For Argentina national coach Lionel Scaloni, the semi-finals move briefly into the background: he expresses his condolences to families who were involved in a traffic accident in his hometown. A journalist collapses in the stands and is later pronounced dead.
Argentina’s national coach Lionel Scaloni is with his team in the World Cup semi-finals.
Jörg Wolfrum reports from Qatar
And suddenly, after beating the Netherlands on penalties, captain Lionel Messi’s statement that Diego Maradona supported the Albiceleste “from heaven down” received a completely different context: Argentina’s national coach Lionel Scaloni spoke at the end of his press conference after the success at the Lusail Stadium tragedy that occurred hours before the quarterfinals in his hometown of Pujato, in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina.
Around the time of the semi-finals, the coach had received the news that hours earlier in the town of Pujato a young man had died in a traffic accident and another was seriously injured. “We pray for them and their families,” said the coach, moved. A few days earlier, he had received a video from a local school via Argentinian media in which the students wished the coach and his team good luck at the tournament in Qatar.
There are more important things than football, Scaloni always emphasizes. The 44-year-old had to do this again on Saturday night for a sad reason.
US journalist suffers heart attack and dies
And tragedy also happened in the Lusail. US journalist Grant Wahl collapsed in the stands shortly before the penalty shootout and was later pronounced dead. The US Football Association said on Twitter: “The US football family is heartbroken to learn of the loss.”
Days earlier, the journalist said he was receiving medical treatment and had posted himself: “Three weeks with little sleep, a lot of stress and a lot of work can do that.” Wahl had also previously researched grievances regarding guest workers in Qatar and posted with a view to the Qatari World Cup organizers in Qatar: “They don’t care.”
