The Ball gets a guard of honour from the u-14 girls hockey team at the Prince of Wales Country Club in Santiago, Chile
87 year old Alcides Ghiggia heads and signs The Ball in Santiago. Ghiggia scored the winning goal in which World Cup Final against which team? Olimpiadas Especiales Chile Olimpiadas Especiales – Uruguay
The Ball in Colombia, Day 1. Stay tuned for more. Un Balon, Un Mundo!
Special Olympics Colombia (Página Oficial)
Un evento de Special Olympics Colombia (Página Oficial) de la mano de Spirit Of Football “Un Balón, Un Mundo”. Un agradecimiento muy especial para Diego Camilo Guzmán González quien hizo todo el registro fotográfico!!!
Thank you to Bolivia. It was a fantastic ball adventure in your dramatic country. Just too short! Next stop, Chile! Country 22 en route to Brazil and the World Cup. One Ball, One World!
The indigenous Urus and Iruitos people who inhabit the tiny floating island #Urus on Lake Tititcaca were delighted by the visit of The Ball. They have been playing football here for decades with their own hand-made balls and were all the more intrigued to find out about The Ball and to ask countless questions about the history of football. At the end of the visit they gave Spirit of Football a hand-made totora plant ball for our exhibition in Brazil. One Ball, One World. With Special Olympics Bolivia
Captain’s Ball at Lake Titicaca, Bolivia with Special Olympics Bolivia
The Ball’s 15.000th signature is 65 year old Lorenzo, representative of the indigenous Urus and Iruitos people who inhabit the tiny floating island #urus made completely of #totora plant on #laketiticaca #bolivia
Legendary Bolivian coach Xavier Azkargorta speaks about the Spirit Of Football on the training field at Club Bolívar Pagina Oficial. He said that football is a way of life. His team is preparing for their vital Copa Libertadores de América 1/4 final second leg match on Thursday. The owner of the club told his players he will fly them to Brazil for the World Cup final if they make the semi-finals.
The Ball`s journey is morally supported by FC Barcelona . Here is an image of 200 + children at the ACS La Paz, Bolivia watching Cesc Fabregas saying One Ball, One World… Special Olympics Bolivia
The Ball was lost for 4.5 hours yesterday in La Paz, Bolivia. The ball carriers and the Spirit of Football team were in a state of panic. The first 20 minutes no one knew where it was and we had no leads. It disappeared at the end of a Special Olympics Bolivia football event that welcomed The Ball to Bolivia..
The SO team called their coaches, athletes and parents. One coach said he thought one athlete had given the ball as a present to another athlete. The general consensus was that this athlete (Juan Carlos) had left with The Ball (his present).
Juan Carlos had no phone. It was midday and he was supposed to be attending a class at the university at 2pm and that the Special people arrived around 1:45. We decided to wait for him there. While we were waiting, we found out that the class would not take place until 3pm. Time went slowly by but Juan Carlos didn’t show up at 3. He always shows up. But not this time. At 3.30 he arrived – clearly with no ball in his backpack. At that point Andrew was freaking out. A SO mum who was with us and knows Juan Carlos asked him if he had The Ball.
He said no. Repeatedly.
Finally, she got him to tell the truth about The Ball.
He said he was given it and took it home. He wanted to keep it safe. It turns out he was so happy to have been given this special and amazing present that he wanted to take it home and make sure it was safe. His home was over an hour away, outside the borders of la Paz. He went way out of his way to protect his important gift.
It felt somehow sad to take The Ball away from him. But Andrew was extremely happy to have The Ball in his hands again!
The Ball has been stolen or lost on every big ball journey so far. In 2002 if Phil hadn’t spotted the guy who stole The Ball just before he disappeared round a corner in Xi’an, we might not have had it anymore. Read about the stolen ball and its recovery here:
https://theball.tv/2002/blog/2002/05/27/the-ball-is-stolen-and-retrieved/
In 2010 The Ball was lost and found again upon entering South Africa. Read here for the full story:
https://theball.tv/2010/blog/2010/06/10/you-were-lost-but-now/
The Ball 2014 is safe and sound.
One Ball, One Juan Carlos, One World! ;-))
