Tributes have poured in for an Italian striker who dropped dead at the age of 26 while he was taking a shot on goal during a match.
Castelfiorentino striker Mattia Giani was rushed to hospital after clutching his chest and collapsing seconds after he took a shot at goal in the 15th minute of a game at Lanciotto Campi in Tuscany on Sunday.
A club masseur reportedly tried resuscitating the player on the pitch, after his heart stopped beating for several minutes, before he was taken to the Careggi Hospital in Florence, where he died the following day.
Footballers and family alike have poured their hearts out in tribute to the deceased player.
AS Roma’s Gianluca Mancini, whose sister is currently dating Giani’s brother Elia, dedicated his goal in the 2-1 Europa League win against AC Milan on Thursday to Giani, telling Sky Sports Italia:
‘My sister and Mattia’s family are suffering. The world around them has collapsed, but they will rise again. I wanted to dedicate this goal to him.’
Mancini was seen wearing a T-shirt that said in Italian: ‘Farewell Mattia, forever with us.’
Castelfiorentino striker Mattia Giani (pictured) was rushed to hospital after clutching his chest and collapsing seconds after he took a shot at goal
Giani’s girlfriend Sofia Caruso (pictured, right) had moved in with him just two days before he died
AS Roma’s Gianluca Mancini, whose sister is currently dating Giani’s brother Elia, dedicated his goal in the 2-1 Europa League win against AC Milan on Thursday
Castelfiorentino coach Nico Scaridigli said of Giani: ‘Mattia was a wonderful guy. He had a wonderful girlfriend who loved him more than anything.
‘From a sporting perspective, he was a good footballer who was fun. He always had a knockout shot. His career didn’t go as well as he deserved just because of muscle problems.’
Giani’s girlfriend Sofia Caruso, who he had been living with for just two days before he died, revealed how their final day together was spent.
She said: ‘We woke up on Sunday. We talked and laughed: it was beautiful. Then Matti took the bag. I stayed at home. Then his cell phone rang: it was a message from him, the last one.
‘He wrote to me: “Love, I left you the accreditation for the match in the name of Giani. I love you madly” . He always told me that he loved me like crazy and I loved him like crazy too.’
She added: ‘We were thinking about getting married, we said we wanted children. Mattia made me understand what love was and he took care of me. Matti was a pure and good person.
‘He always told me that she would never leave me alone. I will continue to love him forever. Now I feel like I have to move forward for him.
Sofia said of her final day with her boyfriend: ‘We woke up on Sunday. We talked and laughed: it was beautiful’
Mancini was seen wearing a T-shirt that said in Italian: ‘Farewell Mattia, forever with us’
‘I have to do it for his friends who have been calling me continuously for days. I, on the other hand, called him all morning but he didn’t answer me. I am speechless and I am without tears.’
Giani’s father Sandro, meanwhile, filed a complaint to ‘understand how our son died’, as there were several disturbing details about his son’s passing emerged.
According to Sandro, there was no doctor present on the sidelines at the time of the striker’s passing.
On top of this, the first ambulance arrived late and without a doctor. A defibrillator was only used by the doctor who arrived minutes later in a second ambulance.
Italian prosecutors have since opened a manslaughter investigation, after troubling details of the club’s preparedness emerged.
Lanciotto has also been fined for not having the proper medical staff on hand at the time of the medical incident.
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