Italian soccer was shocked today as Livorno’s Piermario Morosini collapsed on the pitch during the first half of the game between Livorno and Pescara.
A defibrillator was used, but attempts to revive the player proved to be in vain as Morosini was declared dead at the Santo Spirito hospital in Pescara.
A trainee at his home-town club, Atalanta, Morosini was signed by Udinese in 2005 and played on loan with Bologna, Vicenza, Reggina, Calcio Padova and, since January, Livorno.
“This is one of the saddest days since I have been in football,” said Udinese owner Giampaolo Pozzo. “He had been playing with us for several years. He was very serious, very professional and also a very good player.”
Morosini also played 56 games with various Italy youth teams, starting with the Under-17s in 2001, and he featured in the final round of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Sweden, where the Azzurrini reached the semi-finals.
The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) cancelled all days scheduled in Italy this weekend and confirmed that the games will be rearranged at a later date.
The Lega Serie A said in a statement on their website:
“The football world mourns the tragedy that occurred on Saturday afternoon in Pescara, where during the game between the hosts and Livorno, the player Piermario Morosini slumped to the ground suffering from a heart attack. Transported to the hospital, the young midfielder was put into an induced coma, but died at around 1700.
The FIGC has suspended, in memory of Piermario, all games scheduled over the weekend.”
The tragedy comes four weeks after Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest during his team’s FA Cup quarter-final at Tottenham.
The former England Under-21 international was given extensive treatment on the field before being carried off on a stretcher and rushed to the London Chest Hospital.
It took 78 minutes for Muamba’s heart to start working on its own again, but he has made incredible progress since.
The Muamba incident invoked memories for many of Cameroon international Marc-Vivien Foe, who collapsed during a Confederations Cup semi-final against Colombia in 2003 and died in hospital.
Morosini also played 56 games with various Italy youth teams, starting with the Under-17s in 2001, and he featured in the final round of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Sweden, where the Azzurrini reached the semi-finals.
