Van Gaal reveals that he suffers from an aggressive form of prostate cancer

Former Barcelona manager and current Netherlands coach

revealed on Sunday night that he is suffering from an aggressive form of prostate cancer and has undergone 25 radiotherapy sessions.

"The possibility that you die of prostate cancer is not that great. In general, it is the diseases underlying the cancer that one dies from," explained the 70-year-old technician in an interview with the Dutch chain RTL4 for present

, a documentary about his life.

"I had the option to ask myself, do I want to show it to people or not? Well, I think that

," he commented.

"I thought they shouldn't know"

The coach explained that, until now, he had not told the national team players about his illness and that he went to radiotherapy sessions at night, after training.

"You don't tell people you work with that because it influences them, so I thought they shouldn't know," Van Gaal said.

"They would see my cheeks red and think 'what a healthy guy,' but that's not the case."

The coach explained that, in order not to make it public until now, he

.

"Of course I have told my friends and family, but my surroundings have kept it quiet and that has been beautiful."

Despite the illness, Van Gaal said he intends to remain the Netherlands coach during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The

will face Senegal, Ecuador and hosts Qatar in the group stage.

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