| Antonio Puerta [*] |
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Antonio José Puerta Pérez
(26 November 1984 -- 28 August 2007) was a
Spanish international football midfielder. He
played for Sevilla FC in La Liga. Affected
with arrhythmogenic right ventricular
cardiomyopathy, he died on 28 August 2007,
three days after suffering a series of
cardiac arrests during a league game against
Getafe CF on 25 August 2007.
Career
A natural left-footer, Puerta joined Sevilla
as a boy and spent a total of 14 years at the
club, growing up at the club's acclaimed
youth system alongside other players such as
Sergio Ramos, Jesús Navas, Alejandro Alfaro
and Kepa Blanco. He played on the left side
of midfield, although he did occasionally
fill in at left back. His impressive
performances earned him international
recognition and reported interest from
Arsenal, Manchester United and Real Madrid.
Antonio is remembered by the goal that he
scored against FC Schalke 04 in the UEFA Cup
2005/06 semifinals. In the final moments of
the match, he received a long ball and struck
it with his left foot, scoring one of the
most important goals in Sevilla FC history.
From then on, the team won five titles in
fifteen months, a record in football history,
with Puerta scoring the winning penalty in
the UEFA Cup Final 2006-07 shoot-out.
Puerta was capped once by the Spanish
national side, making his debut on October 7,
2006, against Sweden in a qualification match
for the 2008 UEFA European Football
Championship. He was also capped for Spain
U-21.
Death
On 25 August 2007, Puerta collapsed and lost
consciousness in the penalty area due to a
cardiac arrest during Sevilla's first match
of the 2007-08 La Liga season at their home
stadium Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán
against Getafe. He was seen crouching and
then subsequently collapsing upon moving back
to his team's goal, after only 35 minutes of
the game had passed. His team-mates Ivica
Dragutinović, Andrés Palop and a club
medical staff and other players were then
seen immediately running to his side as he
lost consciousness.
After recovering and being substituted,
Puerta collapsed once again in the changing
room. He was resuscitated by club medical
staff and taken, by ambulance, to the
intensive care unit of Virgen del Rocio
hospital, Seville, where he received
cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Antonio Puerta died on the 28 August, 2007 at
14:30 hours. Doctor Francisco Murillo
reported that Puerta had suffered multiple
organ failure and irreversible brain damage
as a result of multiple prolonged cardiac
arrests due to an incurable, hereditary heart
disease known as arrhythmogenic right
ventricular cardiomyopathy. There is no
official word on whether he had ever been
equipped with an implantable cardioverter
defibrillator. Puerta's premature death from
heart problems is similar to those of
Marc-Vivien Foé, Matt Gadsby, Miklós
Fehér, Renato Curi, Serginho and Phil
O'Donnell all of whom collapsed whilst
playing in football matches. His girlfriend
was expecting their first child at the time
of his death.
Tributes
As a result of Antonio Puerta's death,
Sevilla's UEFA Champions League qualifier
against AEK Athens was postponed until the
fourth of September - which Sevilla
subsequently won 4-1 . The club also
announced that a one-minute silence would be
held before every La Liga match on the
weekend of September 1-2, 2007. Also every
16th minute the crowd at the Ramon Sanchez
Pizjuan (Sevilla's stadium) up the volume for
a whole minute as a sort of informal tribute.
Sevilla's European Super Cup game with AC
Milan on 31 August, 2007 went ahead as a
tribute to Antonio Puerta, with all the
players on both teams having the name
'PUERTA' printed on the back of their jersey
beneath the number. The players and officials
on both sides also wore black armbands.
Sevilla FC subsequently retired Puerta's
number 16 shirt, with the provision that
should his son, Aitor Antonio (born October
22, 2007), one day play for the club he will
have the option to bring the number out of
retirement.
Following his death FIFA ordered the
installation of resuscitation rooms in every
stadium that hosted the South American World
Cup qualifiers
Tags : Antonio Puerta Metch Fc Sevilla Spain Spanish R.I.P Rest in Peace soccer football |
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Affichage : 54947
Durée : 110 s |
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