NORRKÖPING / Stockholm. Marty Cefuentes trained Hammarby with sadness in his heart.
The coach has just returned from Spain after his father’s burial.
– He was looking forward to coming here and he was sure we would win the league, says Cifuentes.
Hammarby coach Marty Cefuentes announced on Sunday the death of his father. Despite this, the Spaniard coached his team on Monday, but had to witness a massive 4-1 loss from the touchline in Norrköping.
– I don’t want to go into too much detail, but my father had a heart attack and died early. Cifuentes says we thought he would recover but unfortunately it didn’t go well.
– I had a great relationship with him and I’m very sorry.
Was he also a football player?
– yes. He was actually a professional car driver when he was young but he was very fond of football.
– He was looking forward to coming here and he was sure we would win the league, so hopefully we can do it for him.
Choose to go home
Cifuentes spoke with his father daily. He chose to go to Spain and stay there for three days in connection with the funeral.
I would say that it doesn’t matter what kind of job you have when such things happen. But I feel a lot of support from the players, the management team, the club and the fans and I think he wanted me to be back and working as soon as possible because he knows how much I enjoy what I’m doing.
– We had a funeral and then I made the decision that I wanted to go back and move on with my life where I also have my family. It’s tough, especially after today when we wanted three points, but life is tough sometimes.
Thousands of messages
Marti Cifuentes is supported by Hammarby players.
We tried to give him as much support as possible. I know it was tough for him, it was a tough week and he was gone for a few days. We are always there for him, it’s very difficult to come out with such a bad performance now,” says left-back Muhannad Gehazi.
Cifuentes received both flowers and letters after the tragic news.
– I really appreciate it. I’ve received thousands of messages from people I don’t know. When you feel like you get that support from everyone, it’s great and I really appreciate it, he says.