FC Eindhoven icon Dragan Thijssens received a boost on Monday. A carnival-esque award for a footballer who is plagued by bad luck. Usually the trophy goes to a player who is struggling with injuries. But for Thijssens it is different: he had to stop playing football in November last year, because he is struggling with the muscle disease ALS. So he doesn’t get any better.
Dragan received the award on Monday afternoon during a carnival party in café Wildeman in Eindhoven. An ovation sounded through the packed hall, when Dragan was presented with the cup of d’n Opkikker. “Actually, I shouldn’t have it,” Dragan said. “Usually the cup is for someone who has an injury that will pass. And I have the muscle disease ALS. But I think it is a great support,” the former football player responded to the award.
At the moment I’m fine, Dragan said: “I’ve heard I have the ‘slow variant’ of ALS. I’m fine, I can enjoy the moment.” In spite of his illness, Dragan celebrates Carnival fully and with great pleasure: “I do have to sit on a stool every now and then, to save a little energy.”
Pascal Maas of FC Eindhoven is one of the people who ensured that d’n Opkikker went to Dragan this year. He thinks this is a special award: “What has happened to him in recent years is intrigued and intrigued. Most people who receive the trophy have an injury. Dragan has something that will not go away.”
Striking: the Dragan wore a pin of arch-rival PSV on his lapel. He got that pinned on by Johan Vlemmix. “I am also for PSV, we have the Eredivisie and the first division,” Dragan explains. “I also hope that PSV will become champion!”
D’n Opkikker has a list of illustrious predecessors, including star players such as Ronaldo and Koeman.