Espanyol captain Jarque was just 26

Florence: Espanyol captain Daniel Jarque died of heart failure Saturday in the team hotel on the eve of a friendly against Bologna in Italy. He was 26.

Bologna said the central defender was found unconscious in his hotel room on Saturday night and was taken to a hospital, but “it was not possible to save his life.”

Espanyol said on their website that Jarque failed to respond to several attempts to resuscitate him.

“The doctor carried out CPR on the player and used a defibrillator, which showed that the arrest was non-responsive,” Espanyol said. “After a few minutes, the first ambulance arrived from the Florence emergency services, who tried again with the defibrillator they carried.

“The medical services continued carrying out CPR, administering adrenaline and atropine for an hour. But the player’s heart did not react, so finally that determined his death.”

An Italian sports daily said Jarque was on the phone with his girlfriend when he suddenly fell silent and the woman then alerted club officials.

Espanyol is on a pre-season training camp and had earlier held a practice session in Coverciano, a suburb of Florence. Sunday’s match against Bologna has been cancelled and the team will fly back to Barcelona.

Arsenal and Valencia held a minute’s silence in the middle of their pre-season friendly at Mestalla stadium Saturday .

Jarque joined Espanyol at the age of 12, making his debut in 2002 and being part of the team that won the Copa del Rey in 2006. Last month, Jarque was given the club captaincy. He also helped Spain win the European under-19 championship in 2003.

Barcelona and Real Madrid, both on tour in the US, sent their respect. “That such a young man, a great professional and sportsman, has suffered this has left us very upset. From here, our sincerest condolences,” Raul said.

(AP)