Story By: Juan Mayes, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Golder’s News And Sport
Brazil legend Roberto Carlos has revealed that David Beckham and the other Galacticos would not go to train in the mornings and would drink booze the nights before matches.
In an interview for Portuguese channel Canal 11, Roberto Carlos spoke to former Barcelona shot-stopper Vito Baia and gave several details on the power the ‘Galacticos’ had in the club.
When speaking about Vicente del Bosque, he said: “He was more of a friend. You do not need rules. A player knows what he is supposed to do.
“He understood us perfectly. Training sessions on Monday and sometimes Tuesdays were at five in the afternoon. He did not set them at 11 in the morning because almost nobody would go.”
However, Roberto Carlos said the relationship between former Real Madrid boss Jose Antonio Camacho and the Galacticos was not as good which led to the boss’s exit.
He said: “In the Galacticos era there were seven of us; we were a force in the dressing room. We controlled everything pretty well. We had good relations with everyone except Camacho who lasted 10 days.
“He walked into the dressing room and said hello to everyone very seriously having all his history at Real Madrid. I was just waiting to see what he said. ‘I want everyone here tomorrow at seven in the morning’.
“We usually trained at 10:30. We spoke to him to try and change the schedule, we had our habits.”
As well as Camacho, the Real Madrid legend and other Galacticos also had issues with the Brazilian boss Vanderlei Luxemburgo after he tried to take away their beer and wine.
Roberto Carlos said: “We had the habit of arriving at the team hotel, leaving our bags in our rooms and having beer or wine before dinner for the second match of the league.
“Ronaldo and I told him ‘boss people here have their habits, you are going to do your thing, but do not change them. Do not take the beers and wine before dinner away or we are going to have a problem.’
“What did he do? First, he removed the beers then he removed the wine bottles. He lasted three months. The world of football is small. When the news got to the head office, ‘ciao’.”
The Brazil legend went on to talk about the extreme luxury that he and the galacticos enjoyed during their time in Real Madrid.
He said: “I finished a match and then it was to a private aeroplane. We would see each other in the Barajas (Madrid airport) private terminal. Beckham was going somehere, I do not know where.
“Figo and Zidane were going here then Ronaldo and me… and we had to train in two days. I prayed the matches were on Saturdays so I could watch Formula One on Sundays.”
However, Roberto Carlos, 46, said “when I look back at it, I wonder how it is possible we did so many stupid things?”
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