Street children need another ‘miracle'

The Philippines needs another miracle after being bracketed alongside world power Brazil in the 1st Deloitte-Street Child World Cup which starts this Sunday in Dunbar, South Africa.

The team is known as a “Miracle team” after beating several odds to form the team but against Brazil which considers football as a religion, it has to pull off another trick to advance to the next round.

Aside from Brazil, other members of Group B are Tanzania and Ukraine. Entered in Group A of the 7-a-side indoor event for street children are South Africa, India, Nicaragua, and the United Kingdom.

A novel feature of the tournament organized by Amos Trust is the inclusion of girls in the game. There must be at least one girl in the pitch at all times and if she scores, it will count for two points.

Though the Philippines is ranked way below by Fifa at 167th, team officials are optimistic it can pull off a big surprise.

“My partner Craig Burrows (team co-organizer) and I have agreed to dub this team the “Miracle Team.” Why? Perhaps because we believe that miracles have already started especially in the formation of this team,” Formoso said during the squad’s despedida party on Wednesday in Tuloy sa Don Bosco in Alabang, Muntinlupa.

The send off party took an emotional turn after some of the parents of the street children like Erlinda Gaerlan, John Robert’s mom, cried when she saw her son donning the country’s colors after six years of being separated.

Manila Bulletin