‘Football for Friendship’ kids impress ex-Liverpool star Stan Collymore with their skills
RT’s booth at the FIFA Confederations Cup in St Petersburg was visited by young players from the Football for Friendship program on Saturday, with host and former Liverpool star Stan Collymore saying some of the kids had great prospects.
Boys and girls from the US, South Korea, UK, Finland and Egypt, as well as Mahmoud from Damascus in Syria, who said that he was a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo, took part in the football exhibition.
This little dude is from Damascus, Syria. Fun, chatty, loves his football. A very humbling experience to see this kid happy ❤️ pic.twitter.com/INEf5mPw4K
— Stan Collymore (@StanCollymore) 1 июля 2017 г.
They first played ball with Collymore at the historic Dvortsovaya Square in the heart of St. Petersburg, impressing the former England international with their skills.
“Some of those kids… well, they could have a future” in the game, Collymore, who is part of RT’s team at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia, said.
After that, the young footballers were invited to RT’s booth to see with their own eyes how television is made.
The Football for Friendship (F4F) program is being implemented by the Russian gas giant, Gazprom, which is an official partner of FIFA and the UEFA Champions League.
It’s aimed at developing youth football through promoting tolerance and friendship between children from different countries.
Twelve-year-old kids from 64 nations in Europe, Asia, Africa, South and North America are taking part in the program in 2017.
They travel the world, get to know each other and play football in teams randomly put together with players from different countries.
“I don’t doubt that this project is very important indeed for many countries because there are 64 countries taking part in this fifth season,” the chairman of the Gazprom board of directors, Viktor Zubkov, told RT.
“They are countries where today there may be relationships with certain other countries that might not be too healthy. We have India and Pakistan and many more places where there may be conflicting situations with neighbouring countries. But the children here are playing in one international team. The values that are promoted in this social project are those of equality, friendship, peace and healthy lifestyle as well," he added.
The FIFA Confederations Cup, which is Russia’s dress rehearsal ahead of the World Cup next year, concludes on Sunday. Germany and Chile will face off in the final in the St. Petersburg Stadium, with Portugal and Mexico to meet in the third place playoff.
