Mohammed Kudus reflected on the death of his friend Christian Atsu in the Johan Cruijff ArenA on Sunday. The attacking midfielder of Ajax scored a free kick against Sparta Rotterdam (4-0) in the final phase, after which he showed his undershirt when cheering. “Rest in peace, Atsu”, is the message from Kudus.
Although Kudus kept his competition shirt on, showing a message on an undershirt is also not allowed. Referee Pol van Boekel, however, stroked his heart with his hand and did not give a card to Ajax’s attacking midfielder, who, like Atsu, is of Ghanaian descent. Atsu’s body was found on Saturday. The 31-year-old Hatay attacker ended up under the rubble after the earthquake in Turkey and did not survive.
A beautiful gesture Mohammed Kudus after scoring a great free kick ???? pic.twitter.com/I0l821KRy5
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) February 19, 2023
Atsu came to sixty international matches for Ghana, the last of which was at the Africa Cup of 2019. Kudus would make his debut for the country later that year. “No, I never played with him,” Kudus confirms ESPN. “But I saw him play and I learned a lot from that. He also advised me a few times.” Kudus could show his message in the 85th minute after firing in a free kick, but had done so anyway.
“Even if I hadn’t scored I would still have taken my shirt off to send my condolences to his family and the rest of the world.” Kudus is grateful to Van Boekel for not handing out a yellow card. “The referee told me it wasn’t allowed, but he let it go because this is bigger than football.”