DR Congo head coach Sebastien Desabres suddenly saw his father’s death announced publicly at the end of the post-match press conference after his team lost 2-1 to England in the Round of 32 in Atlanta. Desabre was answering questions from World Cup reporters in attendance when the national team’s communications director broke the shocking news and expressed sympathy.
Footage of the press conference, widely shared on social media, showed Desabret clearly stunned, although it is unclear whether he knew about his father’s death beforehand. A media representative said, “Thank you. However, we would like to inform you that Coach has lost his father. We offer our deepest condolences.” Desabre then paused and answered “Merci” before leaving the press conference room at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
The 49-year-old led the African team to their first World Cup appearance since 1974, when he played for Zaire. They also won 3-1 against Uzbekistan, which was also held in Atlanta, and advanced through the group stage in 3rd place. DR Congo defeated Jamaica in an intercontinental playoff to secure a spot in North America.
Brian Shipenga’s first-half goal gave them a lead against England, but their hopes were dashed by Harry Kane’s brace, despite some heroics from inspiring goalkeeper Lionel Mpathi. Still, Desabre expressed his pride in his players.
The player said, “It’s disappointing because I believed I could do it.I may have lacked a little experience at the end, but that’s soccer.”
“We will continue to learn and improve and move forward calmly. We fought like Congolese. Today we played good football against one of the best teams in the world. That will remain in our memory.”
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Newcastle United forward Yoan Wissa also hit the woodwork, wasting a golden chance to double the Democratic Republic of Congo’s lead. Burnley defender Axel Tuanzebe admitted the defeat was mixed with frustration and a nagging feeling that England had been let out.
He said: “In the end we pushed ourselves even more because we felt we should have definitely held on in the game. We probably should have finished it in the first half as well, but it’s disappointing that it wasn’t meant to be for us today, but we’ll look at this and think about how we can build for the upcoming tournament.”
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