Beckham’s football antics lift spirits of Philippines typhoon survivors

David Beckham lifted the spirits of young Philippine typhoon survivors on Friday with a joke-filled game of football on a pitch surrounded by sombre reminders of the country’s deadliest storm.

The former England captain carried boys on his shoulders, tugged at their shirts and exchanged high-fives throughout the roughly 20 minutes of sports therapy at one of the coastal towns that was worst hit by Super Typhoon Haiyan three months ago.

The game came at the end of a two-day trip for Beckham to the typhoon-hit zones in the central Philippines, where 6,200 people have been confirmed killed and nearly 1,800 others remain missing.

“It’s very uplifting, to the hearts, to the souls of the children. After all they have been through the past three months, with the storm, when he came, it was so good. We were so very happy,” local football coach Basil Nudalo said.

The game was played on the sports field of a ruined school in Tanauan, one of the towns facing the Pacific Ocean that were engulfed by tsunami-like storm surges.

More than 1,200 people died just in Tanauan, and the game was played within walking distance of a mass grave where the bodies of hundreds of people were buried.

The shells of school buildings, ripped coconut trees and piles of rocky debris surrounded the pitch, but inside there was constant laughter from Beckham and the boys.

Beckham was visiting the typhoon-hit areas in his role as a “goodwill ambassador” for the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), which has been playing an important role in the recovery and rehabilitation programme.