Ex-Arsenal star Pablo Mari explains how being stabbed in supermarket has changed him
Pablo Mari left Arsenal last summer after three-and-a-half years with the north London club to join Monza after an impressive loan spell away with the Serie A outfit
Pablo Mari said the stabbing he suffered during a supermarket attack near Milan in 2022 has shifted his priorities in life, adding that he no longer "wastes time on what is superfluous".
Mari, 30, left Arsenal last summer after his loan to Italian side Monza was made permanent, putting an end to the centre-back's three-and-a-half-year career with the Gunners.
The Spaniard joined Arsenal in January 2020 from Brazilian giants Flamengo, but couldn't assert himself in Mikel Arteta's regular starting line-up. The defender then spent a season on loan in Serie A with Monza, whom he impressed to such an extent over 31 appearances, that the Italian club agreed to pay a reported €6million (£5.1m) to keep him permanently.
While Mari's loan spell included a reinvigoration of his career, it also included being in a horrific stabbing attack in a supermarket. Mari was one of six people attacked by a 46-year-old man in a Carrefour near Milan and revealed last year that he saw a man die while shopping with his wife and son before being stabbed.
READ MORE: Win a £100 Amazon gift card, an Adidas Euro 2024 replica ball and £25 to spend at Just Eat in our fab giveawayREAD MORE: Grab a retro England football shirt for £2.85 ahead of Euro 2024 game with new dealThe attack forced Mari to undergo surgery and spend three months on the sidelines, before returning to the competitive fold with Monza. Mari made 34 league appearances last season, helping his side to a 12th-placed finish.
“You think that you can’t control everything in life and that, in the end, the important thing is that I’m well, that my whole family is well. And then that these things can happen and it’s important how you react," Mari told TMW.
“The doctors told me that I could return to the pitch after three and a half months, after a month and a week I was on the pitch training. I wanted to repay all the support from Monza.
“It made me reflect on the really important things in life, I now give much more importance to without wasting too much time on what is superfluous.”
Mari's Spain face Italy on Wednesday night in their second Euro 2024 group stage game. Spain claimed an emphatic 3-0 win over Croatia, who finished third at the last World Cup. The victory was notable for its ostensible shift in style, with Spain's run of 136 competitive games with more possession than their rival — going back 16 years to the 2008 European Championship final — coming to an end.
Asked if Spain had changed their style, Mari said: “I think so, today there are very different players from those who were there before. Now there are very fast players: Yamal, Olmo, Williams… And Morata was very good at adapting to this new style of play.
“They played a good match against Croatia, they proved to be one of the favourites, I also liked Italy, they played a match with a recognizable style.”
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