Hungarian international Miklos Feher died on Sunday at a hospital after collapsing on the field during a Portuguese league match.
UEFA said on its Web site that he died of cardiac arrest. An autopsy was planned for yesterday.
The 24-year-old Benfica striker, who came on as a substitute 15 minutes into the second half, was given CPR on the field before being taken to Guimaraes hospital in an ambulance.
Benfica and Guimaraes said in a joint statement that he was treated for a heart attack.
Feher collapsed at 9:30pm GMT and was admitted to the hospital 9:55pm. He died at 11:10pm GMT.
"We tried to do everything we could to save him," Dr. Fausto Fernandes said.
Fernandes said the cause of death should be known sometime yesterday.
Feher had just been shown a yellow card in injury time for celebrating too long after Benfica's lone goal of the game, giving it a 1-0 lead with just minutes to play.
Feher smiled at the referee before leaning forward with his hands on his thighs and then suddenly falling backward.
"He fell heavily and didn't move. It was obviously something serious," referee Olegario Benquerenca said.
Medical staff from both teams ran onto the field and were joined by local emergency crews. He appeared unconscious when they reached him, and Benfica players held their heads in alarm.
His teammates later wept as they left the hospital where he died.
"It's a black day for us. I'm in shock," said Gilberto Madail, the president of the Portuguese soccer federation.
"On behalf of the Portuguese Federation I would like to express my deep regret for this situation. Life has unfair situations and all we can say is that our thoughts are with the family and friends of the player," Madail said.
Benfica won the match 1-0 and sits in third place in the league behind leader FC Porto and Sporting.
"This is obviously very sad news for soccer and for Portuguese sport," Portuguese secretary of state for sport Herminio Loureiro said. "As far as I have been able to discover, everything, absolutely everything was done to prevent this happening, both at the stadium and at the hospital."
Madail said there will be a minute of silence at the start of next weekend's league games.
"We are all in deep shock and would first like to address his family and send our condolences," Benfica spokesman Antonio Cunha Vaz said. "All the Benfica board and supporters are mourning our athlete, Miklos Feher."



