"I live for football"
At 6 o’clock on a Friday morning most teenagers are sound asleep and will be for a good few hours to come. But 16-year-old Abbas Jazzi has no time for sleeping. It might be the day of rest in the Islamic Republic of Iran but Abbas is more interested in perfecting his technique on the football pitch. “I play from 8 til 10 every night on the street or in the park with friends from the neighbourhood,” says Abbas, as he waits for his team mates outside the gates of their local football pitch, a patch of ground strewn with litter and used syringes. “But on Wednesdays and Fridays I play with a team called Montakhab and we either do training or have a match against other local teams. Today we are playing against Ansar Youth. ” Abbas is the youngest player in the Montakhab team. Most of the other members are Afghans who are working in Iran as manual labourers, porters or construction workers and who share his passion for the game. They have a coach, Naser Rezai, but he is more of a mentor than a formal trainer. He is from the area, knows their problems and tries to keep them along the straight and narrow. “I have lived in this area since I was a teenager and I know there are problems like drugs and addiction,” explained Rezai, as the team started warming up for the game. “Playing football keeps them away from trouble and I try and guide them as best as I can.” The area where Abbas lives is known for its social problems. Unemployment is high and along with it comes poverty, drugs and violence. There are few prospects for young people here – and life is not easy. Abbas lives with his mother and 11-year-old sister in one room of a small house in south Tehran. His father died of a brain tumour 11 years ago. Since then his mother has struggled to earn enough to live. She works as a cleaner in two homes and gets a monthly sum of money from her neighbours, who rent two of the rooms in her house. Abbas decided to leave school two years ago to look for work to supplement the family income. He found a job as a tailor’s assistant, cutting thread and making tea. “I live for my football,” says Abbas, whose favourite player is the Juventus attacker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. “It is like medicine for me. Even when I am sick, if I play I feel so much better. It has also taught me a lot about life, about cooperation and achieving goals.” The match against Ansar Youth doesn’t go well. Abbas, who plays in the forward position on the right hardly touches the ball through the entire game. He blames his fellow players, who seem reluctant to pass the ball and open up the field. Towards the final whistle his frustration is apparent. He gets into a heated argument with a defender from Ansar, accusing him of grabbing his shirt. The referee intervenes and the argument quickly cools down. Back at home, Abbas flops down in front of the television. There are two important games on, so his afternoon schedule is sorted. Chelsea versus Manchester United followed by a match between two local teams. “My brother is crazy about football,” says Abbas’ sister Zahra, as she sits cross-legged, reading a book on the floor. “He watches it till three in the morning, although he puts the sound down so we don’t wake up. I prefer volleyball, so we always fight over whose turn it is to watch TV.”
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