Soccer

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Players, fans mourn fallen Livorno player

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 04/16/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Cristiano Chiodi / The Associated Press Archives Medics attempt to revive Livorno�s Piermario Morosini on Saturday. (CP)

MILAN, Italy -- Livorno players and fans gathered at the team's stadium Sunday to pay their respects, a day after midfielder Piermario Morosini collapsed and died after suffering a cardiac arrest during a Serie B match at Pescara.

Morosini, who was on loan from Serie A side Udinese, collapsed in the 31st minute of the match on Saturday and tried unsuccessfully to get up several times before receiving urgent medical attention on the pitch. A defibrillator was used on the player, who also had his heart massaged, before an ambulance arrived on the pitch to take him to hospital where doctors tried unsuccessfully to revive him.

The Livorno players along with thousands of fans arrived at the team's Armando Picchi stadium to lay flowers, scarves and banners under Morosini's shirt, which has been placed on the main gate.

Morosini's former teammates were in tears as they hugged each other and fans before placing a pennant on the gate. Livorno reserve goalkeeper Luca Mazzoni also revealed that Morosini's last words were "come on guys, let's get a result."

Morosini's body will be brought back to Livorno for fans to pay their final respects before a funeral in his hometown of Bergamo.

An autopsy will be carried out today, and may reveal whether a delay in the ambulance getting to Morosini could have contributed to his death.

A car belonging to traffic police blocked the ambulance's way into the stadium, creating the delay. A window had to be broken so the car could be moved.

"Tomorrow morning I will have the results of the internal investigation," Pescara mayor Luigi Albore Mascia said. "We will be impartial and unbending, the great flippancy of the person who left the car there is obvious."

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 16, 2012 C6

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