Cicinho, the Brazilian wing-back, saw his career deteriorate due to alcohol addiction. Yet, during the pinnacle of his career at Real Madrid, Cicinho fell victim to the dark power clique within the locker room led by Raul Gonzalez. Cicinho witnessed the true face of Raul, who outwardly appeared gentle and refined but harbored schemes to consolidate power behind the scenes.
Cicinho joined Real from Sao Paulo for €4 million in January 2006. He played 32 matches, scoring 3 goals, and providing 4 assists for the club. In the 2007/08 season, he was sold to AS Roma for €9 million. However, his career came to an end after a promising start at Roma.
“When I arrived at Roma, it was a relief because at Real Madrid, I felt like a prisoner despite many criticizing me for leaving the greatest club in the world. But life there was terrible,” Cicinho revealed in an interview with the Brazilian media.
For Cicinho, the issue was not the pressure of playing for Real or the high demands from fans but rather the locker room, where the “Spanish National Team gang” led by Raul held sway. This was a reality as Raul always held the highest privileges at Real compared to his teammates.
During that time, the confrontation between the “Brazilian gang” and the “Spanish National Team gang” was intense, and Raul’s dark power group prevailed after Roberto Carlos departed. Since then, other Brazilians like Kaka and Cicinho suffered oppression and mistreatment. “Real Madrid is Raul Madrid,” Cicinho remarked.
This power group consisting of Guti, Salgado, Helguera, Raul, and Casillas manipulated everything, from team selection to opposing the coach and controlling the media narrative. For instance, if Ronaldo performed poorly, the next day, the media collectively reported that Ronaldo played worse than Raul.
“The problem is that everything that happened in the locker room was conveyed to the media by Raul’s group. Even Raul would boldly declare to the media absurdities like: Ronaldo can’t play because he’s as fat as a pig. Imagine how the media would react to those words,” Cicinho recounted.
When Roberto Carlos left, Cicinho became the main player, Sergio Ramos played center-back and sometimes right-back, while Michel Salgado was the third-choice right-back. But Raul and Iker Casillas stripped Cicinho of his position and handed it to Salgado. At that time, another Brazilian player, Julio Baptista, told Cicinho that “everything was over.”
“We were in their country, earning as much money as them, and playing in similar positions. When I arrived, Salgado had been here for 11 years. In the locker room, he greeted everyone but ignored me as if I didn’t exist. However, he didn’t treat me as badly as the others who threatened to kill me,” Cicinho revealed.
Since leaving Real, Cicinho witnessed his career gradually decline and unravel. The main reason was alcohol and cigarette addiction, habits that Cicinho picked up early in his career and stuck with throughout. However, the addiction worsened as Cicinho saw it as a tool to forget about being bullied at Real.
“I started drinking beer when I was 13. They told me beer was very good, and I drank. From then on, I drank until I was 30. The worse things got, the more I drank, drank until I passed out to forget everything. I became a ‘deep’ drinker not satisfied with just one or two glasses. I had to drink until I was unconscious,” he confessed.
Cicinho nearly met his demise after consuming 18 caipirinhas and 14 large beers. Doctors declared that if he didn’t quit alcohol, he couldn’t live, let alone play football. But alcohol wasn’t Cicinho’s only problem; there was also cigarettes, which he had been addicted to from 1999 to 2010.
However, Cicinho was redeemed from the brink of suicide by his wife through stimulant drugs. One day, Cicinho saw the light of God, and his wife, an angel, pulled him away from the wrong path. “My wife encouraged me to give up all bad habits and follow God’s teachings. And that’s how I turned my life around.”
Since then, Cicinho has become someone who shares his life story to persuade other alcoholics to abandon this drink, while also promoting a healthy lifestyle and doing good deeds. Cicinho has helped others avoid the path he once stumbled upon.