Death on the Football Field: Angels of Football

Originally posted by Lonely for Sportales


Football or soccer, is the most popular sport in many parts of the world. We lock our hearts and brains to the results of the matches at weekends, Champions League or UEFA Cup. Every goal scored is enough to make us fall from our chairs


However, there are some moments in football that upset all followers. They are the deaths and injuries on football fields. This article is devoted to three memorable footballers who died on the field, Marc Vivien Foe, Miklos Feher and Antonio Puerta.

Marc-Vivien Foé

Foe was born in Cameroon in 1975. He started his football career as a junior in Union Garoua, then he transferred to Canon Yaounde team. His success in Cameroon, carried him to the France League. He played for RC Lens and Olympique Lyonnais teams in France and for Westham United and Manchester City in United Kingdom. He was choosen for the Cameroon National team and played 64 times scoring 8 goals. His team was invited to Fifa Confederations Cup in Lyon. After he played against Brazil and Turkey, Cameroon deserved to face Colombia in the semifinal of the cup.


He died in the 72nd minute of the game in Stade De Gerland in Lyon. Autopsies showed that his death was because of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.



Miklós Fehér

Feher was born in Hungary in 1979 and started his football career in Gyori Eto FC. His goals and technique moved him to the famous Portugal club FC Porto. He couldn't show his talent in Porto. Hence, he was hired to SC Salguerios and Sporting Braga teams. Finally, he was transferred to another famous Portugal club Benfica. Feher died in 2004 while playing against Vitoria Guimaraes. His death is still in my mind. Fehér, who had just come on as a substitute, received a yellow card in injury time and suddenly bent forward seemingly in pain and then fell backwards to the ground. Team mates rushed immediately to aid Fehér before medical personnel arrived on the pitch.


CPR was performed as players looked on in visible distress. An ambulance arrived on the pitch and Fehér was rushed to the hospital. His condition was covered by the Portuguese media throughout the day but before midnight Fehér's death was confirmed. The Public Prosecutor (the Portuguese agency responsible for the release of autopsy details) announced that Fehér died from a heart attack. He was 24 years old. Many wouldn't yet forget his last smile when the referee gave him an yellow card, just as he fell down on the field, in the middle of the last game he played.

Antonio Puerta


Puerta was born in Spain in 1984. In his career, he played only for Seville team. He played for Seville B team first and moved to Seville A team due to his success. His youth and talented football impressed famous clubs Real Madrid, Manchester United and Arsenal teams and he entered to the transfer list of these clubs. He died in 2007 while he was playing against Getafe in Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium. It was announced that his death was because of Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (multiple organ failure, in short). At the time of his death, his girlfriend was expecting his first child.