MADRID - "We will not forget," Real Madrid's players said Friday in a statement on their website as Spain marked the first anniversary of the March 11, 2004 train bombings that killed 191 people.
David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and the other members of Europe's pre-eminent soccer team paused for five minutes with the rest of the country to reflect upon the worst terrorist attack Spain has ever known.
Its players paid respects to the victims in brief messages on the site.
Beckham said his thoughts were with "all those families who lost a loved one and who have suffered so much. I stand with them in their pain and hope they can go on thanks to the support and sympathy of the rest of the people."
Zidane said "the attack affected all of us" and made the whole team want to help the families of the victims.
"We are with them, we want them to know that they have all our support and that they must look ahead, despite their difficulties."
Roberto Carlos said everybody felt the same in Real's changing rooms.
"We want to say No to acts like the one we suffered a year ago. We cannot find the words for such an abnormal situation that we have never lived through before, one we hope we will never see again," he said.
Another player, Ivan Helguera, echoed those sentiments and said that for the players, who "feel part of this city, the memory is hard."
03/11/2005 14:10 GMT