Fernando Rixen is a soccer player from Holland who completed his professional career in 2013. He played in the position of the right midfielder. From 2001 to 2003 played in the national team of the Netherlands. During his career, he played for such clubs as Fortuna Sittard, AZ Alkmaar, Rangers and Zenit St. Petersburg. After completing his career, he played one season at the amateur level for the Dutch team Minor. The growth of the ex-footballer is 175 centimeters. He is the owner of 14 trophies, among which are the Scottish Championship Cup, the UEFA Cup and Super Cup, as well as the Russian Championship Cup.
October 30, 2013 it became known that Fernando Rixen terminally ill. Dutch ex-soccer player was diagnosed with motor nerve disease. In other words, it is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS is a chronic progressive disease of the central nervous system of unexplored etiology. During the progress of the disease, motor neurons of the brain and spinal cord are affected, muscle atrophy occurs.
Biography
Fernando Riksen was born on July 27 in 1976 in the city of Herlen, the Netherlands. He started playing football at the age of five, playing at the local academy of the EXC club. Until 1993, he played in such youth clubs as RKONS, Roda, and Fortuna Sittard. In the last team and began to play at a professional level. From 1993 to 1998 played Fortuna Sittard in 94 official matches and scored 5 goals.
First transfer to AZ Alkmaar
In 1998, the football club AZ Alkmar expressed its intention to acquire a young talented midfielder Fernando Rixen. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed. During the short negotiations, the transfer took place, and Fernando Rixen tried on a T-shirt of “cheese farmers”. He played here until 2000, spent 92 matches and scored a goal 12 times.
Careers at Rangers
In the summer of 2000, he joined the Scottish Rangers for £ 3.75 million. From the first days, the club began to demonstrate its best football qualities, thereby quickly gaining confidence from teammates and the coaching staff. Between 2000 and 2006 as part of the “teddy bears” he achieved the following result: two cups of the Scottish Championship, two Cups of Scotland and three Cups of the Scottish League. Here, the “Rangers" three times became the vice-champions of Scotland and once took the bronze medal. As a result, in the “light blue” held 182 matches and scored 13 goals.
On March 30, 2014, Fernando Rixen (see photo above) was inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame along with footballers such as Scotsman Lee McCullough and Spaniard Nacho Novo.
Career in St. Petersburg "Zenith"
On September 9, 2006, Fernando became a member of Zenit on a leasehold basis, however, after two and a half months he was completely redeemed from the Rangers. In the season he played 14 matches, in which he managed to score two goals. The 2006/07 season was a triumph for the St. Petersburg club - Zenit became the Champion of Russia in football.
On November 28, 2006, Zenit St. Petersburg officially announced that it was redeeming transfer rights to Fernando Ricksen from the Scottish Rangers. Two weeks later, a friendly match took place between the Rangers and Zenit, in which Fernando Rixen injured former teammate Chris Burke. Rangers fans booed Ricksen, and Burke dropped out for a month. A few weeks later, Fernando engaged in a fist fight on the field with the captain of the St. Petersburg team Vladislav Radimov. Despite the fact that recently the St. Petersburg club bought the rights to the Dutch midfielder, he still continued to sort things out with Radimov in January 2007.
In January 2009, after two and a half years in the St. Petersburg club, Fernando Rixen was demoted to reservists. The fact is that the football player had serious problems with alcohol and drugs, in which he was repeatedly convicted. About this same Riksen writes in his autobiographical book entitled "The Spirit of a Fighter ." On August 28, 2009, Zenit terminated the contract due to ongoing disciplinary violations.
Return to Sittard Fortune
After a two-year hiatus from football, Fernando Rixen decided to reunite with Fortuna Sittard, with whom he had once started his career. The contract was drawn up for one season. Subsequently, Riksen renegotiated contracts and played in the club until 2013. During this period, he played 48 matches and scored a goal.
Fatal Disease News
In 2013, football player Fernando Rixen presented the book, his autobiography, - “The Spirit of the Fighter.” In the book, the midfielder spoke not only about his victories and achievements, but also about a “fun life” in which there were drugs, alcohol and girls of easy virtue. The autobiographical work “The Spirit of a Fighter” gained popularity in Holland. Soon after its presentation, it became a real bestseller. On the occasion of the success of this book, Fernando Rixen and co-author Vincent de Vries (editor, journalist) were invited to the studio of one of Dutch TV for an interview.
During the broadcast, our hero eagerly answered all the questions asked by the journalist. After some time, while trying to answer another question, Riksen hesitated and could not connect a single word. In the process of an awkward moment, Fernando turned to Vincent de Vries and asked him to continue speaking for him. Fear was visible in the eyes of the ex-footballer, he could hardly restrain himself from tears. Vincent de Vries picked up a microphone and admitted to the public that Fernando Rixen had an incurable disease - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (in other words, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - ALS).
Are there any chances for life?
Today's medicine is powerless against ALS disease. This complication progresses very slowly, gradually affecting the central nervous system. As a result of the disease, the upper and lower motor neurons are affected. The end result of ALS disease is one - the muscles become paralyzed and atrophy, and then a fatal outcome due to respiratory muscle failure. From 3 to 5 years they live with Fernando Rixen’s disease, but there is one surprising exception in the world - the famous English scientist theorist-theoretician Stephen Hawking. He lives with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis for more than 54 years.
After the whole world learned about the sad news about Fernando, the entire football community began to express their support for the Dutch midfielder. Rangers Football Club organized and held several football matches, the fees from which will go to him for treatment. The management of Zenit organized treatment in St. Petersburg. It is noteworthy that a charity match for Fernando was also held by Celtic, who is the most important rival of the Rangers. In addition, the club from Glasgow allocated 10 thousand. £. for treatment with Ricksen.
The spirit of a fighter - he does not give up!
Since the diagnosis, our hero has repeatedly publicly stated that he will not give up. The ex-football player said that he wants to become the first person in the world to defeat this disease. Fernando said that he should see how his daughter is growing. Therefore, he is ready day and night to fight an incurable disease.
Fernando does not really give up, he continues to maintain and feel the rhythm of life. Being incurable, he launched a line of clothing of his own design, and also took part in a photo shoot with a naked torso, demonstrating his tattoos.
In the summer of 2015, Rixen, along with his wife and daughter, was relaxing at a resort in Spain. On vacation, he often bathed in the pool and constantly walked. Fernando Rixen is not going to get into a wheelchair until he can still take at least one step. It is worth confessing that his problems with movement are already quite noticeable: in order to overcome a distance of 10 meters, Riksen needs about a minute of time. Recently, the state of Fernando Rixen is very unstable. From the latest news it is reported that in winter he sleeps for 17-18 hours a day, and recently, once again, he fell and broke his arm.