Slavia Prague keeper Ondrej Kolar has revealed he was so disillusioned with football after his clash with Rangers striker Kemar Roofe, he hated the game.
Kolar suffered a fractured skull after a challenge from Roofe which earned the Jamaica striker a four-match ban from UEFA in a notorious Europa League game in 2021.
Slavia defender Ondrej Kudela was also eventually banned for ten games by UEFA for racist abuse of Glen Kamara that caused him to miss that summer's Euro 2020 Finals.
Kolar later claimed doctors told him he was fortunate not to die on the pitch following the challenge from the Jamaican international.
And he's now revealed he was almost forced to quit football after his return because he had completely lost his confidence.
He explained: "The period after the challenge was a very difficult time for me, I completely hated football.
"I didn't even want to go back to playing as a goalkeeper.
"I shut myself off a lot and I didn't want to go to the dressing room.
"I didn't work at one hundred percent in training, I was lazy getting down for shots and I didn't want to save any hard shots from my teammates.
"Looking back, I was probably very depressed.
"But the boys at the club stuck by me and they told me my attitude was bothering them and they wanted to help me.
"I had to make amends to them.
"What made me eventually snap out of it was my wedding. After that, I started to fall in love with football all over again and I regained my confidence and form."
