San Miguel head coach Leo Austria turned emotional during the post-game press conference of the Beermen’s semis-clinching, 106-93 victory over the TNT Katropa, Tuesday evening at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The usually-beaming tactician, it turned out, was having a hard time as of late. Austria revealed that his wife Ana had undergone a surgery on her kidney just the night prior to their Tuesday match, leaving him full of anxiety.
“I never had sleep last night because of my wife. She’s undergone a kidney transplant,” Austria disclosed
But luckily — and thankfully — for him, Austria received good news about his wife just hours before the match. The operation had been successful, freeing the reigning Perpetual Coach of the Year from any more stress.
“This afternoon I was told by the doctor na everything is okay and now she’s in the recovery room. Very successful, and thank you sa mga doctors, especially wife of Rommel Adducul, who helped us a lot, going to the kidney transplant. I want to praise God,” said Austria.
“I never had a problem for so long, but this time I’m so thankful to God.”
The decorated bench-strategist was teary-eyed during the press conference, but he indeed was the happiest man on Earth on Tuesday night, all because of the blessings bestowed upon him by the Man above.
“Talagang nagpapasalamat ako,” confessed Austria. “Dahil ngayon, this is the hardest game we ever had against TNT dahil they’ve been in two knockout games, and then lahat tinambakan nila, and I’m really worried about this game.
“The players really played well. And, wala na akong masasabi dahil God is always in our side, and maybe because of the integrity and what we plant, growing up ano. And then, ito, sinuklian Niya ako ngayon,” he added.
With the burdens now off his shoulders, Austria can now fully shift his focus to his wards to prepare them for the semifinals, as the Beermen are keen on winning their fourth straight Philippine Cup championship.
“We don’t know kung kelan kami maglalaro. But whoever will win, on that series (Ginebra-Rain or Shine), that is a best-of-7, so we have a lot of time to prepare,” he said. “I don’t know kung kelan magi-start ‘yun.
“But for the meantime, we have to relax and to recharge and to recover dito sa larong ito dahil alam ko ‘yung mga players, binigay nila lahat.”
