Had he been at London Colney for an extraordinary encounter between
Arsenal's first team and the club's visually impaired side, Arsene
Wenger would have been among the first to demand a blindfold.
Arsenal's manager would have had to look away when presented with
the sight of a blindfolded Cesc Fabregas bumping in to blindfolded
Emmanuel Adebayor; or a blindfolded Emmanuel Eboue facing penalties
from blindfolded team-mates.
Fortunately for Eboue, a ball equipped with a rattle that makes it
heavier and harder than a standard match ball never hit him on the
nose.
In a week when the image of English football has been tarnished by
events at a certain Christmas party, the players who sit at the top
of the Barclays Premier League were devoting their time to
something rather more worthwhile.
They also proved that, even with blindfolds, they take better
penalties than England.
It was fascinating as well as unbelievably funny to watch, not
least when Fabregas played a neat pass down the right flank and
Alexander Hleb dropped to his hands and knees in a desperate bid to
control it.
He could hear the ball rattling past him, but without the benefit
of his eyes it was all too difficult.
Toure went some way to demonstrating why, in the opinion of this
observer anyway, he is the best centre half in the Premier
League.
When it comes to being in the right place at the right time, there
can now be no doubt that Toure has a sixth sense.
Fabregas was much the same, even if he did occasionally lift his
blindfold to have a sneaky look.
That said, it was usually to see if he had scored another wonder
goal against the courageous Eboue.
Manuel Almunia went in goal to begin with and he took particular
delight in denying a partiallysighted young chap who had dared to
turn up in Chelsea shorts. "You'll never beat me while you're
wearing those," he said.
The event was organised by someone who used to wear Chelsea shorts,
too.
William Gallas, once of Stamford Bridge but now Arsenal's captain,
organised the game when he heard that the team existed as part of
the club's community programme.
"It was my idea," said Gallas. "It was something I did with the
French national team at Clairefontaine a couple of years ago and I
found it a really good experience.
"Sometimes we forget how lucky we are, how fantastic a job we have.
Sometimes we forget how lucky we are to have something as simple as
our eyesight. When you see those kids play with such skill and
precision, it's amazing."
