Vic: Crowds cheer for homeless world cup

AAP General News (Australia)
12-07-2008
Vic: Crowds cheer for homeless world cup

By Jamie Duncan

MELBOURNE, Dec 7 AAP - Three winters ago, thousands of hardy souls braved the cold
in the glow of the big screen at Melbourne's Federation Square to watch the 2006 World
Cup of soccer unfold.

On Sunday, bathed in brilliant sunshine, they returned for the finals of a soccer tournament
with a lower profile but that, in its own way, is probably more important - the Homeless
World Cup.

Almost 500 homeless men and women from 56 nations came to Melbourne with hope of victory
and a good chance of changing their lives for the better.

Organisers of the tournament - the sixth for homeless men and the first for women -
say 77 per cent of homeless people who take part experience a "significant life change".

It may be they give up drugs or alcohol, find a home, get a job, go on to further training
and education, repair fractured relationships or take up positions as coaches or players
in semi-professional soccer teams.

The matches are fast-paced, high-scoring and short, played on a smaller pitch and with
only seven-minute halves.

More than 5,000 people packed the square, filling two banks of temporary stands and
climbing for vantage points on steps, tables and retaining walls for a glimpse of the
action.

It was a curious and cosmopolitan mix of sports fanatics and the socially conscious.

Karen Cohen brought her daughters Vanessa Mae and Dara to watch.

"I love the whole idea of giving people some sense of pride and it makes me happy that
it wasn't about money. It was about the experience. I wanted to teach my two daughters
those values," she said.

The sports nuts came well prepared with a range of national strips and flags and soccer
chants that were just as varied and colourful.

During the women's final, between Zambia and Liberia, a group of African men - one
with a set of bongo drums - sang and chanted.

Zambia won the inaugural women's final 7-1, with Liberia hit hard by injury.

Robert Tracey, now living in Melbourne, belied his Scottish origins with a thick accent,
the Scottish national strip and his face painted in blue and white.

"I support Scotland all the way. The Scots didn't make the final but there's always
next year," he said.

Isheq Adadh, who emigrated from Afghanistan 10 years ago, cheered with his two sons
and their three friends as the Afghani team played.

"It's the first time we have seen Afghan sportsmen," he said.

"They are playing very well."

Afghanistan's team, the clear crowd favourite, overcame decades of war and poverty
to win their close and hard-fought final against Russia, 5-4.

AAP jrd/wf/cdh

KEYWORD: HOMELESS (PIX AVAILABLE)

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