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Zied has not lived the most comfortable of lives thus far. His home country, Syria, has been beset by violence and war and terror and turmoil for pretty much all of Zied's young life.
Zied's family joined the legions of refugees trying to escape Syria and flee to Europe, hoping for a better life — one where the likelyhood of having your head cut off on any given day is considerably lessened.
Then this happened.
Lage in #Roeszke #Hungary weiter schlimm - Polizei überfordert - Flüchtlinge durchbrechen Polizeikette - Verletzte! pic.twitter.com/GlMGqGwABb
— Stephan Richter (@RichterSteph) September 8, 2015Zied's father, carrying his son through police in Hungary, was tripped by a camerawoman, sparking outrage and whatever other emotions people are capable of mustering.
Fotunately, Zied and his family made it to Austria, and eventually to Spain, where the second-richest sports team in the world had a little surprise waiting for them.
Here is how Uosama, Zied and Mohammad, symbols of the Syrian refugee crisis, fulfilled their Madridista dream. https://t.co/i8x2nGJxs6
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) September 18, 2015And the second-best soccer player in the world, one of the most recognizable athletes on the planet, had a surprise for Zied as well.
Relive Zied's special day, when he walked out on to the Bernabéu turf with @Cristiano! #HalaMadrid #RealMadrid https://t.co/ivANaTPeEo
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) September 20, 2015We live in a world overrun by cynicism. Nobody can do something nice for anybody else without running to the nearest platform to get the word out that they did something nice, so whenever somebody does do something nice, their motives are questioned.
Did Real Madrid host Zied because it was the right thing to do, or because it will enhance their brand?
Ultimately, Real Madrid's motives don't matter. The fact that Zied's family is safe in Europe matters. The fact that they can sleep safely at night matters. That they can go from being trampled by a Hungarian camerawoman while fleeing a country with everything they own on their backs to touring the Bernabeu and meeting Cristiano Ronaldo in a matter of days, that matters.
It doesn't matter why Real Madrid hosted Zied and his family. It just matters that they did it at all.
Sometimes we forget that sports are a luxury. We don't need Cristiano Ronaldo to score a hat-trick in the Champions League in order to keep breathing. We won't go hungry if he misses a penalty.
That being said, we need sports because they make us feel safe. They allow us to forget the problems of our daily lives, for however long, and concentrate on something that brings us joy.
Zied and his family have been through one of the most terrifying ordeals imaginable, but I'd bet money that's not what they were thinking about as Florentino Perez led them through the Bernabeu.
Did you see the smile on Zied's face as he ran back to the sidelines after serving as Cristiano Ronaldo's mascot? For a moment, just a moment, Zied was allowed to forget his difficult life and just be a kid again.
And that's why we need sports.
Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at Klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus
