"There are more important things than football." Ronald Koeman said that when he resigned as Netherlands manager this summer, and now we know exactly what he meant. His wife, Bartina Koeman-Boddeveld, died on Tuesday at the age of 65, after years of fighting cancer.
Koeman announced her passing on Instagram with a photo of the two of them together. His words were simple and raw: "With intense sadness, but also with great pride and love, we say goodbye to my beautiful wife, our dearest mom and grandma." They had been married for 41 years and raised three children together.
A career defined by partnership
Bartina was there for all of it. The Barcelona years, the 1992 European Cup final where Koeman drove home the decisive free-kick against Sampdoria to win the trophy. The coaching stints across Spain, Portugal, and England — Southampton and Everton among the stops. Forty-one years of football, of travel, of everything the game demands from a family.
What makes Koeman's tribute land so hard is what he revealed about her final months. She was ill, and she still pushed him to finish the job with the national team. "My wife Bartina has supported and encouraged me every day to finish my work as a national coach, despite her own illness process," he said. "That is a testimony to incredible strength."
He resigned following the Netherlands' World Cup elimination, stating plainly that her battle had shifted something in him permanently. That turned out to be the last chapter of his coaching career — at least for now.
Football paying its respects
The response from the football world was immediate. Dutch legends Wesley Sneijder, Edwin van der Sar, Ryan Gravenberch, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, and Luuk de Jong all offered their condolences publicly. Belgian internationals Thibaut Courtois and Romelu Lukaku also sent messages, as did Ajax, Feyenoord, and both the Dutch and Belgian national teams.
Koeman's final line says everything: "I appreciate her more than I'll ever be able to put into words."
