While we wouldn’t normally give space to events concerning players of other clubs the death of a 28-year-old professional footballer during a game is a tragedy that will strike a nerve with all football fans and we wanted to express our sympathies to his family, friends and team-mates.
A whole-hearted player, Foe split his career between France and the Premiership, having spells at Lens, West Ham United, Lyons and Manchester City as well as representing Cameroon on over 60 occasions. Before his untimely death Foe had looked set to return to the Premiership with Harry Redknapp close to agreeing a deal to take him to newly promoted Portsmouth
The second semi-final of the Confederations Cup between France and Turkey was preceded by a minute’s silence during which it was obvious that a number of the players were terribly upset by Foe’s death and not keen to play. But with FIFA deciding the game must go-ahead both sets of players deserve great credit for producing a high quality game played in a fantastic spirit.
Tributes from the world of football have poured in while the Cameroon government is planning a national day of mourning for Foe while FIFA president Sepp Blatter has indicated that the next Confederations Cup tournament will be re-named after the player.