ABU DHABI // A group of orphans got to go head-to-head with one of the country’s leading football teams.
Twenty youngsters from countries throughout the MENA region - including Jordan, Yemen and Somalia - got the chance to play a game with some of top players in the UAE’s Arabian Gulf League on a pitch in the Mussaffah area of Abu Dhabi on Monday.
“It was such a pleasure to play football with the kids today,” said the Al Wahda team captain and former Arsenal midfielder Denilson Pereira.
“Since they don’t have families to support them, it’s really important for the local community to give them opportunities to have fun. They clearly enjoyed themselves and they also played really well,” he said.
The friendly game was part of a charity day organised by the Emirates Red Crescent and Gulf Marine Services, one of Al Wahda’s sponsors.
Hosting the event at their facilities, GMS, an Abu Dhabi-based barge builder and operator, gave the children a tour of their shipyard on the Mussaffah corniche, provided lunch pitchside after the game and gifted the children books and toys.
They also received a Dh20,000 donation by representatives of the Emirates Red Crescent who brought them in from orphanages across the UAE.
Duncan Anderson, GMS’ chief executive, thanked Al Wahda Football Club and their players for participating in the company’s Red Crescent Day and their good spirit throughout.
“To see [the children] smiling, laughing and playing with such enthusiasm warmed the heart and made all of us at GMS proud that we could offer them something to remember.”
tsubaihi@thenational.ae