R.i.p.

[Jinky]

FEHER DIES AFTER COLLAPSE


Benfica's Hungarian international Miklos Feher died after collapsing during his side's 1-0 win at Vitoria Guimaraes.

Feher collapsed in injury time as his side scored the winning goal and after being treated for some time on the pitch was taken to hospital as his team-mates and coach Jose Antonio Camacho wept.

He collapsed just after being booked in injury time by the referee.

The 24-year-old was taken to Guimaraes hospital where efforts to revive him continued and the game was then concluded after he was removed unconscious.

However, the Portuguese media, citing a Benfica spokesman, reported that the player has now been pronounced dead.

Although rare, player death is not unprecedented and last summer Cameroon international Marc-Vivien Foe died after collapsing on the field during his team's Confederations Cup match with Colombia in France.


An autopsy has been scheduled for Monday on the player but media reports in Portugal are already suggesting that a cardiac problem is seen as a likely cause.

An official announcement was later made by Fausto Fernandes, the clinic director of the Hospital da Senhora da Oliveira (Guimaraes).

He said: "At 21:45 (local time) Miklos Feher, 24, was brought into emergency care with a cardiac arrest.

"Immediately, all emergency measures were taken. This lasted until 23:10, without success, when the player was pronounced dead.

"The body of the unfortunate player will stay at the hospital where it will undergo an autopsy on Monday."





Hungarian Football Federation president Imre Bozoky said Feher was a shining example to the country's young footballers.

The MLSZ - the Hungarian Football Federation - held a memorial service for the player in Budapest on Monday.

Bozoky said: "The whole country is in deep sadness. He has always been a silent and modest player and quickly became a role model for young Hungarian players.

"Also he was very ambitious to reach as high as he could. He was on the way to being a top European player and did very well for the national teams.

"It's an inestimable loss for the Hungarian football family."

Feher won 25 caps for Hungary, scoring seven goals, and was considered one of the finest young talents in the country.

Feher was signed by Porto in 1998 and joined Braga on loan in 2000, before making the switch to Lisbon giants Benfica in 2002.

"If someone dies on the pitch during a game it means that he becomes a martyr and a hero of sport," said former Hungary coach Imre Gellei.

"It's very very difficult to say anything at this moment."

 

[Jinky]

I'm starting to feel a little ghoulish here but surely these people deserve their due. I bring up this next fella because two weeks ago I watched the 1973 FA Cup Final on ESPN Classic and was very impressed with his team's (second division Sunderland) performance in conquering the dominating Leeds Utd.

TRIBUTES POUR IN TO STOKOE

By Damian Spellman, PA Sport

Sunderland's FA Cup final hero Jimmy Montgomery on Monday paid tribute to the man who helped him write his name into Wearside folklore.

The abiding image of that day at Wembley in 1973 is manager Bob Stokoe's rapturous sprint across the pitch on the final whistle to embrace the goalkeeper who had pulled off a spectacular double save to deny mighty Leeds a way back into the game.

Stokoe died yesterday at the age of 73 a matter of days after being admitted to the University Hospital of Hartlepool a few miles from the Elwick Grange Nursing Home where he had lived for the last two years.

The Northumberland-born former Newcastle defender, who had been suffering from a severe form of dementia, is understood to have died of kidney failure.

Montgomery, who along with cup-winning captain Bobby Kerr, had visited Stokoe recently, spoke of his sadness at the news, but also paid tribute to a man who revitalised the Black Cats.

"It's very, very sad," he said. "Bobby and I went to see him three months ago and he didn't recognise Bobby or myself. It was very, very sad indeed.

"He transformed the place from Alan Brown's days in what he did for the club. The biggest thing he did was to allow people to express themselves. That was one of the biggest differences.

"And he made it a family club. Bob was a great family man and he took that into work as well."

Stokoe, as well as every man who pulled on a red and white shirt that afternoon in May 1973, has been regarded as a hero in the city ever since, but it is the image of he and his goalkeeper which springs most readily to mind.

"People have just been looking back on that recently, and for him to do that was something special," Montgomery said. "That will always be remembered.

"When he ran across the pitch towards me at the end of the game, people always remember that. It's just something that you never forget.

"For somebody to do that on an occasion like that was really something."

Stoke was born in Mickley in September 1930 and made his name as a player at Newcastle, where he was part of the side which won the FA Cup in 1955.

He began his management career at Bury, but had spells at Charlton, Blackpool and Rochdale as well as three in charge at Carlisle.

Sunderland came calling in 1972, and as well as his triumph at Wembley just a few months later, Stokoe guided the club back into the First Division in 1976 before resigning as bad results and ill-health took their toll.

"He had a long career in management and brought a lot of joy to a lot of people. He was a superb man," Montgomery added.

Sunderland chairman Bob Murray also paid tribute to a man who remained in close touch with the club.

"It is very sad news," he said. "He was a total friend to me. When he came to help the club after the Lawrie McMenemy era, he was so accommodating.

"He tried valiantly to help the club. Bob had a great love for Sunderland and a fondness of his time here. He was proud of his achievements in his career at Newcastle, but this club was in his heart.

"He had been very poorly for some time now and I know he missed his wife, Joan, since she passed away.

"The 1973 FA Cup win is the club's greatest achievement in living memory. It's a very sad day."

Murray's Newcastle counterpart Freddy Shepherd added: "We were all saddened to learn of the death of Bob Stokoe. He was a fine man, and a footballing man who gave great service to Newcastle United in the 50's.

"He was a true gentleman of the game and we will all miss him very much."