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From the Heart of Football to the Seoul of Football

Seoul welcomes the World
Seoul welcomes the World, and we welcome Seoul

After 7000 miles of being kicked and kissed across Europe and Asia, our Olympic Torch of a ball has made it. With one day to spare…

Our first stop in Seoul as we step off the bus and get our bearings.

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In the official souvenir shop at Seoul’s central railway station, we found a huge ball full of signatures. We whipped on our own autographs.

Chris signs the ball in the official souvenir shop in Seoul
Chris signs the ball

Phil signs the ball in the official souvenir shop in Seoul
Phil signs the ball

All The Ball’s predecessors since 1974.

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“They think it’s all over…”

The Cup has yet to start!

Written by Phil and Chris.

Written by on Thursday, May 30th, 2002

7 comments on this post

  1. nice one guys – give yourselves a well-earned day off before you report for training with the rest of the England squad.

    It seems ages since we were on top of the Dover cliffs, doing 50 takes of a free kick and then blithely taping over them all – at that point I wasn’t entirely sure you were gonna make it across the channel in one piece, let alone to Seoul.

    Enjoy the footie & see you in a month or so!

  2. A day off would have been great, Ben… instead, we’ve been running around Seoul trying to drum up support for the Ball. With a certain measure of success, it seems.

    We’ve been hanging out in the press centre today, accosting any journalists unlucky enough to cross our path, telling all and sundry about our adventures, and collecting a mobile phone which works here in Korea. More on that little baby later.

    A kindly South African radio journalist from African Soccer burst out laughing at our story, and promised to include a mention of us in his radio bulletin tonight. He also gave us some great contacts which we’ll be following up in the morning…

    The British Embassy have (again) been brilliant, and we’ll be visiting them tomorrow. And our Australian friend Luke, who we met in Kashgar, has also put us in touch with some great people (cheers Luke!)

    The White Cliffs of Dover do indeed seem an age ago…

  3. congratulations boys. have fun.

  4. Nice travelling boys. Good luck with ticket quest. Les Wakes are off to La Belle France on Sunday….. just in time for the Swedish encounter. We shall be thinking of you guys as the Japanese adventure starts. Let me know if you wish to have Yoshi’s contact details. Love T K E M G

  5. can u remember me?(we met in the subway..after opening match..)

    i was moved by your love about football!

    I wish you health and the best of luck in everything you do.

    p.s please try KIMCHI!!

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The Ball 2018 left England on 25th March 2018 and travelled to the World Cup in Russia.

The Ball 2014 kicked off from England on 9th Jan 2014 and headed to the World Cup in Brazil.

The Ball 2010 left England on 24th Jan 2010 headed to the Opening Ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Ball 2006 travelled from London to the Opening Ceremony in Munich, Germany.

The Ball 2002 was carried 7000 miles across Europe and Asia to the World Cup finals in Korea & Japan.