| 26/02/2021 – 18:06 (GMT-4)
The death of Cuban goalkeeper Alfredo Quintaba shocked the world of European handball this Friday, with a wave of reactions from major clubs, which have paid emotional tribute to the 32-year-old athlete.
The goalkeeper of the Portuguese national team for more than a decade suffered a cardiac arrest during a training session last Monday, but died this Friday morning after several days in critical condition.
The Royal Spanish Handball Federation lamented on Twitter the loss of one of the greatest exponents of sport in Europe.
“We were speechless. Our rival, our friend, Alfredo Quintana, a player of @ FCPorto and an international with @AndebolPortugal, has died at the age of 32. Our deepest condolences to family, friends and all of handball Portuguese “, he published.
The official FC Barcelona handball committee also expressed its grief over the goalkeeper’s death and observed a minute of silence during training on Friday.
“From FC Barcelona we join the grief of the world of sports and handball over the death of Alfredo Quintana. All our support and strength for his family and friends, for @FCPorto and by @AndebolPortugal. Eternal Quintana, “he said on the microblogging platform.
The Official Account of the Association of Spanish Handball Clubs (ASOBAL) posted “The @ASOBAL family wants to show all their support and extend their condolences to @FCPorto, @AndebolPortugal and the relatives and friends of Alfredo Quintana in the face of the painful news of his death there are no words of consolation on a day as sad as today. DEP “.
Likewise, the players of Recoletas Atlético Valladolid dedicated an emotional message to the Cuban, who arrived in Europe at just 21 years old, in 2009.
“The members of Recoletas Atlètic Valladolid and Valladolid handball want to convey their deepest condolences to the family of @ fcporto, relatives, colleagues and friends of Alfredo Quintana in the face of this sad news,” they said.
The Champion League also released a video showing Quintana in all his greatness representing the Portuguese national team, where he played for 10 years.
In Portugal, the Handball Federation published “Our Eternal Number 1”, alongside images of the Cuban.
Also, the Portuguese selection withdrew shirt number 1, In honor of the talented goalkeeper.
“The number 1 shirt will not be used again on our handball team, as proposed by President Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa to the address of FC Porto,” the Portuguese national team wrote in its profile official Twitter.
Like the clubs, the Portuguese have supported the tributes dedicated to Quintana this Friday and have proposed that the European Super Cup be named after him.
“They could put their shirt up for sale for a while and the money would go to the family. I think it would be a great way to ‘get back’ everything they’ve done for us all these years,” one said on Twitter.
“You can also take off the number 1 shirt and give the Super Cup the name of Alfredo Quintana,” another netizen suggested.
“Now all we have to do is change the name of Dragão Sorra and put a Quintana t-shirt in our museum where it will last forever,” a forero suggested.
Havana-born Quintana suffered a heart attack during a workout Monday and has since been treated in the intensive care unit at São João Hospital.
He lived in Cuba until 2009 and played for FC Porto 10 years ago.
In 2014, after nationalizing Portuguese, he made his debut with the Portuguese national team, with which he accumulated 72 international matches.