Assou-Ekotto: Muamba collapse was surreal

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Tottenham full-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto has revealed his fear at witnessing Fabrice Mumba suffer a heart attack on the pitch during his side's abandoned game against Bolton.

The Cameroonian was close to Muamba when he collapsed and has since gone on to admit that the whole ordeal has left a mark on him.

"When I saw him lying on the pitch at White Hart Lane, I was scared," he told The Evening Standard.
"Scared for him, scared for his family, his friends and all those people who know him and who care about him

"I was also scared because he was just like me. He is young, supposedly fit - an athlete - who a few seconds ago was running up and down the same pitch as me

"I had flashbacks of what had happened to my countryman, the late Marc-Vivien Foe.

"You want to stop these thoughts but the pictures keep coming into your head and I must say I was scared.

"Scared as I wondered how it could all just end like that for a young man? I could see the same questions in the eyes of my team-mates, the Bolton players, our bosses and their colleagues.

"And I learnt a new word as I tried to make sense of it late on Saturday: surreal."

Despite being shaken by the incident, the left-back expressed his belief that it has brought people together and went on to praise both sides' managers and fans for their reaction to the game being called off.

"When the referee spoke with the two managers about abandoning the game, there was no hesitation," he added.

"When it was announced to the fans that the game would not continue, there were no complaints.

"People who had travelled from far and near were all focused on the wellbeing of Fabrice and nothing else mattered.

"They silently made their ways out of the stadium. When we sat in the dressing room afterwards we spoke only of Fabrice."

The Cameroon international also believes that the way the footballing community and the wider world at large has reacted to Muamba's plight has been touching.

He continued: "I have seen messages from people from the very far corners of the world all wishing Fabrice well. I have seen people who care very little for football talk about Fabrice.

"This is the true beauty and power of football. It connects people in a way that is hard to describe. It is this that I feel is the magic of the moment." 

Source http://goal.com