YANGON, Oct 25: A team of Brazilian footballers including two veteran World Cup players arrived in Myanmar Saturday to take part in charity matches to raise funds for cyclone victims.

The 1994 World Cup star Paulo Sergio was among the 19 players who arrived at Yangon airport, an AFP reporter saw.

“We are aware of what happened in this country. We are here sacrificing our time and bodies to help,” Marcos Grava, the team’s manager, told AFP.

Cyclone Nargis hit the country in early May, leaving at least 138,000 people dead or missing when it ripped through key agricultural areas in the south.

The Brazilian squad will play against local teams on October 26 and October 28 at two football stadiums in the main city Yangon, according to state media.

On October 27 they will visit the Irrawaddy Delta, the area worst hit by the cyclone, where hundreds of thousands of people are still struggling to rebuild their lives.

“I’m very glad for their arrival here especially when our people are in difficulty. They came from very far away, I really thank them,” Zaw Zaw, chairman of the Myanmar football federation, told AFP.

The Sunday match will be shown live on state television and all profits from the entrance fee will go to a fund for cyclone victims.

Myanmar’s military junta initially came under fire from the United Nations for its slow response to the tragedy, although they relented after a personal visit by the UN head and aid has since been trickling through to survivors.—AFP