Ex-Newcastle and Netherlands star Daryl Janmaat reveals cocaine addiction

Daryl Janmaat has spoken candidly about a cocaine addiction that followed the premature end of his playing career, saying he "hit a very deep point, really very deep." A persistent knee problem, made worse by a medical error that infected the joint after an injection, forced him to stop playing and left him unable to cope.

Janmaat enjoyed a 15-year senior career that took him from the Eredivisie to the Premier League with Feyenoord, Newcastle and Watford, and he won 34 caps for the Netherlands, including five appearances at the 2014 World Cup and the third-place play-off against Brazil.

He says his life spiralled in Scheveningen and led to a stay at a South African rehabilitation clinic. "I wanted to so much, but a knee injury threw a spanner in the works. That knee was huge. After an injection, it went wrong: the joint became infected due to the wrong needle.

Netherlands, Scheveningen

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