Louis van Gaal has prostate cancer.
The coach of the Dutch national soccer team announced this on Sunday evening during a television appearance.
In an interview for a forthcoming documentary about him, the 70-year-old former Bundesliga coach of FC Bayern Munich reported on an "aggressive" form of prostate cancer and 25 radiation treatments to date.
So far, he has kept the illness a secret from the country's national players so as not to influence the group.
The Netherlands have qualified for the World Cup in Qatar and are in a group with the hosts.
Van Gaal said he wanted to continue in his role as Bonds coach.
He has great willpower and being able to work with the professionals is a gift for him in old age.
Van Gaal is the head coach of his home country's national team for the third time in his career.
He also coached FC Bayern for almost two years and was also responsible for Ajax Amsterdam, FC Barcelona, Manchester United and AZ Alkmaar during his career.
He won the Champions League with Ajax.