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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
FROM Marc-Vivien Foe’s tragic death in 2003, to Prince Kadewere’s moving tribute on Saturday night, French giants Olympique Lyon have always been a class act.
Especially, when it comes to honouring the memory of those they consider to be part of their great family.
And, on both occasions, Manchester City have been a big part of the equation.
Cameroonian gentle giant Foe was a Lyon star, who had spent the season on loan at Manchester City, when he collapsed at the French club’s old home ground, Stade de Gerland, on June 26, 2003.
He died shortly afterwards in the stadium’s medical centre as experts scrambled, in vain, to save his life.
Foe had been playing for the Indomitable Lions, in the semi-final of the FIFA Confederation Cup, against Colombia when he went down, near the centre circle, in the 72nd minute. After repeated attempts to resuscitate him, on the pitch, Foe was taken off the field, where he received oxygen, before being transferred to the stadium’s medical centre.
Medics spent about 45 minutes trying to restart his heart but all their spirited attempts were in vain and he was pronounced dead.
An autopsy concluded the midfield powerhouse’s sudden death was heart-related given there was evidence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
I’s a condition in which the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick and makes it harder for the heart to pump blood.
Some experts say it’s a hereditary condition and has been known to increase the risk of sudden death during physical exercise.
“Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy often goes undiagnosed because many people with the disease have few, if any, symptoms and can lead normal lives with no significant problems,’’ reads one medical report.
“However, in a small number of people with HCM, the thickened heart muscle can cause shortness of breath, chest pain or problems in the heart’s electrical system, resulting in life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) or sudden death.’’
Apparently, the then Indomitable Lions coach, Winfried Schafer, had wanted to replace Foe, just minutes before he collapsed, after the gaffer noticed the midfielder appeared to have been struggling with fatigue.
However, Foe told his coach he still wanted to keep playing in the big match.
His death sent shockwaves around the global football family, especially at Lyon, where he helped the club win the first of their eight straight league titles, in 2002, before his loan move to Manchester City.
“Marc-Vivien Foe will leave us the memory of a charming boy, the incarnation of the joy in life,’’ Lyon said. “We will keep of him his bursts of laughter. We will not forget you.”
And, true to their word, the French giants have not forgotten. On May 1, this year, 17 years after Foe’s death, they reminded the world the Indomitable Lion would have turned 45 had he not succumbed to his tragic death.
“Marc-Vivien Foé, who died in 2003, would have been 45 today,’’ the club tweeted, accompanying the message with a video of the midfielder thumping a header into the top corner, during his time at the team.
“A thought for his family and loved ones. A lion never dies.’’
Lyon retired the number 17 shirt, which Foé wore during his time at the club, before his loan move to the Citizens.
However, when another Cameroonian international midfielder, Jean Makoun, arrived at the club in 2008, he specifically requested that he be given the number 17 shirt.
“In memory of Marc, for me and for the whole Cameroon, this will be for something,’’ Makoun said.
Three months after their latest tribute to Foe, Lyon once again demonstrated that they are a caring side by paying a glowing tribute to Prince Kadewere before, during and after their UEFA Champions League match against Manchester City in Lisbon on Saturday.
“Brilliant to see, shows Tino has been accepted and welcomed into the team,’’ said local sports broadcaster, Mike Madoda, on Sunday.” “And, for Prince, I don’t think even in his wildest imagination (he) would have thought he would get a tribute on a Champions League night in a land not even his own.
“From Zimbabwe Grounds to the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
“I’m sure Pipi was smiling down on OL (Olympique Lyon) last night.’’
Affectionately known as “Pipi,’’ the man who captured the imagination of his Highfield community with his range of football skills, as a teenage prodigy, was laid to rest in his home village in Zvimba on Saturday.
He was buried besides his father, Onias, who died in 2015.
A passionate disciple of grassroots football development, Onias was instrumental in transforming his boys into footballers.
Pipi’s burial ceremony came just hours before Lyon plunged into battle, against Manchester City, in a Champions League quarter-final showdown in which the French side stunned their fancied opponents in a 3-1 win.
Ironically, just like Foe, Pipi might have suffered a fatal heart attack as, according to his brother Prosper, he collapsed and died as he tried to climb into a car after having visited a doctor having earlier complained of chest pains. His name was trending, around the world on Saturday night, after Lyon, and a number of their star players, including captain Memphis Depay and match-winner Moussa Dembele, dedicated their stunning victory over Manchester City to the grieving Kadewere family. The appearance of his Pipi’s name on the main scoreboard of the Estadio Jose Alvalade with the Lyon players honouring his name on the field was a class act.
Online Reporter