It hasn’t been an easy few months for Marc Overmars. Former FC Barcelona and international for the Netherlands, he suffered a stroke on December 29. Today, at the age of 50, he speaks for the first time about the consequences that have remained: “My heart is 45 percent dead.” Some harsh words that summarize Overmars’s titanic fight to recover his life.

“I have to catch my breath when I talk a lot and I need energy to stay focused,” he explains in an interview with the publication Het Laatste Nieuws. Since that fateful day, the current technical director of Royal Antwerp strove to resume his activity at the Belgian club, where he continues to practice. “You shouldn’t feel sorry for me,” he assures confidently.

Overmars landed at the Antwerp club after being dismissed from Ajax due to accusations of harassment against workers of the Dutch entity. The ex of Ajax, Arsenal or Barcelona, ​​among others, was accused of sending “inappropriate messages” to several women who worked at the club “for a prolonged period of time.”

These accusations, which he himself acknowledged, ended up costing him his job in February of last year: “I am ashamed. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that I was crossing the line with this, but that has become clear to me over the past few days. I apologize. Certainly, for someone in my position, this behavior is unacceptable. Now I see it too. But it’s too late. I don’t see any other option than to leave Ajax, ”he confessed then.

A month after being sacked, Royal Antwerp hired him as their sporting director. A stage in which he has achieved great results with the Antwerp club, which has recently been proclaimed Cup champion. Overmars’s intention is to continue leading the technical management of the club, although he is aware that now he must take things at another pace: “I am a happy man, I just have to distribute my energy the best I can. If there are important items or meetings on the agenda, I focus on them. I can recover the next day. I’d rather die here than do nothing,” he concludes.