Marc Vivien Foe collapsed and died in the middle of Cameroon’s Confederation Cup match against Colombia. Link. :eek:
Celtic were only linked to him a few days ago, and there was also talk of him returning to the EPL.
What a sad shocking thing.
I was hoping the thread title was a play on words…
It’s very sad. I switched on the TV to watch the France-Turkey game, and several of the French players were weeping during the national anthem. I obviously wondered what was up, and the commentators explained that the players had just had news of the sudden death of Foe. He was at Lyon and had spent a year on loan at Manchester City - a few of the French players also played for Lyon and knew him quite well.
He left a wife and three little kids. And he was only my age.
Fifa announced that the final of the Confederations Cup would still go ahead. Fair enough, but I think it would have been better for Sepp bloody Blatter to make sure that the first thing he said was the “terribly sad, what a tragedy, thoughts are with his family” statement, and leave the “Football is bigger than this, the game will definitely go on” for a few hours at least.
Unless I misunderstood Jonathan Pearce, they squeezed a similar statement from the Cameroon manager. Somehow they’ll feed us the usual bullshit that playing the final is “what he would have wanted” and that it will be dedicated to his memory.
If they had any decency they’d cancel the game as a mark of respect, but we know they don’t.
no chance - there’s too much money in it.
Fans are currently leaving flowers outside Maine Road stadium, Manchester.
One comment from the link in the OP that confused me was from the Colombian team doctor: "We did what we had to do. He had no cardio respiratory problem because he kept breathing and his heart was beating.’’ Does that contradict the suggestion that he had a heart attack?
There will be an autopsy.
just registered to comment on this…
according to what I read (I think it was in the UEFA site) the Cameroon players decided to play in the final, in order to praise his memory…
Indeed it is a tragic situation.
Welcome aboard jtull – there are happier subjects to discuss around here.
I hope the Cameroon players are telling the truth, and I’m certain they will be thinking of Marc-Vivien during the game. Unfortunately sports administrators are not to be trusted and I’m equally certain there will have been plenty of arm twisting behind the scenes. I can’t believe his family would want this game to go ahead.
I’m also reading in a greek site that there is talk about naming the next confederations cup after the unlucky player.
I’m not trusting the top brass too, clearly the word “cancelled” didn’t even appear anywhere in Blatter’s mindfield, still this is a way of paying tribute to Foe.
But even if they do play, I wonder if they will really set their minds to the game… It wouldn’t even be a challenge for France.
I don’t know on this. He died doing what he loved to do and playing the one game that was likely to raise him above others in his home country. It might indeed be a fitting honour to play the final in his memory. Maybe tougher for his family and teammates, though. I would be curious what was the cause of death? Heat exhaustion? There have been a number of heat and “dietary supplement” related deaths in American sports lately, particularly baseball and American football. Hope it’s not crossing the Atlantic to you.
A tragic death. My heart goes out to the Cameroon side, and especially his wife and children.
I must admit I am thinking along the same lines as ShibbOleth. All the reports I have seen made mention of the hot weather conditions, but the game-time temperature of 88F/31C would be hardly unfamiliar to a player from Cameroon. I fear that some relation to supplements may be found liable for his death.
If so, it’s could be an indictment on the “year-round season” European and world football has become.
Oh, it would be a very fitting honour, and if the players want to play, and the family want them to play then great, go for it. The thing is that Sepp Blatter seemed very very keen to say that the match would go ahead, while the news was still only an hour old, and before he’d read out the official “it’s a tragedy” statement. I think it would have been a little more seemly to say “We’ll make a decision on whether the match goes ahead”. Just leaves a little Blatter-flavoured taste in the mouth the way it is.
From what I’m reading in a greek sports site, the most probable cause of death is aneyrysm rupture (not sure if that’s the correct name, since I read it in greek).
I’m also reading that Manchester City decided to withdraw his number (23), as a tribute. I’m not really sure if this is true, though, the UEFA site take a while to refresh its articles, and I can’t think of any other official source to back this up.
The radio here are reporting that Manchester City are withdrawing the number 23 shirt. It’s on the football websites, too. http://www.planetfootball.com/article.asp?id=152415&Title=Keegan+adds+Foe+tributes http://www.football365.com/All_News/Breaking_News/story_72089.shtml - football365 say City are “considering it”