A brace from Dusan Tadic and an effort from Kenneth Taylor in the second half were followed by Kudus' beautiful free kick with six minutes remaining.
Following a celebratory wheeling away, the 22-year-old pulled his shirt over his head to reveal a tribute to Christian Atsu that read, "RIP Atsu.".
Atsu was killed on February 6 in an earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey, and his body was discovered in Turkey on Saturday.
A day before the earthquake, he scored the game-winning goal against Kasimpasa during his final game for Hatayspor.
Atsu had planned to visit family, but after scoring and playing well, he cancelled his plane ticket, according to Hatayspor administrative manager Fatih Ilek, who made this revelation later.
Atsu played for Newcastle United, Chelsea, and Everton in the Premier League, aiding the Magpies' 2017 promotion. He played 65 times for Ghana at the international level, scoring 10 goals.
Many players paid tribute to him, including Kudus, a fellow Ghanaian international, who later thanked referee Pol van Boekel for not showing him a yellow card.
Just before the game started, Van Boekel and Kudus were seen talking, but nothing more was said. Kudus outlined in his post-game interview: "We have football rules but this is beyond football, this is about life and death.
"The referee told me it's not allowed (shirt removal) but he understands because this is a bigger situation than football. A big respect from me to the referee."
His native Ghana has received Atsu's body back. Armed forces personnel from Ghana carried the coffin after their late Sunday night flight to Accra.
No comments:
Post a Comment