Legendary Coach Emiliano Mondonico celebrates his 70th birthday, but also reveals his cancer has returned after five years. “I won’t give up.”
The former Atalanta and Torino tactician had to retire from management in 2011 when a large tumour was discovered in his stomach.
He had beaten the cancer after treatment in December 2011, but ‘Mondo’ revealed the situation has changed.
Legendary Coach Emiliano Mondonico celebrates his 70th birthday, but also reveals his cancer has returned after five years. “I won’t give up.”
The former Atalanta and Torino tactician had to retire from management in 2011 when a large tumour was discovered in his stomach.
He had beaten the cancer after treatment in December 2011, but ‘Mondo’ revealed the situation has changed.
“I am fighting the most difficult battle against the nasty beast that is knocking on my door, but I will not give up,” he told Il Giornale on his 70th birthday.
“This illness won’t let me be at 100 per cent and if you’re not at your best, you can’t go back into management. I console myself with the five terrible things they removed from my stomach.”
Mondonico is a well-loved figure in Italian football, sitting on the benches of Cremonese, Como, Atalanta, Torino, Napoli, Cosenza, Fiorentina, Albinoleffe and Novara.
He reached the Coppa Italia Final with Atalanta and famously finished third in Serie A at the helm of Torino in 1991-92.