Atlético join fight against drugs
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Article summary
Spain's football community came together at the Vicente Calderón to raise funds for victims of drug abuse.
Article body
Raising public awareness
Last night's Anti-Drugs match delivered entertainment while also dealing with some of the nation's more serious concerns. The annual event, now celebrating its 12th year, is promoted by the Man Project - an organisation geared towards increasing public awareness for the prevention of drug abuse and offering help and treatment to drug addicts.
Cruyff connection
The project was the brainchild of Spanish supreme judge Baltasar Garzón who thought up the idea of offering some kind of assistance to drug victims during a chat with Dutch footballing legend Johan Cruyff back in 1983.
Moneys raised
Garzón brought on board journalist Luis del Olmo and comedian Emilio Aragón to form the project's committee and together they set the venture in motion. Since then, the Man Project has received over €9m from staging matches - money which is distributed to the 200 detoxification clinics around the country.
Show of solidarity
"Whoever says there is no solidarity in football is a liar," Del Olmo said. "Everyone, club chairman and players alike, have given us their full support to see this event take place."
Super team
The format has changed little down the years. A select XI comprising some of the top names in the Primera División take on the host team with funds to the tune of €150,000 being raised each time. This year, a coaching super team of the RCD Mallorca boss, Luis Aragonés, and ex-Real Madrid CF coach Vicente Del Bosque joined forces to pick an XI to face Atlético's first team.
Youngsters play
Aragonés and Del Bosque used 33 players during the 90 minutes, while for Atlético coach Gregorio Manzano it was an opportunity to field promising youngsters like Carlos, Toché, Molinero and Kikín.
Five-goal thriller
A 15,000 crowd was treated to an entertaining match. Villarreal CF's Juan Riquelme opened the scoring for the Liga XI with a free-kick then Giovanella tapped in a second. Atlético hit back with second-half strikes from debutant Toché and Ariel Ibagaza, but the night was capped with a superb winner from Javi Guerrero, whose chip made it 3-2 to the visitors.
