DR Congo boss’ father’s death announced after England World Cup loss | Football | Sport
DR Congo head coach Sebastien Desabre saw his father’s death suddenly announced publicly at the end of his post-match press conference after his team’s 2-1 round-of-32 loss to England in Atlanta. Desabre had been fielding questions from World Cup journalists in attendance when the national team’s communications manager delivered the devastating news and expressed his sympathies.
Footage of the press conference circulated widely on social media, and it remains unclear whether Desabre had prior knowledge of his father’s passing, though he appeared visibly stunned. The media officer said: “Thank you. However, we are informing you that the coach has lost his father; our sincere condolences.” Desabre then paused and responded “Merci” before leaving the press conference room at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
The 49-year-old steered the African side to their first World Cup appearance since 1974, when they competed as Zaire. He also took them through the group stage in third place after a 3-1 victory over Uzbekistan, also in Atlanta. DR Congo secured their place in North America after overcoming Jamaica in the intercontinental play-offs.
Against England, they had gone ahead through Brian Cipenga’s first-half goal before Harry Kane netted twice to dash their hopes despite the heroic efforts of inspirational goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi. Nevertheless, Desabre expressed pride in his players.
He said: “We’re disappointed because we believed we could do it. Perhaps we lacked a bit of experience at the end, but that’s football.
“We learn, we continue to improve, and we move forward calmly. We fought like the Congolese people. We played good football today against one of the best teams in the world. That’s what we’ll remember.”
Get the latest World Cup news straight to your inbox by signing up to our Make Football Great Again newsletter now!
Newcastle United forward Yoane Wissa also struck the woodwork, squandering a golden opportunity to double DR Congo’s lead. Burnley defender Axel Tuanzebe admitted the loss was laced with frustration, with a nagging sense that they had let England off the hook.
He said: “Ultimately, we’re kicking ourselves more so because we felt we should’ve definitely held out the game. Probably should’ve finished it in the first half as well, but it was unfortunate it was not meant to be for us today, but we’ll look on this and think how we can build for future tournaments.”
EXPRESS SPORT ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page
