Van Gaal played football in the youth academy of Ajax and in the first team of Sparta. As a trainer he led Ajax to great successes. Van Gaal watches the duel between Ajax and Sparta from a stand of the Johan Cruijff ArenA.
The 70-year-old national coach revealed last Sunday that he suffers from prostate cancer. Van Gaal says he has already been irradiated 25 times and expects to lead the Dutch national team at the World Cup in Qatar at the end of this year.