A Chinese football fan suffered a heart attack during a World Cup match following three sleepness nights of heavy drinking and watching the tournament on television.

The 42-year-old man, surnamed Zhang, from Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong province, became agitated after seeing Portugal miss a goal against Angola, according to newspaper reports Tuesday.

"He spent too long continuously watching the games and he drank too much," Yin Zuomin, a doctor from the casualty department of Qingdao City Hospital told reporters, confirming Zhang's heart attack.

"He is still in hospital but the most dangerous period is over."

China is six hours ahead of Germany, meaning the early matches begin at 9:00 pm local time and the latest start at 3:00 am.

Although China did not make the World Cup finals, the tournament is proving hugely popular in the nation of 1.3 billion people, with state-run television broadcasting all the matches.