De Nigris dies due to heart attack

Former Mexican international and globetrotter Antonio De Nigris has died of a heart on Sunday evening as confirmed by ESPN Deportes as well as FutBlogTotal.

What started out as a rumor early in the evening was finally confirmed by Monterrey president Jorge Urdiales to all media local and domestic media outlets.  De Nigris' brother Aldo, currently place on that squad.

"Right now what we know is that he went into cardiac arrest in his sleep over in Greece. Right now we're just thinking about how we can console (his brother) Aldo and his family," said Urdiales.

De Nigris was currently playing for Greek first division side AE Larissa after he had made stops in Spain (Villarreal, Polideportivo Ejido), Colombia (Once Caldas), Brazil (Santos), and Turkey (Gaziantepspor, Ankaraspor, Ankaragücü ). 

The very popular striker started his career back  in 1999 with Monterrey and was one of the most promising stars of the Mexican league alongside Braulio Luna.  His goalscoring ability helped him move on to play with Club América in Mexico as well as Puebla before moving to Spain.  He made a brief stop at Villarreal and then was sent to second division side Poli Ejido.  He would make a very awkward move for a Mexican player as he went to Colombian side Once Caldas in 2004 instead of going back home.  That move paid off as he was part of the team that won the Copa LIbertadores that year, knocking off South American giants Boca Juniors in a memorable final.  He would also be part of the Once Caldas side that took FC Porto to penalty kicks but eventually losing in the end.  

The following year he would find himself in another international final against Boca Juniors, this time with Mexican side Pumas.  Luck would not be with him that night as Pumas lost to the Argentines in penalty kicks as La Bombonera. 

Destiny saw him once again make another move, this time to Brazilian powerhouse Santos, but it was not to be for him as he got very little time and was not able to perform up to par with what was expected of him.  His swing through Turkey saw him with go through some good run of form as well as limited play in his two and a half seasons there.  After being sent on loan to Ankaragücü earlier this year, De Nigris was sold to AE Larissa

De Nigris' ability to score allowed him to earn a spot on the Mexican national team.  He earned 16 caps and scored four times and was part of the Copa América side that came in second place on Colombia back in 2001.  He would return to the national team in February 2008 under Hugo Sánchez and would be on the losing side of a 2-0 against the US.  His final match was against Ghana the following month with Mexico winning 2-1. 

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