Remember the 12 boys of a Thailand football team Wild Boars, who were trapped inside a cave for 18 days before being finally rescued? Well, they just got to meet some of the biggest stars in English football, thanks to Manchester United.
On Saturday, the Manchester United invited the Wild Boars team to their Carrignton training ground where they were met with the club’s manager Jose Mourinho. The team then went on to join the team at Old Trafford, and cheered for the Red Devil’s in the Premier League match in which Manchester United beat Everton 2-1. In fact, the invitation had been extended in July itself.
This is not the first time that the Wild Boars Football Club team, which attracted world attention in July after the dramatic and protracted efforts to rescue them and their coach from the Tham Luang caves in Northern Thailand.
They had been invited earlier by FIFA to attend the final of the Football World Cup in Moscow, Russia in July. However, since the date was too close to the boys’ rescue, they were unable to make it. Earlier this month, the boys had been invited by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to Buenos Aires to attend the 2018 Youth Olympic Games. The group also played a friendly match in Argentina. And after a month of travelling, it seems the boys thoroughly enjoyed their time with the English team at Old Trafford.
Manchester United posted photos and videos of the Thai boys interacting with club members on Twitter and have since been receiving widespread appreciation from fans across the world.
Jose meets the Wild Boars ❤🙏
It’s a pleasure to welcome the young Thai footballers who were rescued from a cave earlier this year. #MUFC pic.twitter.com/tcMVUzUJl6
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 27, 2018
They boys got to meet Premier League stars including Paul Pogba, Ander Herrera, Fred Rodriguez, Andreas Pereira and Diogo Dalot among others.
Welcome to #MUFC, Wild Boars! 😍 pic.twitter.com/lb3fLppDwW — Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 27, 2018
That’s not all, the boys also got to meet and watch the match with English football legend Eric Cantona.
A moment to savour for today’s special guests at Old Trafford.
The young Thai footballers who were rescued from a cave in July met Eric Cantona during our win over Everton – it was a pleasure to welcome them along. pic.twitter.com/nBvYcP0qwe
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 28, 2018
A special day for the Wild Boars Football Team. ✨ #MUFC pic.twitter.com/n8E05VYEnb
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 27, 2018
The boys had earlier met another football star and currently the LA Galaxy forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the sets of the Ellen Show in October. The boys had been on set with Ellen DeGeneres when they were surprised by Ibrahimovic who appeared on the show along with the boys and their coach and hailed their bravery.
WATCH: Zlatan Ibrahimovic surprises Thai Boys Soccer team rescued from cave on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" https://t.co/Axwa8TBLIE pic.twitter.com/phTa8wL7WB
— Tinseltown Stars (@Tinseltown_Star) October 20, 2018
(This article was originally published on October 29, 2018)
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