Colombian star Rincon dies aged 55 after car crash

BOGOTA: Colombian former international midfield star Freddy Rincon died on Wednesday aged 55 of injuries he sustained in a traffic accident, doctors said. Rincon suffered a severe head injury following a collision on Monday between the vehicle he was travelling in and a bus in the city of Cali.

The former Real Madrid and Napoli ace underwent almost three hours of surgery before being transferred to intensive care, but died on Wednesday. “Despite all the efforts made by our medical and care team, the patient Freddy Eusebio Rincon Valencia has died today,” said the Imbanaco Clinic in Cali, which was treating him.

Colombia’s football federation, the FCF, said his death was “a great loss” and “we will miss him and remember him with great affection.”

Rincon was born in Buenaventura and was known as the “Colossus”. He was a star of the Colombia side that played at the World Cup in Italy in 1990 and also featured at two more World Cups. Rincon spent much of his career in Brazil, playing for Palmeiras and Corinthians, where he won the Club World Cup in 2000. “It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to a great idol. Our captain in the first world title, Freddy Rincon, passed away in the early hours,” Corinthians tweeted.

Rincon was part of the Colombian team that qualified for the 1990 finals, ending their 28-year absence. He is remembered for a last-minute goal in their 1-1 draw against West Germany, the eventual World Cup winners. Rincon started his career in the 1980s with Santa Fe and America de Cali before joining Palmeiras. He also had a stint with Napoli and then joined Real Madrid.

Rincon spent only one season at the Bernabeu and in a 2012 interview with the Spanish daily Marca spoke of the “very marked racism” he had suffered at Real Madrid. He hung up his boots in 2004 after a final season with the Corinthians. The midfielder was previously involved in a serious traffic accident in 2013 in which he suffered several fractures and a head injury.