Albelda & Mendieta don their boots for Singapore Charity Event

LaLiga and Valencia CF took their places as VIP guests at the Football With A Heart 2016 tournament on Saturday. The charity event saw first-team squad members, Jaume Domenech, Paco Alcacer, Santi Mina, Javi Fuego and Mathew Ryan, plus Liga BBVA ambassadors David Albelda and Gaizka Mendieta all don their kit and strut their stuff at Singapore's National Stadium.

As Albelda declared "It's important to be involved with charitable causes because football is the means to ensuring that such events make a big impact. The fact that sport is involved in these causes is one of the most significant achievements to have been witnessed over the last few years." Whilst Mendieta added that "LaLiga is currently involved with these initiatives and we must continue to be."

The first game saw the Valencia players and the two ambassadors come up against Singaporean parliamentarians, before splitting off into teams of three to play games with youngsters from the co-organisers of the event, the Football Association of Singapore.

The day served up some special moments for Mendieta and Albelda and evoked memories of their playing days. "Although you might retire, football still remains your life. It's special and even more so in this case, with me being involved with my home- town club and its players," said Valencia-born Albelda. Mendieta enthused that "it's always a joy to get the chance to put your kit on and take to the pitch."

The two former players certainly didn't look out of place alongside the current crop of Los Che stars, as Jaume Domenech commented at the final whistle, "I thought that they displayed a lot of quality, just like in their playing days, it's something that you don't lose."

The event, which was one in which only partner organisations and teams who had signed up could participate, was played behind closed doors. Nevertheless, both the Valencia players and the Liga BBVA ambassadors generated a real buzz amongst all of the youngsters battling it out at the tournament. Mendieta admitted to being surprised at "the depth of knowledge that they've got, not just about Valencia, but about the Spanish league generally."