Scenes from Soccer Fiesta Mall of Asia

Went to cover the first leg of Soccer Fiesta. This was at the Music Hall of the Mall of Asia. In the picture above, these are Tondo kids who have been undergoing training from the Futkaleros. The boy to the extreme right is Roberto Orlandez of the Street Child World Cup Team that recently won the Shield Trophy in South Africa. Said Roberto, "Sorry, sir. Hindi ako marunong sumayaw. Football na lang." No worries, kid. You're doing okay.

Four of the Futkaleros were present. At the background is Ayi Aryee who also plays for UP. Levitating is former DLSU Green Booter Peter Amores. Interestingly, Peter and Rely San Agustin, top honcho of Real Sports Authority used to play against each other in the UAAP. Back then, they were so competitive with one another that it bordered on dislike. But the sport has a funny way of bringing people together. Kudos to my bud, Rels for this cool project and to Peter for his involved with street kids and football development.

A participant takes aim at the goal. Lotsa people this Sunday at the event. Next week it's at SM Megamall.

That's Roberto Orlandez playing FIFA on one of two Playstation sets at the Soccer Fiesta site.

Who's up for a game of foosball? Zakumi the World Cup mascot is at the back for photo ops.