By Paul Nyathi|FRENCH football has been plunged into mourning – after a player died from a heart attack on the pitch.

USON Mondeville defender Mamadou Camara, 26, collapsed in training on Friday and while emergency services and club staff raced to his aid, they were unable to save him.

Camara, whose family hail from Senegal, leaves behind a wife and young child.

He combined his playing duties with coaching Normandy-based Mondeville’s youth team.

The club, in the fifth-tier of French football, paid an emotional tribute to Camara on Facebook.

They wrote: “Mamadou, we will keep you in our hearts forever. We will keep your name on our shirts.

“We will never forget the great person that you were, your charm, generosity, fighting spirit and joy for life.

“We are thinking with all our hearts of your wife, your child, your family and your friends, and we will be at their sides for ever. With love from your club.”

Mondeville sporting director Laurent Glaize added: “He was a happy and committed guy.

“The players and staff decided to play their match at the weekend in his honour, rather than to mourn in their own homes.”