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STORY: LEBANON / SYRIAN SOCCER TEAM
TRT: 2.19
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 10 APRIL 2013, HALBA, LEBANON
1. Various shots, Coach Tareq playing with ball
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Tareq Al Awaychi, Syrian Football Coach:
“So many players were killed in the last two years. They were my closest friends, and like brothers to me. Losing them made me hate football because football caused their death.”
3. Med shot, Tareq explaining the strategies to he players
4. Various shots, training
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Naser Najm, Syrian Football Player:
“We train so we can forget all that we have lived through in Syria. We are happy that there are Lebanese playing. We don't want them to see us as strangers.”
6. Wide shot, Abdelkader training
7. Med shot, Audience watching the training
8. Wide shot, Abdelkader training
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdelkader Matar, Lebanese Football Player:
“I spoke a lot with the Syrian players who have suffered so much in this bloody war. So many of them have lost members of their family or friends. They came here and had no-one until the team brought them together."
10. Various shots, soccer game
11. Wide shot, audience watching the match
12. Wide shot, Tareq playing with his players on the ground
13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Tareq Al Awaychi, Syrian Football Coach:
"The players have begun to focus and be committed. We have become a real team now, the players have gotten better and we are known in this area. We even get people calling us saying they want to play on our team. "
14. Close up, Tareq's face
15. Med shot, players standing
16. Med shot, players cheering after the match
Football is a passion for Tareq.
In Syria, he was a star on the national team. He had big dreams.
But when the war came to his home town, killing team players that stayed behind, his passion turned to hate.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Tareq Al Awaychi, Syrian Football Coach:
“So many players were killed in the last two years. They were my closest friends, and like brothers to me. Losing them made me hate football because football caused their death.”
But for Tareq life without football had no meaning. He took up coaching other refugees, like himself, who had fled to Lebanon.
The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) and the Danish Refugee Council pay for the ground rental, the T-shirts and training shoes.
Naser fled Syria months ago and struggles to adapt to his new life in Lebanon. Being on the pitch is like therapy for him.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Naser Najm, Syrian Football Player:
“We train so we can forget all that we have lived through in Syria. We are happy that there are Lebanese playing. We don't want them to see us as strangers.”
The sport also helps to work out tensions as host Lebanese communities struggle to absorb the growing numbers of Syrian refugees. Football helps brings these two communities together.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdelkader Matar, Lebanese Football Player:
“I spoke a lot with the Syrian players who have suffered so much in this bloody war. So many of them have lost members of their family or friends. They came here and had no-one until the team brought them together."
The team, Al Nur or Light, has begun playing in local matches and even has a small following. Coach Tareq is proud of all they have achieved.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Tareq Al Awaychi, Syrian Football Coach:
"The players have begun to focus and be committed. We have become a real team now, the players have gotten better and we are known in this area. We even get people calling us saying they want to play on our team. "
Tareq doesn’t know when he will return to Syria or how long his team will stay together, but for now there is football to help give him and his players some hope.
