Sudden death worries players

SPANISH PLAYERS have said they are worried by the sudden death of Espanyol’s Dani Jarque at the weekend and have called for an improvement in the screening for potential heart problems.

Espanyol defender Jarque (26) collapsed and died from a heart failure in his hotel room while on tour with his side in Italy on Saturday.

His death came only two years after Sevilla midfielder Antonio Puerta (22) collapsed during a game and later died after a prolonged cardiac arrest.

Sevilla goalkeeper and captain Andres Palop, who witnessed first-hand the collapse of his former team-mate Puerta, offered his condolences to Jarque’s family yesterday.

“It’s a terrible loss. Once again it has been a young lad, with his life in front of him, and I would have preferred to never see it happen again. But here it is once more,” he said. “It starts to worry you. We do tests and medicals but it isn’t possible to detect these cases. We hope they will specialise a little more to try and improve the detection so it doesnt happen again.”

After Puerta’s death in 2007 doctors said the weakness in the player’s heart was extremely difficult to detect and was unlikely to show up in medical tests.

Spain and Real Madrid midfielder Ruben de la Red also collapsed during a match in October last year, but doctors have still not managed to find out why. The 24-year-old has not played a game since.

“It’s strange there are so many cases in such a short space of time. It makes you think it could happen to anyone,” Villarreal midfielder Santi Cazorla said as he joined the Spain squad yesterday.

Liverpool and Spain winger Albert Riera added: “Of course it’s something that concerns us. They say it isn’t possible to predict these things, because normally there is no warning, with the exception of what happened to De la Red.

“It is something they have to start to look at to see of there is some sort of solution.”

An autopsy was carried out on Jarque in Italy yesterday but the results are not yet available.

Football players who have died suddenly since 2002

DOS SANTOS:In October 2002, the 28-year-old Brazilian striker Marcio Dos Santos died of a heart attack just hours after scoring a goal for Peruvian side Deportivo Wanka.

FOE:Midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe collapsed during Cameroon's 1-0 victory against Colombia in a Confederations Cup match in June 2003 in Lyon, France and died shortly afterwards aged 26.

FERREIRA:Brazilian 20-year-old Max died in hospital in July 2003 after feeling unwell during a training session for his club Botafogo-Ribeirao Preto.

FEHER: In January 2004, the 24-year-old Hungarian international Miklos Feher died after collapsing from a heart attack in a Portuguese league game between his club Benfica and Vitoria Guimaraes.

SERGINHO:Sao Caetano defender Serginho (30) died after suffering an apparent cardio-respiratory arrest during a Brazilian championship match against Sao Paulo in October 2004.

CUNHA:In Portugal, Uniao Leiria midfielder Hugo Cunha collapsed and died during a game with friends in June, 2005. He was 28.

PUERTA:Sevilla midfielder Antonio Puerta (22) died on August 28th, 2007 three days after collapsing during a Primera Liga match against Getafe.

NSOFWA:Zambian 27-year-old striker Chaswe Nsofwa of Israeli second division side Hapoel Beer Sheva collapsed and died during a practice match in the southern desert city on August 29th, 2007.

ODONNELL:Motherwell midfielder Phil ODonnell died after collapsing on the pitch towards the end of a Scottish Premier League match against Dundee United on December 29th, 2007. He was 35.

TCHINGOMA:Gabon 21-year-old international Guy Tchingoma collapsed and died on the field during a premier division match in Libreville in February 2008 after contact with an opposing player late in a match between his club FC105 Libreville and US Mbiliandzami.

CUSTIC: Zadar winger Hrvoje Custic died on April 3rd, 2008, after hitting his head on a concrete wall two metres from a touchline during a Croatian championship match on March 29th. He was 24.

PINAULT:French second division player Clement Pinault died on January 22nd, 2009, four days after suffering a heart attack. Pinault (23) was taken to hospital after collapsing at his home. The defender played for Clermont two days before his heart attack, a 2-0 Ligue 2 win over Brest.