Antonio Puerta

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Antonio Puerta
Personal information
Full name	Antonio José Puerta Pérez
Date of birth	26 November 1984(1984-11-26)
Place of birth	Seville, Spain
Date of death	28 August 2007 (aged 22)
Place of death	Seville, Spain
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Left-sided Midfielder Wing-Back
Youth career
	A.D. Nervión
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2002-2004 2004–2007	Sevilla B Sevilla Total	040 00(4) 055 00(5) 095 00(9)
National team
2004–2005 2005 2006	Spain U21 Spain U23 Spain	005 00(0) 005 00(2) 001 00(0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

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.^[1]

Contents 1 Career 2 Death 3 Tributes 4 Honours 4.1 Club 5 See also 6 References

[edit] Career

A natural left-footer, Puerta joined Sevilla as a boy and spent a total of 14 years at the club,^[2] growing up at the club's acclaimed youth system alongside other players such as Sergio Ramos, Jesús Navas, José Antonio Reyes, Alejandro Alfaro and Kepa Blanco.^[3] 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.^[4]

Antonio is remembered by the goal that he scored against 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 2007 UEFA Cup Final shoot-out.

Puerta was capped once by the Spanish national side, making his debut on 7 October 7 2006, against Sweden in a qualification match for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship.^[3] He was also capped for Spain U-21.

[edit] 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.^[5] 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.^[2] His teammates Ivica Dragutinović, Andrés Palop were then seen immediately running to his side as he lost consciousness. Moments later, club medical staff and other players ran over to him. Dragutinović stopped Puerta from swallowing his tongue before the medical staff could see to him.

After recovering and being substituted, Puerta was able to walk to the dressing room, where he collapsed once again. 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.^[6]

Antonio Puerta died on 28 August 2007 at 14:30.^[7][8] 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.^[9] 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.^[2]

As a mark of respect, players from both Sevilla and city rivals Real Betis attended his funeral days after his death.

[edit] 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 Ramón Sánchez Pizjuan (Sevilla's stadium) would increase the volume for a whole minute as an informal tribute (Puerta wore the number 16 shirt for Sevilla).

Sevilla's European Super Cup game with A.C. 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. 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 22 October 2007)^[10], one day play for the club he will have the option to bring the number out of retirement.^[11] However, Spanish football teams are not allowed to do so as the Spanish Football Federation rules state that clubs must use number 1 to 25 for their regular squad and that there is no room for manoeuvre when it comes to altering that list. As a result, David Prieto will don the number 16 next term in honour of his friend. Following his death, FIFA ordered the installation of resuscitation rooms in every stadium that hosted the South American World Cup qualifiers.^[12]

Former Sevilla and Spanish national teammate Sergio Ramos wore a shirt with Puerta's picture on the front and the number 16, of Puerta, on the back during the celebrations of Spain's Euro 2008 victory. The shirt read "Siempre con nosotros" or, "always with us". Ramos also wore a shirt with Real Madrid that showed his brotherhood with Puerta during a game against Villarreal when Ruud van Nistelrooy scored a goal.

[edit] Honours

[edit] Club

• Sevilla
  • UEFA Cup: 2006, 2007
  • UEFA Super Cup: 2006
  • Spanish Super Cup: 2007
  • Copa del Rey: 2007

[edit] See also

• List of footballers who died while playing

[edit] References

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