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 Pope
John Paul II, who died on Saturday, scheduled his coronation in
1978 so as not to conflict with a televised soccer game.
Born Karol Wojtyla, he was known as "Lolek the Goalie," in his
hometown of Wadowice, Poland, where he played for the local
soccer team.
As a boy, according to childhood friend Jerzy Kluger, Wojtyla
played in pickup soccer games that pitted Jewish boys against
Catholic boys, and Wojtyla would volunteer to play with the
Jewish boys to create even numbers.
"There usually was not enough Jews, so somebody had to play on
the Jewish team and he was always sort of ready, you know,"
Kluger said in a 2003 interview.
Pope John Paul II was also an honorary member several soccer
clubs, including Barcelona and Schalke 04, and frequently hosted
soccer teams at the Vatican.
In "The Simplest Game" by Paul Gardner, Coach Bora Milutinovic
described the Mexican national team's audience with John Paul II
in 1984 before a friendly against Italy:
"He gave us a blessing. He held up one hand. Five fingers. The
next day the Italians scored five goals against us. We were just
happy he didn't bless us with both hands."
This Article was contributed
by
Soccer America.
About the National Soccer Hall
of Fame and Museum
 Located in
Oneonta, NY, the National Soccer Hall of Fame opened a 30,000
square foot, state-of-the-art museum in 1999. The Hall of Fame
tells the story of soccer in
America through artifacts, photographs, and video clips. The new
Hall features an extensive interactive, youth oriented Kicks
Zone where visitors have fun kicking,
heading and playing computer trivia stations and video
soccer games. The VideoWall portrays some of the greatest
moments and the greatest goals in history as well as live soccer
action with World Cup, MLS, and U.S. Soccer matches. Unique and
rare artifacts on exhibit range from the world’s oldest soccer
ball to the FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy won by the USA in
1999,
Pelé's and Mia Hamm’s uniforms, Kristine Lilly’s golden
shoes, NASL championship rings, the original MLS championship
trophy, MLS gallery - it’s all at the National Soccer Hall of
Fame. In addition to the interactive Museum, the National Soccer
Hall of Fame complex boasts the
Kicks
Zone Store,
a research library, four world-class soccer fields and
office/meeting facilities. The Hall plans to add a stadium, an
indoor soccer arena and housing facilities in the future.
The mission of
the National Soccer Hall of Fame is to celebrate the history,
honor the heroes, inspire the youth and preserve the legacy of
soccer in the United States.
The National
Soccer Hall of Fame is open every day of the year, except
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. Admission is $9.00 for
adults, $8.00 for students, $6.50 for children 6 or older and
senior citizens. Children 5 and under are free.
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