Oscar has retired from football. Getty
Oscar, the former Chelsea midfielder, has announced his retirement from football at the age of 34.
He was diagnosed with a fainting condition in November after collapsing at the training ground of Sao Paulo, his most recent club in Brazil.
“My heart stopped for about two and a half minutes, it was a shock,” Oscar said via social media on Saturday.
“Today I’m better able to talk about it; before, I would get emotional. I took the test, ended up fainting, my blood pressure dropped, and my heart stopped. Then they performed CPR for more than two minutes. I only remember fainting, nothing else.
“Everyone says that when you’re about to die, you leave your body. I had sensations like that. You’re unconscious, you’re in a very good dream. It’s very fast, I could see my son saying: ‘Come back, dad!’
“It’s difficult, I wanted to do more for São Paulo. I think I had the footballing ability and the age, I could have endured more. But unfortunately this happened and now I’m going to retire. I’ll continue my life as a fan now.”
Oscar had waived some of the money in his contract, which was set to run until Dec. 31 2027, to amicably end his ties to São Paulo, ESPN had reported.
He scored two goals and provided five assists in 21 games for the club.
São Paulo was also Oscar’s boyhood club. He moved onto Internacional in Brazil before a £25 million move to Chelsea in 2012. He won two Premier Leagues and the Europa League with Chelsea.
Oscar spent eight seasons with Shanghai Port in China before returning to his first club.
He won 48 caps for Brazil.