Los Pericos mourn the sudden loss of their beloved captain

The world of Spanish football was saddened to learn that much-loved Espanyol captain Daniel Jarque died on Saturday night of a suspected heart attack. The 26-year-old was in an Italian hotel room on the eve of a friendly with Bologna on the phone to his girlfriend when he suddenly stopped talking, and it was his partner who alerted the emergency services. The club captain was 26.

Over 50,000 fans turned up at Espanyol’s brand new Estadi Cornellà-El Prat to mourn their loss yesterday, an impressive attendance considering the fact that the stadium has a matchday capacity of just over 40,000. In light of his squad number, a makeshift shrine was set up at Gate 21 of the arena and a silence was held at 21.00 last night.

[Marca]