[ad_1]
"We had always kept hope, but we knew in the end that it was thin, almost an illusion," said the former Japanese coach, aged 66, who had been working with Sala for only three months.
"For Emiliano's family and the pilot, it's terrible," added Halilhodzic, who burst into tears while he was speaking to reporters.
The Bosnian was named by Nantes in October and hoped to retain Sala, who had scored 12 league goals for the club in the first half of the season.
The player was finally sold to Cardiff City last month for 17 million euros and was on his way to Wales to begin his training with his new club after his disappearance on January 21st near the island. British Guernsey.
The only other person on board was the 59-year-old pilot David Ibbotson, who was not found.
Nantes announced Friday that it would remove the former number nine jersey from Sala.
Halilhodzic said that Sala "will forever leave a mark in this club for the way he behaved, for his modesty, not only as a player, but as a man." all.
"You know, in football these days, a lot of players are selfish and think only of themselves … it was the opposite."
The press conference was to focus on the Ligue 1 game against Nîmes Nantes Sunday before revealing late that the body of Sala had been found.
Halilhodzic admitted that the former teammates of Sala would have a hard time refocusing on football.
"Before the training we will have a small, dignified and modest ceremony as it was, but knowing if we can do some work is another matter."
The Nantes coach also reacted angrily to a question about the measures taken by the French club for Cardiff to pay Sala's transfer fees.
"I do not want to talk about it, stop, it's not my problem … Talking about money in those times is disgusting," he said.
[ad_2]
Source link
