Ilicic smiled again

Josip Iličić feels like a footballer again after a long time. The Slovenian striker made his debut with a goal in Maribor, a team from his country where he returned after 12 years, after his contract with Atalanta was terminated.

Photos of Iličić went viral on social networks. It seems that Atalanta’s ex has gained an extra kilo, but the reason why you gain weight is more important than the weight. The striker suffered two major depressions in his last two seasons, which is why Iličić decided to step away from high-level football and decided to go home to recuperate.

Iličić’s first depression came during the pandemic. At that time and according to the Italian media, the Slovenian suffered a lot at that stage, he was infected and saw the bad situation experienced in 2020, the sirens of the Slovenian ambulance in Bergamo reminded Josip of his childhood and war.

Papu Gómez declared in 2020: “Ilicic had the coronavirus and suffered a lot, he fell into depression. There comes a time when your head explodes. Luckily he recovered and is fine, it is very important for us. ” Unfortunately the Slovenian recovered again at the beginning of this year.

The alleged reason for this return was a failure in love. According to speculation, his wife was unfaithful to him, and this was a very hard blow for the Slovenian, who had to deal with an internal war caused by depression. Gasperini, his former coach of Atalanta, declared: “It is not easy to talk about this situation, for me. We are always by Josip’s side, it is something more than football. The head is a jungle, it is difficult for psychologists, think for us, it will be low indefinitely “

Since, in 2022, Iličić played only 3 matches. On January 9, he played 7 minutes against Udinese and on May 21 he bid farewell to the Italian club, playing 7 minutes against Empoli. The Slovenian decided that the best thing for his health was to return to his country and decided to end his time at Atalanta, terminating his contract with the Bergamo team despite the fact that he still had one year left and signed the Miramor

Josip Iličić came back, scored but above all he smiled. The Slovenian showed the bitterest face of football, the unseen and sometimes the most undervalued. He fell into depression at his best moment as a footballer, when he had just scored 4 goals at Mestalla, which made Atalanta qualify for the quarterfinals for the first time. Being rich and being a soccer star but not happy. After 2 years of suffering, Iličić is back, overweight yes, but happy, which is the important thing.