Duke’s two decades of hope through the Homeless World Cup as Scotland write new story
|Image: Anita Milas
Rewind back to 2004 and Brazil were reigning FIFA World Cup champions, two years on from winning the trophy at the tournament in Korea and Japan.
A young footballer from Govan - the birthplace of Sir Alex Ferguson, Scotland’s manager at the FIFA World Cup in Mexico 1986 - was about to make his international debut at the second Homeless World Cup in Gothenburg.
David Duke wouldn’t have looked out of place as a professional. But behind his long locks and headband lay a different story. Duke was evicted from his home and found himself living in bedsit accommodation in Glasgow for young men dealing with homelessness.
In Sweden, his Scottish team took on Brazil. But unlike the FIFA World Cup in 1998 where the Samba Boys broke Scottish hearts through an unfortunate own goal, Duke and co beat Brazil 9-2.
Today, 20 years on from that famous victory, Duke was on the sidelines in the Seoul sun to watch Scotland take on Brazil once again. But while the boys in blue took the lead, history didn’t repeat itself as Brazil pushed on to a 3-1 win (you can see their second goal here on X) and read Craig Williams’ match report.
|Image: Anita Milas
But Duke wasn’t disheartened. After founding Street Soccer Scotland, he’s now done the same in London bringing the England team to the tournament and has been recognised with an MBE for his work. Two decades into his Homeless World Cup story, he knows the biggest victories aren’t always on the pitch.
|David Duke at the Santiago 2014 Homeless World Cup. Image: Elaine Livingstone
This year’s cohort continued to do Scotland proud by picking up the day’s FIFPRO Fair Play Award, a reward for stopping play when a Zimbabwean player picked up an injury yesterday. The boost spurred them on to win their second game of the day, 4-3 against Uganda.
|Image: Angelica Ibarra Rodriquez
Hong Kong’s Alex Chan Wing-pak is another man with a long Homeless World Cup history. He’s been at every tournament since 2005 bar one, bringing a team from Asia’s world city to the competition. While his team fell 5-1 to Indonesia, the impact on the self-esteem of the players from HK’s Street Soccer League can’t be defeated.
|Image: Anita Milas
Romania’s women have taken third place at the past two tournaments in Sacramento and Cardiff. A 5-2 win against Poland has them looking in good shape in the first ever Asian-held Homeless World Cup. They’ll have to get past reigning champions Mexico first, themselves celebrating an 8-5 win against Austria.
Around the pitches in the women’s tournament today, the Egyptians beat Denmark 10-2, Northern Ireland snuck past France 4-3 and Ireland scored six to Norway’s one.
Penalty kicks were a feature for the men today, helping Denmark to a win over Austria after a 2-2 draw, Argentina to edge past Norway after a 6-6 tie and England to get over the line against Egypt after a 5-5 thriller.
Shoot-outs can be a cruel way to lose a hard-fought game. But players looking for a pick-me-up could do worse than listen to the man 20 years into his Homeless World Cup tale.
Duke finishes: “Everything that happens in your life shapes you. You need to own your story, there’s a magic in your story. Just think about the bravery and the courage that the players have shown just to be here, that’s golden.”
Read the full interview with David Duke here.
Words: Daniel Tyte
Images: Anita Milas