Villarreal meets pope before Europa League match
Posted February 23, 2017 6:00 am
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Spanish soccer team Villarreal has had an audience with Pope Francis ahead of its Europa League match against Roma.
Francis told the team inside the Apostolic Palace that "football, like other sports, mirrors life and society."
Francis also stressed the importance of playing as a team, adding that "when you start thinking only about yourself and forget your teammates, we in Argentina call those types of players someone who likes 'to eat the ball' alone."
Villarreal lost 4-0 in the opening leg of the round-of-32 matchup last week, and will need quite a turnaround to advance.
Francis, a lifelong fan of Buenos Aires club San Lorenzo, has had frequent meetings with soccer players from around the world.
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