Source: Hindustan Times:
It’s a long way from the Bernabeu, but on a dusty pitch in a Karachi slum, a group of scrawny Pakistani boys in the famous white shirt of Real Madrid tear around after a football.An academy backed by the Real Madrid Foundation opened in March in one of the oldest parts of Pakistan’s sprawling, violent metropolis.For youngsters like 13-year-old Mohammad Ashraf, who endure tough lives, it has brought rare moments of pleasure and dreams of glory.
“I told my mother and then everyone in the house that we played football and everyone is happy for me,” an excited Ashraf recalled of his first day at the academy.
Like most inhabitants of the area Ashraf’s father struggles to make a living from fishing.
Many local children are malnourished, few have more than the most basic education and most are expected to start work at an early age, repairing fishing nets.
Categories: Asia