“I thought I was dying”: Toby Alderweireld explains the real reason behind retirement at the Red Devils in ‘The House’

‘The House’ opens its door to Toby Alderweireld. The defender is the first active professional footballer to be a guest of Eric Goens. The Antwerp legend talks about his struggles with homesickness during his career, but also reveals for the first time the real reason why he quit the Red Devils.

Amsterdam. London. Doha. Antwerp.

Toby Alderweireld’s glorious career passed through fascinating locations, but in ‘The House’ with Eric Goens the defender admits that it was anything but easy to be away from home.

“My father said my homesickness would go away. ‘Just hang in there and it will go away.’ I believed that too, but that homesickness never went away,” says Alderweireld.

“During my career I have often said that I wanted to quit. If my entourage had been of that opinion, I would have quit. No one understands that, but that has always been in me.”

I thought: I’m having a heart attack. I’m done for, I’m never going to see my children again.

Toby Alderweireld

In 2022, Alderweireld finds peace of mind by returning to his Antwerp. At the Great Old, the club legend immediately lived out a boyhood dream by helping the club win the national title.

Only: in a striking revelation, Alderweireld reveals that that moment might never have come. A few months earlier, he ended up in the emergency department twice.

“After the lost cup match against Union I was angry and frustrated,” Alderweireld begins his story.

“I couldn’t sleep at night and left for the club early the next morning to do a strength session. Before I left, I took another caffeine pill because I don’t like coffee.”

“While I was in the car, my heart suddenly started beating a thousand an hour. I thought: I’m having a heart attack. I’m done for, I’m never going to see my children again. I pulled over and walked for a while. furniture store and asked if they could call 100.”

You’re actually driving yourself crazy.

Toby Alderweireld

When the ambulance arrives, Toby’s heart beats a little slower. He swears off caffeine completely, but a while later it happens again at night. He calls the ambulance again.

“It turned out that I felt my heart pounding from all the stress. It gave me a panic attack, which made my heart beat even faster. You actually drive yourself crazy. And at a certain point you think you are having a heart attack and dying.”

Alderweireld and his club Antwerp are keeping the incident quiet.

“We did extreme tests, but everything was fine. Then I started talking to people and they said it was due to too much stress. Purely a panic attack, so. Now I still suffer from that sometimes, but I can place that because I know it’s nothing.”

National coach Domenico Tedesco will be informed. Because Alderweireld somewhat surprisingly announces his retirement from the national team in March 2023. With that double panic attack as a trigger.

“That’s why I quit the Devils,” Alderweireld admits. “I had a great time there with 5 major tournaments and was able to close that chapter.”

How does Mega Toby score on the physical tests? What stories lie behind his many tattoos? When did Toby realize he had to return to Belgium? And who are Toby’s surprise guests?

Watch ‘Het huis’ with Toby Alderweireld on Tuesday, November 19 at 8:40 PM on VRT 1 and VRT MAX.