14 DAY TRIAL // Gabriel Muniz, an 11-year-old boy from Brazil, suffers from a rare limb deficiency called apodia that stopped his feet from developing normally. Even with this kind of impairment, the boy is determined to live a normal life and play football with children of his age.
Despite his condition, Gabriel is an active child playing with his friends and working towards fulfilling his dream of becoming a professional football player. Even from an early age, the boy was showing an incredible will power, “he started to walk before he could talk at 10 months. It was incredible,” Sandra, the child's mom told Daily Mail.
Muniz had a special place for football in his heart, joining the local team and winning medals for his incredible performance. In his daily activities, Gabriel wears prosthetic limbs, but when it comes to kicking the ball, he goes barefoot. His passion overcame his physical deficiency and his determination helped him get closer to his dream.
The boy's will and performance made it to the ears of Spanish players from FC Barcelona that invited Gabriel to play with the football stars on the training camp. After playing against the renown footballers, Muniz's performance made the headlines and the kid went to train at Rio de Janeiro's Saquarema Academy.
“He is skillful, he goes after [the ball], he is fearless and he knows how to organize plays. He also makes good passes,” one of the boy's friends, Lucas Santos, explained. Gabriel's fight already paid off, the boy's story being shown in a TV series and one of Gabriel's most proud accomplishments is meeting Argentine star and football icon Lionel Messi.
“He is challenging the social norms. When he arrived there [at the Barcelona academy] no-one believed in him. But he proved everyone that he can go head to head with any other boy,” Gabriel's gym teacher told Daily Mail. The boy's story is truly admirable and his determination is an example for many people around the world.