YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s captain and Manchester United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan says victory against Ajax in the Europa League final will not only bring him medal, but also give others the chance “to find out what Armenia is, where it is”, The New York Times said in an article entitled ‘Manchester United’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan Brings Armenia With Him’.

 “Wherever Armenians go, they create a new Armenia” around themselves, New York Times quoted Mkhitaryan as saying.

‘He has done just that in Manchester: As well as watching as much soccer from home as he can, he has found an Armenian Apostolic Church — “we were the first country to adopt Christianity, in 301 A.D.,” he points out, with the air of an earnest schoolteacher — although he has not yet had time to visit’ – New York Times wrote.

‘He has become a regular at the Armenian Taverna, sandwiched between a dry cleaner and a bank in the heart of the city. It has been there since 1968, but only since Mkhitaryan started popping in, once a week or so, has it started to attract the flashbulbs of the paparazzi. It is his little echo of home. “The new Armenia in Manchester is in the city center,” he said. “Near me.”

He seeks out other reminders, too. His last trip to the movies was to see “The Promise,” set in 1915, when as many as 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire were killed in the Armenian Genocide.

It is a subject close to his heart, one he learned in school that remains “central” to the identity of all Armenians, he said. The film is not the usual cinematic fare for players — Mkhitaryan has not discussed it with his teammates, he said; he suspects they would not be interested — but it left him profoundly moved. “To watch it, I was sad in one way and proud in another,” he said.

‘He tries, actively, to take his mind off soccer as much as he can. Mkhitaryan has a regular supper club with his teammates Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba; he goes to the movies as often as time allows. He seeks distraction so he might focus better when needed’ – New York Times said.