Idman.biz
Mircea Lucescu's close friend, Ovidiu Ioanițoaia, has shared details regarding the Romanian coach's death.
Idman.Biz reports that the director of "Gazeta Sporturilor" said that two to two and a half months ago, he had no problems.
"Then leukemia (blood cancer) came out and complicated everything. In fact, this was the main reason for what happened. We tried to hide the diagnosis, saying it was a personal matter, but it was leukemia that accelerated his death."
According to his friend, football meant everything to Lucescu:
"If he had been forbidden to go to Istanbul, to the game, he would probably have suffered even more psychologically. This was his fate - he lived his whole life at high speed and, unfortunately, he left at the same speed. His life was football."
The deceased coach's friend said that he spoke to him a week or two before the match in Istanbul:
"The doctors were hesitant to tell him the truth, so I mediated. I said, "Mircea, the situation is serious - the doctors say so." He replied that nothing could be done, that he started like this and would finish like this. It was a consciously accepted risk on his part."
Ioanițoaia also recalled one of Lucescu's last words:
"He said to me, 'Okay, I'll get out tomorrow, go home and take a shower, and then we'll go for a cappuccino.'"
