The coach of the Mexico national team, Javier Aguirre, was injured in the head when he was hit by a bottle thrown by fans in the team’s 2-0 defeat to Honduras, this Friday (15), in the first leg of the quarter-finals. of the Concacaf League of Nations.
At the end of the match played at the Francisco Morazán stadium, in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, with around 20 thousand spectators, Aguirre was passing in front of a stand when he was hit in the head and left the field bloodied.
The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) condemned the episode of violence and appealed to “everyone involved in football” to collaborate in order to “create a safe environment for everyone”.
Furthermore, the FMF reported that it took steps “to ask Concacaf to act in accordance with the regulations after the incident.”
In turn, Honduras’ coach, Colombian Reinaldo Rueda, declared in a press conference that he is “sad because [Aguirre] is a human being.”
“This cannot happen. I want to apologize to the entire Mexican delegation, to all the Mexican people and to Professor Aguirre”, added Rueda, former Flamengo coach (2017).
“All the effort the players made on the field was undermined, everyone gave their all (…) it’s very regrettable”, continued the coach.
Aguirre, in turn, downplayed the incident. “It’s football, nothing happens,” declared the Mexican, who expressed solidarity with the Hondurans affected by the tropical storm that has hit the country since Thursday.
Honduras won the match with two goals from striker Luis Palma in the second half (64′ and 83′).
The return game that will decide who qualifies for the Concacaf Nations League semifinals will be played on November 19th, at the Nemesio Diez stadium, in Toluca.
