Tragedy after the triumph

Brazilian star striker Cristiano Delima Junior scored twice to help Dempo win their Federation Cup but couldn8217;t relish the triumph for ...

Brazilian star striker Cristiano Delima Junior scored twice to help Dempo win their Federation Cup but couldn8217;t relish the triumph for long. Junior died of a massive cardiac arrest no sooner he had scored the second goal against Mohun Bagan in the final.

Chasing a long lob into the box, Junior managed to beat the onrushing Mohun Bagan goalkeeper Subrata Paul and score the goal. Following the strike, the beaten goalkeeper bumped into him and Junior got a blow on his chest. He lay motionless on the ground as his Nigerian teammate Ronty Martins tried to revive him. The medical team too rushed to his aid and tried to provide artificial respiration. As Junior failed to respond he was rushed to hospital by the ambulance at the stadium.

The worst was feared as players of both teams sat on the ground offering prayers as Junior was being treated. But a pall of gloom descended at the stadium as news soon trickled in that Junior had died.

Dempo had reportedly signed him for a sum of Rs 22 lakh for on a six-month contract. Dr Mathew, who attended on Junior, said that 8216;8216;he possibly had a massive cardiac arrest and died instantly. We did our very best but nothing was possible. His pupils did not dialte when we attended to him on the ground.8217;8217;

8216;8216;He responded a little and seemed to get his breath back but then he collapsed as he was being taken,8221; said Dr Mathew. Doctors at the hospital certified him as 8216;8216;brought dead8217;8217;.

8216;8216;A post-mortem will be conducted at Bowring and the real cause of death will then be known,8217;8217; said Dr Mathew.

nbsp;	Can you bring back my Junior ?

		nbsp;	8226; Bangalore: 8216;8216;Can you bring back my Junior ?8221;, asked a visibly shaken Armando Colaco, the coach of Dempo, after star striker Brazilian-born Cristiano de Lima Junior died after collapsing during the final of the Federation Cup football championship here today. His deputy Maurico Alfonso wondered what caused the death of the mercurial striker, whose two goals won the Federation Cup for Dempo and said, a Mohun Bagan player tried to give him artificial respiration. But it was Dempo fans who were more vocal, accusing the doctors of negligence, delaying the shifting of Junior to an ambulance and traversing into the city traffic to a hospital two kms away, while there was one nearby. PTI	nbsp;

Meanwhile, the grief-stricken Dempo team and a huge crowd which had witnessed the Brazilian in action during the final gathered at the hospital. Junior8217;s wife, who had just joined him from Brasilia, had stayed back in Goa and was informed of the tragedy by Dempo.

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The AIFF secretary Albert Colaco, who was at the hospital, said: 8216;8216;It was something no one could do anything about. It is a great tragedy and a personal loss to me and all those who knew him. I feel for his family. We will have to do the needful and then arrange to send his body back home,8217;8217; said Colaco.

This is the second time a footballer has died during play in India. Sanjib Dutta of Railways died in similar circumstances during hte Santosh Trophy in Kochin in 1992-93. Services defender Sylvester suffered similarly during the Jabalpur nationals but was revived.