Monday, 25 January 2016

Arsenal Fan Tells How Diego Costa and Willian Gave £100K to Keep Orphanage Open

Diego Costa is often at the centre of bad stories, but we’ve got a good one to tell you about the hot-headed Chelsea striker.
Fresh from a significant showing in his side’s 1-0 victory away at Arsenal yesterday, a story has emerged which shows Costa in a completely different light to the aggressive one you see on the pitch.
He was on the receiving end of the tackle which saw Per Mertesacker sent off early on at the Emirates and went on to score the all-important goal to give the champions all three points.
So it’s no surprise most Arsenal fans hate Costa – except this one.
According to arsefan – a user on The Guardian – the Spanish striker helped an orphanage during its time of need alongside Stamford Bridge team-mate Willian.
The Gunners supporter was commenting in response to David Hytner’s match report from the English Premier League clash yesterday.
He tells how after an exhaustive search to find more funds to keep the orphanage he runs with his wife going, Costa and Willian both arrived at the house to donate £50k each to keep it afloat:
“I started following Arsenal in the 70s and I have seen all the ups and downs of this great club. Now my wife and I run an orphanage, a small one on the outskirts of London. We are not rich and it has been very hard to run the place, what with it falling to pieces from wind and rain and the safety of children at stake.
“I had been let go off my job 2 years back and I’ve not had the strength in my bones to go back and search for jobs against younger people. Thus I’ve had to ask for funds more than necessary and funds have dried out mostly with more glamorous charities getting all the funding from footballers and celebrities. I had put up a few fliers in London and left it at that knowing that I’d have to file for bankruptcy sooner than later. I had contacted some of my friends at Arsenal and tried to wangle a few of my oldest friends to approach the players as a last resort. But it seemed that all the players were busy and I couldn’t get anything at all to go on and approach them.
“This happened in October last year. After 2 days of my putting up fliers, I received a call from someone who spoke only Spanish. I thought it was some nut calling and gave the phone to my mother who is of Spanish descent. She said that someone was asking for the directions to come and visit. I, apprehensive and unbelieving, gave the details and never expected them to come. After 3 hours or so, a very high class car, a BMW came to our driveway. Out stepped Diego Costa and Willian. I was visibly disgusted but Diego Costa didn’t mind. They spoke primarily to my mother and the Spanish caretaker. He doesn’t speak a word of English but the goodness of his heart doesn’t need words.
“They gave 50k pounds, each of them. It has kept us up and running till now and will do for the next 3 months or so. The next time I met Costa was last Thursday, when he came and gave 30 blankets from the Chelsea store. He also invited me to Lagarta where he is running a school for 200. I also got complimentary tickets to today’s game and I went to the Emirates for the first time since 2008 because I can’t afford the season ticket price nowadays.
“I know that these boards have an anti-Chelsea bias but I signed on to the guardian today to tell only this even though Diego told us to keep it unknown to others. I love Arsenal. But me, my family and the 56 kids i now tender to love Diego Costa more. I wrote this earlier knowing that Arsenal would win almost surely but hell, this team has given me more grief than anything else in life.
“I cried after the match as an Arsenal fan. But I was happy inside as a Diego Costa and Willian fan. I read the comments on the article about the philanthropy of PL footballers to London but I was amazed that that Diego wasn’t mentioned. I felt it was just the right time to pen this. Thank you for reading through.”
We’ve so far been unable to confirm if this is true, but it’s a great story regardless.
Costa is so often criticised for his behaviour on the pitch – as are many football players – but he should be commended for actions like this off it.
Arsene Wenger was among those to criticise him yesterday, claiming the Chelsea striker deliberately got Per Mertesacker sent off in their league clash.
The Arsenal boss believes Costa got Mertesacker sent off just like he did Gabriel Paulista in their meeting at Stamford Bridge in September.

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