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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Thiago Rabelo

Southampton’s Léo Scienza: ‘I am in the most difficult league in the world. It’s a bloodbath’

Léo Scienza poses for a photo after signing for Southampton
‘Everything bad had already happened to me. I wasn’t afraid of anything any more.’ Léo Scienza’s jokes his turbulent career resembles that of a Football Manager player. Photograph: Matt Watson/SFC/Getty Images

Seven years ago Léo Scienza’s life broke into a thousand pieces. On his 20th birthday his father died and the young footballer locked himself in his room for two months, having lost the will to live. “You know when everything is bad and nothing makes sense any more?” the Southampton midfielder says. “My life had no meaning any more.

“Everyone has a dark side and I’m not the best person to talk about depression or what depression is. In fact, I only understood it later. My father died on my birthday – that will always be marked in my life. After he died I just wanted to stay in my dark room doing nothing. I didn’t want to see anyone, I didn’t want to talk to anyone.”

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