NL – The Dutch men’s national football team manager Ronald Koeman opened up for the first time about the the heart attack he suffered just over three weeks ago. He spoke about the incident, his current health status, and his family health history as a guest on television talk show Beau on Thursday night.
Koeman, 57, was rushed to a hospital on May 3 after a lengthy bike ride. “I had cycled a bit too far with a friend on that Sunday; We cycled 96 kilometers. I came home very tired, and while I was resting I had pains in my chest, I started to sweat and turned white,” he explained. “Luckily my wife was home, and we called 112. It all happened very fast: I got home around 4:15 p.m. and I was in the hospital just after 4:30 p.m.” His father passed away at 75 due to a heart attack, and therefore the former footballer knew that heart trouble runs in the family.
It came as a shock to Koeman who said that he felt as fit as possible before the attack. “I felt like I could take on the world, people say you will feel better after it happenes. Well I am still waiting for that moment.” He has since made good progress in his recovery, is on medication, and has been seeing a physiotherapist three times a week. “I went to the cardiologist this morning, and it was all good.”
He also explained how the coronavirus crisis may have inadvertently put him in that situation. “I had an appointment on the 19th of March with the cardiologist, but it was delayed to June 4 because of the coronavirus. Everything has been focused on the intensive care, and other types of care were put on the back burner. I would be interested to know how many people have lost their lives because of operations being delayed. In my case, there was a problem, and they probably would have been able to spot the problem with the check-up,” he said.
Koeman also explained how his family members found out about the incident before him notifying them. “At home, they were shaken up. De Telegraaf had reported it before most of my family knew. My kids already knew, but my brother and my mother did not.”
He was born in Zaandam, Noord-Holland and became an athlete who is widely considered to be one of the greatest footballers the Netherlands has ever had. He won the annual award for top Dutch footballer on two occasions, and was a part of the Netherlands team that won the 1988 European Championships.
Koeman also won the top Dutch league title on four occasions with Ajax and PSV, and the European cup on two occasions with PSV and FC Barcelona. He was appointed as the Netherlands national team manager on February 6, 2018.
