Fernanda Obbes: Who is Louis van Gaal’s ex-wife?

Fernanda Obbes was the first wife of Louis van Gaal. When Louis Van Gaal was 18 years old, he met Fernanda Obbes, who was two years his junior. As they caught eyes at the Catholic youth organization near his home, friends believed it was love at first sight.

They married when Louis was only 21 years old and were blissfully happy until she became ill in 1994, at the height of his first spell as manager of Ajax.

Doctors discovered that the patient had liver and pancreatic cancer. He had access to all of the best doctors and surgeons as the president of Holland’s largest football team, yet nothing could be done.

Instead, Van Gaal was presented with issues he couldn’t control. While he did his best to care for his wife in private, he had to maintain strict discipline in public as Dutch fans mocked their situation.

In the house he now shares with his second wife, Truus, there is still a photograph of Fernanda, with whom Van Gaal had two daughters.