Madonna Explains Why She Left America & Moved to Portugal

Madonna is explaining her decision to move to Portugal with four of her six children, David Banda and Mercy James, 12, and twins Stella and Esther, 5.

The superstar explained her reasoning in an interview with Vogue Italia.

“My son David, who is going to be 13 on September 24th, has wanted to play soccer professionally for years. I’ve been desperate to get him into the best academies with the best coaches, but the level of football in America is much lower than the rest of the world,” Madonna explained. “I saw his frustration, and I also felt it was a good time. I felt like we needed a change, and I wanted to get out of America for a minute – as you know, this is not America’s finest hour – not that leaving America makes anything different or changes anything. I’ve lived in other places; I lived in London for 10 years. I like to put myself in uncomfortable situations and take risks.”