Modern football is more and more about physicality than anything else. Everybody wants to high press all over the pitch, while technical qualities are in not is such demand as before. But, over the last couple of years/decades, tragedies on the football pitch have increased and they are usually connected with cardiac arrests. Marc-Vivien Foe, Antonio Puerta, Cheikh Tiote are just a couple of names so when you hear a story about a player who played his ENTIRE career with heart problems, one can only ask himself if this person loves football beyond all boundaries or is he just crazy.##TWITTER_<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Former Palace man Cheikhou Kouyaté has announced his retirement from football, citing a long-standing heart condition. ❤️💙 Wishing you all the best for the future, Cheikhou. 💪 #CPFC https://t.co/Hsk5XYUVzF</p>— Team Called Palace (@TCPalacePod) <a href="https://x.com/TCPalacePod/status/2107741540202229767?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>##So far, Cheikhou Kouyate hasn’t explained his reasoning, and what is worse, he never told anything to his family while he was playing. But now, when he finally decided to stop playing, the former Senegalese international reveled this secret. Apart from playing for the Teranga Lions, Kouyate racked up almost 300 games in the Premier League, playing for West Ham, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest.##TWITTER_<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This is so good to watch. A guard of honour for the AFCON champion 🇸🇳🏆 Cheikhou Kouyaté https://t.co/AvptK19bKj</p>— Juliet Bawuah (@julietbawuah) <a href="https://x.com/julietbawuah/status/1493584267804303363?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>##“I suffered from this heart problem since birth. I played with it. In England, it was monitored every six months. I had medical check-ups at West Ham, Crystal Palace, and Nottingham Forest. Every time I had the tests, the problem reappeared. The doctors always pointed out the problem to me, but I took responsibility myself. I signed the insurance papers stating that anything that might happen to me would be my responsibility. Anderlecht called me to play there and also to start training as a coach. But after the medical examination, the doctor asked me to stop playing football” Kouyate told Senegalese channel Walf TV.##LINKED_NEWS_24456##The Senegalese then explained his problem in detail.“The problem is at high altitude. If I play in the heat, it hurts terribly, during and after matches. It feels like a side stitch, for about five minutes, and then it goes away. When it happens, after the match, I get painful cramps. After 24 hours, it stops. I never said anything. I didn’t want to be forced to stop early. I never told my family, not even the national team doctors. They didn’t know about my problem” he explained.18:30 (3.05) Namungo FC (2.95) TRA United (2.40)