Dutch national team coach Louis van Gaal has prostate cancer

Dutch national team coach Louis van Gaal revealed on the TV show Humberto that he is being treated for prostate cancer. He told his players that he had kept it from them, but after the sad news was revealed he received support not only from his previous employers.

Coach Louis van Gaal’s achievements

Louis van Gaal is one of the most successful coaches of our time. He has led teams such as Ajax Amsterdam, Bayern Munich and Barcelona. He was also the national coach of the Netherlands twice between 2000-2002 and 2012-2014, before moving on to lead the national team for a third time last year after the Oranjes were eliminated by the Czech Republic under Frank de Boer in the EURO eight-finals.

The now 70-year-old coach has had a number of successes that few coaches can even imagine. With the Dutch national team, he won the bronze medal at the World Cup in Brazil, where he demolished the home Canaries in the third-place match 3:0.

The successful coach also won the Champions League with Ajax Amsterdam in 1995 and won seven times with the aforementioned teams in their respective leagues. The highly successful coach, who was also formerly a footballer in his native country’s top league, qualified for this year’s World Cup, the venue of which Qatar has been very vocal in its criticism.

Van Gaal reveals he is suffering from prostate cancer and describes the course of treatment

But the renowned coach revealed in a television interview that he has not only been struggling with problems regarding football recently. In fact, he stated that he has been undergoing treatment for prostate cancer for several months. But he did not reveal his health condition to his players.

“I think you don’t tell people you work with that kind of thing because it could affect their decision-making,” van Gaal confirmed to Goal that the players were unaware of his condition. “You don’t die of prostate cancer, at least not in 90 percent of cases,” he says, allaying the fears of the general public.

“I had a pretty aggressive form, I was irradiated 25 times, ” he describes the difficult treatment he had to go through. “I had preferential treatment in the hospital, I went in through the back door,” says van Gaal. “I was treated wonderfully,” he praised the medical care.

His former clubs send him words of support

The Manchester United coach’s former club immediately sent a message of support to his former employee. “We send you strength and courage, Louis,” the English club said in a post on its Twitter account.

Barcelona also posted similar words of support on its social media, giving the former coach strength and wishing him a speedy recovery.

The Oranjes have played nine games since he retook charge of the national team and are unbeaten so far, having won six games and drawn three. The experienced manager has led his team to a first place finish in the World Cup qualifiers, ensuring his team’s participation in the final tournament.

Source: Goal, Twitter, Wikipedia