Shock in Belgium: a 25-year-old goalkeeper died after saving a penalty in an amateur league match

Belgian football is shocked by the death of Arne Espel, goalkeeper of Winkel Sport B, who lost his life this weekend while defending his team’s goal during a match against SK Westrozebeke, in the amateur league. The episode occurred after he saved a penalty during the second half, it disappeared and, according to the local press, he lost his life on the playing field.

Espel had 25 years old and led a club-bound life West Flanders, a municipality in Belgium. For a long time, together with the young people who started their journey in the institute with him, he defended the colors of the team that plays in the Second Provincial, the amateur championship of the European country.

Unfortunately, this weekend and as detailed in the newspaper Het Nieuwsbladei, Arne was killed while defending Winkel’s jersey and facing Westrozebekeel.

There, when they marched 15 minutes of extra time and the score was 2-1 in favor of the side where the 25-year-old saved, the match referee ruled a penalty in favor of the visit.

In a duel between the goalkeeper and footballer Mohammed El Baghdadi, who took charge of the shot, the goalkeeper showed his qualities and withheld the penalty to keep the lead in favor. While everyone was celebrating, no one expected the tragic outcome What happened on the playing field.

After stopping the shot, and pausing to continue with the course of the game, the goalkeeper shouted in the air celebrating for having covered the shot from twelve paces and seconds later collapsed on the playing field, sparking despair among the stadium-goers, including his brother Aaron (20) who was on the substitutes bench. Quickly, they approached to assist Espeel, who was showing symptoms of trembling in his body without knowing the cause.

With a brief diagnosis of what could have happened, and in front of his brother’s eyes, the rescuers started resuscitation maneuvers with a defibrillator in the field, which were not enough to stop the tragedy. Obviously and rightly so, the party has been suspended by the referee.

An autopsy was expected to find out the cause that led to the goalkeeper’s death this Monday. Local media confirmed that the young goalkeeper was healthy and had no illnesses or physical problems.

After the goalkeeper’s death became known, the club spoke on social media: “Winkel Sport deeply regrets the sudden death of goalkeeper Arne Espeel. We wish his family and friends our deepest condolences on this great loss. Football isn’t that important anymore for a while.”

Furthermore, the sporting director of the club, Patrick Rotsaert, said with some sadness: “This is a disaster and a shock to everyone,” adding: “This is really a big blow. First of all for his family and also for our entire club.”

This Monday, both the leaders of the institution and the players will walk the streets of the town of Sint-Eloois-Winkel to remember the player who lost his life on the pitch.