Syrian coach gets job in Spain

Osama Abdul Mohsen, a former first division coach of Syria's al-Fotuwa team, has been given a job at Spain's CENAFE coaching school, in a positive turn in an otherwise grim refugee story.

Mohsen was tripped on September 9 by Petra Laszlo, a Hungarian camerawoman, while crossing the country's border with Serbia. The image of the former football coach falling with his seven-year-old son in his arms went viral, prompting international outrage at a time Hungary faces criticism over its response to the biggest refugee crisis in Europe in decades.

After the tripping incident, it was reported Mohsen was a former football coach. The news drew the attention of the CENAFE coaching school outside Madrid, which managed to track down the former coach in Munich.

Conrado Galan, the president of CENAFE, called the border incident "a blessed trip-up."

Galan's brother Miguel Angel, the director of the football school, was the one to reach out to Mohsen through an Arab contact. He said the gesture was meant to show solidarity with other football coaches.

"We are a national coaching school, so we decided to help a fellow coach," Angel said.

CENAFE believes Mohsen will be able to aid the coaching club as it conducts training in the Arab world.

"I want to gather my family"

Mohsen arrived in Madrid on Wednesday with his sons Mohammad, 18, and Zaid, the seven-year-old the father was carrying when tripped at the Hungarian border.

"Our first day in Madrid is very fantastic. I am very, very happy. Thank you," Mohsen said on Thursday outside the apartment being provided by CENAFE, which plans to cover all his expenses and expedite his asylum status.

The story is not yet over, however, as Mohsen's wife and two other children remain in a refugee camp in Turkey.

"Before working or anything, I want to gather my family, because now we are all spread out, and I just want to see us all together again and try to live happily here," Mohsen said in Madrid.

CENAFE aims to help the football coach reunite with his family so they can begin a normal life in Spain.

"We are going to try and find them," Angel said. "The story is not finished. We are halfway towards granting them total happiness."

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cw/jil (AFP, dpa, Reuters)