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Daley Blind’s life and career changed in December 2019. It was on the 10th of that month, during a Champions League match between Ajax and Valencia, that the player had one of the biggest scares of his life: an episode of dizziness and vertigo caused the defender to be diagnosed with myocarditishaving undergone surgery to insert an implantable cardioverter defibrillator.
The health problem kept him away from the playing fields until February of the following year. Six months later, another scare. In a preparation match between the Dutch team and Hertha Berlin, Daley fell to the grass, scaring teammates, technical and medical teams and spectators. The player ended up leaving the field by his own foot and the explanation of what happened emerged shortly after: the defibrillator had gone off in the field????????
Considered suitable for high competition, Blind was called up to represent the Netherlands at Euro 2020, which due to the covid-19 pandemic only took place the following year. There, he confronted his health problem, though not directly. On June 12, 2021, in the 43rd minute of the match between Denmark and Finland, Christian Eriksen crashed into the grass, lifeless. The quick intervention of the medical team saved the playerwho was taken to the hospital.
The accident, which shocked the world, deeply impacted Daley Blind, former teammate (from 2010 to 2013 at Ajax) of the Dane, even going so far as to consider the defender not to face Ukraine. “What happened had a huge impact on me, not to mention the fact that I know Christian well as a friend. The situation for him is terrible. Of course I have already experienced a few things in this area and I had to overcome a mental barrier to play [contra a Ucrânia]”, he confessed to the press in his country.
Daley Blind also has a corset and leaves an appeal to Eriksen: “Leave Christian alone”
“When it happened to me, everyone told me that I was finished as a player and that I would never play again. And look where I am today. That’s why I tell everyone: ‘Leave Christian alone,’” he said at the time.
Daley’s career continued on his way and, this Saturday, he added another page to the memory: a goal in a World Cup. When he scored, already close to halftime, nothing stopped him on his way to the port he was looking for: the hug of one of Louis Van Gaal’s assistants, namely his father, Danny Blind????????
A former Dutch soccer glory, Danny, 61, was part of the mythical Ajax team that won the Champions League in 1995, he was the team’s fourth and last. At the service of the club he won 17 more titles and was even its coach. He was also the Netherlands coach. Now, he joins the role of assistant to that of the proud father of one of the most experienced players of “Clockwork Orange”.
Source: Observadora
