{"id":14147,"date":"2025-11-17T02:45:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T02:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/17\/former-international-soccer-player-dies-of-heart-attack-during-match-1-photo-international-news-afpbb-news-soccer-sports\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T02:45:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T02:45:30","slug":"former-international-soccer-player-dies-of-heart-attack-during-match-1-photo-international-news-afpbb-news-soccer-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/17\/former-international-soccer-player-dies-of-heart-attack-during-match-1-photo-international-news-afpbb-news-soccer-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Former international soccer player dies of heart attack during match | 1 photo International News: AFPBB News Soccer | Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The world of soccer is mourning the tragic death of national team player Andriy Polunin, 55, who died after suffering a heart attack during a veterans&#8217; match in Lutsk, Ukraine. Polunin played nine games for the Ukrainian national team in the 1990s, scoring one goal in a Euro 1996 qualifier against Italy at San Nicola.<\/p>\n<p>Ukraine lost that match 1-3 and ultimately missed out on qualification. Polunin started his career in his native Ukraine, playing for defunct local team Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>He moved to Germany in search of more game time. During his time in Germany, Polunin played for 1.FC N\u00fcrnberg, FC St. Pauli and Rotweiss Essen.<\/p>\n<p>Tributes have poured in for the former defender from his former clubs, including Metalist 1925, who released a statement saying: &#8220;Metalist 1925 sends its deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Andriy Viktorovich. The club shares with you the pain of their loss.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>FC Karpaty Lviv also paid their respects, saying: &#8220;Everlasting memory of Andriy Polunin, sincere condolences to his family and friends.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>A prominent Ukrainian Twitter account shared: &#8220;Rest in peace, Andriy Polunin. He fell ill after playing in a veterans&#8217; match in Lutsk and passed away suddenly at the age of 54.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He added: &#8220;The former midfielder was an icon of Dnipro in the 90s, and also played for CSKA Kiev, Karpaty, Cliff Bass, Nuremberg, St. Pauli and Rotweiss-Essen. From January 1, he has been the Metalist 1925 chief scout.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>One supporter reacted: &#8220;I&#8217;m very sad about this news. I met him briefly once, watched him play many times and commented on him many times. He&#8217;s a really underrated player for me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Polunin retired from football in 2004. Since then, he has worked in various fields as a scout and athletic director.<\/p>\n<p>Between 2008 and 2012, he was with FC Navtovic Oktyrka, first as sporting director, then as president, before returning to the position of sporting director.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/football\/2134628\/ex-international-footballer-dies-55-after-suffering-heart-attack-during-match\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The world of soccer is mourning the tragic death of national team player Andriy Polunin, 55, who died after suffering a heart attack during a veterans&#8217; match in Lutsk, Ukraine. Polunin played nine games for the Ukrainian national team in the 1990s, scoring one goal in a Euro 1996 qualifier against Italy at San Nicola.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14147","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-matches"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Former international soccer player dies of heart attack during match | 1 photo International News: AFPBB News Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/17\/former-international-soccer-player-dies-of-heart-attack-during-match-1-photo-international-news-afpbb-news-soccer-sports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former international soccer player dies of heart attack during match | 1 photo International News: AFPBB News Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The world of soccer is mourning the tragic death of national team player Andriy Polunin, 55, who died after suffering a heart attack during a veterans&#8217; match in Lutsk, Ukraine. 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