'I left at the best moment of my career' - Roa regrets spurning Man Utd because he thought 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.”