KUALA LUMPUR, 23 July – Former national Under-19 coach Robert Alberts is recovering in a hospital in Bandung, Indonesia after surviving a heart attack two days ago.
The vastly traveled 65-year-old Dutchman, who now coaches Persib Bandung in the Indonesian League, is ready to bounce back and has given himself two weeks to be “back on the field” and indulge in his first love – football.
It all happened two days ago when he was not feeling well and took a taxi to Borromeus Hospital in Bandung at 5am from his home in Lavida Townhouse 9, in Setra Duta.
”Never expected it. I was fit…trained hard and did my yearly health checkups. All looked good. but that’s life…it can change suddenly.
“The doctors diagnosed it as a heart attack and it was straight into the operation theatre. The doctors found a one of the arteries was blocked and put a balloon and a stent. All went well and I feel much better now,” said Alberts.
“Unreal in a way,” added the Dutchman, a popular coach in this region.
In Malaysia, he coached Kedah from 1992 to 1995 and won the Malaysia Cup and Premier One League for the Canaries in 1993.
Alberts coached the National Under-19 team in 2007 after a stint with the Korean Under-19 team from 2002-2004.
After leaving the National Under-19 team, Alberts had coaching stints with Sarawak twice. The first was from 2008 to 2009 and the second from 2011 to 2015. His coaching journey also took him to Singapore where he coached Tanjong Pagar after he left Kedah.
Alberts has found considerable success in Indonesia with clubs like Arema Malang (2009-2010) and PSM Makassar (2010-2011 and 2016-2019). He joined Persib Bandung at the end of last season.
“I hope to be on the field in about two weeks’ time. Will start slowly and work myself into a new life from there,” added Roberts who praised the Borromeus Hospital staff for their care.
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