The coach of the Netherlands made this announcement Sunday evening during a television interview.
Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal said in a television interview on Sunday evening that he has been suffering from prostate cancer since 2020, which he says will not prevent him from traveling to Qatar for the World Cup (November 21-December 18). The players “don’t know“, declared Louis van Gaal, 70, to the television channel RTL, adding that he had already undergone 25 irradiations, in particular in the evening or at night during the training camps of the Dutch selection, paid in group A of the World Cup with Qatar, Senegal and Ecuador. The players think thatI’m a healthy guy, but I’m not“, added the technician, specifying that the diagnosis of his cancer had been made in 2020 and that his treatment had started in 2021.
During the last four periods of international matches, he explained, he went to the hospital in the evening, by “the back entranceto receive his treatment, which he describes as “preferential“. His family and friends knew about it, but not his players. “You don’t say something like that to the people you work with“because it can”influence“, he explained. “It’s part of my life“, he added, invited on a television set on the occasion of the upcoming release of a film about his life, entitled Louis. “I’ve been through so much in my life, sickness and death, I’ve probably become richer as a person because of all these experiences.“, Continued the one who is in his third term at the head of the”Orange(after 2000-2001 and 2012-2014).
Van Gaal is nicknamed ‘the iron tulip’
Van Gaal’s first wife died of pancreatic cancer. Messages of support were quick to pour in on social media after his announcement on Dutch television.
Former English international Gary Lineker, converted presenter on British television, sent him on Twitter his “best wishes» and wishes him a «full recovery». «Everyone at Manchester United fully supports our former manager Louis van Gaal in his battle with cancer“, declared on this same social network the English club, of which he was the coach from 2014 to 2016.
During his long career, the one who is nicknamed “The Iron Tulip“, in reference to his strict methods and attitude, has also been at the helm of Ajax Amsterdam, FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich. His first stint at the head of the Dutch selection ended with a bitter setback, the non-qualification of Orange for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan. His second stint (2012-2014) led to a third place at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
He intends to lead the Netherlands at the World Cup in Qatar
Van Gaal, who had announced that he would take his “retirementin January 2017, was recalled to the head of the national team after the resignation of Frank de Boer in the wake of a missed Euro last summer, with an elimination from the stage of the round of 16. Tested positive for Covid-19 in March, the technician had caused controversy by believing that the decision to organize the World Cup in Qatar was “ridicule“. He accused Fifa of being solely motivated by “money and business interests».
The Netherlands will play their first World Cup match on November 21 against Senegal. Louis van Gaal intends to be in the game. “You don’t die of prostate cancer, in most cases. Most often these are underlying diseases that can be fatal in this form of cancer“, he believes.