Ben Jackson is using his dream trip to Brazil to make a heartwarming gesture to help the next generation of street soccer stars.
Londoner Ben will pack his trusty Astroturf boots and kit to give to charity when he spends a week in Rio during The World Cup. Driven by the simple desire to give something back, he said: "I hate to see struggle. I know how tough it is from my own experience because we didn't have much as a family when I was growing up. My mum had to take several jobs to make ends meet."
"I will ask the organizers of the match when I am in Brazil if they know of any charities that I could give my clothes to. If they don't, then I may even just give them to someone I see in the street who looks like they could do with a helping hand."
Ben, 21, is being flown to Brazil to play in a 4 v 4 street soccer match with players from seven other countries. After a tough upbringing in Peckham, South EastLondon, Ben can't believe he has been handed this opportunity. "I have had knocks in my quest to make it as a player and had to grow up fast, so sometimes I find it hard to understand that I have got this far. It's more than a dream, really."
Ben will travel 5,800 miles to Rio de Janeiro, spending a week in the soccer-mad city as the month long football festival gets underway. He will be joined by top players from The U.S., Holland, South Korea, Ghana, Brazil, Argentina and Spainâreflecting the global flavor of The World Cup. Ben said: "I have been studying some of the languages of the other guys and researching their countries. I downloaded a language app. I want to get to know them and most importantly learn a bit about their environment and culture so I do not say something inappropriate."
"Spanish and Portuguese was OK, but I got in a right mess with Korean. I couldn't even master 'hello'."
"I also skyped with the lad from Holland. His name is Nabil 'Killer.' We only chatted for about five minutes but you can learn a lot in that time. We talked about our game styles and he told me how he likes to annihilate the opposition and loves nutmegging players."
"I've looked up his videos on YouTube and he has watched footage of me playing in 11-a-side games. It's really helped get to know him before we meet."
"I never get nervous about playing football and he seems the same. I've been playing four games a week recently because so many games were called off during a very wet British winter, so I'm raring to go."
