ENRICO SHOWS HIS TRUE METTLE
Credit: Anita Milas
Sitting on the shiny steel bleachers overlooking Hornet Stadium field, Enrico Ragosta, a member of the Italian team, laughs as we quickly check out the sturdiness of the iron structure on which we’re perched, given the reverberations from the excited crowd. “It’s okay, I work as a welder now, so I know this is good workmanship,” he assures.
Life wasn’t always so stable for Enrico, however, as his expression changes, thinking back over the last ten years.
“When I was a teenager, I started to get involved with marijuana then, within two years, I had progressed to cocaine and other hard drugs,” he recalls.
“Day by day I became a drug addict. I stopped playing sports and dropped out of education, so I didn’t receive the final certificate from high school that is needed to get work and I left home when I was 18.”
Football was never on Enrico’s radar as a youngster, but he had been an athlete, fit and healthy until drugs started to take their toll.
“I was a runner, 200m was my distance and sometimes 100m, and also the discipline of relay, being part of the team, passing the baton, was something I really enjoyed,” he adds.
Now aged 26, Enrico has been working hard over the past eighteen months to turn things around: “I have a job now, I am living in a flat and I am trying to get back my life,” he states, his face etched with grit and determination.
“A friend of mine knows our team doctor and it was he who introduced me to the street football group,” he continues. “It’s a very good group because they are so friendly and nice – they make you feel like you are part of the family.
“I’ve been training with the team for one year now – I'm the player who joined the team most recently.
Initially picked for the Italian side to travel to New York last year, before Homeless World Cup 2022 was cancelled, Enrico is grateful that his name remained on the team list for this month’s journey to Sacramento.
“Getting involved in football has helped me turn my life around,” he adds. “I feel fitter, healthier and better about myself.”
Enrico admits to having had a bit of a ‘wobble’, however, when walking out to represent his country for the first time, resplendent in his national strip.
“I felt very anxious when we first went on to the pitch because I have square [big!] feet but I kept moving around, using my physicality to defend.
“It was a very good feeling though – I'm super proud that they picked me to come here. When our anthem began playing, I put my hand on my heart, it was very emotional.
“I love to talk with the other nations, too. They are different but we have the same challenges; we are all building our lives again from the bottom.”
Runner, footballer – and Enrico also adds boxing to his sporting pursuits.
“I’m a boxer, that has been my major sport recently, but I put that training on hold to concentrate on football.
“I started to box two years ago and had my first official match in March – I lost but I’m satisfied I tried my best. You always succeed if you try your best.”
Even though he will not be able to play in the Homeless World Cup again – players can compete only once – he’s determined, “I will stay in touch with the team, keep going to the training sessions and I will continue my boxing – the football will help my footwork for boxing!”
As he says, in the words of a man whose daily work is to ensure metal is securely welded to metal, “This link will not be broken.”
Credit: Anita Milas
Words: Isobel Irvine