The Ball 2010

Given that we celebrate the origins of football and how the rules and the game have spread around the world, a visit to Genoa CFC, arguably Italy’s first football club, made good sense. A bit of googling revealed, however, that the Piazza d’Armi (where the club first played) no longer exists and is now occupied by railway sidings.

So, what to do? Give up on Genoa and head to France? Following up on our experience at Andelecht, where we also had no response to our email but received red carpert treatment, we decided to go to Genoa and see what would happen.

Stadio Luigi Ferraris

Before we knew it, we arrived at the former World Cup stadium shared by Genoa and Sampdoria. An amazing theatre surrounded on all sides by thriving city. Dribbling The Ball around the stadium we saw a sign saying “Centro Socio Educativo S. G. Battista” and a group of kids playing basketball right in the shadow of the stadium.

Basketball in the shadow of the Stadio Luigi Ferraris

A game of football seemed like a good idea. The Ball was introduced and football was played. Boys girls, young, old… street football at its finest. A sunny winters day, a red goal painted on an old brick wall, the Stadio Luigi Ferraris as a stunning backdrop… this is what The Ball is all about…

The team from “La Comunita” – Chri, Sabry, Adrian, Danny, Luca and Lelle

From street to stadium, a celebration of the beautiful game.

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…

Giuseppe and Roberta with two special balls

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.

The Ball at the San Siro

We were guests of Inter Milan with tickets on the half way line in the San Siro — one of the world’s great football cathedrals.

The San Siro – a cathedral of football

The Ball got stuck in the turnstiles. Christian and I were inside. The bag and The Ball were outside. The fan behind me could have simply legged it with by backpack and The Ball. But he didn’t. The Ball squeezed in with the help of a nameless Inter fan whose name we wish we knew.

“WTF?” Christian screamed, “How did that not go in?”
“He’s like a cat”, Luigi, sitting in front of us, said, referring to Julio Cesar’s incredible reflexes.

The rest of the match was spent in conversation with Luigi and his friends. A lecture in football, Inter-style followed. Indeed, replays aren’t allowed in stadiums but luckily Luigi would call his cousin after any controversial scenes. Yes, we can confirm that Calgiari’s goal was offside. Of course it was offside: his cousin, a die hard Inter fan would never have said anything else.

Andrew show The Ball round the San Siro

Inter 3 — Cagliari 0

After the match, Christian asked Luigi to describe who supports Inter and who supports AC. “Intelligent people support Inter, of course. And the other team in Milan is called AC Milan. The normal part is for Inter, the remaining part… I don’t want to use any rude words… is for Milan AC.”

We think we know what you mean Luigi. Sort of…

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

Liechtenstein street football mosaic

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.

We said our goodbyes to Erfurt. I left my son behind, deciding not to stop by his mother’s for another heart-wrenching goodbye that morning of departure. We had had our goodbye the day before and it left me feeling sick. I couldn’t deal with another one that morning. Another goodbye to my girlfriend Jessica followed, but that was more of a positive as we will be seeing each other soon enough. My son has no idea of what I am doing. He has understood that Papa is coming back in the summer but my son has no idea of time. He’s just 3.5 years old. Ahhh Pauli, I am going to miss you terribly.

We arrive in Ulm, wonderfully hosted by Florian, a night time street kick about in front of Ulm Minster.

Ulm Münster spire shrouded by fog at night

Our host Florian

Before we retired that evening we received another message from Inter Milan: complementary tickets for the game on Sunday — and Monday morning photoshoot with a World Cup star. “Which one?” we wondered out loud. “Eto’o”, I said. Or would it be Inter captain and Argentinian legend Zanetti? Hmm, perhaps Julio Cesar or Walter Samuel?

It was a snug little meeting at Café Nerly in Erfurt on Wednesday night which was organized by students from Uni Erfurt (Paul, Christiane, Robert, Robin, Marius). Johannes from Spirit of Football e.V. organized the festivities for the Ball and its arrival in Erfurt. The Ball wants to say a massive thank you to all of you lads.

The Ball had a special sightseeing trip on Tuesday through Erfurt’s old city (here’s how the Thüriger Allgemeine saw it.

Andrew and Sven gave a presentation about the journey thus far. Later the Erfurt Band “Roots of Liberty Life” released the song “Fans will be Friends” which is dedicated to The Ball 2010. Nice job ROLL!

See the Video from the evening:

{Flash Movie removed}

“Fans werden Freunde sein. Nicht nur ein Motto sondern auch der Geist einer grenzenlosen Reise. Mit ihrem Song “Fans will be friends” drückt die Band “Roots of Liberty Life” genau das aus, was Andrew Aris fühlt, wenn er sich mit “The Ball” auf die lange Reise begibt.”

I feel like I need another 10 days to really be ready to travel but I have another 1.5 days.

Why does the taxman come calling in my weakest hour? Why does my roommate illegally download a psycho-thriller from the internet — and why does a lawyer in Berlin have to find out about it and bill me (my name is on the internet connection) a few days before the biggest trip of my life?

Why do I suddenly just now realize the millions of little things that need to be taken care of? Why am I so disorganized? Ask my ex-wife –- she’s been telling me for years! Why is it so difficult to get a Nigerian visa? And why is it that I have to fall in love right before I leave?

And, above all, how do I say goodbye to my most treasured friend, my 3.5-year-old son? What the hell am I actually doing, going on the road to the World Cup? Suddenly, I begin to appreciate how sorely I am going to miss my son and how impossible it is for him to understand my being gone.

The doubts have been rising this last week: am I really going to be able to do this? Will I be able to keep the mosquitoes at bay? How am I going to be able to deal with the journey financially, physically, emotionally? What happens when I come back? Am I going to come back? What happens if I am attacked? How will I defend myself?

Can a football really help me through those tricky situations?

Andrew and Sven with The Ball and The Golf Ball

The Ball is pausing for a short while in Erfurt while Andrew prepares to leave once and for all on the long haul journey to South Africa. In the meantime, there’s time for some fun with friends around this ancient German city.

“Andrew Aris ist wieder in Erfurt – wenn auch nur für kurze Zeit. Der Neuseeländer macht auf seiner “The Ball”-Reise zur WM Station in Thüringen, um den Menschen das 2002 ins Leben gerufene, einzigartige Projekt näherzubringen.” as the Thüringer Allgemeine puts it.