1998 and won in 2002. He also helped Brazil win the Copa America in 1997 and 1999 and won the Champions League three times with Madrid.
Roberto Carlos once produced a spectacular ‘banana’ free kick that seemed to defy the laws of physics and was analyzed by scientists.
This free kick, considered by many to be the greatest free kick in the history of the game, took place during an exhibition tournament in Lyon in 1997, when he hit the ball with the outside of his left foot from 35 yards out, bending the ball around the French three-man wall.
The shot appeared to go wide and the ball boy, who was 10 yards from goal, ducked his head at one point, but at the last moment the shot dramatically went into the net. Bewildered French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez didn’t move an inch.
Roberto Carlos claimed at the time that he had succeeded in everything against Roma when he was playing for Inter Milan, but he was unable to repeat his 1997 trick.
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