PUMA made the dreams of 5 Arsenal fans come true after they had the privilege of meeting their icons up close and personal, spend time with some of India’s most famed celebrities , and watching Arsenal destroy Chelsea which served as the icing on the cake.
The fans were chosen after they proved their love for the club by winning the ‘We Are The Arsenal’ contest held by the German apparel makers on their website.The task was simple; answer 10 consecutive questions each of which would be unlocked by answering the previous one. The total time you take to complete all the questions would be recorded and the top 5 contestants with fastest times earn the trip to North London.
To make their trip truly memorable, these die-hard Gunners were not alone in their travel to London. The 5 of them - Anushka Gulabani, Tanuj Baru, Rutwik Chegu, Maunish Shukla and Shravan Bhagirath - were accompanied by Indian spin legend Harbhajan Singh, respected Cricket commentator and Journalist Harsha Bogle, Atul Kasbekar, Neha Dhupia, Esha Gupta, Karan Kundra, Anusha Dandekar, and Virender Sehwag.
The fans spent two whole days in London as they met several Arsenal players, took a tour of the stadium and ,of course, watched the Gunners take on Chelsea at the Emirates.Right after they landed on Thursday night, they were taken to their hotel, where a special welcome was arranged for the lucky few by the club’s official Mascot Gunnersaurus, who greeted them with unparalleled enthusiasm.
Friday morning marked the beginning of a special two days these fans will never forget in their lifetime. The Emirates is a thing of beauty and they were taken on a tour of the fabulous stadium with a very special guide in Arsenal legend and former French international Robert Pires.
The ‘Invincible’ lead the fans and the celebrities through the famous tunnel and accompanied them to the dressing room, where he took time out to click photos with each of the contest winners and celebrity fans. Right after that, it was time for lunch at the PUMA box as the fans were treated to the wonderful company of the Frenchman.
Once you’ve met an Invincible, your day is not complete without going head to head in a football match against him, which is exactly what they did.At the Arsenal Community Centre an 8-a-side game transpired as Robert Pires engaged in a friendly competition with the fans.
Obviously the team lucky enough to have Pires in their side had an overwhelming advantage, as he proved class is permanent with a dazzling display of skill as you can see in the video below:
It was the perfect time to meet the FA Cup hero who famously helped Arsenal defeat Chelsea in that final with a screamer of a goal. Parlour is an expert at his trade, but cricket is a different ballgame altogether. That’s when former Indian internationals Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag gave him a crash course on the basics of the sport as the ‘Romford-Pele’, as he is aptly called, tried his hand at batting and spinning the ball.
The Off-spinner showed Ray a trick or two as well and the Englishman seemed to grasp the art very quickly.
After spending close to 6 hours of quality time with the Arsenal legend, it was time to head to the Emirates for the main event.Around 2:30 in the afternoon the fans and the celebrities took a tour of one of the best pitches in England, the surface where they would soon see their heroes play the football we have all come to love.
They also got one more look into the changing rooms of the players before getting a court-side view of the stars emerging out of the tunnel.It was finally time for the match they had all been waiting for!
The London Derby at the Emirates stadium, what every Arsenal fan dreams of experiencing! And thanks to their knowledge of the Gunners and PUMA’s innovative contest, these lucky 5 got to live it.
Our winners, seated in the PUMA Corporate box, were treated to one of the best performances we have seen in recent times from the Gunners as they took apart the Blues in a furious first 45 minutes.
While the rest of the crowd went home after the game, our fans were treated to one final surprise as Santi Cazorla and Hector Bellerin made the day even better for the group with a round of selfies and autographs.
All in all, it was a trip to remember for these Gunners fans, an unforgettable story that would make any of us green with envy!So make sure you brush up on your Arsenal knowledge. Who knows, the next opportunity by PUMA could be just around the corner!
