The Hindu : Sport / Football : Tragic end to a promising career

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 06, 2004

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Sport - Football

Tragic end to a promising career

By Our Sports Reporter

BANGALORE, DEC. 5. In a tragic twist to the Federation Cup football tournament, Dempo's Cristiano Junior collapsed and died during the final here on Sunday. The enigmatic Brazilian striker scored the team's second goal in a 2-0 triumph over Mohun Bagan and collapsed at the far end of the field.

Despite efforts to resuscitate him, Cristiano was declared dead on arrival at the Hosmat Hospital.

"He was a wonderful human being. He was never the one to show off his calibre and he was always at hand to motivate and guide the rest," chorused his Dempo mates after the tragedy.

Cristiano moved to Dempo two months ago from East Bengal, where he had carved a niche with his scoring ability. He scored 15 goals in the last edition of the National Football League (NFL) when East Bengal won the title.

He also made a big impact on Dempo's fortunes. Ronty Martins, Cristiano's partner upfront, was seen praying fervently soon after the incident. "Bagan custodian Subrata Paul charged dangerously with his knees raised for a ball that was at the ground level, and the impact did him in," said the Nigerian, but for those in the stands there was no visible impact between the players. Cristiano, it seemed, turned in a long ball and after taking a few paces towards the far post, suddenly collapsed.

With no `oxygen' available at the ground or in the ambulance, a Mohun Bagan player tried to revive him before he was rushed to a hospital. Surprisingly, instead of the Mallya hospital, which is a stone's throw away from the stadium, he was taken to the distant Hosmat Hospital. He was declared dead on arrival.

Questions are bound to be asked, as this is the second instance of such a tragedy in Indian football.

Railways player Sanjeeb Dutta had died on the field after the Kannur edition of the Santosh Trophy in 1993.

East Bengal doctor's reaction

Meanwhile, the East Bengal club team doctor, Shanti Ranjan Dasgupta, expressed shock on the death of the key striker who helped his team win the NFL title last season.

Dr. Dasgupta said that there was "enough indication that CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) was not applied properly which could have revived the unfortunate player from the sudden cardiac arrest".

Dr. Dasgupta, who had revived the former India captain and his team's defender Debjit Ghosh after he had suffered a similar accident during the ASEAN club championship semifinal in Jakarta in 2003, said Junior's injury appeared a case of sudden cardiac arrest and did not look to involve any cervical injury. "In such cases a properly done CPR, which has to be applied within three minutes, puts up a 99 per cent chance of survival. But if the CPR is not done properly the action will be just the opposite and with Junior, this may have been the case.''

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