Hatayspor head coach, Volkan Demirel, has revealed conversations he had with the late Ghanaian winger, Christian Atsu, ahead of his final goal.
Demirel revealed that he told the former Black Stars winger to cross the ball, but Atsu informed his teammates that he would shoot, ultimately scoring an amazing goal.
“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,” says Demirel told the Athletic.
“I told him that’s 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 team-mates he was going to shoot, and he scored a beautiful free-kick.”
Christian Atsu was a victim of the twin earthquakes on February 6 in Turkey. He was trapped under the rubble for 12 days and was found dead on the 18th.
His body was repatriated to Ghana in March and given a state burial.