By Andres Burgo Jun 10, 2006, 18:30 GMT
Gelsenkirchen, 10 jun - If he had been born a boxer 67 years ago, Jorge Geacoman would have been a featherweight. His 162 cm frame weighing in at just 52 kilos would not have permitted anything else. But Jorge is not a fighting man.
An Ecuadorian fan with a painted face smiles in front of the Auf Shalke Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Friday 09 June 2006, prior to the group A FIFA World Cup 2006 football match between Poland and Ecuador. EPA/YURI KOCHETKOV
This friendly, helpful, considerate Ecuadorian repeats the same question: 'You want me to take charge?'
All around Jorge are his friends. None of them are tall but none of them are quite as short as him. They all talk in a quiet voice but none of them are quite so difficult to hear as Jorge. He talks as if he is in church and doesn't want to interrupt the sermon.
His appearance is marked by his indigenous origins. Short of stature and dark skinned he looks like a typical Ecuadorian worker.
Jorge is proud to have been born in Ecuador, 'a great country', he says. He survives with his 500 dollars monthly wage as an electrician allowing him to live with dignity in Quito and says that it is the politicians that in his words have 'ruined Ecuador.'
In contrast to the way he feels about those in power in his own country, Jorge is a big fan of the president of Venezuela. He says: 'Hugo Chavez is someone I like because he rebels against the United States.'
But Jorge is not so sure about everything. He doesn't know if the level of football in his country will be sufficient to take his country to the quarter-finals; he is mistaken when he says that his city is 4,100 metres above sea-level when in fact it is 2,800; he can't remember which model of Chevrolet he has just brought; and he doesn't know who is the president of his own country.
'Who is the President at the moment?' he asks his eldest daughter Shirley who emigrated to Cologne 10 years ago. She remembers the surname 'Palacio' but not the first name.
A quick conference with the rest of the family, sat around drinking beer in-front of the fantastic Gelsenkirchen stadium, finally comes up with the answer - 'Alfredo'.
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