LIVERPOOL and Wales football icon John Toshack has laughed off his son’s claims he has been diagnosed with dementia.
The 77-year-old’s wife Mai Angulo admitted yesterday Thailand-based Cameron Toshack’s revelations about his dad’s “dementia battle” had left her astonished.
Confessing Covid had left him with severe physical and mental after-effects, she told Spanish daily El Diario Vasco in an interview: “Cameron only knows what he talks about very occasionally on the phone with his father.
“He hasn’t seen him for two years. That’s why it really surprised me that he said this.”
Today it was the turn of the footballer-turned globetrotting manager John to rebut the dementia claims of the 56-year-old current assistant coach at Thai League 1 club Buriram United.
Welcoming a reporter from respected Spanish daily El Mundo into the home in Besalu in the Catalan province of Girona which he shares with Mai and their five dogs, the former Real Madrid and Real Sociedad manager insisted: “Dementia? Not yet!”
He joked: “I’ve forgotten all the goals I missed but I remember perfectly the ones I scored.”
El Mundo also published footage of the football legend, who played more than 200 matches with Cardiff City before winning nine trophies during an eight-year career with the Reds, reciting the famous team selection quote he made history with following a calamitous Real Madrid away match against Rayo Vallecano when he was managing the Spanish giants.
Laughing and looking relaxed in a Real Sociedad tracksuit as he sat in the sun, John said: “On Mondays I always think I’ll make ten changes to the team. On Tuesdays, seven or eight. By Thursday, it’s four. Friday two, and by Saturday I’m back to starting the same eleven b***ards.”
El Mundo journalist Luis Nunez-Villaveiran, who published the footage on his Instagram page, said: “John Toshack’s son said in an interview his father suffered dementia.
“I’ve been with him and he maintains the spark he became known for in clubs like Real Madrid and Real Sociedad.”
He added: “The former manager takes advantage of a risotto and cheesecake lunch to tease his wife about things he doesn’t remember between glasses of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, and then wink at the guests before flashing another smile.”
Cameron, Toshack’s son from an earlier marriage to Susan Bann, claimed in an interview with the Daily Mail earlier this week his dad was battling dementia.
He said: “It’s a terrible disease.
“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 Sociedad or Madrid, the detail is amazing.”
Mai, Toshack’s wife of 33 years, reacted by saying: “John is very calm here. We celebrated his 77th birthday on Sunday, and he was very happy.”
Appearing to have another dig at his son as she admitted the former footballer’s Covid-19 2022 battle had been terrible, she told El Diario Vasco: “It is true that Covid left him with very severe after-effects, both physical and mental. Everyone has been able to notice this.
“We cannot forget that we went through some terrible moments, with John sedated in an intensive care unit, not knowing how he would progress.
“He always says that he was out of this world for more than ten days and that when, thank God, he came back, he didn’t understand anything.
“He didn’t know what was happening to him or where he was. It wasn’t easy. I spent many days anxious because, except for John’s closest friends, no one showed interest, not even his family.”
In a poignant message to her husband’s army of loyal fans, Mai said: “In his name, I want to send a hug to everyone.
“The only thing I can say is that I am devoted to John so that he can have the best possible life. He is the love of my life, and I will never leave him.
“Together we came through those terrible days, and together we will always remain in our home.”
