Thibaut Courtois is endearingly charitable

While much of the recent talk in Spain has centred around the astounding dissonance between the state of the national economy and the willingness of clubs like Real when it comes to [rather frequently] loosening purse strings, it looks like there's still parts of the capital where modesty and charity are the best policy.

Thibaut Courtois, our other big Belgian out on loan, has been seemingly leading by example when it comes to aiding those in need. The Spanish media, appalled at having no more Mourinho soundbytes to dissect and criticize, have taken to a new campaign wherein they're attempting to establish just how out of touch modern footballers earning the big bucks are with reality and the common man.

The young keeper however, had been busy being kind and helpful, as he explained to El Mundo:

"People see what's going wrong and I, for example, when training in Calderon, I always see a guy at a traffic light next to the stadium and almost all players will give something."

"... I know him. I give five Euros, or more or less, depends on the day. Sometimes a little more. One day he told me that his wife had to go to the hospital and I gave him more. These things must be done. Or for example if I have dinner downtown and there's spare food, I ask them to put it in Tupperware,"

How compassionate! Turns out Courtois has been asking restaurants to put spare food in plastic containers so he can distribute it among any in need he comes across, and doing so on a day-to-day basis. It's a pretty simple gesture, but I think it's truly wonderful seeing a player reach out to the desolate and those in need of subsistence assistance.

Most importantly, it sets an invaluable example for fellow players and professionals. So as a footballer and a potential role model, I think we can all praise Thibaut for an endeavour well chosen.