Mario Ferri might be a bit of an unknown figure outside of the Italian public scene. Ferri, who’s commonly known as “Il Falco” (The Falcon) by those close to him, earned some notoriety a few years back not for being a footballer, but for his lighthearted antics as a globe-trotting pitch invader. He would travel from Italian to European and South American venues — notably the World Cup — and storm onto the field while wearing a Superman shirt. Once on the field, he would engage with players and rile up the fans. He would later become friends with some of the players on the same pitch he invaded.
But this is not a story about an Italian pitch invader-turned professional soccer player who’s looking to cause more trouble. This is actually a story about the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and how this person dropped everything on a dime to travel to the border of Poland and help the Ukrainian refugees escape their homeland.
“As we speak, I’m in Poland, in a city called Medyka, close to the border with Ukraine,” Ferri told CBS Sports. “Yesterday we brought 60 women to this side with a bus …”
Ferri is currently under contract with United Sports Club in Kolkata, a second-division side out of India. At the beginning of February, the 35-year-old footballer came back from India after the league decided to stop the competition until June after COVID-19 cases rapidly increased in the region.
When he arrived in his hometown of Pescara, he couldn’t stay much longer. “I have a friend here [in Poland] and he told me what was going on. I’m concrete person, and what I saw in India really touched me. People there are suffering so much. I needed to give something back even in a totally different context. So I flew to Poland, rented a car and drove to the border with Ukraine,” Ferri told CBS Sports.
What Ferri has been doing is something special: He drives families of refugees that are…
Source : cbssports
