Who is Guillermo de la Fuente, the Mexican coach who was shot in Georgia

On the afternoon of Monday, March 21, it transpired that Guillermo de la Fuente, a Mexican football coach, was shot while traveling through the streets of the city of Tbilisi in Georgia. Memo, as is also known, was hit by a bullet in his right leg, so he was taken to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery.

Through a viral video on social networks, he asked the local authorities and the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) for help in ending this negative experience and obtaining “justice” from both authorities and thus receiving support in his recovery.

The event in which he was injured occurred on Sunday, March 20, when he was in Georgia for work, as he approached the Georgian First Division to knock on the doors of the Lokomotiv Tbilisi club and join the club's coaching staff. However, he did not succeed and later lived the experience of being injured with a firearm.

Who is Guillermo de la Fuente?

The Monterrey native became the youngest Mexican coach. Guillermo de la Fuente has led clubs in lower categories such as China, Spain and Portugal as he embarked on the career of technical director to become a Mexican strategist with a career in the old continent.

He is licensed by UEFA Type B which accredits him as a football coach and has led teams in the countries he has traveled to pursue his studies as a football coach.

From an early age, Guillermo showed interest in Mexican football, however, he would focus mainly on the preparation of footballers. At the age of 25, Memo is one of the young Mexican coaches who intend to make a sports career in the technical direction of a club without first stepping on a court as a professional player.

His approach to Liga MX and in particular to the Santos Laguna club was the first step he took to start his career as helmsman of a football team. It was Pedro Caixinha who opened the doors for him in the first instance to test the work of a professional coach.

In an interview he gave to ESPN, he said that he approached the Portuguese coach in order to have a first experience in the technical direction of a club. Caixinha accepted him and opened the doors of the Santos club, a team that was currently leading the Portuguese, to show him the details of the work of a football coach and shared with him other strategies for embarking on a successful future in football.

“He opened the doors for me at the Santos Laguna club, it's where he was working, he taught me about training, how he worked, any questions I had, Pedro was completely open to help me especially so that I could get to Portugal. He recommended universities, coaches, books and now I keep in touch with Pedro, very kind of truth,” Guillermo de la Fuente told ESPN.

From then on, he began the task of looking for opportunities in European football and approaching clubs of minor categories and thus starting to lead.

How did the event that left him with a gunshot wound happen?

The Mexican strategist himself told Bolavip his testimony in which he narrated how the events unfolded. He explained that during his stay in Georgia he was walking through the streets of Tbilisi when he noticed that one noticed the presence of a man who was causing an uproar.

He tried to cross paths with him, so he changed his route, but a few steps later he felt the wound from the bullet. The projectile caused a fracture of his femur, so he was transferred to New Hospitals where he remains hospitalized pending SRE's help to cover medical expenses and receive legal advice.

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