Sad Day in Football As Top Italian Goalkeeper Loses Long Battle to Brain Tumour at Age 28

Sad Day in Football As Top Italian Goalkeeper Loses Long Battle to Brain Tumour at Age 28

  • Italian goalkeeper Daniel Leone has been announced dead after losing long battle to a brain tumour
  • The former Reggiana and Pontedera shot-stopper passed on seven years after being diagnosed with the deadly disease
  • Italy international and Napoli defender Giovanni Di Lorenzo paid an emotional tribute to the goalkeeper who died at 28

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Former Reggiana goalkeeper Daniel Leone has passed on at the age of 28 after enduring a brain tumour since 2014, Italy 24 News, Mirror.

The shot-stopper discovered the illness shortly after he joining the club that currently plays in Serie C.

Italian, Goalkeeper, Daniel Leone, Long battle, Brain tumour
Italian goalkeeper Daniel Leone loses long battle to a brain tumour at age 28. Image: @danielleone12
Source: UGC

Leone's battle for survival

Leone underwent successful surgery and return to the game in 2017 as he joined Catanzaro for another spell.

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He was forced to retire from the round leather game after the recurrence of the disease as he underwent another surgery and a course of chemotherapy.

Leone had been keeping tabs with his fans on Instagram while he was recovering after hanging up his gloves.

The talented goalie finally gave up the ghost after seven years of enduring the discomfort the sickness brought to him and his family.

He once posted on his social media handle with a photo of him embracing his girlfriend and captioned it:

"Let's hold tight that all this hell will end."

Tributes to Leone

Napoli defender Giovanni Di Lorenzo also paid tribute to Leone:

"Rest in peace, my friend."

His former teammate Christian Puggioni

"After four years of battle, however, today you're gone. The emptiness you leave is immense, and some might think you lost the most important game of your life.
"You taught the courage to live through suffering with strength and hope. You taught, that you can leave your name, branded in people's memory, with example and courage."

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Source: Briefly News

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Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.

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Tshepiso Mametela Tshepiso Mametela is a seasoned journalist with eight years of experience writing for online and print publications. He is an evening/weekend editor at Briefly News. He was a general news reporter for The Herald, a senior sports contributor at Opera News SA, and a reporter for Caxton Local Media’s Bedfordview and Edenvale News and Joburg East Express community titles. He has attended media workshops, including the crime and court reporting one by the Wits Justice Project and Wits Centre for Journalism in 2024. He was a member of the Forum of Community Journalists (FCJ) from 2018 to 2020.