Thirty minutes later the midfielder collapsed without warning in the centre circle. He died soon afterwards.

Cameroon captain Rigobert Song said on Friday he still could not believe what had happened to his great friend "Marco".

"It's terrible, I have never lived through anything like it. Marco wasn't ill, how could it have happened?" a sobbing Song said.

"We started as kids together, he and I. He's a neighbour from my district of Yaounde and now he's gone.

"We shared so many things when we arrived in Europe together. For me he was like a brother.

"Yesterday at halftime, his last words were 'Boys, even if it means dying on the pitch, we must win this semi-final'. And he was the victim. It's terrible."

Song said Cameroon, who won the semi-final 1-0, would try to win Sunday's final against France in Paris, but it would be difficult.

"We will pull ourselves together, we will try to win in memory of Marco," he said. "Seeing the reaction of the French players I think it's better to play because together we will make it a celebration of football.

"The final should be a celebration for Marco, our friend who has left us.

"After that we will take his body back to Cameroon and there the players will bury him."