Pope Francis receives a gift from Argentina’s soccer player Lionel Messi (right) and Italy’s goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon during a private audience at the Vatican yesterday.
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis joked with Italy and Argentina players on the eve of a friendly football match in Rome yesterday, saying he was torn over who to support.
“It’s going to be difficult for me, it’s lucky it’s a friendly match! And let’s make sure it is one,” the Argentine pontiff said in a meeting with stars Lionel Messi and Mario Balotelli and their team mates.
The players, along with Italian coach Cesare Prandelli and Argentine coach Alejandro Sabella, met the 76-year-old at the Vatican before today’s game at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.
Francis, a lifelong fan of Argentine club San Lorenzo, called on the teams to make sure they used their popularity to give a good example to their fans. “You, dear players, are very popular. People follow your example, off the pitch as well as on. You have a social responsibility,” he said.
“Here in the Vatican, they tell me I’m undisciplined!” he joked with AC Milan striker Balotelli, who is often in the headlines for bad behaviour.
Francis stressed the importance of “beauty, camaraderie and altruism” when playing football.
“Otherwise something is missing from the match, even if you win. There is no place for individualism, everything should be about the team,” he said.
Argentine superstar Messi, who will not be playing in the friendly because he is injured, said at a news conference following the meeting that the pontiff was right.
“Respect for others and the opponent is the basis of everything, on the pitch as in life,” he said.
“We footballers, for our part, can spread (the pope’s) message and satisfy his request by always playing a beautiful game,” he added.
The pope also warned the teams about steering clear of the violence and money often attached to the game. “Football has become a business. Take care that it does not lose its sporting nature,” he said, calling for an end a culture of competitiveness which inspires hooligans to violence and drives families away from stadiums.
The players presented Francis with a personalised shirt from each team with his name on it, as well as a silver vase from the Argentinians and an olive tree from the Italians.
“Please pray for me, so that I too, on the ‘pitch’ God has placed me on, can play an honest and courageous game for the good of everyone,” the pope said at the end of the meeting.
Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon described it as “a day which will remain in our hearts for ever”. “We have the fortune to have a special pope, with him I believe there will be the possibility to put into effect words often spoken but never acted upon,” he said.AFP
