Besart Abdurahimi and Lokeren have been dealing with a diffucult situation after the tragic death of teammate Greg Mertens.

Besart Abdurahimi actually knew Greg Mertens quite well since they were in a similar position with the club. When healthy, they mostly began on the bench before getting a chance later in the game. Then, Abdurahimi suffered a long-term injury. Upon his return, he played for Lokeren’s reserve team which is where Mertens tragically lost his life.

Mertens, needing match fitness due to limited opportunities with the first team, played for the reserves last week and that’s when he collapsed around the 16th minute. He was immediately rushed to a hospital where he was in a coma. Days later, he tragically lost his life as there was nothing the doctors could do.

The Lokeren teammates of Mertens took the news hard, as can be expected. They were all shaken and had a difficult time concentrating to play in a game. That could be seen this past Friday when Lokeren once trailed Westerlo 4:0 before then scoring three goals to make it a 4:3 final, one of the goals coming from Abdurahimi.