{"id":38177,"date":"2026-07-04T02:05:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T02:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/04\/democratic-republic-of-congo-announce-death-of-coachs-father-at-press-conference-after-defeat-to-england\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T02:05:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T02:05:32","slug":"democratic-republic-of-congo-announce-death-of-coachs-father-at-press-conference-after-defeat-to-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/04\/democratic-republic-of-congo-announce-death-of-coachs-father-at-press-conference-after-defeat-to-england\/","title":{"rendered":"Democratic Republic of Congo announce death of coach’s father at press conference after defeat to England"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Democratic Republic of Congo’s medical officer shared sad news about coach S\u00e9bastien Desabre’s family at the end of a press conference at the World Cup in Atlanta.<\/h2>\n
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05:22, July 2, 2026<\/span>Updated July 2, 2026, 06:55<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Democratic Republic of the Congo coach’s father’s death announced at press conference<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
DR Congo manager Sebastien Desabre watched as the news of his father’s death was announced to the world at the end of the post-match press conference following their side’s 2-1 loss to England in the Round of 32 in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
Desabre was taking questions from World Cup reporters when the Democratic Republic of Congo’s communications director announced the shocking news and expressed his condolences.<\/p>\n
Video footage of the press conference went viral online, and it was not immediately clear whether Desabres already knew of his father’s death, but he appeared to be in shock.<\/p>\n
A media representative said, “Thank you. However, we would like to inform you that Coach has lost his father. We offer our deepest condolences.”<\/p>\n
Desabre then stopped and responded, “Merci,” before leaving the press conference room at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.<\/p>\n
The 49-year-old led the African country to its first World Cup since 1974, formerly known as Zaire.<\/p>\n
Also, in the match against Uzbekistan, which was also held in Atlanta, they won 3-1, leading the team to advance to the group in 3rd place.<\/p>\n
DR Congo defeated Jamaica in an intercontinental playoff to secure their place in North America.<\/p>\n
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Democratic Republic of Congo coach Sebastian Desabres received news of his team’s death after losing 2-1 to England at the World Cup.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The team held the lead in the first half with a goal from Brian Shipenga, but despite the hard work of impressive goalkeeper Lionel Mpathi, Harry Kane scored two goals to defeat them.<\/p>\n
Still, Desabres was proud of his team, saying, “It’s disappointing because we believed we could do it. We may have lacked a little bit of experience at the end, but that’s football. We’ll continue to learn and improve and move forward calmly.”<\/p>\n
“We played like Congolese. Today we played good football against one of the best teams in the world. That will remain in our memory.”<\/p>\n
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Democratic Republic of Congo corner England in Atlanta in first World Cup since 1974<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Newcastle striker Yohan Ouissa also hit the post, denying the Democratic Republic of Congo a chance to take the lead.<\/p>\n
Burnley defender Axel Tuanzebe said the loss had the tinge of defeat as he felt they could have finished off England.<\/p>\n
He added: “I feel even more remorseful because at the end of the day I felt we absolutely should have held on for the game.”<\/p>\n
\u201cWe probably should have finished it in the first half as well, but it\u2019s a shame that today wasn\u2019t meant to be for us, but we\u2019ll look at this and think about how we can build for the upcoming tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n
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