The Croatian Football Federation (HNS) announced the tragic death of Nikola Pokrivac, a former Monaco player and Croatian national team member, in a car accident.
The accident took place on Friday evening in the city of Karlovac. According to Koha, a collision involving four vehicles resulted in the deaths of two people, including 39-year-old Pokrivac. Three others involved in the crash sustained injuries of varying severity.
Pokrivac, who represented Croatia in 15 matches, was part of the squad coached by Slaven Bilic at the 2008 European Championship.
Throughout his club career, he played for Croatian teams including Varteks, Dinamo Zagreb, Inter Zapresic, Rijeka, and Slaven Belupo, as well as for French club Monaco, Austrian side Salzburg, and Kazakhstan's Shakhter Karagandy.
Since 2015, Pokrivac had been bravely battling a serious illness—Hodgkin lymphoma.
