Former Roma star Zibi Boniek praised the response of all involved after Evan N'Dicka on field collapse yesterday.
The Roma defender is now in hospital after collapsing clutching his chest during their clash with Udinese. The match has been suspended to be resumed at a later date.
Boniek said on RAI Radio: "Football usually divides, but faced with these problems I saw a true, sincere, extraordinary union without speculation. I was happy that football isn't just about who is better than the other, but it's also about solidarity.
"When I watched the match and I saw N'Dicka on a stretcher, with his thumb raised I had a flash in the first half when he suffered a crazy elbow and there too he collapsed, touching the left side of his chest between his ribs.
"I hoped if it was this trauma that caused him breathing problems, I hoped it wasn't a heart attack. Today we have reassuring news. In the end everything went well."
The UEFA vice-president continued: "Football is less violent, in our time there were harder fouls. Today we play in much smaller spaces. There is much more contact, but the players are more physical. Every now and then there is some injury: when you jump from the head, you can't do it with your hands in your pockets. You also have to help yourself with your arms and elbows. There will always be some problems, it's a contact that can happen during a match."
On coach Daniele De Rossi's impact on Roma, Boniek concluded: "Daniele doesn't surprise me at all. Before he became a coach, in an interview I spoke about how he had the perfect cut to be a coach. He was already one on the pitch, he is one for the way he speaks, for the way he expresses himself. Yesterday he showed not only of being a good coach, but also a great group manager, a leader, he knows how to do things and knows how to manage stress well in such a difficult situation.
"I couldn't make a comparison with my coaches in the past, I had the lucky to have Trapattoni, then Liedholm and Eriksson, a very good coach on the pitch, then maybe we thought differently off the pitch."
More must-reads: