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Carlos to quit Real Madrid in June
Real Marid left-back Roberto Carlos will leave the club in June.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: March 22, 2007 06:37 AM IST
Read Time:3 min
Madrid:
Real Marid left-back Roberto Carlos will leave the club in June. "It's the moment to change, I've spoken with (sporting director) Pedja (Mijatovic), with the president (Ramon Caldeon) and I'm going," Roberto Carlos was quoted as telling radio station Ona Cero on Friday. "I'm not going to renew (my contract)." The former Brazil defender pointed to Wednesday's 2-1 Champions League loss to Bayern Munich as the reason for his decision. "It's a signal that God brought me to wake up, to understand that this decision is best for me," Roberto Carlos said. "I'm 33 years old and I don't deserve more suffering. I've been at this club 11 years, in which in 7-1/2 yeas we won many things, but we lose one game and all of the fault has landed on me. "I don't accept this." The defender received sharp criticism after Bayern forward Hasan Salihamidzic stole the ball from him after the opening kickoff to set up striker Roy Makaay for the fastest goal in Champions League history - under 11 seconds. Roberto Carlos blamed recent criticism and Madrid's elimination from yet another Champions League competition as the main motivation for not renewing his contract, which ends on June 30. Teammate David Beckham's contract also expires on that day, when the former England captain will leave to join Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy after signing a five-year deal in January. Still some football left "Given (Wednesday's) game, I felt bad, and I spoke about it a lot and at this moment my sporting career at Real Madrid is finished," Roberto Carlos said. "It is a decision I made myself. I don't want to cheat the Madrid supporters. It's better to leave Madrid now and think a little bit more about my life." Roberto Carlos believes he can play for another three or four years, with Brazil and Qatar as potential destinations. He said Turkish club Fenerbahce had made him an offer. "It's a delicate moment of my life. It's very sad," he said. "My family in Brazil, given (Wednesdays) match, are also very sad." Knocked out of Europe and the domestic cup competition, Madrid has only the league title left to play for, where it is fourth with 44 points, six fewer than Spanish league leder Sevilla and five fewer than FC Barcelona with 13 games to play. "I'm staying for Fabio," Roberto Carlos said. "To me, he is the best coach there is, but here there is a lot of pressure and criticism." Capello brought Roberto Carlos to the club from Inter Milan in 1996 at the start of his previous stint in charge. Since then, the Brazilian has been part of a team which won three Champions Leagues and three Spanish league titles, although it has won nothing for the last three years. Roberto Carlos won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002 and retired from international soccer after the 2006 World Cup having made 128 appearances for the national team.Topics mentioned in this article
Football Bayern Munchen
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