Indonesian football was in mourning on Monday after celebrated goalkeeper Choirul Huda died following an on-pitch collision with a teammate. Huda, 38, a long-time regular for his hometown club Persela in East Java, collapsed just before half-time after Sunday’s accidental clash with Brazilian midfielder Ramon Rodrigues.
Video footage showed the father of two clutching his chest in pain before he was rushed away on a stretcher and taken to hospital. Doctors said he stopped breathing and suffered a heart attack. “He received an emergency treatment for a few minutes in the hospital but he could not be saved. He died before 5:00 pm yesterday,” Persela’s assistant coach Yuhronur Efendi said.
R.I.P. Indonesian Liga 1 goalkeeper #ChoirulHuda passed away after a collision with teammate. Sending my thoughts to his family & friends. pic.twitter.com/mWYVlr8oWb
— Aurimas Adomaitis (@AdomaitisAuris) October 15, 2017
Doctors said the medical team tried to revive the veteran Huda, a former fringe player in the national set-up, for about an hour. “Choirul Huda suffered from traumatic collision with a team-mate which caused him to stop breathing and have cardiac arrest,” Yudistiro Andri Nugroho, a doctor from Lamongan hospital, said in a statement.
Nugroho said Huda suffered possible neck and head trauma from the impact to his chest and lower jaw after he dived at the feet of on-rushing players and was caught by the legs of Rodrigues.
RIP Choirul Huda. My prayers to you and your family 🙏🏾 #RIPHuda https://t.co/BRgbhmhrh4
— Paul Pogba (@paulpogba) October 15, 2017
Unbelievable. I am deeply saddened. My condolences to his family. Choirul Huda, RIP brother. 🙏🏽
— Peter Odemwingie (@OdemwingieP) October 15, 2017
What a horrible tragedy. Rest in peace Choirul Huda.
— SCHOLES (@iamscholes) October 15, 2017
INNALILLAHI WAINNA ILAIHI ROJIUN
— PerselaFC (@PerselaFC) October 15, 2017
SELAMAT JALAN CAP CHOIRUL HUDA
THE REAL LEGEND OF PERSELA#riphuda pic.twitter.com/SnuiddqdUo
Captain. Leader. Legend. The One & Only Choirul Huda. 🙌
— Jerry Arvino. (@jerryarvino) October 16, 2017
One-man Club. 1999-2017: Persela! pic.twitter.com/5T1CKE2UAg
Persela paid tribute to Huda, who played for the team more than 500 times since 1999, calling him “The Real Legend” of the club in a posting on Twitter. Thousands of fans also took to social media in memory of Huda, who had been known to Persela supporters as “One Man, One Club, One Love”.