Member of the Wild Boars football team (Photo: Getty Image) Bangkok (VNA) - The 12 Wild Boars footballers and their coach, who became famous after being trapped in a cave in July, left Thailand on October 3 to attend the 2018 Summer Olympic Youth Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The junior football team, comprising 12 boys aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach Ekkapol Chantawong, became famous worldwide following their spectacular rescue from Tham Luang Cave in Chiang Rai province, where they were trapped inside for more than two weeks due to flooding.
At the invitation of President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach, the team will attend the opening ceremony on October 6, several other events, and play a friendly match.
After Argentina, Wild Boars will head to the United States to attend the Asia Society’s Asia Game Changers in New York.
At the award, the Thai rescuers of the team, represented by Governor of Chiang Rai province Narongsak Osatanakorn, will be honoured. The boys will also take part in a cultural exchange in Los Angeles.
Soon after the group entered the Tham Luang cave on June 23, heavy seasonal rains flooded the cave's entrance, forcing them to go further and further into the labyrinth of tunnels in search of higher ground.
A rescue campaign was launched for them with the participation of 90 divers, including 50 foreigners. Divers found them 10 days later and rescuers eventually took them out over three days, concluding July 10. However, a former Thai navy SEAL, Saman Kunan, died on July 6 while replenishing air tanks inside the cave.-VNA
VNA
