RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazilian soccer was in mourning on Thursday following the death of Sao Caetano defender Serginho, who collapsed during the previous night's match against Sao Paulo with a heart-attack.

The 30-year-old, full name Paulo Sergio de Oliveira, collapsed early in the second half and died 40 minutes after arriving at hospital.

The match was abandoned as players and officials from both teams joined arms, formed a circle and prayed.

Television pictures showed his body being transferred to an aircraft to be taken to the small town of Coronel Fabriciano in the state of Minas Gerais, where he began his career.

The club's supporters, waiting outside the hospital, applauded as the vehicle carrying his body left the building.

Former opponents paid tribute to a player known as a rugged, uncompromising defender.

"He was a friend who will always be in our hearts," said midfielder Renato, who plays for Sao Caetano's neighbours Corinthians.

"He was an exceptional person," said Palmeiras midfielder Claudecir.

News programmes repeated the moment at which he fell to the ground while a rival player, unaware of what was happening, tripped over him.

The front page of the sports daily Lance was black with a small photograph of the player in the middle.

"Everything which has happened in the Brazilian championship lost its meaning in the face of the sudden death of Serginho," wrote columnist Juca Kfouri in the same newspaper.

Major force

Serginho, married with a four-year-old son and one of eleven children, was due to be buried on Friday morning.

Media reports said former team-mate Luiz Carlos Capixaba, who now plays for Coritiba, had paid for a 50-seat coach to take Serginho's parents, brothers and sisters to the funeral from their home near the city of Vitoria, around five hours away.

Serginho was considered a symbol of the Sao Caetano team, which rose from second division obscurity when he joined in 1999 to become a major force in Brazilian football.

Sao Caetano supporters said on Thursday that the player used to have coffee with them in a bakery in front of the stadium before training.

"We've lost a friend," wept Agostinho Folco, president of the club's biggest organized supporters' group. "He had received a number of offers but preferred to stay."

Serginho's death also sparked more controversy about the number of matches being played and whether Brazilian stadiums were sufficiently equipped to deal with such emergencies.

Corinthians goalkeeper Fabio Costa said Brazilian players were forced to play too many games. Sao Caetano had been playing their 64th match of a season which started in mid-January and ends in late December.

"People need to learn that a footballer is not a machine," he told reporters after his team's match away to Criciuma.

"He's an ordinary human being who has his problems, his physical limitations and is not respected by the people who draw up the calendar.

"We're going to have 15 days' holidays after a Brazilian championship which has long journeys with decisive and stressful matches."

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) declared one week of mourning. It said the remaining 31 minutes of Wednesday's night, which was scoreless, will be played on November 10.

(China Daily 10/30/2004 page11)