Speaking at his weekly news conference on Friday, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp found it difficult to describe his emotions over the violent attack of a Liverpool supporter this past Tuesday night. Prior to Liverpool’s 5-2 win in their home leg of a Champions League semifinal tie with AS Roma, two men attacked Sean Cox, a 53-year-old Liverpool supporter from Ireland who remains in critical condition.
Two Italian men have been charged and remain in custody, due to appear in Liverpool Crown Court on May 24. Cox sustained severe injuries and is currently in an induced coma in the Walton Neurological Centre near Anfield stadium.
“I think the game on Tuesday night showed the beauty of the game, and it showed the most ugly face of parts of the game before the game,” said Klopp as he wore a Liverpool badge in the Irish colors in a show of support.
Klopp, who is German, said he had trouble expressing his true emotions about such an awful event in a press conference conducted in English.
“When I heard for the first time about it … I cannot describe my emotions in English, to be honest. That should never have happened, it should never have happened before and it should never happen again in the future.
“We all have to do everything to make sure that things like that will not happen any more. I don’t have the solution, obviously. Nobody has that. It’s just unbelievable that something like that can happen.”
Also denouncing this deplorable act of senseless violence was Giovanni Malago, President of the Italian Olympic Committee.
“My outrage is absolute,” Malago said at a Thursday news conference. “It was an unacceptable episode, we have to enter this order of ideas, we need to get out of this cultural context that is provincial.”
“This incident, and the chain of incidents which characterized those moments before the game, and maybe even inside the stadium, are unacceptable.”
Jurgen Klopp also urged Liverpool supporters to be extra cautious and try to avoid trouble during the second and final leg in Rome. Leadership from UEFA, Liverpool, Roma and Italy held a meeting today in the eternal city to discuss safety measures for the Wednesday night kick off.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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