Like many an avid football fan, I was saddened by the recent and untimely death of Alan Ball. The flame-haired midfielder was inextricably linked with England's solitary World Cup triumph in 1966, and was the second member of the team to pass away after Bobby Moore. What startled me, however, was the realisation that he also became the seventh member of England's 1970 World Cup squad to die. I decided to research the fate of these seven deceased players to detect any common threads. I propose no definite answers, but perhaps some food for thought.
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