Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique has made the headlines on various occasions for his documentary, which was filmed while he has been managing the French giants. First and foremost because of some of the opinions he had regarding his former side. However the Asturian’s response to whether he felt fortunate or unfortunate has had people holding back the emotions.
During his time in charge of Spain, Luis Enrique left the position for four months to spend more time with his nine-year-old daughter Xana. She was living the last months of her life, tragically passing away due to a rare bone cancer. Thereafter, he returned to coaching La Roja, replacing former assistant Robert Moreno.
His outlook has been breaking hearts on social media.
“Can I consider myself lucky or unlucky? I consider myself lucky, very lucky. But your daughter passed away at nine. Well, my daughter came to live with us for nine marvellous years. We have a lot of memories of her, lots of photos, videos, incredible things.”
“My mother couldn’t keep photos of Xana. Until I got home, and I said to her, ‘Mum, Why are there no photos of Xana?’ ‘I.. I can’t,’ she said. Mum, you have to put up photos of Xana, she’s alive.”
Luis Enrique is a divisive figure in Spain, but hard to think there is anything but empathy for him on this one.
He was asked if he felt lucky or unlucky, bearing in mind his daughter Xania passed away aged 9 from bone cancer.pic.twitter.com/F9vZnxNlUt
— Football España (@footballespana_) October 16, 2024
“In the physical sense, she is not here. But in a spiritual sense she is. Because every day we talk about her, remember her, laugh about her. Because I think Xana still sees us. What do I want Xana to think about how we went through this?”
Luis Enrique’s dismissiveness of the media and of the general noise around football has often been criticised, but it is no surprise that he sees its importance minimised in light of what he has been through in recent years.
