Rodrigo Rodriguez
It was June 2000 when I realised that I would never play for my country, my MENTALITY was all wrong. A little lost, I was taken in by the Four Diegos who seemed to have an enlightened MENTALITY; some might say they are factory of MENTALITY. Being a Diego means looking beyond the field of play and wallowing in the collective MENTALITY of those of us who will never play for our country but love to analyse, laugh and cry at the often dubious MENTALITY of those who are good enough to play for their country.
Diegos Visit Durban Township
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Durban Township Visit Puts Life Back Into Perspective The World Cup has brought us many memorable moments and one nightmarish moment in Durban. With the Socceroos performance against Germany behind us it is time to put things back into perspective.
Today we visited a township in Durban where we met a group of around 100 happy young kids who live in extremely tough conditions with not much in the way of possessions or what we would consider life’s basic necessities. These post apartheid children will learn of the plight of their parents and grandparents but can look with relative optimism to the future.
With thanks to Sportsnet we gave the group 10 or so footballs to play with and to let them know that we are learning about them. To see the joy that it brought the children and their carers reminded me that a round ball (a perfectly round ball for that matter) is all you need to bring joy to a child whose life is otherwise very tough.
To see Vinnie Venezuala play knick-knack-paddy-whack with a group of adoring girls, to see Jose, Pablo and Donnie playing football with the kids and Carlos and Warren interview community leaders to find out what football and the World Cup means to the community made me proud to be a Diego.
Rodrigo Rodriguez |