Before starting this Friday’s press conference before the Osasuna – Valladolid football match, Osasuna coach Vicente Moreno wanted to say a few words on the sidelines of the match. “Then we talk about football as you want,” Moreno began. “I just wanted to…” he said, and he couldn’t help but break down.
Vicente Moreno, as he himself stated during the press conference, is from Massanassa, one of the municipalities most affected by DANA in Valencia. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it,” the football coach managed to say while trying to hold back tears. “Forgive me,” he continued, “I wanted to send all my encouragement and solidarity to all the people who were affected by this disaster…” Moreno said with tears in his eyes. “To all the people who have lost loved ones… you will allow me to have a few words especially towards my land, towards Valencia, to all the Valencians and to all those who live in Valencia, who live in Horta. South Region, among which is my town, Massanassa”, one of the most affected by DANA, which has already claimed the lives of more than 200 people in the province of Valencia alone.
“It’s very hard especially for them, but for those of us who are far away and who have families, friends, neighbors, children there, we have to understand that it’s very hard,” he said. lamented Montero in tears. “It was very hard not being able to be there with them,” he admitted. “I just wanted to send a message of strength. We are hard-working people, tough people, and even though it seems difficult now, we will all get through this together,” he added, ending with: “Excuse me.”
Even though Moreno had said, at the beginning of the press conference, that they would talk about football later, the journalists present in the room did not neglect the weight of the moment and questioned Moreno about his situation and that of his people . “It’s very difficult for me,” the man reiterated; “It’s chaos, at the moment we don’t know how we can help,” he commented.
“I had the misfortune of being from a town where the worst things happened,” Moreno said. “It was difficult for me to think [en el fútbol]“Maybe I wasn’t as focused as I should have been,” he admitted.
“There are more important things in life than football”
When asked by a reporter if this weekend’s championship game should have been suspended, the coach replied: “Maybe yes.” “We are not aware, no one is aware of what is happening there. I’m in constant contact with my children and it’s chaos. It is a chaos that we cannot imagine,” Moreno stressed.
“Obviously there are more important things in life than football, without a doubt,” he mused. “Maybe football helps people distract themselves, I don’t know, but I can assure you that I can’t wait to be there” in Valencia, said the Osasuna coach.
Even if you try to come across as strong and professional, it’s very difficult. And you don’t know if it’s worth it.
Vicente Moreno
Vicente Moreno declared, once again questioned by journalists, that he had experienced a “bad” period during these days of disaster in his country. “I was fortunate to know that my children were at home, my family was at home, but after 10 p.m. we lost communication, there was no possibility of communicating with anyone. One of them watched the news, I listened to the radio all night, I could only talk to them the next day at 1 p.m.,” he explained.
Moreno recalled that “the alarm [que envió la Generalitat a los móviles] “It rang at eight in the afternoon,” but “at six thirty, the ravine” of his town had already overflowed. “By 8 p.m., many people had already drowned,” he lamented. “You try, sometimes in the wrong way, to be professional, to pay attention to the game. But no matter how hard you try to look strong and professional, it’s very difficult. And we don’t know if it’s worth it,” the man admitted.
Vicente Moreno’s press conference can be seen here:
