Thousands of people, including Fifa president Sepp Blatter, paid tribute to Cameroon international Marc-Vivien Foe at a special service in Lyon on Thursday.
The midfielder collapsed and died during his team´s Confederations Cup semi-final win over Colombia a week ago.
Foe´s wife Marie-Louise, his children Scott, Lesley and Angela, his father Martin and his brother Emmanuel were in attendance, all dressed in white.
They were joined by members of the Cameroon squad and players from his former French clubs RC Lens and Olympique Lyon.
Foe´s former English teams West Ham United and Manchester City also sent delegations, the latter led by manager Kevin Keegan.
Foe´s coffin entered the cathedral to the sound of gospel hymns sung by a choir from Cameroon.
Blatter told mourners that he had come with sadness and emotion but also with faith and hope.
"Death is a mystery which leaves us without answers, particularly when it strikes a man in
theprime of his life," said Blatter.
"Marc-Vivien Foe, you were an outstanding man, you had the gift of bringing people together. The 250 million members of the Fifa family can only bow to you with respect, solemnity and humility."
Speaking on behalf of the Cameroon team, striker Patrick Mboma described Foe as a lot more than just a football player.
"It´s impossible to tell you how much we are going to miss you," said Mboma. "Your smile will be indelibly printed on our minds. To the man Marco we only say farewell".
The coffin then left the cathedral in the midst of black-clad guard of honour from the Cameroon team.
The body will be flown to Cameroon on Saturday with his former team mates on board the plane. The funeral is due to take place on July 12 in the capital, Yaounde.
The causes of the 28-year-old´s death have not been clearly established. The Lyon prosecutor´s office could only say the results would be known "late this week or early next week".
