Italian director delves into deeper side of soccer

By Paul Virgo

ROME (Reuters) - Like most of his compatriots, Oscar-winning Italian director Gabriele Salvatores loves soccer.

He can often be seen at the San Siro stadium watching his beloved team Inter Milan while the football-match-in-the-desert scene is one of the most celebrated parts of his 1989 breakthrough movie Marrakech Express.

But Salvatores, who won the 1991 best foreign film Academy Award with Mediterraneo -- the story of a motley group of Italian soldiers stranded on a Greek island at the end of World War II -- believes soccer can be much more than just a game.

He sets out to prove it in his latest work, Petites Historias Das Criancas, a moving documentary about children involved in the football-centered aid projects run by Inter Milan in the developing world.

"I love the idea of soccer as a team sport where everyone works so that the person in the best position can score," Salvatores told Reuters at the film's Rome presentation.

"In my opinion this is a great lesson, one we adults should keep in mind in our everyday lives.

"It seemed beautiful to tell the stories of children growing up in difficult situations of war and poverty who go to soccer schools that teach you to work in a team."

During more than a year of shooting, the director spoke to youngsters in seven of the 18 countries where Inter Campus, the club's development program, operates -- Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cameroon, Iran, China, Brazil and Colombia.

He said the aim is not to rear future soccer talents, but to give disadvantaged children the chance to create better futures and become positive members of their communities as adults.

"All children dream of becoming a professional footballer, but Inter Campus makes it very clear that this is not likely. In fact, not a single footballer has come out of this program in over 10 years," the 58-year-old said.

"I don't want to hype it up too much, but I think there is a good idea behind it, which is: don't give us fish, teach us how to fish, give us the instruments we need to be independent.

"They work with people who were already engaged in the social sector, not to toss a coin of charity, but (to plant) a seed that can grow into something."

The film shows how soccer camps can be used to fight malnutrition by ensuring poor children regularly get a proper meal, like in a village near the Cameroon capital Yaounde.

HEAL WOUNDS

In South America, football helps kids get an education and steer clear of street crime, while in Bosnia it is used to heal the wounds of civil war.