29-year-old Alejandro Garcia-Villanueva has been placed under arrest and denied bail after allegedly stabbing Emmanuel Diaz Leal during the Concacaf Gold Cup match between Mexico and Qatar.
Garcia-Villanueva who lives in Sacramento faces three counts of assault with a deadly weapon where he nearly killed Diaz and attacked two others.
Garcia-Villanueva appeared in court last Friday, “This was an incredibly frightening incident that happened in broad daylight in front of children and in front of families,” Santa Clara Co. Deputy District Attorney Aidan Welsh said to local news ABC 7. “The defendant stabbed the victim with a deadly weapon. He was clearly aiming at the head or neck level and the victim is very lucky to be alive.”
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Video: Images surface of stabbing during Mexico – Qatar match at 2023 Gold Cup
Emmanuel Diaz Leal recovering from stabbing
Emmanuel Diaz Leal who was interviewed by ABC 7 cannot move around as he continues recovery and was not present when Garcia-Villanueva was charged and denied bail.
“I’m happy for the public’s help in detaining him,” Diaz said. “Hopefully he will pay for this since he tried to kill me. If he took a knife to the stadium, it was to kill someone. Imagine if he was walking around the street.”
After all of this, Mexico on the soccer side has reached the Concacaf Gold Cup semifinals and will play Jamaica on Wednesday from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
