Source: Telegraph
Trauma acting as spur for Wilson Palacios
Edwin had been a promising footballer, steadily climbing the ladder of the national team's age groups, eager to join Wilson in the seniors one day. Like the other Palacios boys, Milton, Jerry and Johnny, football was their world. A happy bunch from a middle-class family in La Ceiba, they spent their youth flying into tackles on each other. "It would always be a total battle,'' the Spurs midfielder reflected. "Tough tackling is normal in Honduras.''
La Ceiba is fringed by old banana plantations, beaches and rainforests but amid the beauty lurks ugliness: street gangs would occasionally turn from petty crime to abducting the relatives of the wealthy. "It starts with delinquency that sometimes takes people into the next stage, of actually kidnapping,'' said Palacios, breaking off from training for Sunday's visit to Chelsea. "Kidnapping is quite common in Honduras.''
When these street gangs read of Palacios's arrival in the rich pastures of the Premier League, initially on loan at Birmingham City before Steve Bruce took him on to Wigan Athletic, they raided his family's La Ceiba home on Oct 30, 2007, tying up his parents, and seizing Edwin. "The motive was to get money because I played professionally in Europe,'' continued Palacios. "The brother of [David] Suazo, who plays for Inter, was taken seven years ago. He survived.''
Edwin didn't. Even though a ransom of £125,000 was reported to have been paid. For 19 months, the family waited and prayed. "I had an inkling the call would come about him,'' said Palacios. Alerted that the police in La Ceiba had found some unidentified remains on May 8, Palacios somehow managed to stay focused on the game at Goodison.
Not letting on to anyone about the tragedy unfolding in his life, Palacios travelled north, checked into his Merseyside hotel and awaited confirmation from the police. "I actually knew when we left the training ground here. I was still waiting for that concrete final information, which came at 6am when they phoned me again.''
The trauma of losing a beloved sibling would shred the sensibilities of most but Palacios thought first of Spurs. He packed his bag, went down to the hotel lobby and sat there until he thought he could wake Harry Redknapp. "I knew I would have to tell the manager but I didn't want to upset anyone at the club. From an early age, my parents taught me to be very professional.''
Redknapp told Palacios to fly home immediately. On May 28, pathologists revealed that DNA taken from the body confirmed the family's worst fears. Edwin was buried the next day. Football seemed irrelevant to Palacios. "I can confess this now: right at the beginning, Edwin's death was such a cruel blow I thought, 'That's it, I am going to jack in international football'. I talked long and hard with my parents and we decided it wouldn't be the right thing.
"Look, to be honest with you, Edwin's death has actually intensified my hunger to achieve things. Sometimes before games I think about Edwin. The great memory I will always keep of him was of a good player, already in the Honduran Under-17s, and a very happy-go-lucky character.''
Spurs and Redknapp were compassion personified, giving Palacios time, space and support, echoing how Wigan behaved during the initial months of uncertainty about Edwin. "As well as my parent's support, I have been helped by the support of the clubs and two sets of team-mates.''
One team-mate, Jermain Defoe, currently deals with similar pain following his half-brother's death. "I can understand what has happened with Jermain. There is a bond developing, even though we have not had a chat about it yet. The relationship is getting closer and there will be a time when we sit down and chat. It's difficult. Other people just can't imagine what a tough blow it is to lose your brother, especially in these circumstances.''
He is keen to single out one group of people. "I really have to thank the fans of Tottenham for being so supportive throughout my difficult times.''
Palacios's love of Spurs is reflected in his keen backing of the club's myriad charity schemes. During the summer trip to Beijing, Palacios joined Carlo Cudicini and Heurelho Gomes in visiting the new SOS Children's Village funded by the club. They took football equipment and had a kickabout with the orphans.
Palacios also repays Tottenham's faith with some powerful performances, bringing the sort of steel the team craved. "A big feature of my game is getting stuck in, playing hard and that's fallen right for Tottenham. My mindset is to keep a clean sheet, keep it tight, and as soon as I can to give the ball to Defoe and [Aaron] Lennon to do their stuff. Each player has his own style but I do admire Claude Makélélé, a complete all-round player who wins the ball and distributes it well, and I like Yaya Touré.
"I love English football because it's very honest. Any time anyone goes in, they go for the ball. I like the physical game. That's also why I have such a bond with the Spurs fans – they like my hard tackles.''
Chelsea represent a substantial test but Palacios believes Spurs will achieve much under Redknapp. "He's a good manager tactically and he's so positive all the time. Players like that. Certainly with the quality of the manager and the players we have at Spurs, I am thinking big. Clearly we can finish in fourth place but why not more? We won't settle for fourth. We want more. We aim higher. We want to win things.''
Before returning to training, Palacios had a closing comment on the horror that befell Edwin. "The kidnappers have been caught,'' he said.
