A Lion never dies, It only sleeps...10 YEARS IN MIND, MARC - VIVIEN FOE!

Marc Vivien Foe was a defensive midfielder for Cameroon and a host of English clubs. He made the Indomitable lions thick because he was simply indomitable in midfield. He was a fighter up to the very end, but as they say a lion never dies it only sleeps.



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.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 didn't miss a single league game for the hammers.

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.

Foé returned to the Premier League, loaned to Manchester City in the 2002–03 season for £550,000. 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.

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, Foe went on a journey of no return as 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.

Amidst suggestions that the Confed cup final should be cancelled in honour of Foe, the match went on it was remembered for tears, not goals. Thierry Henry scored a golden goal to give defending champion France a 1-0 victory over grieving Cameroon.

With the widow of the 28-year-old midfielder watching from the official box, players from France and its former colony joined arms before and after the game, bonding to carry the burden of having to play the match. 

"For once, it was a match that I would not have minded losing," Henry said. "That's the first time I have felt like that about a game."

Cameroon goalkeeper Idriss Kameni kept thinking of Foe.

"I've hardly slept over the past few days. The images kept coming back into my head," he said. "We missed Foe on the field as a player and off it as someone we could lean on."



When they accepted their runner-up medals, Cameroon players wore green jerseys with Foe's No. 17 and carried a 5-foot-high photograph of him onto the podium. Cameroon captain Rigobert Song placed Foe's medal on a corner of the picture. 

"The result wasn't the most important thing here today. We did this for Marco," Song said. "It's just a pity we lost."

He's survived by a wife and three lovely children. One of which paid tribute to the fallen Lion during a 2009 confederations cup match to mark his 6 years remembrance.