Hatayspor head coach, Volkan Demirel, has recounted his last experience with the late Christian Astu who lost his life to the deadly earthquake that hit Turkey in February.
The late Atsu was found dead together with the Hatayspor Director and thousands of people who died after an earthquake hit Hatay in Turkey.
Volkan Demirel in an exclusive interview with The Athletic gave a detailed encounter he had with the late Atsu before their last game.
In his narration he said;
“For two months he’d not played because of injury but in the week building up to the game he came to my office and said that he was ready to play. I told him that was good, but he wasn’t ready to start. In the last 10 minutes, we decided to put him on.”
“In the last minute, we got a free-kick and I was telling him to cross it, but he told his teammates he was going to shoot, and he scored a beautiful free-kick.”
“I was so happy for him because he’d been out for a while. He was a good player, but most importantly a good man, a good character, he helped everyone, he would always give money to staff. He had a very big heart.
“After the match, he said to me, ‘I want to keep playing’. The last time I saw him he was happy and then he was gone.”