Football isn’t perfect.
But for all it’s unsavoury avarice, it still has to power to spread joy across the world.
Even into the corners where life is tough and food is short.
That’s a powerful thing…
1 These kids in South Africa doing keeper drills till dusk
2 This Zambian boy with his homemade football
3 When these lads sneaked into Indian government buildings to play in the courtyard
4 That time these kids from Tocopilla united around their local hero
5 When earthquake survivors in Nepal forgot everything and had a kick-about
6 When these boys risked their lives for a game in Taliban territory
7 When these two kicked a bottle all the way home while having *THAT* debate
8 This close-knit band of brothers in Soweto
9 When football brought a smile to the faces of these AIDs orphans in Tanzania
10 When these two best mates in Sri Lanka played on until their Mums called them in for tea
11 When this boy in Equatorial Guinea wore a pair of ladies sandals so he wouldn’t miss the game
12 When nobody complained about the state of this pitch in Beirut
13 The boys in Ghana who turned their local rubbish dump into a football pitch
14 The kids in Congo who play on volcanic ground
15 When the Dabbawalas couldn’t resist a game with some Brazilians in Mumbai
16 When this back four in North Korea worked on their offside trap
17 That time this gang in Madagascar moved the cows along to set up a game
18 When these Cameroonians played until there was no grass left
19 The lad from a Soweto township who never misses training
20 When these Bangladeshi kids didn’t give two shits about the weather
21 When a quick game brought respite from life in the favelas
22 When a whole class of Chinese students turned up in their Inter kits
23 When these youths used football to stay out of trouble
24 When this little lad got his first ball
25 When this team in Johannesburg got their first kit
26 These Syrian girls who brought some relief to their refugee camp
27 When these two Neymar fans finally found a game to join
28 When not even Mumbai flashfloods could stop these two trying it
29 The Burmese kids who had the time of their lives despite the civil war
30 When a team in Sierra Leone got a training session from Becks
31 When these Pakistan slum kids trained in their new kits for the first time
32 And when Murtaza Ahmadi proved beyond doubt that he is Lionel Messi’s biggest fan
