This archive report was first published on 3 July 2020.
Wesley Sneijder, a former Dutch international, has spoken candidly about the impact of his party lifestyle on his marriage during his time at Real Madrid in 2007.
According to Sneijder, his love for alcohol and partying was a major contributor to the downfall of his marriage, which ultimately led to his wife Ramona Streekstra fleeing the marriage with their son.
Despite being one of the most promising young players at the time, Sneijder's party lifestyle was a major distraction, and he has admitted that he was not aware of the extent of his behavior until it was too late.
‘I was not aware that moving to Real also meant I moved into the nightlife of Madrid,’ Sneijder explained in his biography.
‘I got sucked into it. I was young, I was enjoying success and I was loving all the attention. That is where it must have gone wrong for me later in my life. I didn’t do drugs, but I did do booze and had a rock-‘n-roll lifestyle as one of the stars of Real Madrid. All the things I was up to were all covered up,’ he went on.
His colleagues at the time, including Ruud van Nistelrooy and Arjen Robben, tried to point out his problem, but Sneijder just would not listen.
Having moved to Los Blancos in 2007 as one of the most promising young prospects at the time, he was sold to Inter Milan for a cut price of £12million two years later.
And Sneijder was bold enough to admit ‘his attitude was not good enough for the Madrid badge’.
For Inter, however, he turned out to be a revelation as he won Serie A title, the Champions League and the Coppa Italia under Jose Mourinho.
