Former Spain coach Luis Enrique announced the death of his nine-year-old daughter from bone cancer on Thursday.

“Our daughter Xana passed away this afternoon at nine years old, after fighting for five intense months against osteosarcoma,” Luis Enrique tweeted.

“We will miss you enormously but we will remember you every day of our lives,” he added.

Luis Enrique resigned as national coach in June “due to the reasons which had prevented me from fulfilling my duties as normal since last March” he said at the time.

The former Barcelona player had left the Spanish national team a few hours before the Euro 2020 qualifier against Malta at the National Stadium last March to be with his family.

His personal issue was never made public, until now.

Assistant Robert Moreno has been in charge for Spain’s last three matches and will now lead the team through Euro 2020 qualifying and the final tournament, in what is his first job as a professional coach.

In his poignant Twitter post, Luis Enrique thanked all the messages of support “received during these months”.

 

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