Jackson Martínez arrived at Atlético de Madrid in 2015 with the star poster, in exchange for 35 million euros. His task was none other than to repeat what he had achieved in Porto, to serve as a plaster for the wound caused by Falcao’s departure. The Colombian did not fit in (an injury changed his step), in February he packed his bags and, for 42 million euros, he went to the Chinese Super League, to Guangzhou Evergrande. There began its final decline. The injuries never let him return to the same laser that dazzled in Portugal and in December 2020 he retired at the age of 34. The Colombian has given an interview to Record, in which he reviews his career. Below we show an excerpt of it.
Do you regret leaving Porto and going to Atleti? “To regret something, you have to do something bad, something that you know is wrong. In my case it was not like that. In my case it was a decision. When things settled down and when I felt better in the way the team played, that’s when I got injured. It was in a match against Chile, but I only knew the severity of the injury almost a year later. I was going to have surgery in 2015, but I didn’t go. Then they operated on me eight months later. I played with this injury all this time. It is like playing with a wound, it does not heal. This created a problem. But I do not regret. My career changed in 2015 ”.
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What went wrong at Atleti? “You don’t have to say everything. If you don’t have to, you don’t have to say it all. Things have happened that I’ve been reserved with. But I can say that I had no problems with my teammates, I had no problems with the coach. Simeone is demanding, he is a winner and he is a coach who told me right away that everything he had to say he told me and vice versa. There was that respect. Now, what happened outside of that is not worth mentioning. But I have no doubts: if that injury hadn’t happened, things would have been different ”.
Is it true that you were misdiagnosed? “When I had the injury I knew that it was not what they told me I had. I have had sprains, about four, and I already knew more or less what the inflammation of the foot would be. The foot was not very swollen, but the pain kept me from resting it on the ground. The diagnosis of the lesion was not correct in the selection. When I arrived they started treating my sprain because they didn’t know it either. Later, when they were going to operate on me, it was not possible to do so. Then there were other things that are not worth talking about. This ended up leading to my departure for China. I didn’t have any problems that I know of, and if there were problems, no one told me. I continue to follow the team, I have great gratitude for the fans, I felt the support of the majority. I am grateful for that. “
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Balance of his career: “When you have a passion for something, you always want to keep doing it for as long as possible. In my case, I had to quit for my health, although now he’s better. The truth is, you never end up 100% satisfied. But I am satisfied that I have done my best in the places I have been. In some places it was better than in others … ”.
Was something left to be done? Back to Porto? “No, because people tend to talk as if it depended on the player. Much does not depend on the player. Followers don’t realize this. Few will be the ones who will realize this. Behind the decision of each player there are many other decisions as well. It was really not my decision not to wear the Porto shirt again ”.
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