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IJSSELSTEIN, Netherlands – Up-and-coming football talent Noah Gesser and his teenage brother have been killed in a head-on collision.

Ajax’s 16-year old rookie was travelling with his 18-year old brother on Friday when their car reportedly collided with a taxi van on the United Nations Road in the Dutch city of Ijssekstein. Ajax is one of the top soccer clubs in Europe, and is based in Amsterdam.

Both the Gesser boys were killed in the crash. The driver and passenger on the taxi van were uninjured.

The 16-year-old signed for the Dutch side in 2018 and was included in the under-17 team for the upcoming season.

“Ajax has received the terrible news that Noah Gesser has passed away. The sixteen-year-old youth academy player was killed in a car accident with his brother on Friday evening,” the club said in a statement.

Noah Gesser was born on February 27, 2005 in IJsselstein. The young striker played his early years at Almere City and VVIJ.

He joined Ajax from Alphense Boys. This season he was set to play for the Ajax U17s.

A minute’s silence was observed prior to the exhibition matches of Ajax 1 and Young Ajax on Saturday afternoon.

Ajax players wore black armbands in mourning of Gesser’s passing. In addition, flags were flown at half-mast at the Toekomst sports complex.

“Ajax is deeply moved by this tragic event. The club wishes Gesser’s loved ones strength in the coming time in dealing with this immeasurable loss,” the Ajax club’s statement, released on Saturday said.

(Crash site photo credit: Pro Shots).