January 9 – Former Cameroon and Paris St Germain midfielder Modeste M’Bami has died aged just 40 after suffering a heart attack.
M’Bami won two Coupes de France with PSG, in 2004 and 2006, as well as an Olympic gold medal with Cameroon at the 2000 Sydney Games when he secured his place in history with a “golden goal” winner in extra time.
As well as his time at French clubs, M’Bami, who won 37 caps for Cameroon, played in Spain, China, Saudi Arabia and Colombia before he returned to France to end his playing career at Le Havre in Ligue 2.
After retiring at the age of 35, he went back to his homeland.
Tributes flooded in from all corners of the footballing world, including from former teammates and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
“Such sad news,” Infantino said in an Instagram story underneath a black and white photo of M’bami. “RIP Modeste M’bami.”
The Confederation of African Football said it was “deeply saddened” while PSG and Marseille, where M’bami spent three seasons at each of them, posted messages of condolence.
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