On May 22nd, Islamic terrorist Salman Ramadan Abedi detonated a suicide bomb at Manchester Arena. The blast, at an Ariana Grande concert, killed 23 and injured 250 people. Two days later, Manchester United beat Ajax in the Europa League Final in Stockholm, and Paul Pogba said this on the pitch once the match went final:
“We won for Manchester. We played for the people who died.”
On July 20th in Houston, Texas both Manchester clubs will play for the victims, as United and City will wear kits emblazoned with the “worker bee” logo.
After the preseason friendly Manchester Derby, the first to ever be played outside Europe, the shirts will be auctioned off with the proceeds going to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund; which has raised more than £12m for the victims. It’s truly “One City United” in the International Champions Cup exhibition match.
Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano said: “The worker bee symbolises everything that makes Manchester such a special city and our players will wear it on their shirts with immense pride, as a demonstration of solidarity with the Manchester community.”
Pogba gave a very detailed, interesting, thought-provoking and in-depth interview with Esquire, just days after the terrorist attacks.
During the interview, the Red Devils midfielder made a very powerful statement about what it’s like to be a Muslim in Manchester right now.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV.
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