Soufiane Rahimi has laid bare his anguish over his father's failing health, sharing a message of raw sorrow across social media. The Morocco international, so often seen at his sharpest on the pitch, showed a very different side of himself.
Pouring out his feelings, Rahimi wrote: "Nothing has broken me except my father's illness. My heart aches when he is in pain, and I have had enough weariness, O God, I have no strength to see him suffer." It was a candid admission of the toll his father's condition has taken.
Prayer followed the pain. The Morocco forward raised his hands and pleaded: "O Lord, You know and see how much his illness breaks me, so have mercy on his weakness and be gentle with his condition, O Lord, heal my father."
He closed by asking his followers to pray for his father's speedy recovery, an appeal that laid bare how much he needed support through his family's ordeal.
Thousands responded within moments. Messages of solidarity and prayer poured in from across the Arab world, a show of sympathy for a player who had opened his heart in a rare moment of vulnerability.
Rahimi did not reveal the nature of his father's illness. His words alone spoke to the pain of watching the man who was his first pillar of support battle for his health.