ÖFB leads tributes to Besian Idrizaj

The Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) has led the tributes to Besian Idrizaj, the Austria Under-21 striker who died on Friday night after suffering a suspected heart attack.

Idrizaj, one of the country's brightest footballing prospects, passed away in his sleep at the age of 22. The ÖFB will hold a minute's silence in honour of the former LASK Linz and Liverpool FC player before Austria's friendly international against Croatia in Klagenfurt on Wednesday.

The forward had spent the 2009/10 season playing for Swansea City FC in English football's second tier. Swansea manager Paulo Sousa sent his condolences to the player's family, adding: "He was fighting hard to fulfil his dream and it's difficult to comprehend why that has been taken away from him at such a young age. The only saving grace is that he was close to the love of his family at the time."

Idrizaj was 16 when he made his Austrian league debut for LASK, before achieving wider prominence at the UEFA European U17 Championship in 2004. The following year Liverpool brought him to England, where he gained experience during loan spells with Luton Town FC and Crystal Palace FC before returning to Austria and FC Wacker Innsbruck.

Although Idrizaj had collapsed on the pitch while playing for Wacker, and again when training with his old club LASK, no heart problem was detected on either occasion.

The 12-times U21 international joined Welsh club Swansea last summer, going on to make three league appearances. According to Sousa: "He was getting better and stronger all the time, and by the end of the season all his team-mates could see what a talented boy he was. I fully expected him to show that talent to everyone next season."