Former Croatian footballer Nikola Pokrivač has died in a tragic car accident at the age of 39. The Croatian Football Federation has confirmed this sad news. Throughout his football career, Pokrivač played for clubs like Dinamo Zagreb, AS Monaco, and RB Salzburg. He also represented Croatia 15 times between 2008 and 2010.
In 2015, he was forced to retire from professional football after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. However, he made a return in 2021 to amateur football and joined a lower-league side named NK Vojnic last summer.
As stated by the BBC, local media reported that he and three teammates from NK Vojnic were in the car involved in a four-vehicle crash in Karlovac, central Croatia, on Friday evening. It was also reported that the other people in his car were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. A 42-year-old person in another car also died in the accident.
“This is a great loss for our football community” – Marijan Kustic on the tragic news regarding Nikola Pokrivač
Regarding this tragic news, Croatian Football Federation president Marijan Kustic said: “Nikola was a great football player, who lived football until his last moment in this world, and who showed great courage in life by overcoming a terrible disease. This is a great loss for our football community, and especially painful for the family.”
“It is impossible to find words of comfort in such a shocking and unimaginably sad moment when we have lost a young life. I can only express my deepest condolences to Nikola’s family and loved ones for this irreparable loss, and the HNS [the national football association] and the Croatian football family will be with them in these most difficult moments,” Kustic concluded.
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