I am Here for Obdulio

It's May, the World Cup is three weeks away.

I arrived in Africa yesterday.

I am here because football has come home.
I am here because I am a supporter..."vamo Uruguay".
I am here because the Struggle continues...la lucha continúa.

I am here because I am against those who are turning football into a neatly packaged product to be bought and sold like any other commodity.

I am here for Obdulio.  I am here for Oscar y Tricia.  I am here for Siddhartha.  I am here for David.  I am here for John.  I'm here for Ceci. I'm here for all y'all.

And I am here because as Eduardo Galeano once said of football, "when you least expect it, the impossible occurs, the dwarf teaches the giant a lesson, and a scraggy, bow-legged black man can make an athlete sculpted in Greece look ridiculous".

I will be passing my thoughts and moving to receive yours in the weeks ahead.

* The great Uruguay Captain Obdulio Varela (pictured above).