By DPA
Madrid : The death of Sevilla youngster Antonio Puerta on Tuesday afternoon has left the whole of Spain in a state of sadness.
Puerta, just 22, died in the intensive care unit of Seville’s Virgen del Rocio hospital 64 hours after suffering a heart attack in Saturday’s Sevilla-Getafe match.
A statement from the hospital said that Puerta had died because of the “postanoxic brain injury and the multiple organic dysfunction caused by the prolonged cardiac arrest that led to his admission to hospital”.
The news stunned the hundreds of fans, reporters and well-wishers who had been maintaining a vigil outside the hospital since Saturday night.
Telegrams of condolence to Puerta’s family have been pouring in from fans, the Spanish government, from the political parties, and from the country’s other football clubs.
The sad news is the leading story in every Spanish website on Tuesday evening.
The local conservative Popular Party has already suggested that the sports centre in Ciudad Jardin – the Seville neighbourhood whence Puerta hails from – be named after the dead player.
Some Sevilla fans have already suggested that one of the stands in the club’s Estadio Sanchez Pizjuan be named after Puerta.
There will be a minute’s silence for Puerta at every Spanish Liga match this coming weekend.
UEFA have, in the end, agreed to Sevilla’s request to postpone Tuesday’s Champions League qualifying match against AEK Athens to Monday, which means that Sevilla will have to reschedule their league match against Osasuna.
UEFA are, however, insisting that Friday’s European Supercup showpiece between Sevilla and AC Milan goes ahead as planned.
On Tuesday evening the Sevilla squad was flying back to Seville from Athens to attend Puerta’s funeral.