His son suffered a cardiac arrest, he suffered permanent brain damage from the resuscitation, today he is a case of care – does the father still believe in a miracle? Mohammed Nouri takes a deep breath. “Yeah, sure,” he says before his voice fails. Then he points to his heart with watery eyes and softly says “sorry”.
It is one of many emotional moments in the TV show “De Wereld Draait Door”, in which the Dutch television station NPO1 investigated the question on Thursday evening: How is Abdelhak “Appie” Nouri? That talent from Ajax Amsterdam whose promising career ended so abruptly with that tragic stroke of fate in a friendly against Werder Bremen on July 8, 2017. The answer: a little better.
“Appie is fine. So as good as possible, ”reports Brother Abderrahim in the darkened TV studio that he is now being looked after by his loved ones at home. Around the clock, seven days a week. “He is no longer in a coma. He is awake, he sleeps, he sneezes, he eats, he belches, but he does not get out of bed. ”Father Nouri speaks of a“ difficult test for us, but we do our best”.
The program shows pictures from better times. Gates of the little Appie, his way into the Ajax professional team, with whom he stormed into the Europa League final in 2017. A few weeks later everything was over. The fate of the now 23-year-old moved the football world, top stars like Cristiano Ronaldo encouraged the family. Ajax dedicated the 2019 Double to Nouri, at the party captain Matthijs de Ligt Papa Mohammed gave the championship trophy to the cheers of the fans. Everyone sang: “Appie, we love you.”
National player Frenkie de Jong reports on the show that he had asked Nouri for “advice” before transferring to FC Barcelona. The mother asked the son: “Where should Frenkie go?” At “Barcelona” he raised his eyebrows. The book “Abdelhak Nouri, an overrule room” (an unfulfilled dream), which was published on Friday, tells of such and similar moments.
Nouri’s family helps sympathy – and football. When the ball rolls on TV, you can feel “that he likes it very much,” reports Nouri’s brother: “Sometimes it is emotional, but often there is a smile. It is good for us. “
