YOO COOKS UP A DREAM RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
Credit: Dan Higginson
With a grin wider than the state of California, 23-year-old South Korea player Dalwoo Yoo spent the last few moments of his Homeless World Cup journey standing stock still, arms outstretched, by the main pitch in Hornets Stadium as his new global football friends signed every inch of his treasured national jersey. A material memento of a memory that he’ll cherish for the rest of his life – and the start of a new journey which, he hopes, will culminate in realising his childhood dream.
For Dalwoo, it’s been a life journey that, despite lacking the support of a traditional family around him, nurtured an early love of the round ball.
“I grew up in an orphanage,” he explains. “There were lots of girls and boys there, and we played football together. We also played a game which is like baseball, with a football. Then there was a catch-chase game, called thief and police, and we played basketball and badminton. I'm happy to try all sports!
“In South Korea generally we play football from when we are very small – almost every young person in the country knows how to play, and I’ve played since I was very young. It’s an easy game to learn and you do not need anything more than a ball.”
As the support system for children in orphanages stops when the child reaches the age of 18, Dalwoo has been staying on and off at friends’ houses since then, his situation also affected by being unable to work until recently. He indicates a large scar on his arm as the reason.
“When I was training to become fit, I was working out on a machine and tried too hard,” he says. “As I was moving around to live in different places, I was also sleeping in cramped, awkward positions and the muscles became damaged. I couldn’t unfold my hand or move my fingers, so I had to have surgery on my arm – it took a long time to recover.”
That rehab period, however, coincided with his discovery of Homeless World Cup. The current coach of the South Korea Homeless World Cup team was Dalwoo’s coach at high school and, when the coach began to prepare for this year’s tournament, he started uploading stories about the team’s progress on social media.
“I saw them, recognised his name and got in contact to ask more about the team and event,” Dalwoo continues. “The coach explained how people became part of it and I immediately got back in touch – I had grown up in the orphanage, didn’t have a job or a home and wondered if I could train with the team.”
That training led to selection and representing his nation at this year’s event, an experience he’s embraced with delight and appreciation.
“During the tournament I have met so many people, from different nations, and have experienced different food and cultures but have realised we share so many of the same challenges,” he says. “For me that’s been such a positive impact. When I go home to South Korea, I will take with me this positive energy.
“I have a lot of people around me – people who I grew up with at the orphanage and high school – through playing football who have supported me and are a good support for me just now. I will keep playing football – I love everything about football.”
While representing his country realised a football dream, Dalwoo has another, deeply heartfelt, ambition to achieve, far away from the football pitch.
“When I was a young boy at the orphanage, we children were always given bread baked by local people who would come by and hand it in to us,” he begins.
“We called it the bread of love – it’s a good memory of quite a sad time.
“My dream is to open a baker’s shop so I am learning how to bake, and to try to get the licence I need to open a bakery.
“I dream of being able to share bread at Christmas with homeless people, to be able to share the bread of love with others like people did with me when I was a child.”
Credit: Dan Higginson
Words: Isobel Irvine