The Big Issue

Spiderman: Meet Australia’s Vannie

By Andrea Fox

STRETCHED across the goal, limbs spread like a spider, Cambodia’s goalie is trying to stem the tide. Wearing a bright yellow No. 1 guernsey, Vannie wipes sweat from his face and with a grimace resumes play. The ball comes right back at him. It’s three minutes into the match and already Ghana are 7-0 up.

Sunlight streams onto the Melbourne Pitch beside the Yarra as the 2008 Homeless World Cup enters its third day.

On the field, Ghana are putting on a soccer clinic, skillfully attacking and aggressively defending every possession of the ball. It’s boys versus men. It’s not from lack of trying that the Cambodians are down, but the tall African men tower over the Cambodian players. With the exception of tall Vannie in goal, who uses his arms, legs, head and torso to block the ball.

Late in the game, Ghana storm down the field, working the ball left, then right, then go for the strike, only for Vannie to throw out a foot and deflect the ball. Seeing Vannie stuck in the splits position, Ghana pounces on the open net for goal number 17. Ghana end up winning 18-0.

The match finishes and amidst the sweat, smells and noise of teams during the match changeover, I catch Vannie taking off his Cambodian top and replacing it with an Australian guernsey. He is from Melbourne and is one of many Victorian street soccer players who fill in for international teams when a member cannot play. The Cambodian team and coach smile and shake hands with Vannie, thanking him again for filling in.

“No worries,” he grins, catching his breath. He’ll play again for Cambodia later in the day. White sunscreen is smudged across his young face and he talks in excited short sentences in broken English. He chooses his answers carefully and won’t talk about Vietnam, his country of birth, but opens up on the subject of the Homeless World Cup.

“I like it, it’s good fun,” Vannie says. “Even though that game (against Ghana) was very hard, I love playing soccer and being here.”

The next match between Sierra Leone and the Netherlands begins in aggressive fashion, with a two players tacking close to the wall near us. A Sierra Leone player falls down, playing for a free kick.

“This hurt in the game I played with Canada,” Vannie says, pushing his bandaged elbow towards me. He shows his injury with pride, battle scars of his time on the field. “We (Canada) won, so it’s okay.”

Vannie was homeless and jobless in Melbourne when he heard about street soccer and went to a Fitzroy Gardens training session, unsure of what to expect. That was four years ago.

“I tried to play for Australia, but I hurt here,” he says pointing to his left leg below his black knee pad. “I twist my ankle, so I could not play. I wish I was playing with the Street Socceroos!”

I want to ask him how the Homeless World Cup has changed his life, but an official with the Australian team interrupts. It seems Vannie is in demand as a ‘sub’ socceroo and is needed at Federation Square. With a rushed goodbye and a fleeting smile he’s off to help a fellow country in need of an experienced player.

Two hours later, players line up for the match between Rwanda and Austria. In the light blue Rwandan guernsey is a strangely familiar profile – tall, skinny, ears sticking out from his black hair.

Vannie walks onto the pitch and links arms with his African teammates, smiling as the Rwandan national anthem plays during the pre-match ceremony. Vannie turns out not to be needed for this match – he is there as an emergency – but spending the game on the sidelines makes no difference to his loyalty for the team.

During the match he stands at either end with the team, perched eagerly with thumbs linked over the sideboard shouting, “Go Rwanda!”.

Despite the game going Austria’s way, he encourages the attacks, claps the blocks and shouts at the defended goals. Rwanda put up a second half revival, but fails to capitalise on scoring opportunities, finishing the game 8 – 3. Post-match, Vannie shakes hands with the players, as he did with the Cambodian team, and pats everyone on the back.

Although he’s not a part of the official Australian Street Socceroos team, Vannie’s value as a reserve player is invaluable at the Homeless World Cup. He, like all of the other Street Socceroos who play, offers support and encouragement and a universal love of the game that transcends differences in cultures, language and race.

“I love my soccer,” he says. “This cup is the best.”