“I didn’t want him to give up”: partially paralyzed wife of Alexander Blessin experienced Union’s cup triumph

Before the start of the final, trainer Alexander Blessin waved in the direction of the main stand. After the deserved 1-0 win against Antwerp, his eyes turned in that direction again. The German quickly pushed his way through the crowd upstairs, looking for his wife Charlotte and his three daughters. He was eager to share the first prize in his career with his family. They hugged each other in tears. “To be able to share this with my family, that’s real massive. What I said to my wife?”, Blessin repeated our question a little later. “Oh, I said so much. But it was certainly there that I like her. And this victory is for her too. And so much more, but I’m so empty right now. Sorry,” he smiled.

What a rollercoaster this season has been for the German and his family, who continued to live in Stuttgart. At the beginning of August, just before the league match against Standard, his wife Charlotte suddenly suffered a spinal cord infarction. Since then she has been partially paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. When Blessin signed a two-year contract with Union a month earlier, it was still the intention that Charlotte and his daughters would visit every match in Belgium, as they did at KV Oostende at the time. Due to the difficult medical situation, the roles were suddenly reversed and so family man Blessin drove 600 kilometers there and 600 kilometers back to Stuttgart every week to see his wife as often as possible.

Deep valleys

We can only say chapeau, hats off. It is particularly impressive that Blessin stayed on as T1 at Union despite his difficult private situation. Even within the club, no one expected that. In private, the Blessin family went through particularly deep valleys. At the same time, the German managed to dominate the regular competition with Union and winter in Europe again. Victories against Eintracht Frankfurt, Liverpool and Fenerbahçe took the cake. Things initially went a little slower in the play-offs, but Union is still in the title race. Especially after the boost that this first prize for Union since 1935 and this first cup since 1914 gives the entire club.

And all this despite and thanks to Charlotte Blessin. It was she who didn’t want her husband to give up because of what had happened to her and so he continued. “It’s so hard to find the right words,” Charlotte told us after the triumph with tears in her eyes. “It was a particularly hard season. Happy with one happy ending for the whole family. (silences for a moment) It was so difficult for me, but also for the children and for Alex. Certainly decided that he had to continue, but I didn’t want to give up. Although I’m not as strong as I seem. We all made the decision together that he would remain a coach. We sat around the table with the whole family.”

It was by no means a foregone conclusion that she would sit in the stands of the King Baudouin Stadium during the cup final to support her husband. “We hesitated for a long time,” Blessin admitted. “It’s not that easy in this stadium, but Charlotte deserves to be part of this. She is part of me so this trophy is hers too.”

Immediately afterwards, Blessin also thanked the rest of the club extensively. This article is mainly about the Blessin family, but great work has been done at all levels of Union for several seasons. “This is an award for the fans, they are fantastic. I also have the best staff in the world and this club is fantastic,” Blessin rightly praised. “The players also deserve it so much. There are many who have experienced the immense disappointment of narrowly missing out on a prize over the past two seasons. That goes deeper than we sometimes think. It’s all so dear to them. I told them on Wednesday how many footballers there are in Belgium. They all dream of being in a final and my players deservedly got there. Now we wanted to take that final step. We did it.”

A big party and a well-deserved day off will now follow. Although Blessin himself promises to keep it calm. His family will remain in Belgium until Sunday, they will now receive his full attention. “The problem is that I am not an experienced drinker,” laughed the Union coach. “After one beer I’m already dancing on the table. Oh well, maybe I’ll drink one after all. And then I drive home with my wife. We’re going to fall asleep with a big smile on our face.”

His wife, meanwhile, was still enjoying it with tears in her eyes. This triumph also proves to be a boost for her personally. “The first prize in Alex’s career is so well deserved. I can’t describe what I felt when he hugged me in the stands after the game. It was so hard. (silences for a long time) But I also got the feeling that everything will turn out okay, that everything will still be okay in the future. That positive mindset is so important. Everything will be okayOr so I hope. And let’s hope he wins the title now too. That would be even better.”