Taiwo Ojoye
16 August 2021
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BORDEAUX star Samuel Kalu collapsed on the pitch just five minutes into his side’s Ligue 1 clash with Marseille this evening.
But after receiving treatment from medical staff, the Nigerian was incredibly allowed to play on.
Eventually, sense seemed to prevail, with the star being precautionarily substituted eight minutes later.
Kalu, 23, had been preparing to form a defensive wall at a free-kick when he collapsed to the turf in the 25 degree Marseille heat.
Concerned team-mates formed a human shield around him, the like of which was seen when Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest during Euro 2020.
Thankfully, however, Kalu appeared to be okay, remarkably getting up and playing on before the decision to come off was taken out of his hands.
He did touch the ball again in the match, but was soon replaced by Remi Oudin.
Opposition fans stood up to clap him off at Stade Velodrome.
The cause of the incident is not yet known.
Although it was not the first time Kalu has collapsed on the football pitch.
The winger was rushed to hospital on the eve of Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations opener in Egypt back in 2019.
Kalu collapsed in training on that occasion, due to what was described at the time as ‘severe dehydration’.
He had been taking a corner when the scary incident occurred, but was thankfully okay after treatment