Two Arsenal stars Ignasi Miguel and Damian Martinez had ‘an unforgettable memory’ yesterday in Vietnam on visiting a school of the visually impaired students in Hanoi and playing blindfold a football match with them.
Students of the Nguyen Dinh Chieu School and the two players were blindfolded to take part in the match with the ball having a bell inside.
“It was an amazing experience. How they manage to play so well only using their sense of hearing and team communication is beyond me,” Miquel was quoted by the club's website, www.arsenal.com.
“Their passion for football is amazing and so we’ve all really enjoyed coming here today to give them some coaching and hopefully make a positive difference to their lives,” he added.
Two Vietnamese players Trung Hieu and Le Duc Huong were selected by the Arsenal players as ‘the best players of the friendly match’ and each was gifted a ball with signatures of Arsenal players.
Arsenal's website also quoted Thai Van Khoa, principal at Nguyen Dinh Chieu School, as saying, “Our football team of visually impaired students was founded in 2003. It is our great pleasure to welcome the Arsenal players to our school. This is the first time our students have had the opportunity to meet them in person, the players that they adore. This means a lot to the kids and will inspire them.”
The event helped to further emphasize the commitment of Arsenal in bringing more opportunities of equality and diversity and football playing to make a difference to children all over the world.
Below are some images of the game taken by Tuoi Tre.
Damian Martinez and Ignasi Miguel greet fans ahead of the game (Photo: Tuoi Tre)
The football match is taking place on the volleyball stadium (Photo: Tuoi Tre)
Cheering during the first game in their life (Photo: Tuoi Tre)
Hearing for the ball to kick (Photo: Tuoi Tre)
Muscle up to defend the goalframe somewhere behind in a match whose result is not as important as having fun and sports spirit (Photo: Tuoi Tre)
Greeting fans at the end of the game (Photo: Tuoi Tre)
Players exchange experience and congratulate one another after the game (Photo: Tuoi Tre)
Holding the ball with signatures of Arsenal players (Photo: Tuoi Tre)
Sharing the gift (Photo: Tuoi Tre)
Damian Martinez gives signatures to the big crowd of fans with both hand and mouth (Photo: Tuoi Tre)