Soccer player Christian Atsu was found dead in Turkey earthquake

Ghanaian soccer player Christian Atsu, who competed in the English Premier League and at the World Cup, was discovered dead in Turkey under earthquake debris. He was 31.

The city of Antakya, which is in the Hatay region and was the hardest struck by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that has killed at least 45,000 people in Turkey and Syria, is where search teams found Atsu’s body.

Hatayspor, a Turkish Super Lig team headquartered in the city’s southeast, was where Atsu was playing. On February 5 against Kasimpaşa, he scored the game-winning goal just hours before the earthquake.

After working at nine different clubs across five different nations, he relocated to Turkey. As a young winger, he made his debut for FC Porto in Portugal before joining Chelsea in England. Then, from 2016 until 2021, he played for Newcastle United for five seasons.

His death was confirmed by his representatives, and the news devastated those clubs, his former colleagues, and soccer fans worldwide.

In the team’s first tweet following the earthquake, Hatayspor stated, “There are no words to adequately express our sadness.

Atsu’s body, according to Hatayspor, was being returned to his hometown of Ghana.

Ada Foah, a coastal city east of Accra, is where Atsu was born. He attended numerous soccer academies across the nation as a youngster before moving to Europe. At age 20, he made his senior national team debut for Ghana.

He represents his country at the 2014 World Cup at the age of 22. Six months later, he was named player of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations after excelling there. In total, he participated in more than 60 games for Ghana.

The nation’s soccer organization released a statement in which it offered its “heartfelt sympathies to his wife and children, the family, loved ones, and the football community.”

In a statement, the president of the country, Nana Akufo-Addo, continued: “Ghana football has lost one of its finest players and ambassadors, one who will be challenging to replace. We’ll miss him dearly.