DR Congo announced the death of head coach Sebastien Desabre's father moments after his side's World Cup defeat to England. The African nation stunned the Three Lions by taking the lead inside seven minutes and almost pulled off an upset in their last-32 clash. Harry Kane spared England's blushes, scoring twice late on to send Thomas Tuchel's side through to the last 16, where they will meet Mexico.
Desabre's brave tactics
Desabre masterminded his side's brave performance with forward-thinking tactics that surprised many observers and caught England out until they finally got a grip of the game. It was DR Congo's first World Cup appearance since 1974, when the nation was known as Zaire. They bowed out having held Portugal to a draw in their opening match and also beaten Uzbekistan.
Tragedy strikes after match
But the proud moment was accompanied by tragedy, with it emerging that Desabre's father had passed away. It was unclear when exactly the DR Congo boss learned of his father's passing, but a media officer confirmed the news at the end of his post-match press conference on Wednesday evening. Speaking in French, the media officer said: 'Thank you but we are announcing that the coach has lost his father. So sincere condolences.'
Desabre's smiling expression immediately changed to one of shock; he responded 'thank you' before getting up and leaving. Earlier in the press conference, Desabre spoke with pride over his side's performance after leading England for over an hour. 'When you represent the national team you have to leave a good image behind and this I believe we did,' said Desabre. 'We are more proud than disappointed. We are disappointed to be leaving the World Cup of course but we scored five goals in the tournament and played much higher-ranked teams and managed good results.'
