Players suddenly collapsing...

The NY Times takes an in-depth look into the death of Antonio Puerta and also examines two other collapses that occurred yesterday and in the past:

Late yesterday another player — the Zambian striker Chaswe Nsofwa, 27, who plays for Hapoel Beersheva in Israel — collapsed during a scrimmage. He was taken to a hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival. The cause of death has yet to be determined.

Writing about Puerta, one Spanish newspaper, La Razón, said “the heart of football has stopped.”

Unfortunately, it is not the first time a soccer player has died from a heart attack in recent years.

*On Tuesday, Leicester City’s 27-year-old defender Clive Clarke suffered two heart attacks during halftime of his club’s Carling Cup game against Nottingham Forest. He was listed in stable condition yesterday. According to the BBC, Clarke was treated with a defibrillator in the Leicester City locker room and was conscious when he was taken to the hospital.

*Perhaps the most public of incidents occurred during the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup in France when Marc-Vivien Foe of Cameroon collapsed in the center circle during a game against Colombia in Lyon and later died. Foe had been a member of Cameroon’s 1994 and 2002 World Cup teams and was a member of the squad that won the African Nations Cup in 2000 and 2002. He was 28.

*Hugo Cunha, a midfielder of União Leiria in Portugal collapsed and died during a pickup game with friends in 2005. He was 28.

*The Brazilian striker Márcio Dos Santos scored a goal for his Peruvian club, Deportivo Wanka, in a game in October 2002. Hours later he suffered a heart attack and died. He was 28.

*In January 2004, Miklos Feher, a 24-year-old Hungarian, collapsed from a heart attack and died during a match between Benfica and Vitoria Guimarães in Portugal.

*Dave Longhurst, 20, a striker for York City in England collapsed right before halftime of a game between his York City club and Lincoln City in England in September 1990. An autopsy found that he had suffered from a rare heart disorder.

*Serginho, a defender for São Caetano in Brazil, crumpled to the turf away from play in the 59th minute of a game against São Paulo in October 2004. Doctors on the field were unsuccessful in their attempts to revive him using CPR. At the time, club medical officials said Serginho had been receiving treatment for heart problems. He was 30.

One has to wonder if FIFA needs to be taking more precaution prior to the season and require all players to have the most thorough heart exams possible.

Here are pictures of the memorials for Puerta that took place across Spain

FIFA VP Jack Warner stands by his insults...

Warner states that he is only the telling the truth and pitting the FA against CONCACAF and that he has nothing to apologize for.

Well "Ace," I stand by comments as well; those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

FIFA VP sticks foot in mouth, England responds...

FIFA VP Austin "Jack" Warner decides to let his feelings be known about England and didn't really hold back:

In an interview to be broadcast tomorrow on the BBC's World Service, Warner dismissed England's chances if FIFA's rotation policy brought the finals to Europe in 11 years' time.

"If by chance, in 2018, the World Cup were to go to Europe, I'm quite sure, with the English luck as it is, they won't get it," Warner said.

"It'll be Italy, Spain, or it might even be France. Nobody in Europe likes England. England - who invented the sport - has never had any impact on world football. England at no time has had the love and support of Europe. For Europe, England is an irritant."

Warner is president of CONCACAF, which runs the game in north and central America along with the Caribbean. He was highly critical of former Scottish Football Association president John McBeth earlier this year, accusing him of racism.

McBeth, speaking after his election as vice-president of FIFA (a post he would never fill due to his remarks), said African and Caribbean football associations were tainted by greed. Ironically, McBeth was also scathing of England's standing in world football, stating "the rest of the world hates their guts".

Warner was scathing in his condemnation of McBeth in May, calling on FIFA to "send him back to Scotland where he belongs".

Aware that England has some support for a bid to host the World Cup for the first time since winning it in 1966, Warner has vowed to fight their bid.

He said: "There are moves to give it to England. I must fight that."

First of all Mister Warner, the British colonization of your country, Trinidad and Tobago, ended years ago, so get over it. Second, those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones so keep your personal grudges to yourself. How this guy got re-elected as CONCACAF president is beyond me?

Obviously the English couldn't turn the other cheek on this one and FA Chairman Geoff Thompson and Englands World Cup ambassador came back firing:

England's 2018 World Cup ambassador Richard Caborn also responded to Warner's comments. "That is Jack. He will fight to the death to get it to Concacaf and I understand that," said Caborn. "We will put a strong case, along with the Football Association, to get it. What is unfortunate is that Jack has attacked England and particularly the FA - and the FA has done a first-class job.

"They have got 30 schemes running around the world, education programmes, on six continents. Indeed in Trinidad, for the last seven years they have had three workshops running which have been incredibly well-received by Concacaf, so it's not quite true what Jack's saying."

Next time you have something brilliant to say about English football Mr. Warner, just keep it to yourself.