March 9 – Thousands of fans and representatives of every Serie A club turned out on Thursday for the funeral of former Fiorentina captain and Italian international Davide Astori, who died suddenly at the age of 31 last weekend.
Astori’s death left Italian football in a state of shock and all top-flight games were postponed on Sunday while both Fiorentina and Astori’s previous club Cagliari announced they would retire the defender’s number 13 shirt.
The funeral was held in Florence’s Basilica of the Holy Cross with such a large crowd that audio of the service was broadcast those outside, many of whom were in tears.
Astori, in his 10th Serie A season, was found dead in his hotel room in Udine, where Fiorentina had been due to face Udinese. It is believed that he died of cardiac arrest, according to the Udine prosecutor’s office. He made 289 Serie A appearances and played 14 times for the national team.
“You were the son and the brother that everyone would like to have,” said Fiorentina’s vice captain Milan Badelj. “Your parents didn’t put a foot wrong with you, Davide.”
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