The trial of Dani Alves, day 2: his wife Joana Sanz showed up to testify and said she saw him drunk that night

This is the second day of the trial against the former Brazilian footballer Daniele Alvesaccused of sexually assaulting a 23-year-old girl in December 2022, it was the wife’s turn, Joana Sanz.

Of the 22 witnesses cited for this Tuesday from Room 21 of the Barcelona hearingwhere the trial is taking place, 19 testified. The most awaited voice was that of Joana Sanz, the former player’s second and current wife.

Sanz, 31, is a Canarian model who met the Brazilian when she was 23, the same age as the girl accusing Alves of having abused her.

And although Joana, at first, tried to publicly separate from him, as the months passed He made no secret that they were still in contact and visited him several times in prison.

This Tuesday, in front of the court, Joana Sanz paid the mitigating factor of Alves’ defense lawyer, who could receive a sentence between 9 and 12 years: that in the early morning of December 31, 2022 The former footballer was completely drunk.

“He came home very drunk, smelling of alcohol. “He crashed into the closet and collapsed on the bed,” his wife said.

She clarified that it was not true that she was angry when, in a WhatsApp exchange, she asked Alves if he would have dinner at home that evening and he confirmed that no, that it was a “guys’ evening”.

She confirmed that the former player returned after four in the morning and that she did not approach him. “It wasn’t worth talking to him while she was coming, it was better to leave it for the next day,” she declared.

And he provided the information that the chimentera’s Spanish homeland was hoping to know: “I didn’t legally ask for a divorce,” Joana Sanz said.

A curiosity: hours before the release of the statements, the model deleted her accounts on social networks.

Despite the damage

“I was very impressed by Dani Alves for his joy, how happy he is, what he transmits, the beautiful energy he shares with people…” said Joana as soon as she was introduced to the former Barça defender.

It was 2015, in Barcelona. They had mutual friends. Two years later, in a wedding as romantic as it was secret, they married in Formentera, the smallest island of the Balearics, in the Mediterranean.

But in March last year, when the scandal consumed hours of television programmes, Joana wrote a letter.

“It’s so hard for me to accept that that person could shatter me into a million pieces. “I think it will take me years of my life to get the way he looks at me, that way like I’m the most amazing thing in the world,” she said, hurt. And damn, yes, I’m awesome because I’m hard-working, independent, intelligent, detail-oriented, loving, funny, loyal and human. So human that, despite the damage she has caused me, I am still here by her side.”

“I’m still there and I will continue to be there, but in a different way,” he announced. I love him and will always love him. Whoever says that love forgets is either deceiving himself or not truly loving. But I love, respect and appreciate myself much more. Forgiving gives me relief, so I stay with the magic and close this phase of my life,” Joana wrote.

In September last year he uploaded to his networks a letter that Alves had sent him from prison. “Everything will pass and we will become stronger together,” the former player wrote in print.

“Thank you for your endurance, thank you for your resilience, thank you for not giving up on me. “I always said you are what I always dreamed of, but now I say you are more than I could have dreamed of,” Alves told him.

“Anything, anywhere, anything but always with you. “I love you forever,” added the former footballer.

For me yes, Joana was the difficult figure of the Spanish press. It took her a while to agree to give an interview. He only did so in November last year, when Alves had already been in preventive detention for ten months.

“Your husband hasn’t been in prison for ten months for cheating on his wife. He is accused of sexually assaulting a 21-year-old girl, to whom he said, for example: “Tell me, I’m your little whore.” Do you really recognize someone like that? Because a person who hits even a 21 year old girl… It’s not infidelity. “Is it something more serious that makes you wonder what kind of beast I live with,” they asked him.

“Is it okay for you to ask me these kinds of questions, since I have absolutely nothing to do with this case?” was Joana Sanz’s furious response.

Daniele Alves da Silva will speak in court this Wednesdaylast day of the trial.