The tragic death of Alex Manninger (1977-2026) has shaken the football world. “The news of his death leaves us deeply shocked. With him, football loses a very special person. In these difficult times, we express our deepest condolences to his family, friends and all those who were close to him. Much strength for the times to come! #RIP,” reads the tweet published by the Austrian Federation to announce his death.
The former goalkeeper for RB Salzburg, Arsenal, Fiorentina, Espanyol, Torino, Bologna, Udinese, Juventus, Augsburg and Liverpool, among others, has died at the age of 48 in a car accident.
The Austrian goalkeeper was reportedly run over while driving by a commuter train near Salzburg, his hometown. According to Kronen Zeitung, the accident occurred at 8:20 in the morning at an unguarded level crossing
The Red Cross and firefighters arrived quickly and, despite managing to rescue the footballer from inside the vehicle, resuscitation efforts, including a defibrillator, failed to prevent his death. Fortunately, the 25 passengers and the train driver were uninjured.
The circumstances surrounding the accident are not yet known, nor is it known whether the level crossing’s red light was activated in time. However, the public prosecutor’s office will continue to investigate. “Due to the type of vehicle, it is possible to analyze the electronic data precisely and thus the behavior of the driver,” said expertGerhard Kronreif, who was present at the scene of the tragedy, in a statement reported byKronen Zeitung.
A strange blank step by Espanyol
A total of 320 games endorse the career of
In 2002 he signed for Espanyol. He arrived from Arsenal for 1.5 million euros and left just two months later, in August 2002, without even making his debut. “I came here and signed with the intention of staying. I don’t understand anything,” he told MARCA at the time.
There were disagreements between Arsenal and Manninger when it came to settling his contract, which caused the club to delay sending the transfer to Espanyol and this, in turn, led to the ‘Pericos’ withdrawing from the Federation the guarantees they had deposited to register him and opting to sign Sergio Sanchez
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