Mihajlovic: 'Thank you to everyone'

By Football Italia staff

Sinisa Mihajlovic wrote an open letter to thank everyone for their support after his leukaemia diagnosis. “I’ve run out of tears, now I am ready to fight. We’ll see each other soon.”

The 50-year-old Bologna Coach and former player revealed the news in an emotional Press conference at the weekend and messages poured in from all over the Calcio world.

He begins treatment tomorrow and has pledged to continue working as the Rossoblu Coach.

“There are moments in life when you find yourself fighting against an opponent who is difficult to beat or facing a problem that is complicated to resolve,” wrote Mihajlovic in La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“I am going through such a moment right now, but I feel very fortunate, because I know that I am not alone. I discovered that alongside me I have enormous support.

“Over the last few days, I have been swept up by a sea of affection, solidarity and positive energy that gave me an incredible, further, boost and the certainty I will win this battle against leukaemia.

“I received thousands of messages. I can assure you, I read them all, one by one: all of them represented for me a caress, an embrace and touched my heart.

“These have been tough days and I apologise if I did not reply and thank every one of you. I do it here, now, thanks to La Gazzetta dello Sport and (Torino) President Urbano Cairo, who affectionately allowed me this space in his paper.

“Thank you for the support from the Presidents of clubs I either played for or coached at, or even those I never worked for and yet still showed respect and affection.

“Thank you to ex-teammates and opponents from my years as a player, my players that I’ve trained today and even those who I never guided and yet they still said: ‘Forza Mister.’

“Thank you to the fans of ‘my’ teams and those who I faced wearing a different jersey. So many of them probably jeered or criticised me on the field, but this time they encouraged me and wrote ‘don’t give up, Sinisa.’

“Thank you to those not just from the world of sport, but also politics and entertainment, who showed their support. Thank you to the friends of a lifetime met in so many cities over my career.

“And thank you to the general public, those people who aren’t famous. Those who know me are aware I judge every man by what he’s like and not who he is. From messages arrived via Heads of State (can’t believe that…) to a letter received from a child who drew a smile for me, you have all been important.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you. You moved me. I’ve run out of tears, now I am ready to fight. We’ll see each other soon, Sinisa Mihajlovic.”

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