Did we lose the game?
Were the famous first words spoken by the recovering Fabrice Muamba to his father
Fabrice Ndala Muamba is one of many professional English footballers who are imports from Africa. Born in the erstwhile Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), Muamba's father fled the country in 1994 and sought asylum in the United Kingdom.
A natural athlete, Muamba joined the Arsenal youth team and was loaned out to Birmingham before making his move there permanent. His stay at St Andrew’s lasted only two years before he joined Bolton where he has made 130 appearances, including the illfated game at the White Hart Lane.
In the 41st minute, with the score poised at 1-1, Muamba collapsed on the right side of the pitch with nobody around. Rafael van der Vaart was closest to him and he brought the incident to the attention of the referee and what ensued showed how closely knit the football community the world over really is.
Dr Andrew Deaner, a leading UK cardiologist and Tottenham fan was brought from the stands to overlook the resuscitation of Muamba as Tottenham’s medical staff used the defibrillator on the fallen Bolton player.
Jermaine Defoe was inconsolable on the pitch as were a few fans that started to shed tears as they prayed for the former England under-21 international. The entire stadium started to chant his name as they willed him to get better and not a single fan complained when the referee decided to call the players from the pitch. Applause followed his whistle.
‘Pray 4 Muamba’ was trending worldwide. Gary Cahill wore the message under his Chelsea shirt and showed it to the world on scoring. Real Madrid’s players wore the message on their shirts before their game against Malaga.
Kevin Davies, captain of Bolton Wanderers and good friend of the late Gary Speed has already had to deal with the loss of the Welsh footballer in the past year. When faced with the prospect of losing another teammate, Davies said that football is “irrelevant” in this incident. It is the footballing world that has come together here and that dear player, is all that should be relevant. Even if you do “win the game!”