Marc-Vivien Foé was a Cameroonian international footballer, who played in midfield for both
club and country.
With success in the French League, and stints in England in the Premier League, his sudden
death, while in the middle of an international competitive fixture, came as a shock to the
worldwide footballing community.
He was posthumously decorated with the Commander of the National Order of Valour.
Biography Foé was born on 1 May 1975 in Yaoundé.
He started as a junior with Second Division Union Garoua.
Moving to Canon Yaoundé, one of the biggest clubs in Cameroon, he won the Cameroon Cup
in 1993.
His international debut was against Mexico in September 1993.
The following year, he was included in the Cameroon squad for the 1994 World Cup, starting
all three of Cameroon's matches.
Marred by financial and disciplinary disputes, the 1994 Cameroon squad was a shadow compared
to the quarter-finals in 1990.
Cameroon mustered just one point from three matches, and finished with a 6–1 defeat
to Russia.
However, Foé's performances prompted interest from European clubs.
After turning down Auxerre for a trainee position, he signed for another French club, RC Lens
of Ligue 1.
His debut on 13 August 1994 was a 2–1 win against Montpellier.
In five seasons at Lens, he finally won the 1998 French league title.
In 1999, he was targeted by Manchester United, but refused a £3 million offer.
Further negotiations were curtailed abruptly after he broke a leg at Cameroon's pre-World
Cup training camp, and missed the 1998 World Cup.
Shortly after his recovery, he moved to English Premier League club West Ham United, for a
club record £4.2 million in January 1999.
He played 38 league matches for West Ham, scoring one goal against Sheffield Wednesday.
He also scored a goal in West Ham's 3–1 win against NK Osijek in the UEFA Cup.
In May 2000, he moved back to France's Lyon on a £6 million transfer.
He missed much of the season from malaria.
After recovery, he won the French league Cup in 2001, and the French league title in 2002.
He was on the Cameroon squad in the 2002 World Cup.
As in 1994, he played in all of Cameroon's matches.
Though the team performed better since 1994, they were again eliminated.
At the group stage, they beat Saudi Arabia, drew with Ireland and lost to Germany.
Foé returned to the Premier League, loaned to Manchester City in the 2002–03 season
for £550,000.
His debut on the opening day of the season was a 3–0 loss to Leeds United.
Foé was a first team regular for Kevin Keegan's team, starting 38 of 41 matches.
His first goal for the club came against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on 9 December 2002,
and he scored five more goals in the next month.
Of nine total, the last was most significant.
His second goal in a 3–0 victory against Sunderland on 21 April 2003 was the club's
final goal at their Maine Road stadium.
Death
Foé was part of the Cameroon squad for the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, a tournament
played between continental champions.
He played in wins against Brazil and Turkey, and was rested for the match against the United
States, with Cameroon having already qualified.
On 26 June 2003, Cameroon faced Colombia in the semi-final, held at the Stade de Gerland
in Lyon, France.
In the 72nd minute of the match Foé collapsed in the centre circle, with no other players
near him.
After attempts to resuscitate him on the pitch, he was stretchered off the field, where he
received mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and oxygen.
Medics spent 45 minutes attempting to restart his heart, and although he was still alive
upon arrival at the stadium's medical centre he died shortly afterwards, in spite of the
efforts to save his life.
A first autopsy did not determine an exact cause of death, but a second autopsy concluded
that Foé's death was heart-related as it discovered evidence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy,
a hereditary condition known to increase the risk of sudden death during physical exercise.
Foé's death caused a profound shock.
Numerous tributes to his joyous personality and infectious humour were expressed in the
media.
Also Thierry Henry and other players pointed to the sky in tribute to Foé after Henry
had opened the scoring against Turkey in France's Confederations Cup semi-final that evening.
It was suggested that the Confederations Cup and the Stade Gerland could have been renamed
after him, and Manchester City manager Kevin Keegan announced that the club would no longer
use the number 23 shirt Foé wore during his successful season there.
At Manchester City's former ground, Maine Road, there is a small memorial to him in
the stadium's memorial garden, and on the walls of the players' tunnel are plaques paid
for by supporters, with their names, dubbed the Walk of Pride.
The first plaque on the wall is for Marc and reads "Marc Vivien Foé – 1975–2003".
His first club has given his name to an avenue near the Félix Bollaert Stadium.
Foé was given a state funeral in Cameroon.
Lens decided to withdraw the number 17 shirt that Foé wore during five years.
Lyon also decided to withdraw the number 17 shirt that Foé wore a year before when he
played in Stade de Gerland with the Lyon team.
People in Lyon were shocked as he had received a warm welcome on his return to the stadium.
However when the transfer of fellow Cameroonian Jean II Makoun to Lyon, the number 17 shirt
was used by Makoun, who stated on wearing the number: "In memory of Marc, for me and
for the whole Cameroon, this will be for something."
Prior to the kick-off of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup final between United States and Brazil,
his son, then fourteen years old, gave a brief speech in memory of his father.
Career statistics
International goals Scores and results list Cameroon's goal tally
first.
Honours Club
Lens French Division 1: 1997–98
Lyon French Division 1: 2001–02
International Cameroon
Africa Cup of Nations: 2000, 2002 Individual
Confederations Cup Bronze Ball: 2003 See also
List of association footballers who died while playing
References
External links History, stats and pictures of Marc-Vivien
FOE Marc Vivien FOE : Actualité
Marc-Vivien Foe: The Most Indomitable of Lions Marc-Vivien Foé career stats at Soccerbase
A Tribute to Marc-Vivien Foe: 5 Years On