The road to South Africa in 2010 may be a long and uncertain one for Trappatoni and his troops, but Irish people need to realise that we do in fact have a senior football team competing this week in a major tournament.

The annual Homeless World Cup (HWC) kicked off in Melbourne on December 1 and Ireland will be one of 47 countries competing for top honours in this highly regarded tournament.

At a gala send off in the Mansion House two weeks ago, the most highly rated Irish HWC team yet, received a rousing reception in front of several high profile public figures.

Not lacking in confidence is Irish captain Ross Crosbie, who told The Ballyfermot Press at the Mansion House, ‘I think we’re going to win it, we have been playing some great football, everyone does their own job, including the management team and they do it really well”.

The players are the best of the best from the ‘Streetleagues’, a footballing initiative, set up by the Irelands Issues Editor and former Irish Homeless team manager, Sean Kavanagh. The leagues are a weekly 5-a-side competition designed to give those who have all been homeless or subjects of social exclusion at one point in their lives, a chance to re-enter society through the medium of sport.

The Irish skipper has himself struggled with substance abuse for over a decade. He bounced back five years ago, and still at only 29, has stayed sober. He admits the footballing adventure has already been a “life changing experience”.

Crosbie believes the making of the team came during the recent European Championships in Austria during which they managed a 5th place finish. In that tournament, dynamic Irish midfielder Jimmy Bell scooped the ‘best player’ award, an outstanding acknowledgement of the team’s ability.

Like his team members, the skipper has emerged from some dark times but they now feel destined to make a positive impact on their lives and that of those around them.

“Going to Poland really helped us bond as a team, they are the best team-mates these boys”, said Crosbie. The inspirational captain feels his team have gone a step beyond simply ‘teammates’, and were unlucky not to go further in Austria but “not only are we now friends on the pitch we are friends off it too”.

Among those present was FAI chief John Delaney, who told The Ballyfermot Press that they are, “delighted to support this team, they are an inspiration to us, after seeing this we plan on allocating more funding to the ’streetleagues’ programme”.

Regardless of how the team perform in Australia, one thing is for sure, they’re winners in the game of life.