Belgian football player Arne Espeel dies at 25 after collapsing on field
The player was taken to the hospital where he was announced dead on arrival
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Arne Espeel, a 25-year-old Belgian goalkeeper died while playing unexpectedly last Saturday. The player saved a penalty moments before collapsing on the field in a heartwrenching incident.
Espeel played for Winkel Sport B, a semi-amateur club in the second provincial division of West Brabant in Belgium. Winkel’s opponents on the day, Westrozebeke were awarded a penalty in the second half. Espeel saved the spot kick and while the ball was still in play, Espeel collapsed to the ground in a tragic scene.
Emergency medical services were immediately called to help the player. Despite their repeated attempts to resuscitate Espeel with a defibrillator, Espeel could not be brought back to life. He was taken to the hospital but there he was pronounced dead later in the day.
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Club Statement
Espeel’s passing has brought immense sorrow to the community. The coach of the side, Patrick Rotseart, said, “Arne had been with the club all his life and was very loved. He was a wonderfully sympathetic boy, always in a good mood and ready to help. This is really a heavy blow. First of all for his family and also our entire club.”
The club also released a statement commemorating their player in a mournful tone, “Winkel Sport is in very deep mourning by the sudden death of Arne Espeel. We wish the family and friends of Arne our heartfelt condolences in this heavy loss. Football is an afterthought.”
The assistant coach, Stefaan Dewerchin remembered the series of incidents and said to a local news outlet, “The ball was still in play. Our goalkeeper got up as fast as possible to receive the ball, but then he fell. It was really terrible to watch. All the players showered together after the incident. When the message came that our goalkeeper was dead, it was an unusually heavy blow. I think some players still don’t realise exactly what happened.”
Autopsy
The local hospital in charge of the autopsy of the player released the reports on Monday. After the body was finally released for cremation, the entire community was present to bid farewell to the young goalie.
The incident reminded the viewers of the horrors of a similar incident that happened to Christian Eriksen during the Euro 2020. The Dane collapsed on the field to the absolute trepidation of his friends and family. However, Eriksen has recovered since then. He also revived his career with a move to Brentford in the Premier League and then signed for Manchester United under Eric Ten Hag. Eriksen currently ranks third in the assists chart with 7 assists for the season in 19 games.
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Arpan Ghosh
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