Mum thanks caring Zola
The mother of the little boy to whom Gianfranco Zola dedicated his FA Cup wonder goal today thanked the Chelsea star for his heartfelt tribute.
Zola scored with a wonderful back heel in Chelsea's 4-0 win over Norwich and gave an emotional speech dedicating his strike to eight-year-old Matthew Aston, who died just after Christmas from a brain tumour.
The 35-year-old star had visited the boy and his family at Christopher's Hospice in Guildford, Surrey, two days before he lost his brave fight for life.
Today Matthew's mother Tina thanked the Italian for his gesture. "It was an absolutely lovely thing for him to do," she said. "It really touched all our hearts to think he is such a caring person to do something like that.
"The reaction to it has been a surprise but it was no surprise that he did it. He promised that he would do this and I believed he would be true to his word. Matthew was such a brave boy and we miss him so much. What Gianfranco did last night has helped us deal with the pain of his loss."
