“The kids gave us tremendous courage and wished the best for us in the coming World Cup”

Image courtesy of: pakistantoday.com.pk

Many Pakistan players met survivors of the Peshawar school massacre when they visited the Army Public School and hospital recently.

Captain Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Ahmed Shehzad, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Irfan, Ehsan Adil and Umar Akmal were all present to pay their respects at the site where the Taliban killed 134 children and 10 staff members on December 16.

Ul-Haq promised the children that he will do everything in his power to win the World Cup for them.

“It was a great feeling,” he said. “The kids gave us tremendous courage and wished the best for us in the coming World Cup. The best part is that these kids have rejoined the school and their spirit is an encouraging sign for the players, which is to never give up, whatever you do. And with this motivation, we will try to win the World Cup.”

Afridi stated that he was inspired by the children’s bravery and defiance.

“We are hugely motivated by these kids,” Afridi said. “I asked one kid how he survived after being shot in the chest and he replied that he is not weak-hearted.

“We want to show the same courage in the World Cup and win the event for our nation and for our people and kids like these.”

Shehzad called the visit a “life changing experience” and went on to say that the children “are the bravest people in the world”.

“It is a life changing experience for me to visit this school and see these children back to the same place where the attack took place,” Shehzad said. “They are the bravest people in the world.”

Irfan noted that the only thing all the children wanted was for Pakistan to win the World Cup.

“They just kept asking us to win the World Cup for them,” Irfan told PTI. “These survivors and martyrs are going to be a big motivational factor for us to do well in the tournament.”