Bologna boss Sinisa Mihajlovic has showed incredible fighting spirit having had to deal with leukemia and coronavirus in the same year.
The Serbian was diagnosed with acute form of leukemia in July 2019 and was forced to undergo several rounds of chemotherapy to treat the cancer, as well as a bone marrow transplant
However, he refused to relinquish his managerial duties and continued to be present in the dugout as much as he could - leaving hospital after 41 days to surprise his team by taking charge of their match against Verona in August.
There was also an emotional moment where the team bus stopped off at the hospital to see their boss following a massive 4-3 victory over Brescia in September.
Advert
He vowed to defeat the illness, saying: "I always play to win, both in football and in life. I'll defeat leukaemia."
The former Lazio and Inter Milan free-kick specialist would later test positive for coronavirus and given he was deemed high-risk, had to take a brief break.
However, he made a full recovery and was back at training yesterday.
The 51-year-old says COVID was nothing compared to the gruelling battle he had to endure for a six month period and he now feels in "great shape" to the point where he's started doing regular exercise again.
Advert
"After what I experienced from July to January last year, six months of daily battle against leukaemia, in and out of hospital for three rounds of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, COVID was like a cool drink of water," Mihajlovic told La Gazzetta dello Sport, as per Football Italia.
"I was totally asymptomatic, so if I hadn't had the test, I wouldn't even have noticed. That doesn't mean the illness doesn't exist, nor is it something akin to the flu, any those who deny the virus is deadly are just ignoring reality and lacking respect towards those who died, suffered and lost loved ones.
"I don't think I felt anxious, more irritated that I was forced to stay away again while my team was in pre-season training. There has been so much said about my condition, but very few people know what really happened and there's a lot of fake news going around.
"My tests have all been perfect, I was not told to take any precautions other than a normal person, I feel in great shape and have gone back to running 10km per day, training, doing weights. I live normally, enjoy life in every moment, and that is what I intend to keep doing."
Advert
In his second spell with Bologna, Mihajlovic signed a new one-year extension in June. They kick off their 2020/21 Serie A campaign on 21 September against AC Milan.
Topics: Football News, Football, Coronavirus
