Tickets to qualify for the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup have made the ambition of the Dutch national team champions even more raging. The effort to secure the title was apparently also pushed by the figure of Louis van Gaal, the coach who inspired him for successfully fighting his illness.
Previously, Van Gaal had serious prostate cancer. But the new coach was willing to reveal his health condition to the public, last April.
This clearly surprised the players and staff in the Dutch national team. Moreover, from the medical records it is stated that Van Gaal has undergone 25 radiation therapy.
Van Gaal kept the pain he was suffering a secret for a long time, no one realized that every training session there was a catheter attached behind the coach's jacket. Likewise about the moment Van Gaal was hospitalized after leading the match.
However, now Van Gaal's condition has improved and his treatment is running successfully. He is now determined to bring the Dutch to become champions in the World Cup.
Van Gaal's strong spirit and desire to recover is what is embedded in the minds of the players so that it becomes an inspiration.
"Obviously it became our minds. From the start we never knew. He did everything to keep it a secret from us," Blind said of Van Gaal's disease, quoted by The Guardian on Tuesday, December 6.
"He even went to the hospital at night, not to show the team what he was going through. We respect how he handled his illness at that time, but his mind remains sharp as usual."
"He is Louis van Gaal and he will not change. What you see, that's him, nothing is hidden. He is a great person and we are happy he is with us. He always knows how to inspire the players."
"Now it's embedded in our heads, but we also don't need additional motivation. We want to win every game, we want to play for our coaches and we want to go as far as possible," explained Blind.
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