Approximately 500 drug addicts, alcoholics, orphans and vagrants kicked off the Homeless World Cup soccer tournament, opening a weeklong event aimed at helping society's most marginalized make a new start in life.
South African President Thabo Mbeki and thousands of spectators gathered on Sunday in central Cape Town to salute a parade of flag-waving teams from 48 countries as diverse as Afghanistan, Australia, Britain, Sweden, the US, Liberia and Zimbabwe.
"We really can help change the world, end poverty and homelessness," organizer Mel Young said. "All we have to do is take a little round ball and start kicking it around."
PHOTO: AP
The idea for the street soccer tournament was born in Cape Town in 2001 after an international meeting of editors of street newspapers like The Big Issue, which is sold by the homeless in Britain, Australia, Namibia and South Africa.
The rationale behind the event is to instill a sense of pride -- and discipline -- in the players through being part of a team and to help them overcome problems in their regular lives.
Research published by the organizers said that of the players in last year's tournament in Edinburgh, 94 percent reported a new motivation in life.
Tracey Ford, a 34-year-old Australian woman, was homeless for four years after losing her house as a result of drug addiction. She then became a street paper vendor and trained with Street Socceroos of Melbourne before taking part in last year's contest.
"I was literally in the gutter and felt depressed, suicidal and at the end of my life," she said.
"The Homeless World Cup made me ecstatic, proud. I wanted to tell everyone, tell the whole world. My old life doesn't exist anymore because of this, Ford added.
Ford said she recently moved into a small home, reconciled with her children and started part time work at a launderette and nearly finished her drug rehabilitation program.
The tournament was endorsed by the likes of former Beatle Ringo Starr, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and Portuguese soccer great Luis Figo.
The focus, however, was on the unknowns. Players like Sada Uzumakunda, who lost her family in Rwanda's 1994 genocide and ended up as an alcoholic street girl. Or Daniel Martinez, whose world fell apart when his father died and who found a new "home" by qualifying for the US squad.
This year is the first time the contest is being held in a developing country, where homelessness is usually related to poverty or war rather than the addiction problems of Europe and North America.
Unemployment in South Africa is an estimated 40 percent, and deprivation and homelessness continue to blight the country 12 years after the end of apartheid.
Most of South Africa's players come from the sprawling townships around Cape Town and are living in shelters after years on the streets, many of them spent sniffing glue and resorting to petty crime to survive.
But, for the opening match, the players of Bafowethu ("Our Brothers") were treated as stars. They had tears in their eyes for the national anthem and were mobbed as heroes after their 2-0 victory over Chile in the 15-minute match.
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