A heartwarming gesture
If you have not heard the story of Abdelhak ‘Appie’ Nouri, it is one of great tragedy. Nouri played for Ajax until he had to retire after suffering permanent brain damage after collapsing during a friendly in 2017 due to cardiac arrhythmia – a condition that causes one’s heart to beat at an irregular pace.
In August this year, he came out of a year-long coma and was said to be able to recognise and communicate with his family.
He had great talent, and would have climbed to the very top of the game had the tragic incident never occurred. Like all tragedies, the incident united the Ajax fanbase and the Dutch people more widely.
His former teammate, Justin Kluivert – son of Patrick – now plays for AS Roma, who beat Viktoria Plzen 4-0 tonight at the Stadio Olympico in the Champions League.
Kluivert bagged the fourth goal, and paid tribute to Nouri in his celebration, holding aloft a Roma shirt with his name printed on it to the crowd.
The pair were obviously very bonded at Roma and it is a reminder of the sad fact that Nouri will not have the luxury of progressing in his career as Kluivert will.
Justin Kluivert has scored his first-ever Champions League goal 🙌
He celebrated by paying tribute to former Ajax teammate Abdelhak Nouri ❤️ pic.twitter.com/3liFmhA1rK
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 2, 2018
