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Homeless soccer team fit for World Cup challenge
An all-Ireland soccer team were confident they topped the fitness stakes as they jetted off to Sweden today for the Homeless World Cup.
Organiser Sean Kavanagh said the team had been training hard and were buoyant as they gathered at Dublin Airport.
“They are all on cloud nine here and you can appreciate what that is like,” Mr Kavanagh said.
The competition is far from the high-stake glitz of more conventional international championships. But it gives the players a chance to leave everything else behind as it aims to highlight the issue of homelessness and poverty worldwide.
Mr Kavanagh said this was the first time the players, bar the goalkeeper, had taken part in the event.
The Ireland squad comprises 20 players from Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Belfast, all of whom are homeless or living in hostels.
Organiser Sean Kavanagh said the idea was to use sport to build up confidence and self-esteem.
“There are no doubts about the fitness element. It’s amazing to see them come off the pitch,” he said.
“Many have been in rehab and this gives them the incentive to stay clean and to keep fit. We hope the game acts as a catalyst, to give them more self-belief which will encourage them to move forward.”
While it may be in a different league to the World Cup, where the focus is on the millionaires of the modern game, the competition is still tough.
Mr Kavanagh said the team had trained hard. “The competition is amazing, the standard is very, very high.
“The whole idea is to forget all the players are homeless, which is very easy to do out there in the middle of it all.”
As the team checked in for their flight, Mr Kavanagh said: “They are out to do the business. We have
a good nucleus of players, we should do well.
“It will be a pretty daunting test of temperament as well as skill. As long as they don’t panic and perform as they have been we should be fine.”
For the next 10 days the team, aged between 19 and 32, will be representing Ireland and the notion of being second class citizens will be swept away.
The squad has been kitted out with brand new suits and strips.
They will walk onto the pitch in Gothenburg accompanied by the Irish flag, sing the national anthem and hear their names echo round the stadium.
Team coach Mick Pender said the game was perfect for helping develop closer links between people who have felt isolated and alone before.
“It is important that there be something positive for those who have fallen behind,” he said.
“The team will live out every boyhood dream when they put on the green of Ireland and represent their country.”
The players are hopeful Ireland could win its first World Cup. “We saw Greece win Euro 2004 so anything’s possible,” joked Mr Kavanagh of the homeless magazine, Ireland’s Issue.
The competition was launched last year and saw 18 countries enter teams of homeless players whose only income came from selling street papers.
It was a huge success with more than 20,000 people turning out to watch 109 games in Graz, Austria.
Some 28 countries will take part in this year’s event which begins on Sunday July 25 and runs until August 1.
Wonder will there be any future talent found at this competition.
An all-Ireland soccer team were confident they topped the fitness stakes as they jetted off to Sweden today for the Homeless World Cup.
Organiser Sean Kavanagh said the team had been training hard and were buoyant as they gathered at Dublin Airport.
“They are all on cloud nine here and you can appreciate what that is like,” Mr Kavanagh said.
The competition is far from the high-stake glitz of more conventional international championships. But it gives the players a chance to leave everything else behind as it aims to highlight the issue of homelessness and poverty worldwide.
Mr Kavanagh said this was the first time the players, bar the goalkeeper, had taken part in the event.
The Ireland squad comprises 20 players from Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Belfast, all of whom are homeless or living in hostels.
Organiser Sean Kavanagh said the idea was to use sport to build up confidence and self-esteem.
“There are no doubts about the fitness element. It’s amazing to see them come off the pitch,” he said.
“Many have been in rehab and this gives them the incentive to stay clean and to keep fit. We hope the game acts as a catalyst, to give them more self-belief which will encourage them to move forward.”
While it may be in a different league to the World Cup, where the focus is on the millionaires of the modern game, the competition is still tough.
Mr Kavanagh said the team had trained hard. “The competition is amazing, the standard is very, very high.
“The whole idea is to forget all the players are homeless, which is very easy to do out there in the middle of it all.”
As the team checked in for their flight, Mr Kavanagh said: “They are out to do the business. We have
a good nucleus of players, we should do well.
“It will be a pretty daunting test of temperament as well as skill. As long as they don’t panic and perform as they have been we should be fine.”
For the next 10 days the team, aged between 19 and 32, will be representing Ireland and the notion of being second class citizens will be swept away.
The squad has been kitted out with brand new suits and strips.
They will walk onto the pitch in Gothenburg accompanied by the Irish flag, sing the national anthem and hear their names echo round the stadium.
Team coach Mick Pender said the game was perfect for helping develop closer links between people who have felt isolated and alone before.
“It is important that there be something positive for those who have fallen behind,” he said.
“The team will live out every boyhood dream when they put on the green of Ireland and represent their country.”
The players are hopeful Ireland could win its first World Cup. “We saw Greece win Euro 2004 so anything’s possible,” joked Mr Kavanagh of the homeless magazine, Ireland’s Issue.
The competition was launched last year and saw 18 countries enter teams of homeless players whose only income came from selling street papers.
It was a huge success with more than 20,000 people turning out to watch 109 games in Graz, Austria.
Some 28 countries will take part in this year’s event which begins on Sunday July 25 and runs until August 1.
Wonder will there be any future talent found at this competition.