25,000 Sevilla fans welcome the body of Antonio Puerta on his last trip to the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuan Stadium

25,000 Sevilla fans welcome the body of Antonio Puerta on his last trip to the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuan Stadium
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By h.b. - Aug 29, 2007 - 9:24 AM

The coffin of Antonio Puerta in the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuan Stadium in Sevilla - Photo EFE

Fans have been filing past the coffin, placed in the club, all last night. The funeral takes place at 2pm this afternoon.

Thousands of Sevilla Football Club fans, friends and colleagues, many of them visibly upset, have been filing past the body of the player Antonio Puerta, who died in hospital yesterday afternoon.

His body is lying in the Sevilla Club, the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuan Stadium, just a few metres from where he was born 22 years ago. The fact that he was a local man, held him in special affection at the club.

It’s now known that the player had a genetic condition which leads to a series of heart attacks which cause irreversible brain damage.

More than 25,000 people were waiting outside the stadium for the arrival of the coffin. There was applause and shouts of ‘Puerta Puerta’ just after midnight last night when access to file past the coffin was opened. The player’s parents, and his 8 month pregnant girlfriend, led the mourners.

The Sevilla squad arrived back from Athens after 2am led by the Club President, José María del Nido.

People will be able to file past the coffin in the stadium until noon today. One fan was heard to comment, ‘Thank you Puerta, without you we would not have been the best team in the world’.

The funeral service for the player will take place at the San Fernando Cemetery at 2pm this afternoon.

Photo EFE/pool

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