CROATIAN midfielder Nikola Pokrivac has been killed in a car accident aged just 39.

The ex-Monaco and RB Salzburg star won 15 international caps from 2008 to 2010.

Nikola Pokrivac, Croatian footballer for Red Bull Salzburg.Nikola Pokrivac has been killed in a car accident in Croatia

Pokrivac returned to football in 2021 after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma a decade ago.

He played for lower league side NK Vojnic after joining the club last summer.

Pokrivac was killed following a four-vehicle collision in Karlovac in central Croatia on Friday evening.

Local media claim he was joined in the vehicle by three Vojnic teammates.

Croatian Football Federation president Marijan Kustics said: “Nikola was a great football player, who lived football until his last moment in this world, and who showed great courage in life by overcoming a terrible disease.

“This is a great loss for our football community, and especially painful for the family.

“It is impossible to find words of comfort in such a shocking and unimaginably sad moment when we have lost a young life.

“I can only express my deepest condolences to Nikola's family and loved ones for this irreparable loss.

“The HNS [the national football association] and the Croatian football family will be with them in these most difficult moments.”

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