Football fan meets his Arsenal heroes Ozil, Sanchez,Welbeck and Cech

A football mad nine-year-old from Peterborough met his football heroes when he made a special trip to Arsenal's training ground to meet the staff and players at the club.
Raihan Ibrahim with Arsenal's goal keeper Petr Cech EMN-160706-100143001Raihan Ibrahim with Arsenal's goal keeper Petr Cech EMN-160706-100143001
Raihan Ibrahim with Arsenal's goal keeper Petr Cech EMN-160706-100143001

Local lad Raihan Ibrahim enjoyed the VIP day out at the Gunners’ training ground thanks to Peterborough-based charity Sports Connection Foundation and a £2,500 donation from the local Amazon fulfilment centre in Flaxley Road.

After being collected from his Peterborough home in an executive car, Raihan was whisked to Arsenal’s Hertfordshire training base with his father Rahim and former professional footballer and Sports Connection Foundation co-founder, Junior McDougald.

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Raihan, who was born with cystic fibrosis, spent the day with some of Arsenal’s top stars including World Cup winner Mesut Ozil, Chilean superstar Alexis Sanchez and England’s Danny Welbeck. Raihan also talked tactics with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger and got some goalkeeping tips from shot stopper Petr Cech.

Speaking after the special visit, Raihan said: “I love Arsenal and I can’t believe I met the players. Alexis Sanchez is my favourite player and it was brilliant to meet him. The players were all really cool and they signed photos and footballs for me. It was the best day ever!”

Junior McDougald from Sports Connection Foundation said: “The aim of our charity is to use sport to help and inspire children and one of the ways is to provide sporting wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses.

“It’s been an absolute pleasure to take Raihan and his father to meet the players and staff at Arsenal. Experiences like this will stay with the children forever and it wouldn’t be possible to do this work without the support of businesses like Amazon.”