http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soc...roon_colombia/

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LYON, France (AP) -- Cameroon midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe died after he collapsed in the heat during the Confederations Cup semifinal against Colombia on Thursday.

"It is an incredible tragedy," FIFA President Sepp Blatter said. It was the first time a player died on the field during such an international tournament.

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I've seen it live, though I didn't know it was that bad on the moment. Then on the next match (France - Turkey) they announced his death and asked for a minute of silence, most of the french players (Foe used to play in French clubs and most of them knew him) started to cry...it was really terrible.

When France first scored, french players all pointed to the sky in memory of Foe. It was very moving. You can find a picture of it at www.fifa.com.

The final of this Cup is supposed to be Cameroon - France. Don't know if it's gonna happen...If it takes place anyway it will be a really really sad game...

Yesterday was a terrible day for international soccer. :(

I heard this on the news this morning. As you said, it was a sad and terrible day :( It said he collapsed due to the heat, how hot was it? I find it odd, as many sports stars in many sports play in scorching heat. Have they confirmed this was the cause of his death? :(

http://images.fifa.com/images/cms/re...francia_bg.jpg

Not yet, they will do an autopsy first. They said it might be a heart attack.

It was horrible to see him collapse like that, for no visible reason...

Very sad. 28 years old and as fit as they come.

Sad yes, and puzzling too ...

I thought practising sports made people healthier - how come a sports professional can suddenlt die at 28 from a heart attack ? :eek:

It's practicing leisure sports that makes people healthier.
Professional sports puts the body to its limits which leads to increased wearout. When soccer stars ar decathlon-athletes retire at an age of 30+ they've usually used up a lot of their body's resources and every second one has a damaged hip or shoulder or knee.
This happens even without anabolics which would further increase the process.

I watched both games, and was very moved by the French. I also had no idea how bad the man was until the announcement. :(

A sad day indeed. As for the possible heart attack I've heard about these things before, footballplayers in their early twentieth collapsing during a game.

A very sad. I heard yesterday on the news...


http://images.fifa.com/images/cms/re...francia_bg.jpg [/QB][/QUOTE]

It happens more frequently than one would think. One recent case I can recall very well are those of the German national team player Dieter Hamann who suffered a heart attack and nearly died a couple of years when he was merely 23 years old. Luckily, he fully recovered and plays for Liverpool. Another is that of Reggie Lewis who was the star player of the Boston Celtics(NBA) when he suddenly collapsed and died, in must have been the early 90ies. With him the cause had not been a heart attack but a heart anomaly which, IIRC, had gone undetected. And there have been various other cases where lesser known athletes were involved.

Finally, don't forget all those professional cyclists who have died over the course of the last few decades. With them the cause of death was seen in conjunction with the side effects of performance-enhancing drugs like Epo.