Big update on Ex-Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal's battle against cancer

Dutch football manager Louis Van Gaal revealed last week that he is undergoing treatment for an aggressive form of prostate cancer, which came as a shock to the football fraternity. The former Netherlands manager has now provided a positive update concerning his illness after he went through “25 radiation treatments”. He assumed charge of the Dutch national team for the third time in his career following the team’s disappointing Euro 2020 campaign.

Van Gaal garnered support from all corners of the football world ever since his shocking announcement on the Dutch talk show Humberto. Meanwhile, as reported by Goal, while speaking to Dutch news agency ANP, the 70-year-old gave an update regarding his health and said, “I've been through everything. I had 25 radiation treatments. Then I had to wait five or six months to see if it had done its job. It did."

Netherlands players were unaware of the manager's diagnosis

Earlier last week, while announcing the illness, Van Gaal informed that the Netherlands players were unaware of his illness, even though he was receiving night-time treatment during four training camps. As per AP, he said, “You don’t tell something like this to people you work with because it could influence their choices, their energy or whatever, and I thought, ‘they shouldn’t know. I have been to the hospital in the evening or night in every period, without the players knowing”. 

A look at Louis Van Gaal's time as Netherlands' coach

Van Gaal led the Netherlands to the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil and has the experience of managing high-profile clubs like Manchester United, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Ajax. He led Ajax to the UEFA Champions League title in the 1994-95 season. He went on to miss the FIFA World Cup draw in Qatar after testing positive for COVID, and the Netherlands are drawn to play against Qatar, Senegal, and Ecuador in the tournament. The Dutch football federation (KNVB) was made aware of Van Gaal’s diagnosis at the start of the year, and Ronald Koeman was chosen as his replacement a few days ago. Koeman was sacked from his role at Barcelona in late 2021 and will take over Van Gaal's role after the 2022 World Cup.

(Image: AP)