Midfie­lder’s mind turned immedi­ately to former teamma­te Abdelh­ak Nouri as he scored in the 34th minute­AMSTERDAM: Thoughts of Abdelhak Nouri are never far away from Donny van de Beek, his best friend when the pair were breaking through to the Ajax Amsterdam first team three seasons ago. So when Van de Beek scored in the 34th minute of Tuesday’s Champions League victory at Juventus, his mind turned immediately to his former team mate, who suffered cardiac arrest during a pre-season friendly in Austria in July 2017. Despite being revived on the pitch and airlifted to a hospital, Nouri suffered serious and permanent brain damage. Van de Beek, who turns 22 on Thursday, still finds it difficult to address the issue. This isn’t certain, but it’s a possibility,” said the club’s general manager Edwin van der Sar at the time.

Source: The Express Tribune April 17, 2019 15:11 UTC