Turn your thoughts to world soccer championships, and your temporal lobe obligingly trots images of floodlit stadiums, undulating crowds, theatre, hubris, trend-setting and/or outdated hairdos, petty scandals, and glory across your inward field of vision.
But few tournaments engender the enormous sense of unity, quiet dignity, bravery and reclamation embodied by the Homeless World Cup (HWC), set to kick off this weekend in Cape Town.
Now in its fourth year, following tremendous successes in Austria, Sweden and Scotland, the HWC is an initiative created by Mel Young and Harold Schmied, who, word around the campfire has it, came up with the idea over a bottle of whisky during the 2001 Annual International Network of Street Papers Conference.
With support from Nike and European football’s governing body Uefa since its inception, the HWC now enjoys the backing of several world-class teams, including Manchester United, Real Madrid and SL Benfica.
The Homeless World Cup 2006 will bring together 500 players from as far afield as Liberia, Finland, Paraguay, Afghanistan and the Ukraine, and is expected to draw 100 000 painted celebrants to the staging ground at the Grand Parade, as well as many more thousands via live webcast.
Defending champions and early favourites Italy, having trounced the opposition two years running and doubtless gunning for a hat-trick, certainly have their work cut out for them. With 48 nations (21 more than last year) vying for the laurels, word both on the street and off is that this one is sure to be the best one yet.
South Africa’s own hopefuls, Bafowethu (”Our Brothers”), certainly seem up to the challenge.
Rounding out three months of preparation under Santos FC assistant coach Jean-Marc Ithier and former HWC star Nkosinathi Mkhonono, last Friday was an inspirational training session and pep match in and around the capable hands and feet of three Kaizer Chiefs legends — Emile Baron, Johannes ”Ryder” Mafokeng and Ntsie Maphike. Our hotfooted scallywags are tipped to be among the best-prepared in the tournament.
Such formidable grooming, coupled with abundant home-ground support should hopefully have Bafowethu and South Africa shuffling briskly up the rankings from their current 18th position.
The game itself is a snappy, spirited and decidedly close-quartered rumble between teams of three outfield players and a goalkeeper, played on a 22m x 16m tarmac pitch over the course of two seven-minute halves.
Traditional soccer rules have been adapted slightly to ensure that no precious seconds are wasted. For tournament purposes, the winning team is awarded three points, and the losing team zero; matches ending in a draw are decided by a sudden-death penalty shoot-out, awarding the winners three points, and the losers one.
Of course, it’s not all about the game itself, as the HWC seeks to inculcate and promote self-worth and personal transformation in the lives of the socially marginalised. In the spirit of fostering and maintaining this, no team leaves the tournament empty-handed. Every player receives a medal, and there are a number of trophies awarded in addition to the World Cup trophy itself.
The tournament has begun shifting public perceptions of homeless people, who emerge as shining heroes and testament to the transformative power of good old-fashioned determination.
The HWC ends on September 30.