I’m a World Cup Fan having recently watched the French get beaten by Italy in the last one and enjoying it play-by-play. Growing up in Jamaica I watched a lot of soccer and even played some myself. I was very intrigued when I came across this story in the offbeat section of CNN.com and thought that I would include the post. The original article as appears below is here.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (Reuters) — Many of the soccer players representing their countries in an international tournament in South Africa this week were remarkably gaunt, sallow-looking and groomed haphazardly.
They looked, in fact, as if they had spent the past few years living on the streets. Indeed, that is where these improbable athletes had been spending much of their time before arriving at the Homeless World Cup in Cape Town.
The annual tournament, now in its fourth year and ending on Saturday, has brought together 500 players from 48 countries in a project aimed at helping homeless people turn their lives around.
“It helps primarily in terms of psychological changes … homeless people have no self-respect, little self-esteem,” Mel Young, president and co-founder of the group that organizes the competition, said in an interview.
The idea behind the tournament was to give participants an aim in life, and for those addicted to drugs or alcohol, an incentive to sober up.
“What happens here is a major thing. They’re standing singing the national anthem, they’re representing their country proudly, they’re playing in a competition which is real, and people are according them respect and taking them seriously,” Young said.
Interest in the Homeless World Cup has come from many quarters. South African President Thabo Mbeki opened the tournament last Sunday, and top professionals from clubs like Manchester United and South Africa’s Kaizer Chiefs have offered to help train players.
Vocal crowds of around 2,000 have flocked to the matches, held on a large parking lot in central Cape Town.
The pace of the matches is fast; four players on each team play two seven-minute periods on a pitch the size of a tennis court.
“It’s very fast, it’s hard, it’s high scoring, it’s great for spectators,” said Johannes Krasa, 34, who plays for Austria. “There’s non-stop action. I love it.”
The traditional skills of conventional soccer do not always help in these street soccer games, as the English side found when they were defeated 5-3 in the preliminary rounds by Kazakhstan, most of whose squad are paunchy and over 30.
England’s Tony Peacock, 18, admitted to being overconfident. “We thought we’re all young guys, fit, and if you look at the Kazakhstan players … well. But they know how to use the ball.”
Krasa said the Kazakhstan players illustrated the principle that you cannot judge a person by appearances, adding that he had learned a lot on his trip to South Africa.
“When I see the situation in Africa, I know that although I am a homeless man, I am a rich man in comparison … I have really nothing, but they (Africans) have nothing … I don’t know how they can live,” he said.
Surveys conducted after the previous Homeless World Cup, held in Scotland, showed that 80 percent of those who took part had changed their lives for the better in major ways.
“They came off drugs, got houses, got training, got jobs,” Young said.
The tournament was first held in 2003 in Austria with just five countries competing.
Yesterday I found a couple of apps. Who said there aren’t a lot of Apps for the Mac? Anyway, I came across one app called Inquisitor. Inquisitor is a little plug-in for Safari that is similar to spotlight. I like to think of it more like having Quicksilver for websites right into Safari. You type in anything in the search bar and web page options start popping up fast with star ratings its really cool. I’m finding it very useful so far. The other App that I found was Cha-Ching its still in beta but its a slick money management app that allows you to add pictures of your purchases and such. Kinda nice for keeping an inventory. You can see you outgoing and incoming cash as well as your balance, plus it supports smart tags for searching. If you’re a visual oriented person or looking for an easy way to see where your money is coming and going its a nice little App. Its in beta so the features aren’t extensive yet but more is on its way.
Exciting, Exciting… well, I’ve gabbed on and on have to go check on my laundry and start on that website again.
