I am not a soccer fan. Never played the game. I don’t have any friends my age from New Jersey who did. But one of the teachers at my alma mater, Essex Catholic High School, in Newark, Brother Germaine, was a great soccer player when he was a young man in Brazil. From what I remember he played with the greatest soccer player of all time, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known by his nickname, Pelé. Brother Germaine made soccer into a very popular sport at our high school. Even though I did not have him for any classes (my older brother did) I do remember him as a very tough brother, the kind whose good side it was best to be on. Saturday’s Clericus Cup game puts the clerics at Rome’s North American College up against the clerics from the Brazilian College. I think this is wonderful. This year will be the fourth since the Cup started. Soccer is, after all, the world’s most popular sport. Outside the U.S “football” means soccer. Should be a walk in the park for the Brazilian footballers. I have it: 10-0. I hope the Americans bring lots of gatorade.
Catholic News Service Blog: Seminarians and priests studying in Rome are lacing up their cleats, ready to kick off the fourth season of the Clericus Cup soccer tournament. The starting matches begin this Saturday when the U.S. seminary in Rome — the North American College — plays against the Brazilian College. Read more here.
