UNITED STARS MAKE FANS' DREAMS COME TRUE

Having treated supporters to a thrilling 3-2 victory over Southampton on Sunday, Louis van Gaal’s men heaped further joy on some lucky fans when meeting them at a Manchester United Foundation Dream Day.



Led by skipper Wayne Rooney, a host of first-team players met fans with serious and life-limiting illnesses at the Aon Training Complex as part of a heartwarming event that takes place twice a season.

After watching the senior squad train ahead of Wednesday’s Capital One Cup clash with Ipswich, the Foundation's guests were not only greeted by their idols but also had shirts signed and had photographs taken with the players, including five summer signings who attended their first Dream Day - Bastian Schweinsteiger, Memphis Depay, Matteo Darmian, Morgan Schneiderlin and Sergio Romero.

One youngster, Lewis, was delighted to meet Rooney for a second time, having first encountered him two years ago while the Reds captain was on England duty.
“I got him a card to say thank you - he remembered me and it felt really good,” said Lewis. His mum Claire added: “When Wayne walked through that door I was shaking; it means everything to Lewis to have this opportunity and I keep telling him these opportunities don’t come around often.

United’s no.10, who has enjoyed being involved in numerous Dream Days, was more than happy to once again share a memorable experience with the supporters.


“It’s great for the kids to see the players and for us to also see them as they are our fans,” Rooney enthused. “We’ve hopefully put a smile on their faces today. “They’ve given me some cards, one for myself and one for Luke Shaw. I’m sure it’s a get well soon message for him so I will pass that on.”

For migrants, a field of dreams

LONDON — As Syrian migrants continued to arrive at a rate of thousands a day in Munich Hauptbahnhof, some might have contemplated ending their journey with a 20-minute ride on a suburban train to Fröttmaning and officially registering as refugees at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena. Perhaps Bayern already had talent scouts watching the packed trains as they rolled in from Austria, Hungary and Italy. European soccer has been good to migrants. But then migrants have been good for European soccer.



The transformation of clubs’ squads has been accelerated in the last two decades by the European Court’s Bosman ruling in 1995. As soccer has experienced rapid economic growth it has also been remade as an expression of the economic freedom of the European Union. Fans in Munich welcome economic migrants from Africa, Eastern and Southern Europe, and South America who arrive not in crowded trains but in private jets, helicopters or luxury cars to sign multi-million euro contracts. The current Bayern squad contains Austrians, Brazilians, Chileans, Americans, Poles, Frenchmen and Dutchmen.

Meanwhile, the national teams have become an extremely visible expression of the way in which immigration has transformed Western Europe. The German national team has recently include three players of Turkish descent, a defender whose father is from Ghana, another defender whose parents are ethnic Albanians who emigrated from Macedonia, and an attacker of mixed Moroccan-Ghanaian descent — as well as a Polish-born striker who was two when his family fled the collapsing economy of Communist Poland in 1987, on the eve of the Solidarity strikes.