Chilean miners flooded with football invites
MADRID, Spain (AP) — Invitations are flooding in for the freed Chilean miners to visit leading European and Latin American football clubs.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez invited the 33 to visit Santiago Bernabeu Stadium “to celebrate their lesson of life” while Manchester United were planning a similar reception.
“Right now, the first thing to do is to allow a prudent amount of time to go by so that they can recuperate from what they have lived through and later it will be a matter of fixing a date so that they can watch a match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium,” the club said on Thursday.
Manchester United legend Bobby Charlton, the son of a miner, has reportedly sent a recorded message to the Chileans inviting them to Old Trafford.
The last of the miners was freed on Wednesday, ending a 69-day ordeal in which they had been trapped more than 600 metres (2,000 feet) underground following a collapse on August 5.
Former Argentina coach Diego Maradona sent a message saying the miners’ liberation “was proof that miracles exist and you are one of them”. Boca Juniors coach Claudio Borghi said he would love to share a cup of tea with the men.
One of the miners, Franklin Lobo, was a professional player in the 1980s and 90s and formed part of the Chile national squad at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984. He celebrated his release by demonstrating his skills with a football.
Another of the men, Omar Reygadas, unfurled a Colo Colo team banner as he emerged.
Perez sent 33 signed Madrid shirts to the men, printed with the words “Have strength, miners”.
Perez said he had also sent a book with photographs of Madrid players signing each shirt, and a signed invitation to the Bernabeu.
As soon as news broke that the miners had been found, Barcelona and Spain striker David Villa — who was born into a mining family in the Spanish region of Asturias — sent his encouragement and two signed club shirts that read: “Miners, keep your spirits up”.