 |
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||||
|
Cameroon: 'Foe's death has flattened us' Posted: Thursday June 26, 2003 6:04 PMYAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) -- Ready to celebrate a victory over Colombia, the soccer-mad nation of Cameroon instead collapsed in sadness at the death of star midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe in France on Thursday. Foe collapsed on the field near the end of Cameroon's 1-0 win in the Confederations Cup semifinal at Lyon and never regained consciousness. In a poor West African nation where soccer provides one of the few joys in life, Cameroon's people compared it to the death of a head of state. "Foe's death is the most shocking experience I've had in my whole life as a coach and footballer," said a weeping Jean Paul Akono, a former national team coach who had had Foe in his past squads. "Foe had been the most frank, most exemplary, respectful player I ever trained, and who had gone to the expected heights," Akono added. In the capital city, Yaounde, fans had gathered to watch the match live on televisions, only for sorrow to shred their celebrations. "This is too much of a sacrifice in a Confederations Cup, for a player who has given too much for his country in football," said Augustine Meh Zang, a businessman. Cars that had decorated for victory parades to celebrate Cameroon's victory over Colombia sat by curbs, still parked. "How can one celebrate when Foe dies on the pitch?" asked Jean Joseph Onambele, a Yaounde taxi driver. "All the beer I'd prepared to celebrate our victory over Colombia is now sour, and I can't drink any longer," said Kenneth Wirhlen, owner of a pub where many had gathered to watch the match. In Douala, the West African nation's commercial capital, managers turned off the TVs where fans had gathered to watch the game, and locked the doors. "Foe's death has flattened us," one fan in Douala said. |
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||||
