Everyone knew it was serious straight away. The referee called for help, a teammate performed CPR on him before medics performed prolonged treatment, with compressions performed on the chest of the 29-year-old Inter Milan player before he was taken to hospital for further treatment. 

While this happened, the world waited in bated breath before news that he was stable brought relief. 

For football fans, the shocking images of the incident brought back memories of some of the shocking moments in football. 

These tragedies have been happening for a long time. In 1977, Renato Curi died after suffering a heart attack during a game. 

In 2007, Sevilla midfielder Antonio Puerta collapsed during a game against Getafe after suffering a cardiac arrest. 

He was able to walk back to the dressing room but collapsed again and later died due to irreversible brain damage. He was only 22. 

In 2003, Cameroon midfielder Marc-Vivian Foe died after he collapsed during a game against Colombia in a FIFA Confederations Cup game. 

It was later confirmed that Foe had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; a hereditary condition known to increase the risk of sudden death during exercise.

In 2004, Miklos Feher, a striker for Benfica, collapsed and died of cardiac arrhythmia during a league game in Portugal. 

Nigerian football fans have also experienced these unfortunate events. Almost 32 years later, the death of Samuel Okwaraji still evokes painful memories for Nigerians. 

Okwaraji slumped and died from a congestive heart failure during a World Cup qualifier against Angola at the national stadium in Lagos. 

Reports from that day at the national stadium revealed that the stadium ambulance failed to start. 

More than three decades later, nothing has changed. In 2020, the stadium ambulance failed to start when Nasarawa United defender Chineme Martins collapsed during a Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) game against Katsina United. 

He was pronounced dead when he was brought to the hospital. 

In 1995, Julius Berger striker Amir Angwe collapsed and died during the semifinals of a continental competition. Angwe should have never been on that pitch as he had collapsed and survived in a quarterfinal game of the same competition.