January 4 – The tragic unexplained death of Steve Gohouri, the former Ivory Coast World Cup defender, has caused shock throughout his country and in Europe where he played most of his club football.
The body of Gohouri, who was just 34 and played 12 times for the Ivory Coast, was found in the river Rhine in the western German city of Krefeld. Police said there were no suspicious circumstances.
Gohouri, who was in the Ivory Coast squad for the 2010 World Cup finals, began his football career in France and also played in Israel, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Greece, Germany and England – joining Wigan Athletic in January 2010 from Borussia Monchengladbach.
He had been unaccounted for since attending the Christmas party of his German fourth-tier club TSV Steinbach. He was meant to visit his family in Paris but never arrived.
“This is terrible news,” said Mönchengladbach sporting director Max Eberl. “I got to know Steve as a person full of the joys of life and that’s how I’ll remember him. Our thoughts and sympathies are now with his family.”
Wigan posted a message of condolence on the club’s Twitter feed, which read: “We are saddened to hear reports of our former defender Steve Gohouri passing away. Our thoughts are with his family.”
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