Looking regal in his Russian uniform, Cristiano Ronaldo gazes out pensively with his arms folded and "CR7" embroidered near his left shoulder.
Behind him is Lionel Messi, also snappily dressed and with the hairs of his moustache twirled up either side of his mouth. Luis Suarez, Mohamed Salah, Antoine Griezmann, Sergio Ramos — it's a gathering of soccer's most venerated players and coaches.
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Looking regal in his Russian uniform, Cristiano Ronaldo gazes out pensively with his arms folded and "CR7" embroidered near his left shoulder.
Welcome to the "Like The Gods" exhibition at the Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg.
"He came last week with his wife," Sergeeva says of Blatter, "and just said that he was really impressed by the exhibition and that it's really great that Russian museums are taking part in this way in the World Cup. This is just an idea of heroes in sport and football, expressed in the language of art."
FILE - In this Wednesday, June 20, 2018 file photo, visitors watch a portrait of Egypt's soccer star Mohamed Salah, part of the "Like The Gods" exhibition, at the Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia. It's a collection of digitally made portraits of around 40 modern soccer superstars dressed in military and royal uniforms dating back to the 19th century. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
FILE - In this Wednesday, June 20, 2018 file photo, visitor walks among portraits with a portrait of France's soccer star Paul Pogba, left, part of the "Like The Gods" exhibition at the Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia. It's a collection of digitally made portraits of around 40 modern soccer superstars dressed in military and royal uniforms dating back to the 19th century. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
FILE - In this Wednesday, June 20, 2018 file photo, a woman watches a portrait of Portugal's soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, part of the "Like The Gods" exhibition at the Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia. It's a collection of digitally made portraits of around 40 modern soccer superstars dressed in military and royal uniforms dating back to the 19th century. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
Welcome to the "Like The Gods" exhibition at the Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg.
The collection includes digitally made portraits of around 40 modern soccer superstars dressed in military and royal uniforms dating back to the 19th century, intertwined among sculptures of ancient gods, made about 200 years ago.
"They just emphasize the main concept of this exhibition: modern heroes and ancient gods," says Anastasia Sergeeva, exhibition specialist at the museum. "Like some perfection or ideal that you can reach. And these people are reaching it now."
It is the work of Italian artist Fabrizio Birimbelli, who is both a digital illustrator and a big fan of soccer. Birimbelli was there for the opening of the exhibition June 20, while former FIFA President Sepp Blatter was a visitor two days later.
FILE - In this Wednesday, June 20, 2018 file photo, visitors speak in front of a portrait of Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi, part of the "Like The Gods" exhibition at the Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia. It's a collection of digitally made portraits of around 40 modern soccer superstars dressed in military and royal uniforms dating back to the 19th century. Intertwined among the portraits are sculptures of ancient gods, made about 200 years ago. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
"He came last week with his wife," Sergeeva says of Blatter, "and just said that he was really impressed by the exhibition and that it's really great that Russian museums are taking part in this way in the World Cup. This is just an idea of heroes in sport and football, expressed in the language of art."
Sergeeva says Ramos, the Spain captain, also has given the project the thumbs-up and was happy to be presented as a "modern hero."
Birimbelli has had some fun with the portraits, all of which he signs with "Fab."
Liverpool's larger-than-life coach, Juergen Klopp, has a cheeky grin on his face as he pulls a button on his uniform. Zlatan Ibrahimovic turns side on and looks like a warrior in his suit of armor, a Swedish flag fluttering beside him. France midfielder Paul Pogba has tricolored hair.
Former England captain Wayne Rooney has long, thick sideburns on his face. Brazil goalkeeper Alisson holds a caipirinha cocktail. Eric Cantona, fondly referred to as King Eric by fans of his former club Manchester United, wears a crown and holds a ball in his right hand.
"Birimbelli has easily perceived sincerity in each portrait that is sometimes missed by professional experts," the museum literature reads.
"Birimbelli's heroes of modern football are equal to heroes of (Greek sculptors) Lysippos or Polykleitos," it adds. "Antiquity inspires modernity."
The exhibition runs until July 15, the final day of the World Cup.
FILE - In this Wednesday, June 20, 2018 file photo, a waiter carries drinks past a portrait of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona, part of the "Like The Gods" exhibition at the Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia. It's a collection of digitally made portraits of around 40 modern soccer superstars dressed in military and royal uniforms dating back to the 19th century. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
FILE - In this Wednesday, June 20, 2018 file photo, visitors watch a portrait of Egypt's soccer star Mohamed Salah, part of the "Like The Gods" exhibition, at the Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia. It's a collection of digitally made portraits of around 40 modern soccer superstars dressed in military and royal uniforms dating back to the 19th century. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
FILE - In this Wednesday, June 20, 2018 file photo, visitor walks among portraits with a portrait of France's soccer star Paul Pogba, left, part of the "Like The Gods" exhibition at the Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia. It's a collection of digitally made portraits of around 40 modern soccer superstars dressed in military and royal uniforms dating back to the 19th century. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
RAMAT GAN, Israel (AP) — When Ben Binyamin was left for dead, his right leg blown off during the Hamas attack on the Tribe of Nova music festival, the Israeli professional soccer player thought he would never again play the game he loved.
“When I woke up,” the 29-year-old said, “I felt I was going to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair.”
Then Binyamin learned about a chance to be “normal” again: Israel's national amputee soccer team.
The team, which includes two Israeli soldiers who lost limbs fighting in the war with Hamas, has offered all three a chance to heal from life-altering wounds suffered during the Oct. 7 attacks and Israel’s ensuing war in Gaza. It heads to France in June for the European Amputee Football Championships. Some 16 teams, mostly from Europe, will compete.
“It’s the best thing in my life,” said 1st Sgt. Omer Glikstal of the team's twice-weekly practices at a stadium in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan. The 20-year-old soldier from Haifa regularly played soccer until his life was turned upside-down when a rocket-propelled grenade shattered his left foot during a battle in Gaza in November.
“It’s a very different game than I used to play, but in the end, it’s the same,” he said.
Dozens of Israelis lost limbs during the Hamas attacks that killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel and the war that followed. Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, home to a major rehabilitation center, says it alone has treated about 60 amputees.
Israel’s Defense Ministry says 1,573 soldiers have been wounded since Israel began its ground offensive in late October, in which troops have engaged in close combat with Hamas militants. The military did not have specific statistics on amputees but said some 320 soldiers were critically wounded.
The Israeli athletes and others who lost limbs have benefited from a world-class medical system that has decades of experience treating young people injured in wars and conflict.
In Gaza, unknown numbers of Palestinians have also lost limbs in a war that has claimed nearly 34,000 lives, according to Gaza health officials. Gaza’s health system has been overwhelmed by the war, and doctors and patients say they often need to choose between amputation or death. Before the war, Gaza also had a fledgling team of amputee soccer players wounded in previous conflicts with Israel.
Shaked Bitton, an Israeli army division commander, lost his right leg when he was shot by a Hamas sniper with a .50-caliber round — the type that can blast through concrete — near the Jabaliya refugee camp in late October. “I heard two shots. I fell down. I looked back,” the 21-year-old soldier said, “and I saw my leg.”
Bitton thought his life was over — he had never even met an amputee before — until he was visited in the hospital by others who had lost limbs and successfully resumed their lives.
Among them was Zach Shichrur, founder of Israel's national amputee soccer team. Severely injured when a bus ran over his foot at age 8, he knew what these men were going through, and he offered them hope.
“There is nothing greater than to go out and compete at the international level when you have the Israeli flag on your chest. Most of us, if not all, could not have even imagined something like this,” said Shichrur, 36, an attorney and the team's captain.
Since its founding five years ago, the Israeli team has met with growing success, placing third in the Nations League in Belgium in October. That qualified it to compete in the European championship in June.
Amputee soccer teams have six fielder players who are missing lower limbs; they play on crutches and without prosthetics. Each team has a goalkeeper with a missing upper extremity. The pitch is smaller than standard.
At team practices, the Israeli players are undeterred by the absence of an arm or a leg — whether from an accident, a war injury or a birth defect.
“We all have something in common. We’ve been through a lot of hard and difficult times. It unites us,” said Aviran Ohana, a cybersecurity expert whose right leg is shorter than his left due to a birth defect, and who has played with the team for two years.
On a recent April evening, the team started its warm-up with sprints around the pitch, the men speeding forward propelled by one leg, steadied by their crutches.
A game against able-bodied teenagers followed. Binyamin, dripping with sweat, kicked the ball with his left leg as the coach shouted from the sidelines: “Forward! Forward!” Every goal was celebrated.
Sir Ludwig Guttmann, a Jewish neurologist who fled Nazi Germany in 1939 and settled in Britain, is credited with pioneering competitive sports as a form of rehabilitation. Guttmann, who organized the first competition for wheelchair athletes on the opening day of the 1948 London Olympic Games, is considered the father of the Paralympic Games, and his legacy has enhanced the lives of thousands of handicapped athletes.
In Israel today, the amputee soccer team offers the players the excitement of competition — and the healing powers of sport, said Michal Nechama, the team’s physical therapist.
“They need it for their soul,” she said. “It gives them joy, pride. That extra thing that you can’t give in a hospital.”
Israel Amputee Football Team soccer players take part in a practice session with young players from a local team in Ramat Gan, Thursday, April 11, 2024. The team offers players the excitement of competition, an outlet for their energies and the healing powers of sport, of overcoming the mental and physical challenges of disability. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
The soccer player of Israel Amputee Football Team, Ben Binyamin, right, stretches after a practice session in Ramat Gan, Thursday, April 11, 2024. The team offers players the excitement of competition, an outlet for their energies and the healing powers of sport, of overcoming the mental and physical challenges of disability. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Wearing a device that measures his energy consumption, the Israel Amputee Football Team player, Ben Maman, left, fights for the ball with a young soccer player from a local team during a practice session in Ramat Gan, Thursday, April 11, 2024. Amputee football stands out as a disability sport because the athletes aren't in wheelchairs. It is played with six outfield players who have lower extremity amputations and play with crutches and without prosthetics. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israel Amputee Football Team player Shaked Bitton, center, fights for the ball with a young soccer player from a local team during a practice session in Ramat Gan, Thursday, April 11, 2024. Bitton, 21, of Jerusalem said he was shot at night in Gaza, twice, by a sniper with a 0.50 caliber round, the type that can blast through concrete. "I heard two shots, I fell down, I looked back," he said, "and I saw my leg." (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
An Israel Amputee Football Team soccer player controls the ball during a practice session in Ramat Gan, Thursday, April 11, 2024. Amputee football stands out as a disability sport because the athletes aren't in wheelchairs. It is played with six outfield players who have lower extremity amputations and play with crutches and without prosthetics. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israel Amputee Football Team soccer player, left, Omer Gliksta kicks the ball as his teammate, the goalkeeper, Or Hershkovits, tries to block it during a practice session in Ramat Gan, Thursday, April 11, 2024. Glikstal, 20, of Haifa, was a dedicated athlete who played football regularly. But during a battle in Gaza in November against Hamas militants, he was struck in the left foot by a rocket-propelled grenade. Being on the amputee team has renewed him, mentally and physically. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
The coach of the Israel Amputee Football Team, Sharon Paz, center, gives instructions to his players during a practice session in Ramat Gan, Thursday, April 11, 2024. The team practices twice a week in the evening at a stadium in Ramat Gan. Altshuler Shaham Investment House is a financial sponsor of the team, but more sponsors are being sought to help defray the costs of competition and travel. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Or Hershkovits, goalkeeper of Israel Amputee Football Team, right, is helped by a teammate to tie his soccer cleat before a practice session in Ramat Gan, Thursday, April 11, 2024. Amputee football stands out as a disability sport because the athletes aren't in wheelchairs. It is played with six outfield players who have lower extremity amputations and play with crutches and without prosthetics. Each team also has one goalkeeper, who has an upper extremity amputation. The pitch is roughly half the size of standard.(AP Photo/Leo Correa)
The soccer player of Israel Amputee Football Team, Omer Glikstal, center, gets ready for a practice session in Ramat Gan, Thursday, April 11, 2024. The team practices two evenings a week at the stadium in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan, first with warm-ups and drills, then practice games - each man undeterred by the absence of an arm or a leg from an accident, a war injury or a birth defect. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israel Amputee Football Team players Shaked Bitton left, and Ben Binyamin wear their soccer cleats before a practice session in Ramat Gan, Thursday, April 11, 2024. The team practices two evenings a week at the stadium in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan, first with warm-ups and drills, then practice games - each man undeterred by the absence of an arm or a leg from an accident, a war injury or a birth defect. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israel Amputee Football Team player, Ben Binyamin, center, prepares to kick the ball during practice session in Ramat Gan, Thursday, April 11, 2024. During the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants at the Tribe of Nova music festival, Binyamin, 29, raced into an air raid shelter, but attackers fired shots and then threw in grenades. He was seriously wounded; his right leg was blown off. He was left for dead. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
The soccer player of Israel Amputee Football Team, Ben Binyamin and his teammates prepare to run during a practice session in Ramat Gan, Thursday, April 11, 2024. Ben Binyamin was celebrating his 29th birthday at the Tribe of Nova music festival on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel and opened fire on thousands of Israelis dancing to electronic music. Binyamin raced into an air raid shelter, but attackers fired shots and then threw in grenades. He was seriously wounded; his right leg was blown off. He was left for dead. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
The soccer player of Israel Amputee Football Team, Ben Binyamin controls the ball during a practice session in Ramat Gan, Thursday, April 11, 2024. Ben Binyamin was celebrating his 29th birthday at the Tribe of Nova music festival on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel and opened fire on thousands of Israelis dancing to electronic music. Binyamin raced into an air raid shelter, but attackers fired shots and then threw in grenades. He was seriously wounded; his right leg was blown off. He was left for dead. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
