The Oval
On 5 March 1870, England and Scotland played the first-ever international football match. On this day, the seed was planted for football to become the most popular game in the world. The event took place in London, in a venue called The Oval. Since then, football spread its magic to every corner of the globe.
But football is so much more than a sport. Football has been my passport to live more intensely. It allowed me to connect with people worldwide despite their race, age, sex, social status or beliefs. No matter where you go, you can speak this universal language.
For me, football is also a passport to travel in time. It takes me home to the streets of Getafe, in Madrid, where I played as a child, where I grazed my knees on the hot tarmac of the summer streets, where football was in the hearts of the community, was lived in the community, was a joy for the community.
But The Oval is not only a project about football. It is a visual methaphor about empathy, respect and dreams. It is about values that I consider imperative to cultivate for a better society. It is about a sense of belonging to a family called humanity.
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