Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring for Inter Milan on Saturday night – and dedicated the penalty to his former teammate Christian Atsu.
Earlier on Saturday, representatives for Atsu confirmed his body had been found under rubble12 days after a huge earthquake devastated Turkey, where the Ghanaian was playing for Hatayspor.
It was the 31-year-old’s latest club in a storied career, which included stints with Premier League clubs Newcastle United, Bournemouth and Everton – and it was at the latter where he played alongside Lukaku.
Inter Milan finished the game as 3-1 winnersdespite the clash being level at half-time. It leaves the club second in the Serie A table, 15 points behind runaway leaders Napoli.
After the successful kick, Lukaku pointed his fingers to the sky in tribute to Atsu, and then post-match, he made a post to Instagram paying tribute to his former teammate.
The 29-year-old wrote: ‘Rest easy brother. This one is a hard one to take … It was amazing to be around you. You’re humbleness and love for God. The way how you worked in training. The love you had for your family and kids.
‘May God give all the strength to your kids and family … God bless your soul. Love you always.’
The Belgian shared two pictures of the pair of them together in happier times at Everton, where Atsu made five loan appearances in the 2014-15 season.
Lukaku also shared a picture of his tribute after the goal, his first at the San Siro this season. On his Instagram story, he captioned it: ‘love you brother’.
Other members of the global football family have come together to pay their respects to Atsu,including ex-Chelsea captain John Terry, who hailed the Ghanaian as ‘one of the nicest people in football’.
Meanwhile,Allan Saint-Maximin, Rafa Benitez and Eddie Howe were among those who made tributes to Atsu ahead of Newcastle’s game with Liverpool on Saturday.
