Trapped Chilean Miners Watched Ukraine vs Chile Football Match

September 9th, 2010 | by: Daryl | View Comments

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, then you should know about the Chilean miners who are quite literally living under rock. The 33 men have been trapped nearly half a mile below the earth in a 500 square feet emergency shelter ever since the mine in Copiapo, Chile collapsed last month. It’s going to be months before workers can drill holes deep enough and wide enough to rescue the men. Months.

In the meantime, everyone’s thinking up ways to keep the trapped miner’s spirits up and their brains sane. Essentials like food and drink are being lowered down, but there’s also communication with loved ones and all kinds of group dynamic work being done. And, of course, there’s football. Because this past Tuesday the 33 Chilean men trapped in a 500 square feet room were able to watch Chile’s friendly away to Ukraine.

A small projecter and a fibre optic cable were lowered down into the shelter, allowing the men were able to project the game onto the wall. Unfortunately Chile lost the friendly match 2-1, but the miners did get to see their national team wearing t-shirts that read “Fuerza Mineros” before the game, which presumably left no doubt in any of the 33 men’s mind that those above ground were thinking of them.

One of the trapped miners is an ex-professional footballer named Franklin Lobos, and apparently he did a bit of post-match analysis via phone with rescue workers. Here’s a video news story about the miners watching the game from NDTV:

Great stuff, and a nice little reminder of just how important football can be. Even international friendlies.