For Cristiano Ronaldo, walking on to the pitch for Real Madrid’s league game against Granada was another day on the job for the soccer superstar. For Zied Mohsen, the 7-year-old Syrian refugee who accompanied him, was greeted with ecstatic applause and continued to look up in awe at his hero, however, it was a dream come true.
Earlier this month, Zied’s father, Osama Abdel Mohsen, was tripped by a Hungarian journalist while carrying him in his arms on the Hungary-Serbia border in an appalling incident that sparked global outrage and gained sympathy of the masses after his video footage went viral.
The media attention prompted Real to invite the Syrian pair and 18-year-old brother Mohammad to the at the Santiago Bernabeu for a tour of the club’s trophy room as part of their campaign to support refugees arriving in Europe. Both team also came out onto the pitch wearing t-shirts of support with the words “El fútbol profesional con los refugiados” (Professional football stands with the refugees).
“It’s a dream come true,” said Osama Mohsen. “I love Real Madrid, they’re my favorite team and my whole family’s too. I’m very grateful for the welcome given to us by the president. In Syria we dreamt of seeing a Real Madrid match, and now that’s going to come true. I’m really happy.”
After the cruel incident in Hungary, the devoted Syrian father and his family ended up in Germany where media reports revealed that Mohsen had been a successful coach for top-tier side Al-Fotuwa SC in Syria. Shortly after, he has been given a warm welcome and offer to start a new life with his family in Spain, a far cry from the terrifying reception he and other Syrian families received on the border hotspot having fled the horrors of Syria’s civil war.
Miguel Angel Galán, the head of the Cenafe Spanish soccer academy, invited him and his family to Spain, offering them housing and support in Getafe near Madrid. Galán also offered him a chance to work with local professional team Getafe CF once he learns Spanish.
“When we saw the story of Mohsen published in the newspapers we felt very bad about it,” said Galán, who managed to contact the Syrian coach via a Spanish journalist. “We are a centre for coaches and we like to help everyone who works in this area.”
After Mohsen accepted the offer, the academy asked one of their Arabic-speaking students, 23-year-old Mohammed El Laubrozzi to travel to Munich to meet the family. Mohsen then traveled with his two sons to Paris, where they caught a train to Barcelona and then another to Madrid.
“I love you all, I love you, Spaniards,” said Mohsen after arriving in Barcelona with two of his sons, Zaid and Muhammad. Upon their arrival in Spain, Alex Martin of Cenafe gave the family a Barcelona football shirt and two scarves of local team Llagostera.
The school will also help Mohsen apply for refugee status, learn Spanish and help rebuild his career. They are currently working with the Spanish authorities to bring his wife and two more children from Turkey as well.
“We are going to try and find them,” Galan said. “The story is not finished. We are halfway towards granting them total happiness.” He also emphasized that Mohsen is the “ideal candidate” to teach in the academy and can train coaches who travel to Dubai, Egypt and Qatar where Spanish trainers are in demand.
The 52-year-old left Syria in 2012 with his family after living in his homeland became “very, very difficult for anything, for life, for work, for sleep, for anything. War, war, war and everywhere you see dead.” They were living in Turkey before making their way to Europe this year.
In a video interview, Mr. Mohsen expressed his gratitude and said, in English, “I see a future for my family in Spain.”
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