Jewish and Arab children played a soccer match against each other at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Jaffa on Thursday morning.
The children met as part of the Peres Center's project to promote coexistence and peace through sports.
The children played in mixed Jewish-Arab teams with the participation of Israeli Premier League player, Idan Vered.
Vered presented the children with the original French Super Cup trophy, which on Sunday will be awarded to the winning team at the end of the ‘Game of Champions’. The game will be held in front of a capacity crowd at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv between 2020–21 Ligue 1 champions, Lille and the 2020–21 Coupe de France winners, Paris Saint-Germain.
The children will be able to meet with Paris Saint Germain player Ander Herrera, who is due to land in Israel on Saturday night.
Herrera spoke to the children about his upcoming game, saying that he was excited to be back and playing in front of a crowd.
"This will be my first time in Israel, and in Tel Aviv in particular, and I look forward to playing in Tel Aviv in front of a crowd, because it has been a year since we saw a physical crowd," he said.
"This is the first trophy of the season, and I am happy that it is being held in Israel because I always watch games broadcast from Israel and there is a particularly happy atmosphere.”
Speaking about the soccer match, the direction of the Education for Peace and Innovation Department at the Peres Center, Tami Hay Sagiv noted: “At the Peres Center, we have been rediscovering, over and over again for 20 years, how the love of football spans across sectors, cultures and religions, and the exciting conversation of PSG legend Ander Herrera with Jewish and Arab children from the Peres Center’s project has proved this once again.”
“Football is a sport that connects people and hostile countries," Herrera concluded. "Football is key to connecting people in order to make the world a better place and I am happy to be here today and see children from different backgrounds playing together.”