See the goalkeeper who quit football because his church told him the world was going to end

Former Argentina goalkeeper Carlos Roa has
admitted that his decision to briefly hang up his
boots and spurn a move to Manchester United
remains a sporting regret after his abrupt
retirement cost him a potential switch to Old
Trafford over two decades ago.
The shot-stopper missed out on the chance to
seal a switch to the Premier League as Peter
Schmeichel’s successor at United after he
famously quit football to follow his religious
beliefs that the world was about to end in 1999.
Roa, who had helped knock England out of the
World Cup in France a year prior with his penalty
shootout heroics, was a Seventh-day Adventist
during his playing days, instead departed then-
club Mallorca and went off the grid , ultimately
being located in the village of Villa de Soto in his
home country waiting for an impending
apocalypse.
Now, 20 years later, Roa, who is a member of San
Jose Earthquakes’ coaching staff, has
acknowledged that the decision was ill-advised for
his sporting career, noting that he regrets having
passed up on the chance to join Sir Alex
Ferguson’s Treble-winning side.
“At that time I was very attached to religion and
bible study,” Roa told the Mirror. “It was a difficult
decision to make but at the same time thoughtful
– and my family agreed with me.
“Certain things happened that will never be known
because they are personal and I could only speak
to the most intimate people. Many things were
said back then out of ignorance and I was
branded a thousand bad things.
“The people of the club thought that I was going to
go back and that they would recover a lot of
money with that transfer that was about to
happen.
“Today, I still think that on a spiritual level it was a
very good decision. But in sporting terms it wasn’t
– because I left football at the best moment of my
career. I could have progressed a lot, with great
contracts and the possibility of playing in England.
“People will never understand it. Back then they
drove me crazy, they called me from all sides, and
as much as I tried to explain my decision it was
very difficult for them to understand.”