Sporting passion is fuelling blind footballer Azeem Amir’s ambitions on and off the pitch.
As an England international, the 24-year-old is preparing for the International Blind Sports Federation World Games in Birmingham in August and hopes to be lining up at the Paralympics in Paris next year.
Away from the training and match action, Rochdale-based Amir is putting his talents to further good use by running his own disability awareness programme.
Launched two years ago, Learn With ESS (Education, Sport and Speaking) provides interactive sessions for schools, colleges, businesses and sports clubs to help people gain a better understanding of disability in a fun and engaging way.
Amir fronts workshops, delivering inspirational talks and organising games, with footballs, blindfolds and other props never far away.
“I came up with this idea about giving people a better understanding of disability in a more practical way, through workshops, through an immersive experience,” Amir told the PA news agency.
“We use those three elements, education, sport and speaking, to deliver a really practical programme and hopefully one that people come away from with a better understanding of, not just a disability, but having had a challenge.
“It’s just over two years since the idea was on a piece of paper. To think of where we’ve got to now it’s huge.
“I really hope that it grows and we get to work with more groups, come up with more ideas and innovate as we learn, and we go on in our journey, not just delivering to people but also figuring out what society needs to be better educated on.”
Learn With ESS, which has both a business and a charitable element, has grown considerably and Amir finds himself with a busy schedule into which he must fit his own football.
A midfielder for Merseyside Blind FC, Amir trains up to seven times a week with coaches either on his game or on his fitness.
With the domestic season over, the main focus now is on international football with Amir last week named in the England squad for the IBSA World Games. With Paris 2024 qualification spots up for grabs, the excitement is building.
“Fingers crossed we can make it happen,” said Amir, a Manchester United fan. “That’d be unbelievable.
“There’s been a big push over the last few months. We’ve been to Brazil, to France, to Romania, playing different tournaments, having training camps, just to prep ourselves in readiness for the Paralympic Games qualifiers.
“I just hope that we get some luck and with a bit of hard work and graft we can make it happen.
“I love football, I really do. There’s no buzz I can think of that replicates it.
“But I don’t want to get hung up on the outcome. You want to make sure you enjoy every single minute, whether that’s training locally or representing your country in the crunch moments.”
Amir admits juggling his twin devotions can be difficult but, ultimately, it is highly rewarding.
“It’s a challenge but I’ve got a good family network, good support,” he said. “I feel like I’m adding something to the world. I’ve got good people and I enjoy what I do. There’s nothing better than that.”
'You have to know how to suffer', says triumphant Leverkusen boss Alonso
Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso says his team "have to know how to suffer and fight" after their Champions League win over Milan.
Victor Boniface scored early in the second half at BayArena on Tuesday, and though Milan hit the woodwork as they searched for an equaliser, the Bundesliga champions held firm.
Leverkusen have now taken six points from their opening two Champions League matches.
After dominating the first half, in which they mustered six shots on target – only once ever having more on record (since 2003-04) when facing Real Sociedad in October 2013 (seven) – Leverkusen were less convincing following Boniface's goal.
But Alonso put that down to fatigue following Leverkusen's 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich on Saturday, in which his side were largely dominated but held on for a point.
"I think it's great news that German football is competitive. It's good news for us too to have achieved this result against Milan," Alonso told Sky Sports.
"Our first sixty minutes were good but in the end we suffered from fatigue after the game against Bayern Munich.
"We showed spirit and character, these three points are very good. In the Champions League you have to know how to suffer and fight, not just play well.
"We struggled a lot to score but maybe after the goal we changed our approach too quickly. Maybe we lacked something on a physical level.
"We had the right respect and took them very seriously. The last 20 minutes were not quite as good, but the players gave everything to get the three points."
Leverkusen are now unbeaten across their last ten home games in major European competition (W7 D3), their longest such run in club history.
Rueful Rodgers remarks Dortmund's clinical edge was 'incredible to see'
Brendan Rodgers lamented "a game where every mistake we made got punished" after Celtic's 7-1 hammering at the hands of Borussia Dortmund.
Last year's Champions League runners-up Dortmund extended their club record unbeaten home run in the competition to 12 matches (W8 D4) in emphatic fashion on Tuesday.
Karim Adeyemi led the way with a first-half hat-trick as BVB led 5-1 at the break, with the forward becoming the first Dortmund player to score three goals in the opening 45 minutes of a major European game since Marcio Amoroso in a 2002 UEFA Cup semi-final against Milan.
Celtic, who equalised just two minutes after Emre Can had opened the scoring from the penalty spot at Signal Iduna Park, became the first British team to concede five goals in the first half of a game in major European competition since Cwmbran Town against Progresul Bucharest in the 1997-98 UEFA Cup Winner's Cup.
For the third time in his managerial career, after 7-0 and 7-1 drubbings by Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain respectively in 2016 and 2017, Rodgers saw his side ship seven goals in the Champions League.
"I don't think I've been involved in a game where every mistake we made got punished," Rodgers told TNT Sports.
"It was a tough watch, to be honest. We weren't at our best. They showed why they are a top, top team. We didn't make the start we wanted.
"We went in high in confidence. We felt we were in a really good place. We had to start much better than we did, as we gave away really cheap goals. And we got punished for loose bits of play and passes.
"They were ruthless in their finishing. It was incredible to see.
"My job is to go away and inspire the players again. We need to learn from it or we will get punished at this level."
Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin, meanwhile, said his team have set a "benchmark" for their level of performance moving forward, after what has been an inconsistent start to the season.
Speaking to Amazon Prime, Sahin said: "Of course I'm extremely happy, but I can also put the game in Stuttgart [a 5-1 loss] into perspective – and today.
"What makes me happiest is how the guys worked up front. Goals like that come when you run up front like that. We didn't manage that at all in Stuttgart.
"With the speed and quality up front, we’re hard to beat. This coverage, the will to win the ball, has to be the benchmark. We've made steps in our notorious development."
Dortmund matched their joint-highest victory in the Champions League, matching a 6-0 win over Legia Warsaw in 2016.
Taremi and Arnautovic impress Inzaghi in Inter's Champions League rout
Inter strikers Mehdi Taremi and Marko Arnautovic took their opportunity to impress in a 4-0 Champions League victory over Red Star Belgrade, says Simone Inzaghi.
Taremi converted a penalty and provided two assists, including one for Arnautovic, as Inter overwhelmed the visitors and forced them into costly errors at the back.
Their success came through an energetic pressing game from Taremi in particular, with Inzaghi keen to give the pair an opportunity to start ahead of Lautaro Martínez, who came off the bench to score, and Marcus Thuram.
"The lads were good, they played a serious game against a team that came to play a purely defensive game," Inzaghi told Sky Sport.
"Apart from a couple of counter-attacks that we could have read better and the first five minutes of the second half, everything went well."
He singled out Taremi, 32, and Arnautovic, 35, for praise, adding: "They are giving it their all, I have to make decisions game by game.
"They deserved this opportunity and took advantage of it very well.
"We have two strikers who are playing more, Thuram and Lautaro, but the season is long. Arnautovic and Taremi are two players that I wanted here.
"I am satisfied with how they work daily (in training) and they must continue like this."
Martinez's goal, meanwhile, was his 13th in the Champions League for Inter.
Only Adriano (14) has ever scored more in the competition for the club.
After drawing 0-0 with Manchester City in their opening game, Tuesday's victory was another step in the right direction for Inter, who have not had the greatest start to the season in Serie A.
"We wanted this victory to follow up the performance in Manchester. We have to continue in this direction. I got the answers I wanted, I'm satisfied," Inzaghi said.
Inter are unbeaten across their last ten Champions League games at San Siro (W8 D2), eight of which have been accompanied by a clean sheet. They have never recorded a longer such streak in the competition before (since the format started in 1992-93).
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