Antonio Puerta: May He Rest in Peace

Sevilla’s Antonio Puerta’s death was confirmed three days after collapsing in their opening game of the season against Getafe. He was a promising, versatile footballer, with the world at his feet, and was about to become a father. Sevilla had postponed Tuesday's Champions league qualifier against AEK Athens and the Super Cup match against AC Milan but now it will be played in homage to the late Spanish footballer.

A short film showing the 22-year-old's career will be played before the game between the Champions League and Uefa Cup winners. Flags in the stadium will be flown at half mast, there will be a minute's silence and the players will wear black armbands.

I would like to refer you to a piece by Arseblogger, who put how the majority of the footballing world is feeling.

"Finally today I want to take a moment to talk about how sad I felt about the
death of Sevilla’s Antonio Puerta. I, like many of you, was watching the game on
Saturday night when he collapsed so we’ve been with him ever since. Seeing him
wheeled out of the ground and rushed away in an ambulance was sickening,
especially when you could tell by the paramedics that it was serious. There was
hope as many times in cases like this an athlete simply drops and that’s the
end. We saw it some years ago when Marc Vivien Foe died during the Confederations Cup.

But as the days passed the doctors grew more pessimistic and yesterday afternoon Antonio Puerta passed away. For someone like me who plays park football and enjoys a pint and the odd smoke and doesn’t always stick to a healthy diet it’s quite sobering. A young man, less than 6 weeks away from being a father for the first time, is dead.

I’ve been reading the coverage in the Spanish papers and it’s heartbreaking stuff. Julio Baptista spoke of the enormous jolt of pain he felt when he heard. Messages of support and sympathy have flooded in from every Spanish club. Ex-teammate Antoñito declared himself ‘broken’ at the news. I listened to the President of Betis, Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, who has had the worst relationship with Sevilla FC and their President Jose Maria del Nido that you can possibly imagine, speak on the radio about Puerta’s death and the genuine emotion and solidarity for Sevilla, their fans and the family of Antonio Puerta was very moving.

Antonio Puerta will be buried today at 2pm Spanish time. A promising career and a young life cut short well before time. Perhaps, as we bitch and moan about not signing a fat Brazilian or any kind of winger, we might think about this and put it all in perspective.

I have never tried to speak on behalf of any other Arsenal fans, but I think I can do so today when I say to the family and friends of Antonio Puerta, everyone at Sevilla FC and all their fans, that we send our most sincere condolences and sympathy. May he rest in peace. "

My deepest sympathies to Sevilla Fútbol Club and more importantly, the family of Puerta. RIP.