After their progression to the last 16, the Greek national team has made a classy gesture by offering to fly Armagh's Jay Beatty to Brazil.
Greece are a hard team to like on the field, as they play dour, defensive football, but there's no doubting that off it they are full of class. Former Celtic striker Giorgios Samaras is a man who embodies that, which he showed on the final day of the season in Scotland when he went to the crowd to find Jay Beatty, a young boy from Armagh who has Down syndrome to whom the striker is a hero.
A video of Jay celebrating Greece's last minute goal against Côte d'Ivoire that sent them through from the group stage, scored by his hero Samaras, was uploaded by his dad to Facebook and has touched the hearts of all in the federation, and a whole heap of Greek fans, who even set up a Facebook page for him, given that he's now an honorary Greece supporter.
In a special message at a press conference, the striker offered Jay and his family a trip to Brazil to watch the Greek national side's next game against Costa Rica on Sunday.
Unfortunately, despite the brilliant campaign and the great gesture, Jay and his family were unable to attend as, when they got the call, they were already in the airport about to head off on a family holiday. Still, Jay will get a special signed jersey, and we're sure he'll be watching the game on Sunday no matter where he and his family are. He even had a message of support to send back to 'Sami', even though he won't be there in person.
Via The Irish Times
