Bartina (Ronald Koeman's wife) seeks solace in Barcelona during World Cup

Due to her ongoing cancer treatments, Bartina Koeman will be unable to travel to the FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The 65-year-old, who is battling metastatic breast cancer, undergoes weekly treatments. "It's tough. Football sometimes serves as a much-needed distraction for me," Koeman remarked recently.

The national coach's wife is no stranger to adversity. Her illness was first diagnosed in 2010. After an intensive treatment regimen, everything seemed under control, but the cancer returned in 2018. Since then, Bartina has continued treatments and describes her condition as stable.

She receives immense support from her three children: Tim, Ronald Jr., and Debbie. She recently enjoyed some quality time with Debbie in Sitges, a coastal town near Barcelona where the family owns a home. From there, she shared several personal moments on social media on Sunday. She posted a photo of her grandchildren with the caption 'mine' and three heart emojis. A picture of her dining with her daughter Debbie and son-in-law Jesse Tunderman also appeared.

In a candid interview with De Telegraaf recently, she spoke openly about the chronic breast cancer she has lived with for years. "During the European Championship, I developed sepsis, a blood infection caused by pneumococci. It progressed incredibly fast. I was rushed to intensive care, given antibiotics, the whole works. If I hadn't been in the Netherlands at that moment, I probably wouldn't be here today."

National coach Koeman still holds a glimmer of hope that his wife might yet make it to the World Cup. "If we reach the final, she might be able to skip a treatment. That would be the ultimate," the coach said in the run-up to the World Cup. The Dutch national team officially kicks off their tournament on Sunday with a match against Japan.

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