“Everton away” are two words that would make Harry Redknapp shudder.
However, the former Tottenham Hotspur and Portsmouth manager’s discomfort with the Merseyaspect blue look is due to football-related reasons. On May 9, 2009, Redknapp came down to breakfast and discovered Spurs star Wilson Palacios sitting with his suitcase.
Redknapp, 77, expected to find the dynamic midfielder waiting in the hotel lobby before the match. Palacios, however, would reveal the devastating news that emptied football of its meaning.
Palacios’ 16-year-old brother, Edwin, who had been kidnapped and held for ransom in his local Honduras since 2007, had been killed. This despite Honduran police claiming that a ransom of $500,000 (£331,500 at the time) had been paid. paid to the kidnappers.
In an exclusive interview with Mirror Football, Redknapp recalled that fateful day on Merseyside. He said: “We were Everton when the message came. They had paid a ransom to the kidnappers. But they killed him. “
“When he (Palacios) found out this news, I will never tell it. Early in the morning I went down to the hallway and he was sitting there with a bag with his things.
“He found out around 2 a. m. They called him on the phone, but he didn’t have to bother me during the night, which is amazing. You know, he’s very respectful of people.
“It wasn’t until I came down at 8 a. m. for breakfast that he told me what had happened and that he had to leave. That day he could not play, he returned to his family. Wilson was one of them, a boy. “
At that time, Redknapp had to face the media for what happened. It showed that the club had secured a car to take Palacios back to London so he could catch the next flight.
He also said Palacios’ mother was also traveling to the United Kingdom from Honduras for the first time when the news broke. In interviews after the devastation, Palacios revealed that he planned to quit soccer after the tragedy.
In January 2010, he said: “Yes, it’s true, I almost retired. But I continued for two reasons. Firstly, I dreamed of being a footballer.
“But most commonly, it’s due to recommendations from my circle of family and friends. “And he added: “You never get over it. Edwin is now with God and in a better place. “
Palacios then moved to Stoke City in 2011, where he spent 4 seasons, before playing for Miami FC and Argentina’s CD Olimpia and Real Sociedad.
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