Antonio Puerta [*]

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• published: 10 Feb 2008
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Antonio José Puerta Pérez (26 November 1984 -- 28 August 2007) was a Spanish international football midfielder. He played for Sevilla FC in La Liga. Affected with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, he died on 28 August 2007, three days after suffering a series of cardiac arrests during a league game against Getafe CF on 25 August 2007. Career A natural left-footer, Puerta joined Sevilla as a boy and spent a total of 14 years at the club, growing up at the club's acclaimed youth system alongside other players such as Sergio Ramos, Jesús Navas, Alejandro Alfaro and Kepa Blanco. He played on the left side of midfield, although he did occasionally fill in at left back. His impressive performances earned him international recognition and reported interest from Arsenal, Manchester United and Real Madrid. Antonio is remembered by the goal that he scored against FC Schalke 04 in the UEFA Cup 2005/06 semifinals. In the final moments of the match, he received a long ball and struck it with his left foot, scoring one of the most important goals in Sevilla FC history. From then on, the team won five titles in fifteen months, a record in football history, with Puerta scoring the winning penalty in the UEFA Cup Final 2006-07 shoot-out. Puerta was capped once by the Spanish national side, making his debut on October 7, 2006, against Sweden in a qualification match for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship. He was also capped for Spain U-21. Death On 25 August 2007, Puerta collapsed and lost consciousness in the penalty area due to a cardiac arrest during Sevilla's first match of the 2007-08 La Liga season at their home stadium Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán against Getafe. He was seen crouching and then subsequently collapsing upon moving back to his team's goal, after only 35 minutes of the game had passed. His team-mates Ivica Dragutinović, Andrés Palop and a club medical staff and other players were then seen immediately running to his side as he lost consciousness. After recovering and being substituted, Puerta collapsed once again in the changing room. He was resuscitated by club medical staff and taken, by ambulance, to the intensive care unit of Virgen del Rocio hospital, Seville, where he received cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Antonio Puerta died on the 28 August, 2007 at 14:30 hours. Doctor Francisco Murillo reported that Puerta had suffered multiple organ failure and irreversible brain damage as a result of multiple prolonged cardiac arrests due to an incurable, hereditary heart disease known as arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. There is no official word on whether he had ever been equipped with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator. Puerta's premature death from heart problems is similar to those of Marc-Vivien Foé, Matt Gadsby, Miklós Fehér, Renato Curi, Serginho and Phil O'Donnell all of whom collapsed whilst playing in football matches. His girlfriend was expecting their first child at the time of his death. Tributes As a result of Antonio Puerta's death, Sevilla's UEFA Champions League qualifier against AEK Athens was postponed until the fourth of September - which Sevilla subsequently won 4-1 . The club also announced that a one-minute silence would be held before every La Liga match on the weekend of September 1-2, 2007. Also every 16th minute the crowd at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan (Sevilla's stadium) up the volume for a whole minute as a sort of informal tribute. Sevilla's European Super Cup game with AC Milan on 31 August, 2007 went ahead as a tribute to Antonio Puerta, with all the players on both teams having the name 'PUERTA' printed on the back of their jersey beneath the number. The players and officials on both sides also wore black armbands. Sevilla FC subsequently retired Puerta's number 16 shirt, with the provision that should his son, Aitor Antonio (born October 22, 2007), one day play for the club he will have the option to bring the number out of retirement. Following his death FIFA ordered the installation of resuscitation rooms in every stadium that hosted the South American World Cup qualifiers