Illness on the pitch for Bove. The footballer in intensive care – Football

It was supposed to be a festive evening at the Franchi for the great match between Fiorentina and Inter tied in the standings.

Instead, at the 17th minute of the first half, darkness fell and the atmosphere of joy turned to fear, tears and desperation: Edoardo Bove, one of the jewels of Raffaele Palladino's team, arrived in the summer on loan from Roma where he was born and grew up, he collapsed on the pitch like an empty sack. At that moment, the VAR check was underway to assess the regularity of Lautaro Martinez's goal, probably triggered by a throw from a teammate with the ball off the line. Hence the Inter protests while the referee also clarified with the Viola coach. But then there was Bove's illness, shortly before he had changed his shirt, he was left shirtless, he had taken a blow between the chest and the spleen after a clash with Dumfries and it seems that he had signaled to his bench have some dizziness. Then the images told of the twenty-two year old midfielderand who ties his boots, takes a few steps, staggers, before collapsing on the pitch, unconscious, near Calhanoglu and Dumfries among the first to realize the gravity of the situation, while Bove's father, Giovanni, sat in the stands .

It was Danilo Cataldi who immediately assisted his partner by placing his hand in his mouth to move his tongue and thus avoid blocking the airway. Gosens was also with him, while the rest of the Viola and Nerazzurri players had tears in their eyes, they put their hands in their hair, their faces desperate. Fiorentina captain Ranieri was having a heated discussion with an ambulance attendant because the vehicle was not entering the pitch, Dimarco also ran like a fury to try to speed up the rescue. Approximately 4 minutes passed between the moment of the illness and the transport to the Careggi hospital. All amidst the fear and dismay of the over 22 thousand spectators present at the Franchi. Once the ambulance left the stadium (Bove would have had a heart attack) to everyone's applause, the teams sadly returned to the locker rooms. The decision was spontaneous and immediate, as Inter president Beppe Marotta explained later: match suspended. Then came the communication from the League: match postponed to a later date, probably mid-February, especially if Inter and Fiorentina have already qualified for the Champions League and Conference round of 16.

But what matters most to everyone is Bove's health: at the Careggi hospital, where his father, the Viola director Pradè, the Viola director Ferrari and then Palladino rushed to and his teammates, the boy regained consciousness and was subjected to a series of tests, before being admitted to intensive care, under pharmacological sedation, as explained by Fiorentina through a joint note with the same hospital. ''The player arrived stable from a hemodynamic point of view, at the emergency room, and the first cardiological and neurological tests carried out excluded acute damage to the central nervous system and the cardioresporatory system – continued the club note – Bove will be re-evaluated in the next 24 hours''. At the moment no one has wanted to comment on the causes of the illness.

In the meantime, many messages of support began to arrive, including the Viola president Rocco Commisso (''Come on Edoardo, we're with you, you're a strong boy with a great character'') who was immediately in contact from New York with the own collaborators. And then messages from colleagues, from Dimarco to Lukaku, and from the various clubs. Several fans also arrived in front of the hospital and wanted to put up a banner with the words 'Come on Edoardo, Florence is with you'. A city marked because it has already experienced several tragedies: Antognoni risked dying on the pitch after a game clash, Davide Astori suddenly lost his life while he was on retreat in Udine with the team before a championship match. And just under a year ago Fiorentina mourned the also sudden passing of general manager Joe Barone. Now he is rooting for Bove who together with his teammates has contributed so far to making the Viola team fly.

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