Sunday, May 9, 2021 at 8:18 PM• Yanick Vos • Last update: 20:28

PSV striker Eran Zahavi got the shock of his life on Sunday afternoon when he received a shocking phone call from his wife during the bus trip to Tilburg. While he was preparing for the match against Willem II, robbers entered his house. According to Rik Elfrink, club watcher on behalf of the Eindhovens Dagblad, Zahavi got his wife on the phone while the robbers were still in the house. Both before and after the game, the PSV players were ‘very impressed’ by the raid on their teammate’s house.

Arriving in Tilburg, Zahavi immediately left by car to his home in Amsterdam, where he lives because a larger Israeli community lives there and the striker and his family were able to acclimatize quickly. The robbery was committed by one and possibly two robbers; a suspect allegedly posed as a parcel deliverer to enter the house. The attacker’s wife and the children were reportedly threatened with firearms. Zahavi’s wife is according to The Telegraph tied up and abused in front of the children.

According to it Eindhovens Dagblad Zahavi’s wife panicked when she called him. The robbers made her call him to find out where the loot was. “Suddenly everything went through that bus,” said PSV captain Denzel Dumfries. “Not literally, of course, but we saw what was going on live.” German left back Philipp Max was also impressed by what was going on. “Eran said when he left that we had to concentrate on the game. The trainer informed everyone before the match that it was okay under the circumstances and that fortunately no one was injured. For us there was extra motivation to win and we succeeded. ”

“Our thoughts are with Eran and his family”, responded PSV coach Roger Schmidt after the 0-2 victory over Willem II in conversation with ESPN. “Fortunately no one was injured. Nevertheless, this is terrible for the whole family. Anyone can imagine how they are feeling right now. Everyone was shocked and wanted to win for Eran. We all hope his family is doing well. What more can I say? This is impossible to imagine. It is unbelievable.”

Before the match, Schmidt discussed Zahavi’s situation with the players group. “We had to inform the players, because Eran left immediately when he heard about it. We talked about it and gave everyone the opportunity to talk to family for a while, so that everyone entered the game with a good feeling. Then we tried to focus on the game. We wanted to win for Eran. ” PSV won in Tilburg through a goal from Donyell Malen and an own goal from Derrick Köhn.