Athletic Club Fundazioa, our Genuine team, will once again bring the red-and-white spirit to the Club World Cup being held in the United States
Athletic Club Fundazioa will take part in the third edition of the Genuine World Cup, to be held in Houston, Texas, from 27 July to 1 August. Our Genuine team will thus enjoy this unrivalled experience for the third consecutive time and will bring the red-and-white joy that characterises them to American soil.
At the final training session held at Lezama this week ahead of the trip to the United States, the selected players and their coach, Igor Arenaza, showcased the red-and-white spirit that defines them. “Houston, we have a poem” is the calling card of a team travelling to this international tournament eager to enjoy the experience to the full.
Respect, joy and sportsmanship are the Rojiblanco values most frequently repeated in the poem that Genuine is taking to Houston. A poem which, like all those written by the Athletic Club Foundation, ends with the closing line that gives meaning to the work carried out in the areas of community, inclusion and culture: ‘Football is everything when not everything is football.’
50 countries represented
From 27 July to 1 August, more than 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities and autism, representing over 50 clubs from 50 countries, will gather in Houston to enjoy a week of football and camaraderie. Athletic Genuine will face teams from all over the world: European sides such as Rangers FC, Newcastle United, Bayer Leverkusen, Paris Saint-Germain, Sporting Portugal, AS Roma and Ajax, and others from other continents such as Yokohama F. Marinos (Japan), Corinthians (Brazil), Inter Miami (USA), Peñarol (Uruguay), FC Seoul (South Korea) and national teams from countries such as Mexico and New Zealand.
The aim of this World Cup is to promote the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in society through sport. This objective ties in directly with Fundazioa’s mission: to use sport, and particularly football, as a tool for social transformation, promoting values such as equality, solidarity, personal development and inclusion.
World champions!
Athletic Genuine are also travelling to Houston as the reigning Fair Play champions of the World Cup. It’s an achievement the team fully deserved last year and one they hope to repeat this year thanks to the positive energy and friendliness they always radiate.
