“Papu” Gómez broke the silence about positive doping: how he found out, the bitter pill at the World Cup and a tough present

Almost two years after the consecration of the Argentine national team in it Qatar World Cup 2022, Alejandro “Papu” Gómez He broke his silence on the positive doping case that overshadowed the last part of his career. “Going from being a world champion to no one calling you, you have to learn to live with that,” he said.

The former Sevilla player said that he found out about the positive doping two days before the World Cup final against France: “I received an email two days before the final that he had tested positive. In the final of World For you to receive news like that is horrible, I got sick those two days, I was very bad, I had a feverSurely my defenses were lowered, I was backwards. Imagine celebrating but always keeping in mind what is going to happen.”he revealed during an interview with Clank Media.

In this regard, he reviewed how he went through that difficult moment alone: ​​“I didn’t want to tell anyone because I didn’t want people to be anywhere other than playing in the world final.. It seemed very selfish of me to go and tell something ugly like that to the boys who were about to play in a world final, so I saved it for after the game”, he continued his story.

Despite the bitter pill about the end of the tournament, the Arsenal de Sarandí player remarked: “I stay with the entire process, from the day we set foot in Qatar, the dream of our lives to play in the World Cupthat’s the most. After everything we experienced and reaching the last day, which was the goal“, held.

The positive doping that changed the career of “Papu” Gómez

The forward had tested positive in mid-November 2022 during a routine UEFA check, prior to the World Cup in Qatar. The news was announced almost a year later, when he had already been transferred to Monza in Italy, where he only played two games.

The sanction was for “serious negligence” after having consumed terbutaline, a substance prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). However, “Papu” argued that he mistakenly took cough syrup from his youngest son.

He later revealed how he shared the news with his colleagues: “When they tell you something like that, it’s not that you can say a lotyou say ‘what a mess, calm down, it will be solved‘, normal things. You can’t say much either. Afterwards, obviously we traveled to Argentina, 30 hours, the celebrations, the chaos, everything normal everyone goes on with their life”.

While going through a tough present, “Papu” Gómez thinks about the future

Regarding the future of his career, he said: “Accept that the character may be coming to an end, I am an ordinary person, I am a father of a family and perhaps Papu Gómez is ceasing to exist or ceases to exist”.

“A little bit of work on that, on the ego of turning it off a little. Try survive with the characternot with Papu, but with Alexander, that will balance that. One as a boy transforms his character, his personality, his character, the ego of the footballer that everyone puts on an altar and Nowadays, going from being a world champion to today when no one calls you or you disappeared from the scene or you don’t play anymore.“You have to learn to live with that,” he added.

“They suspend you from all the sports activities that the sports package includes, sports director, coach, all that,” he explained and added: “That brought me down a little but It’s part of what I’m living”.