A video of sheep from Colombia playing soccer on an improvised pitch, complete with team jerseys, has circulated around the world’s press.
To celebrate the country’s return to the World Cup after a 16-year absence, craftsman from Colombia’s Andean town of Nobsa, in the state of Boyaca, dressed up 20 sheep for a soccer match. Each sheep was named after a player in the Colombian or Brazilian World Cup line-up.
Over 500 people were present to see the wooly competitors, complete with specially made jerseys and shorts, chase a ball around the make-shift field.
The final result was a 4-3 victory for Colombia, after a goal in the 50th minute by sheepish midfielder “James Rodriguez,” whose human namesake plays for French club Monaco, the Associated Press (AP) newswire reported on Sunday.
The world watches
After the video and story appeared on the AP newswire, the wooly tale has shown up in papers and sites across the US and the world.
Even usually serious publications like the Washington Post got in on the fun. They posted the AP video, saying “Because the world needs more videos of Colombian sheep dressed in soccer jerseys playing soccer, here’s a video of Colombian sheep dressed in soccer jerseys playing soccer. The people in this video seem very excited about all this.”
Sheep playing soccer
Sources
- Soccer-playing sheep in Colombia honor World Cup (AP)
- Watch Colombians celebrate World Cup by having their sheep play soccer (Washington Post)
