MANILA, Philippines – It’s a chance of a lifetime: the opportunity to play football under the harsh, breath-taking lights of a global arena.
For the eight intrepid athletes who make up the team that will represent the Philippine in the Homeless World Cup to be held this August in Paris, this is what it’s all about.
Thus spoke Rudy del Rosario, head coach of Team Philippines, as he described what the Philippine team faces after being selected out of 16 hopefuls from all over the country. The final team members made the cut : Janrick Soriano (team captain from Talisay City, Negros Occidental), Jeffrey Guelas (Leveriza, Manila), Jeffrey de Castro (Cainta, Rizal), Bert Anthony Sienes (Manila Boys’ Town), Michael Rojo (Talisay City, Negros Occidental), Aljohn Loui Matulac (Estancia, Iloilo), John Celiz (Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo), and Ricardo Padilla (Lingayen, Pangasinan).
64 national football teams will compete at the 9th edition of the annual Homeless World Cup tournament, which aims to “beat homelessness through football.”
The tournament is supported by legendary Arsenal FC manager Arsène Wenger and ex-France international footballers Lilian Thuram and Emmanuelle Petit, both World Cup winners.
The Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup will take place on the Champs de Mars, Paris, France from 21-28 August 2011.
Del Rosario said choosing the team members was a “long selection process.” He said he tried to get representatives from all over the country. “I tried to go to as many places as possible… Cebu, San Carlos, Talisay, Iloilo, Bukidnon, Iligan…”
“Sixteen of the best” were plucked from various places in the country during rigorous regional tryouts, and 11 were chosen to do battle among themselves in a do-or-die final national tryouts.
Del Rosario said during the launch on Wednesday of the team’s partnership with leading sports drink Gatorade, that choosing a new set of players every year means a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change the lives of 11 different kids every year.
To help the team be at their best in Paris, Gatorade formalized their partnership with the squad on Wednesday. Gatorade will provide the team’s equipment for the upcoming competition on August.
“We are proud to be a major sponsor for the Philippine Homeless World Cup Team to Paris,” Gatorade’s Senior Product Manager Angel Motomal said. She added that the team was not just playing for the country but also “providing awareness about social issues like homelessness and poverty.”
What makes this team different was that they are “playing for a cause through a sport that changes lives,” said HWC Coach Rudy del Rosario ‘changes lives.’
It’s about making a difference,” added Group M Account Manager for Gatorade, Michael Arcilla.
By representing the country, Del Rosario said, the team members learn some of life’s incalculable lessons like perseverance and discipline.
“We try to let them apply it in their lives,” he explained.
Del Rosario also said that the street soccer format of the Homeless World Cup, calls for a “quick game… that has high scoring… though no different from the traditional game in terms of skills.”
The Philippines had competed before in football matches in Melbourne, Australia in 2008, Milan, Italy in 2009, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2010.