KREFELD: Steve Gohouri, the former Ivory Coast World Cup defender, has died in Germany aged 34.

The body of Gohouri, who played 12 times for the Ivory Coast and was in their squad at the 2010 World Cup finals, was found in the Rhine in the western German city of Krefeld.

Police said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding Gohouri’s death.

Gohouri moved from Ivory Coast to France as a five-year-old, where he was raised in the suburbs of Paris.

He 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.

On December 12, he was reported missing after attending the Christmas party of his German club TSV Steinbach. He was meant to visit his family in Paris but never arrived.

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