Former star Gabriel Batistuta, Argentina's record goal scorer for the national team, says he once asked a doctor to amputate his legs to relieve intense pain in his ankles.

Batistuta, speaking in a television interview in Argentina, said the pain suffered after retiring in 2005 became so intense that he "urinated in bed with the toilet only a few steps away. I couldn't move."

Batistuta said he visited a doctor he knew, who turned down his request.

"He looked at me and said I was crazy," Batistuta said.

Batistuta played 78 games for Argentina and appeared in three World Cups, scoring a team-record 56 goals. He also played for River Plate, Boca Juniors, Fiorentina and Roma. He says doctors have placed screws in his ankle, which now help him walk.