Socks pulled down, tiny shinpads covering not more than a few inches of the ankle, and the ball firmly attached to his boots as he strolls through rivals’ defence with such ease. That’s the image of the late Fabian O’Neill that most fans of Serie A in the ’90s will keep in their memory for the rest of their lives.Unfortunately, the life of the 49-year-old O’Neill, once magnificent offensive midfielder, abruptly ended yesterday in his hometown of Montevideo in Uruguay.He was hospitalised in June 2020 with cirrhosis and once again a week ago. There, he had been in intensive care with bleeding due to chronic liver disease.His three children, each of whom was born to a different mother, mourn the death of their father, who was not even their age when he started to drink. Raised by his grandma after his parents abandoned him, he began working at age nine, selling sausages outside a brothel, and was already drinking at that age.Que bueno era Fabian O’Neill. Jugador de culto. DEP pic.twitter.com/bsExvKcKP9— Toni Padilla (@Toni_Padilla) December 25, 2022 Thankfully for O’Neill and the grandmother, the boy was massively talented in football and soon attracted the attention of the Uruguayan powerhouse Nacional. After three years with the club – during which he received his first call-up for the national team – O’Neill moved to Europe, to Italian Serie A side Cagliari. It was a perfect match-up for both the club and the player, as O’Neill collected 120 appearances for the Southerners, scoring 12 goals between 1996 and 2000. That spell earned him a lucrative 10 million-euro move to European giants Juventus, where he played alongside Del Piero, Zidane and other magicians. “The most talented player I’ve ever seen,” was how French World Cup winner Zidane, a teammate at Juventus, described O’Neill.##NAJAVA_MECA_6906281##Unfortunately, it didn’t go well for him at Turin, making only 14 appearances for the Old Lady before moving to modest Peruggia.In January 2003, O’Neill returned to Nacional but played only five times. He retired later that year at 29 due to the effects of alcoholism and returned to his cattle ranch.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Wizard’s life outside the pitch took its toll, as he was spending money on booze, gambling and women. In February 2017, O’Neill said that he lost his fortune of $14 million on “slow horses, fast women and gambling” but did not regret becoming poor. In his autobiography, he said he once spent $250,000 on 1,104 cows, having attended a cattle auction while drunk.He even wrote an autobiography, “Until the Last Drop”, explaining his painful deterioration. “Goodbye Wizard,” tweeted O’Neill’s formative club on Sunday night.
