Text by Jim Hoey
The victors from Scotland celebrated this year’s Homeless World Cup in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower with yelps and jumps and drama worthy of Maradona or Messi or Beckham. The homeless, or formerly homeless, players from around the world gathered in the spirit of unity to fight hard on the field and show themselves, their families and the world that it’s possible to go from the deepest depths back up out of whatever tragic circumstances or bad decisions might have racked and changed their lives.
I checked out the pics of this years event as I learned about this cup for the first time, and was struck by how many of these players were young homeless kids, out on the streets as a result of their own or their parents’ problems. To know that they rose up out of that, and made something of themselves, is even more poignant. Other, older players also made up the teams, as did women, yet all of them share the same story, even if some were brought down by hard luck, alcohol and drug addiction
There’s been more of a buzz about soccer in the USA (or “football”, around the world), with Landon Donovan and the USA team performing well in 2010, and the Women’s team coming in second place this year. Maybe next the homeless of NYC and around LA and San Fran, and Detroit and everywhere should suit up and try to kick it on the field and struggle harder to turn their lives around.
Women’s final match
Past tournaments
- Graz 2003 Homeless World Cup, Austria
- Gothenburg 2004 Homeless World Cup, Sweden
- Edinburgh 2005 Homeless World Cup, Scotland
- Cape Town 2006 Homeless World Cup, South Africa
- Copenhagen 2007 Homeless World Cup, Denmark
- Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup, Australia
- Milan 2009 Homeless World Cup, Italy
- Rio 2010 Homeless World Cup, Brazil
- Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup, France, 21-28 August 2011
Future tournaments
- Mexico City 2012 Homeless World Cup, Mexico, TBC
- Poznan 2013 Homeless World Cup, Poland, TBC
Men’s final match
Read more about the Homeless World Cup
