France international, Eric Abidal has spoken about his lengthy battle with cancer which left his former Barcelona teammates demoralized.
Eric Abidal
Former Barcelona star, Eric Abidal has revealed what superstar, Lionel Messi told him when he was battling with cancer.
Abida said that Messi told him to stop sharing his sickness videos as “it breaks his teammates’ heart”.
The 38-year-old, who has taken time to talk at length about his long battle with cancer eventually underwent surgery and returned to win the Champions League with the Camp Nou outfit, playing the entire 90 minutes duration in the final against Manchester United at Wembley in May, 2011.
Speaking about what he had to endure during his cancer battle, Abidal told Canal+: “It is a pain I will remember for life. It was unbearable, like an open knife,” he added.
“When the doctor told me I would need an operation I was happy. It is a suffering that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.
“I was very thin and before a game, I made a video to send to the players to cheer them up and send support.
“Do you know what Messi told me? Don’t send us things like that anymore because it hurts us.
“I didn’t see it like that, I was trying to encourage them but they told me they saw me like a corpse and it left them upset,” he said.
Abidal emotionally added: “When Thierry [Henry] came to see me in hospital, I cried like a child,” added the France international.
“I didn’t want him to see me like that but I did like that he came to see me.”
The entire world was sad when news of Abidal’s cancer was announced and there was a huge sense of relief when he made his sensational return to football.