Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
HAPPY FAMILY
IT is the most tragic story of the 2018 World Cup.
At 12.55pm on June 24, Gixiani Henriquez should be proudly watching her husband shake the hands of the England players before their crunch World Cup match.
Amilcar “Mickey” Henriquez should have been playing for his beloved Panama in the contest in Russia.
But Gixiani and their two children will not even be in the stadium.
Amilcar, who won 85 caps for his country and was one of their greatest ever players, was assassinated last year by a mystery gunman.
Gixiani heard the shots and ran outside their home to see the body of her husband lying on the driveway.
It was a murder that shocked a nation and illustrated the violent underbelly in this beautiful Central American country.
Gixiani, 27, invited the Mirror into the family home to speak for the very first time about the horrific killing which tore her family, and Panamanian football, apart.
She has never spoken before. Fighting back the tears, she shows me the poignant “shrine” she has created in her front room.
There is her husband’s beloved “21” Panama shirt and several pairs of his prized football boots on display.
She is determined to keep Amilcar’s memory alive for their sons Amilcar Jnr, six, and twoyear-old Abisaith.
Gixiani says sadly: “His lifetime’s dream was to play in the World Cup Finals. I can’t believe he won’t be there.
“He would have loved to have been playing against England.
“And I would have been there to watch him and the children would have gone as well to see the moment their Daddy played against England. My son still thinks his daddy will come back and play.”
She adds: “I still think about him every day.”
I gently ask Gixiani exactly what happened on fateful April 15, 2017, when her husband was
killed.
Days beforehand, he had played in a 1-1 draw against the United States in a World Cup game – a point which proved crucial in Panama’s qualification.
She recalls: “It was about 4.30pm in the afternoon. “Amilcar went outside and then I heard the shots. “I immediately feared the worst. I went outside and when I saw his body, I was paralysed. I was so shocked.”