Vancouver at the Homeless World Cup in Rio de Janeiro: Day eight

The 2010 Homeless World Cup is currently underway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A football tournament played by teams comprised of homeless people from 46 countries, the contest aims to provide a "vision for a healthy, abundant, confident, world where everyone has a home".

This year, Canada's entry into the tournament is heavy on local talent. Vancouver's Alan Bates is blogging from Rio de Janeiro and has filed this report from day eight of the team's adventures.

Day eight was relatively uneventful from a soccer point of view. We only had one game and I feel like there's not a lot to say about it. Either that or I'm too tired to remember the details. We played Finland, didn't score, and got scored on a lot. We didn't have a bad game, they were just a better team and we didn't get any bounces. I've have to emphasize again how good the guys have been at just accepting very lopsided games like this, keeping a positive attitude and moving on.

The highlight of the day came off the pitch with our ride on the Santa Teresa streetcar. It only costs 60 cents (or whatever they're called here) for an amazing 40-or-so minute trip. After a section of elevated track that makes it feel like you're slowly floating (in a clunky kind of way) over the city in a streetcar, the tracks wind up narrow and curving roads. The scenery includes restaurants, homes, and very impressive street art and graffiti. In addition to paying customers, scores of kids hop on and off all the way up, barely missing telephone poles and buses going the other way as they hang from the side. Of course, our players couldn't miss out on that kind of reckless fun so they also had a go at barely avoiding utility poles and side-mirrors.

We've spent a lot of time near the tournament venue in Copacabana and this feels like a much more genuine part of the city. After the streetcar trip, the Theatro Municipal was also really spectacular at night with lights coming through all the stained-glass windows.

Hopefully, I'll be able to catch up on more updates tomorrow.

Thanks for your support,

Alan