The 25-year-old man from Suzhou, near Shanghai, was found in front of his TV hours after the Netherlands beat Spain 5-1 in their first round game on Friday, which finished at around 5am Chinese time, and doctors said his death could have been caused by sleep deprivation¹（睡眠不足）.

 

The time difference between Suzhou and Brazil is 11 hours, meaning fans have to stay up through the night to follow the World Cup, and it appears this particular enthusiast²（狂热者） took things a little too far.

 

According to the Xinhua news agency, doctors said the death was related to an excessive lack of sleep, but couldn't be sure whether it was sheer exhaustion³ or a possible heart attack.

 

This is not a new problem in China, whose time zone rarely tallies⁴ with whoever is hosting the World Cup, and similar problems were reported for both the 2006 and 2010 tournaments.

 

So when you're thinking about staying up for that crucial Japan v Greece clash, maybe consider having a nap first.

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