As I lay awake just before 2 A.M, anticipating the AC Milan-Genoa clash, I began to wonder why kick off was taking so long. Breaking news came through the internet – Piermario Morosini had died from a cardiac arrest.
I just could not believe it. The Livorno midfielder collapsed 33 minutes into the Serie B match against Pescara and suffered three cardiac arrests, dying en route to the hospital. Out of respect and grievance, the football Mecca of Italy stopped, and postponed all games throughout the country.
Piermario Morosini was a gifted footballer who plied his trade across Udinese, Bologna, Vicenza, Reggina, Padova and Livorno. His upbringing was marked by tragedy, having been orphaned in his teens after both parents passed away, shortly followed by the suicide of his disabled brother.
With only himself and his disabled elder sister surviving, she has now been left alone after her talented, heroic brother died on the pitch at the young age of 25. Unfortunately, Morosini is one of many notable footballers who have died under similar circumstances.
Hungarian bright light Miklos Feher died at the age of 24 while playing for Portuguese side Benfica against Vitoria de Guimaraes. Broadcast live on television, the world witnessed the horrifying scenes as the powerful young man collapsed to his death seconds after being yellow carded.
In his memory, Benfica retired the number 29 jersey he wore while playing for the team. His death sent reverberations of heartache and despair all across the world, reminding all of us, especially the young, that despite what we believe we are not invincible.
His final moments were testament to that – a big, wide smile as he enjoyed a moment of his life only a split second before his death.
Antonio Puerta, of Sevilla fame, suffered a similar fate on August 25th, 2007, after he collapsed at the 35th minute during a game against Getafe. A brilliant and gifted player, Arsenal, Manchester United and Real Madrid made bids for him shortly before his demise. At the age of 22, like Miklos Feher and now Piermario Morosini, it was an inescapable and brutally cruel tragedy.
Cameroonian midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe also sadly passed away at the age of 28, during a FIFA Confederations Cup match against Colombia. It was the semi-final, one that will forever be marked by the harrowing scenes experienced that day on the pitch.
Too many young men, too many bright futures, all sacrificed by heart-related problems. Immensely gifted and full of life, everything they achieved will be remembered for eternity, and everything else they could have achieved has been forever trapped in time.
Football is said to be life for many fans across the globe, but this is much more than a ball game. These are the young lives of people with a dream, somebody’s friend, somebody’s son, somebody’s brother, all cut tragically short while they did what they loved.
Piermario Morosini’s death reminds us all that while footballers, more than any other sportsmen on the planet, are held to be almost deities at times, they are just as vulnerable as we are. But to most, this fact needs no reminding.
What the world saw on Saturday was yet another young man gone before his time, dying while doing what he loved, in front of millions around the world. Morosini reminds us all that modern medicine is not perfect, and for those parts that are close to being so, greater implementation is vitally needed in the sport so that other young footballers have the chance to save their lives.
Unfortunately for Miklos Feher, Antonio Puerta, Marc-Vivien Foe and now Piermario Morosini, the warning signs, for whatever reason, were not picked up early enough. Let us pray for their families and hold dear hope that we never have to see another young life wasted which could have been prevented.
Rest in peace to all the fallen heroes who died while living their life to entertain us all, you will never be forgotten.
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