The Ball 2010

We left Inter’s training ground still reeling from the whirlwind that we had been swept up in that morning. Christian needed coffee before contemplating the long drive south to Genoa, so he and Andrew headed into Appiano Gentile to see if there was a café in town. Indeed there was…

We strolled into the Café en Piazetta and ordered two coffees and got talking to Giuseppe, who made us the coffees. Moments later, his wife Roberta, hearing about our story, came in with a ball signed by the whole Inter Milan team…

It turned out that Giuseppe supports AC, while Roberta supports Inter. They love two different teams but they also love each other.

We had to get to Inter’s training ground out of town at Appiano Gentile by 10am. It’s supposed to be a half hour drive. “Easy,” we thought. We left at 9am, thinking we were giving ourselves plenty of time. 30 minutes later we had arrived back at our point of departure, having been led a merry dance by Milan’s chaotic road network.

The fog, congested roads and our poor navigating left us battling the clock. Panic began to set in. Nasty words were exchanged between driver and navigator. But somehow, almost miraculously, we found the right road and made it, just about on time, to the photo-shoot.

We drove past the paparazzi waiting at the high-security front gate and were escorted out back, just outside of the players’ area right before practice. We were told that it would be Brazil’s number one goalkeeper Julio Cesar, who would be joining us.

Andrew, Matteo, Julio and The Ball

“He is 100% for the World Cup”, said Andrea Butti from Inter. “That is why we thought he would be the right man.” A true gentleman, he signed The Ball and headed it on its way.

Julio Cesar’s signature on The Ball

Special Olympics was represented by athlete Matteo, who gave The Ball a big kick southwards, and whose signature on The Ball means a great deal to us — two stars kicking and signing The Ball in one day is a rare event.

Our next mission — find a place to stay. We googled the address of the local youth hostel and headed off from the San Siro in the car to try and find it.

Before we knew it we were completely lost, driving around Milan in the dark, in the fog, in the cold, on the phone to Giovanni from the hostel. “Ahhhh,” he said, “you are 2 minutes away.” Though we were very near the hostel, we were utterly unable to find it. Tiredness and frustration crept in. A Brazilian on the street wanted to talk football but had no idea where we were. Finally success. Ahhh, a bed for the night and friendly hostel manager Giovanni: “Football is magic and The Ball is a magician,” he said. “It is the universal language.”

Giovanni at the Milan youth hostel

We went to bed wondering which Inter World Cup star we were going to meet the following day.

5 countries in one day… Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy.

Lichtenstein, the world’s 4th smallest country welcomed us with snow drifting down from the heavens. We shot a scene for the film and ooooops, The Ball was in the water… a rescue mission followed. A cold and wet ball was recovered and as we journeyed over the Alps, The Ball was as snug as a bug and enjoying its ride to the San Siro.