News Alert: Footballer Shows Heart

March 18th, 2006 | by: Trent | Comments(5)

Even though Ulises de la Cruz’s Aston Villa side went down convincingly to Everton today, the Ecuadorian international did receive some good news. And not that he saved money on his car insurance. Rather, FIFA have announced that UDLC will join several other international players in being an ambassador for the joint FIFA / SOS Children’s Villages charitable project.

SOS Children’s Villages is a non-profit charitable organization that aids orphaned and abandoned children around the world. FIFA’s collaborative work with SOS Children’s Villages includes promoting the organization’s humanitarian work around the world and providing financial support used for constructing and updating sporting facilities in and around the Villages, especially in developing nations.

UDLC sees this as a chance to help kids that are in the same situation he was in before becoming a professional footballer:

In Piquiucho, where I was born, in the north of Ecuador, we did not have running water, did not always have money to pay the electricity bill, and the education system was poorly organized. Thanks to football I have a life that I could not have hoped for; football has given me a great opportunity and I want to use it to help others. Children enchant me and I am very happy to be an ambassador of FIFA and Children’s Villages.

Well done, Ulises!