Wales and Liverpool legend John Toshack has been diagnosed with dementia, his son Cameron has confirmed.
Toshack, 77, scored 13 goals in 40 caps for his country – who he also managed both in 1994 and between 2004 and 2010.
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Former Swansea City youth coach and ex-Leeds United assistant Cameron Toshack says his father – who managed several clubs including Real Madrid, Real Sociedad and Besiktas – has his “good days and bad days”.
“It’s a terrible disease,” Cameron Toshack, currently coaching in Thailand, told the Daily Mail.
“It’s the short-term memory where we’re seeing it – I speak to him most days and if we chat in the afternoon, he might not remember that we also spoke in the morning.
“But if I ask him about the Liverpool days, or [Real] Sociedad or [Real] Madrid, the detail is amazing.
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“The other day he was telling me about a Real Madrid game against Arrigo Saachi’s AC Milan and exactly how he tweaked his midfield to deal with Marco van Basten.
“The game could have been yesterday, his memory was so clear.”
John Toshack and Kevin Keegan (far right) speaheaded a golden period for Liverpool during the 1970s [Getty Images]
Liverpool icon Toshack previously spent two weeks on a ventilator in a Barcelona hospital after contracting Covid-19 and pneumonia.
he said, he had been “seriously ill”, adding: “When I think back on it now, it’s frightening.”
Despite the dementia diagnosis, Cameron says he still regularly receives great coaching advice from his father.
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“I’ll talk to him about what we’re doing in Thailand and he still gives great advice,” he said.
“As a manager, he could always see two or three moves ahead, and it was always in the genes for me, really.”
John Toshack began his playing career with hometown club Cardiff City before joining Liverpool in 1970.
He formed a lethal strike partnership with Kevin Keegan and won three league titles, two Uefa Cups, one FA Cup, one European Cup, a Charity Shield and a Uefa Super Cup during a glittering eight-year spell with the Reds.
The Welshman joined Swansea City as player-manager in 1978 and famously led the club from the Fourth Division to the First with successive promotions, as well as three Welsh Cup titles.
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He won trophies in five of the eight different countries in which he managed – including two spells with real Madrid – with his most recent role coming with Tractor in Azerbaijan in 2018.
Toshack was also pivotal in the development of Welsh stars including Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen during his second stint in charge of Wales.
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