Nikola Pokrivac, former Croatian international with 15 matches on the national team, died in a road accident in Karlovac yesterday. The 39 -year -old footballer, who played at Dinamo Zagreb, AS Monaco and RB Salzburg, had recovered after a terrible disease.
Nikola Pokrivac died at the age of 39. Photo Getty Images
Pokrivac was a component of Croatia’s national teams at different age categories, accumulating 39 selections and 3 goals between 2001 and 2006. He debuted for the big national team on May 24, 2008, in a friendly match with Moldova, participated in Euro 2008, and played in a friendly against Romania in 2009, next to Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic.
Had passed through a bone marrow transplant
In 2015, the footballer was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, but returned after difficult treatments and a bone marrow transplant from his mother. After a period of recovery, he returned to professional football in 2016, but announced his final withdrawal in 2017. In recent years, he returned to the lawn, playing for NK Vojnić ’95, a band from the lower leagues of Croatia.
Nikola Pokrivac died yesterday in a tragic road accident in Karlovac. “We stayed together after training, talking about everything, including how it went beyond a serious illness. I went home and received the Groanzic news … There were four of our players there. Nikola was killed. The other three were injured. Two of the wounded fight for their lives.” He confessed one of his teammates, for Sportal.rs.
