Dies sadly for the team (4)
I believe the answer is:
side
'the team' is the definition.
(both can mean a sports team)
'dies sadly' is the wordplay.
'sadly' is an anagram indicator.
'dies' anagrammed gives 'SIDE'.
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for side that I've seen before include "superciliousness" , "party" , "Competing players" , "Pretentious air" , "Edge - aspect - team" .)