Luis Enrique is one of the most prominent figures in football. The Spaniard is a former football player and the current manager and head coach of the professional football club, Paris Saint-Germaine since 2023. However, a recent documentary released on Spain’s streaming service, Moviestar Plus revealed a vulnerable side of Enrique who is known to have a tough exterior. According to The New York Times, the documentary on Enrique’s life and career featured a special segment where he opened up about the tragic loss of his 9-year-old daughter Xana.
Xana, who passed away in 2019, was suffering from osteosarcoma or bone cancer. Enrique talks about Xana in the final episode of the documentary where he revealed how Xana’s death took a toll on him and his family. He also told his mother to put Xana’s pictures up around the house after she decided to take them down post her death. Enrique believed that she was still alive in a spiritual sense. In a Reddit post made by u/Armando__Bronca, a clip of Enrique talking about Xana was translated into English.
“Can I consider myself lucky or unlucky? I consider myself to be lucky, very lucky,” Enrique can be seen speaking in the clip. “My daughter lived nine marvelous years with us. We’ve got a thousand memories of her, videos, incredible things.” Then an old video footage of Xana starts playing where she demonstrated some tumbling and spinning moves she had learnt. “Every day we talk about her, we remember her. Because I think Xana still sees us.” A few more clips of Xana playing the piano, jumping around their yard and playing with another young girl follow up next. Enrique had also set up the “Fundacion Xana,” a foundation to help families with children affected by serious illnesses, hosting a dinner in her memory to raise funds for the charity.
The Reddit community and football aficionados who came across this video could see a different side of Enrique which is that of a father. u/gnrc commented, “It’s so easy to become cynical and think about the time we could have had with those we lost but you really have to appreciate the time we had. It’s so hard. I miss my dad every day. But I’m also so glad I was blessed with such a great father and had so many great years with him.” u/Delicious_MilkSteak mentioned, “This is the first time I heard he lost his daughter. My daughter is the same age and this really hits home. Respect that outlook, I couldn’t imagine losing my daughter at this age and coping in such a respectful and loving way. I’d be suicidal as she is my world.”
u/eddsters pointed out, “This guy is so mentally strong yet you know he is still broken inside after all these years. You can learn a lot from what he just explained. Much respect Sir Enrique and sorry for your loss.” u/man_overb0ard added, “What can I say he’s just a better human being than me. I have 2 daughters and the oldest one does backflips all the time, exactly like what Xana did in the first part of the video and I can’t think for a second, what life would be without her, even with all the memories, this is just too painful to imagine. Respect for Louis.