Pierre-Michel Lasogga played for Leeds United against Ipswich Town just hours after becoming a father.
Thomas Christiansen has told Leeds United’s official Facebook account that Pierre-Michel Lasogga did not tell anyone at Leeds that he had become a father until after the win against Ipswich on Saturday.
Lasogga’s availability has been a key issue that Christiansen has had to consider since his summer loan switch from Hamburg as his partner had been due to give birth not long after his arrival at Elland Road.
The date that Lasogga, and every Leeds fan, was waiting for turned out to be Friday with his partner giving birth to their baby daughter.
But rather than return to Germany, the 25-year-old ended up playing in the Whites’ game with Ipswich on Saturday, and helped the side record a 3-2 win, with the forward notching up his third goal for the club as he broke the deadlock with a brilliant finish.
And Christiansen has now confirmed that he and the players had no idea that Lasogga had become a father in the hours before the game, before praising the summer signing for the professionalism he has shown.
“No, I didn’t know,” he said, as reported by the club’s official Facebook account, when asked whether he knew that Lasogga’s partner had given birth before the Ipswich clash.
“He is not the type to ask for that permission. He wants to play. I know what it is to be a dad. But I can understand how he handled it in a very professional way, so when he asked for permission, of course he had that. But I liked very much the way he took the situation.”
The news that Lasogga did not tell his teammates or the coaching staff about his news before the game will arguably endear him to the supporters even more as he would have certainly been forgiven for ruling himself out of the Ipswich game, but he not only played, but managed to stay focused enough to score a brilliantly-taken goal to help the side to a win.
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