Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Cruz Azul coach feared kidnapped
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY -- The Argentine coach of the Cruz Azul soccer team was attacked and feared kidnapped Tuesday as he left a practice facility on the Mexican capital's southern outskirts.
Ruben Omar Romano, 47, was forced from his gray BMW van by five armed assailants who swarmed the area in several vehicles as he left the team's La Noria sports complex. Mexico City police said they could not confirm Romano had been abducted, but they did not know where he was. Cruz Azul vice president Alfredo Alvarez told a local radio station that five men forced the coach into a vehicle and drove away.
Outside the practice facility, police recovered Romano's vehicle, which had one of its back windows shot out and was pressed against a concrete wall. Two sport utility vehicles, which investigators said may have been used by the assailants, were found a short distance away.
Romano's father, Jose, who lives in Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city, said he had not been contacted with ransom demands, but that he feared for his son's safety. He wept while speaking to Mexican newspapers and television stations late Tuesday.
"I would like to ask the people who have him to be understanding with him, because Ruben is a very good person, a good son, a good father," Jose Romano was quoted in Mexico City's Reforma newspaper. "Please return him as he is, please don't hurt him."
Romano took over a struggling Cruz Azul in December 2004 and guided the squad to a speedy turnaround that included several weeks in first place of the Mexican League. Romano's team was eliminated by another Mexico City powerhouse, America, the eventual champion, in the playoffs.
