MADRID – Roberto Carlos, the celebrated former Brazil and Real Madrid defender, has recently undergone surgery to address a heart issue, as reported by the Spanish sports daily, Diario AS, on Wednesday.

While vacationing in Brazil, the 52-year-old, known for his role as a Madrid ambassador, discovered a heart irregularity during a routine checkup.

Initially seeking medical advice for a minor blood clot in his leg, Roberto Carlos underwent a comprehensive MRI scan that revealed his heart was not functioning optimally. This led to his hospitalization for a catheter insertion surgery.

Although the procedure was initially anticipated to take 40 minutes, complications extended it to nearly three hours. Despite this, AS confirmed that the surgery was ultimately successful.

Currently, Roberto Carlos is reported to be stable and out of immediate danger. He remains under careful observation in the hospital and is expected to stay for an additional 48 hours to ensure a smooth recovery.

The newspaper said it contacted the former Brazil star and his entourage, quoting him as saying: “I’m fine now.”

Roberto Carlos, one of the most attacked-minded left backs of all time, won 125 Brazil caps and played for 11 years at Madrid.

He was a member of the World Cup squads which reached the final in 1998 and won in 2002. He also helped Brazil win the Copa America in 1997 and 1999 and won the Champions League three times with Madrid.

Roberto Carlos once produced a stunning “banana” free kick that seemed to defy the law of physics and was analyzed by scientists.

In what many people regard as the best free kick in the history of the game, he struck the ball with the outside of his left foot from 35 yards, bending it around France’s three-man wall during an exhibition tournament in Lyon in 1997.

The shot looked way off target, a ball boy standing 10 yards from the goal even ducked his head, but at the last moment it swerved dramatically into the net. The bewildered France goalkeeper, Fabien Barthez, had not even moved.

Roberto Carlos claimed at the time he had done it all before, against Roma when he was playing for Inter Milan, although he never quite managed to repeat his 1997 trick.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer