Cristiano Sebastião de Lima Júnior (5 June 1979 – 5 December 2004) was a Brazilian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Dempo Dempo Mining Corporation Limited is a prominent mining company from the western Indian state of Goa. The mineral business was founded by Vasantrao S. Dempo in 1941, along with his younger brother Vaikuntrao Dempo. Vasantrao was the founding c ...

, before an on-field collision in India in the Federation Cup finals, with the goalkeeper of the opposing team led to his death.

Career

Júnior, who was the highest-paid footballer in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, signed up for Dempo in September 2004. He had only recently moved to Dempo on a transfer from Kolkata's

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

where he had formed a potent strike partnership with India's footballer

Baichung Bhutia Bhaichung Bhutia (born 15 December 1976), also spelled as Baichung Bhutia, is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Bhutia is considered as the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena. He is often ...

in helping his team win the league title in the 2003-2004 season and reach the knock-out stages of the

2004 AFC Cup The 2004 AFC Cup was the first edition of the AFC Cup, played by clubs from nations who are members of the Asian Football Confederation. Qualification The 'developing' 14 nations in the Asian Football Confederation were invited to nominate one ...

Death

Júnior collided with

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

goalkeeper

Subrata Pal Subrata Paul (born 24 December 1986) is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Considered one of India's best goalkeepers, he was awarded the Arjuna Award by the government of India in 2016. Club career Mohun Ba ...

, in the 78th minute of the Federation Cup finals. While scoring his second goal after chasing the ball into the box, he collided with the keeper, staggered away and then collapsed. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. The game continued after Junior was taken off the field. He was dead on arrival at Hosmat Hospital. Hospital officials said that no doctors were requested to be at the ground during the Federation Cup match. "At no time, was the hospital requested to provide doctors, and no agreement or contract for doctors was made." Dempo won the Cup 2-0. According to the autopsy performed in the Bangalore Hospital (where Junior was moved from the stadium), the footballer died because of a heart stroke. The report also added that Júnior was not injured at the moment of the arrival to the health center. Dempo announced that they would retire Júnior's #10 shirt. It filed a complaint of criminal negligence against Subrata Pal, Hosmat Hospital, and the

Karnataka State Football Association The Karnataka State Football Association (abbreviated KSFA), formerly the Mysore Football Association, is one of the 36 Indian state football associations that are affiliated with the All India Football Federation. The KSFA administers associat ...

, the local organizers. Pal was suspended for 2 months.

Honours

Individual

* 2003-04 National Football League (India): Golden Boot (''15 goals'')

References

External links

1979 births 2004 deaths Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers CR Vasco da Gama players Olaria Atlético Clube players Criciúma Esporte Clube players Sampaio Corrêa Futebol Clube players América Futebol Clube (RN) players Expatriate men's footballers in India Dempo SC players Sport deaths in India Association football players who died while playing East Bengal Club players Cristiano Men's association football forwards 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen {{Brazil-footy-forward-1980s-stub