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Mihajlovic confirms battle with leukaemia: 'I will face it, chest puffed out'

Mihajlovic confirms battle with leukaemia: 'I will face it, chest puffed out'

Bologna manager Sinisa Mihajlovic has confirmed that he has been diagnosed with leukaemia.

In the press conference which was scheduled to take place today, Mihajlovic confirmed what his 'serious illness' was.

He said: "When I got the news, it was a real blow. I sat there for days crying, your life passes by your eyes.

"These are not tears of fear. I respect the illness, I will face it, with chest puffed out, looking it in the eyes, the way I always have done.

"I cannot wait to go to hospital and start the fight. It is aggressive, but it is beatable. I explained that to my players too, we had a conference call with them and as is natural, I had some tears.

"I explained to them we have to attack and go to win. If we sit back and try to defend, we'll get knocked down straight away. I have to use my tactics in this battle and I am sure, without any doubts, that I will win this battle.

"I'll win it for my family, for my children, for all those who love me."

He continued: "I bet all of you thought I was one of the last people who could get ill. I train, I am big, strong, I had tests on February 28 and everything was normal.

"I trained every day until May, travelled everywhere, played football and paddleboard, I felt no tiredness, no pain. It was normal.

"My father died of cancer, so I always get tested regularly. If we hadn't performed these tests, I wouldn't have shown any symptoms for a year. 

"None of us must think we are indestructible. All of us think it won't happen to me, but when it does, that's a shocking blow. Your only hope then is to anticipate, because if you discover it after two months or after a year, that makes a big difference.