Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Puerta dies following heart attack
(AFP) Tuesday 28 August 2007

Sevilla's Spanish international defender Antonio Puerta died on Tuesday after suffering a heart attack during a Spanish league match on Saturday.The 22-year-old had been in "very critical" condition in the intensive care unit of Seville's Virgen del Rocio hospital where he had been hooked up to a life support machine, the hospital said earlier in a statement.

Puerta collapsed after half an hour of Sevilla's 4-1 win over Getafe on the opening day of the Spanish season.He was able to walk gingerly to the dressing rooms where he collapsed a second time before being taken to hospital.

In January 2004 Benfica's Hungarian international striker Miklos Feher died during a Portuguese league match from a heart attack just seven months after Cameroon international Marc-Vivien Foe collapsed and died while playing in the FIFA Confederations Cup in France.