Few Kiwis ever get the opportunity to be on the pitch at the FIFA World Cup but two more were added to that rarefied list in Russia and it’s an experience those lucky young individuals will never forget.

The football-mad pair of Sophie Heywood, 8, and Isabel Bristow, 9, earned the trip of a lifetime in winning the McDonald’s player escort competition – the prize for which was a unique opportunity to walk the players out at a FIFA World Cup match in St Petersburg.

Sophie and Isabel strode out with the Costa Rican team as they took on the mighty Brazil in front of 65,000 fans at Saint Petersburg Stadium – as well as millions more watching from around the world – and are still coming to terms with the unbelievable feeling.

“I couldn’t really imagine what it was going to be like in Russia, let alone walking out in front of millions of people,” Sophie says. “I also knew there would be a lot of people up at 3am watching me at home in New Zealand and it made me very nervous but so excited at the same time.”

The Kiwi pair walked out alongside the likes of Neymar, Coutinho, Marcelo and Willian, giving them the chance to run shoulders with footballing royalty. Sophie was paired with Marcos Urena and bonded quickly with the Costa Rican striker.

“When I met my player before we walked out he was really nice to me, at first he talked in Russian but then English as he realised that was the language I spoke. I wasn’t frightened or scared, it was pretty cool actually and it made me really proud to be representing New Zealand,” she says.

“After we left the field, we got to join our parents in the stand to watch the game and I had never watched a live game of football so it was a pretty amazing experience with the drums beating from the Brazilian team supporters, the chanting from both sides and the excitement of the whole crowd when Brazil scored. It was great that Brazil won but I was secretly hoping Costa Rica would.”

The McDonald’s player escort package did not just include the money-can’t-buy experience at the game though with the youngsters and their guardians also receiving the full treatment off the pitch.

“Breakfast each day was catered for and was a massive selection – the girls got right into it and our table each day had a magnificent view of Saint Petersburg,” says Isabel’s dad Grant, who travelled with her to Russia.

“I’d like to thank FIFA, McDonald’s and New Zealand Football for the awesome opportunity to partake in such an event. It was certainly a once-in-a-lifetime trip and both girls thoroughly enjoyed it, as well as the parents. Watching the kids walk out onto the field was brilliant enough so I guess you need to magnify that to understand what the kids thought of being on the field with the players.”

Sophie was joined in Russia by her mum Rebecca, who likewise relished the moment.

“We were given the most amazing experience through New Zealand Football and McDonald’s – it was promoted as the trip of a lifetime and it was certainly all that and more. These two girls have experienced something so special and I hope their friendship will continue for years,” she says.

“The programme and itinerary were without fault, we saw a beautiful city, tried wonderful traditional Russian food and got to experience things that most people wouldn’t have the opportunity to do. And it was all only because we decided to enter the draw at the last minute. So one thing people should take from this is that you should always enter that draw because someone has to be the lucky one.”

Another New Zealander will have a similar story to share in December as McDonald’s and New Zealand Football have again teamed up to deliver an amazing prize to the winner of the McDonald’s Junior Football Coach of the Year competition, nominations for which have just closed. The winner, who will be announced on August 17, will receive a football experience for two people at the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi valued at $10,000 while the regional shortlist winners will each be presented with a coaching pack.

Article added: Thursday 19 July 2018