Sport has always been a vehicle of passion, friendship, values and a messenger of generosity and solidarity.

There are unique stories of people who use the world’s most followed sport—football—to convey this message across the ocean, breaking down linguistic, territorial and cultural barriers.

The first Transplant Football World Cup is a perfect expression of these sentiments. This competition will take place in the town of Cervia, in the province of Ravenna, where Australia will participate with a delegation of big-hearted footballers.

We spoke with one of the team’s representatives, Matt Zoppos, who thanks to an organ transplant is now preaching a universal message of generosity.

“[I was] just thirty years old, nearing the end of my football career. With all my friends retiring, I was still training but focusing on helping young players,” Zoppos shared.

“Even during the last training sessions during the previous season, in 2012, I started to feel more tired than usual,” Zoppos recalled, noting that he had probably underestimated this factor, which at the time seemed obvious for someone approaching the final years of their playing career.

But initial fatigue turned into concern the following season. “In 2013, the exhaustion from a trip lasted for weeks, with unusual pain, dryness and prolonged weakness,” he said.

“That’s when a friend advised me to get a blood test.”

That simple suggestion probably saved his life, but it led him down a tortuous and dramatic path.

“The day after the blood draw, I was [at work] and my phone kept ringing,” he explained.

“It was the doctor who told me to go to the hospital as soon as possible with news that changed my life: ‘Your kidneys are no longer working. You need to rush to the emergency room’.”

It’s incredible how life can change in an instant, from football fields to intensive care units, hanging by a thread of hope.

“It was obviously a shock for me and all my loved ones,” Zoppos admitted. “Fortunately, the rest of my body was functioning well.

“Meanwhile, I was waiting for the hospital team’s advice as they worked on a strategy to save me.”

The strategy was clear: find a compatible organ donor to help him resume a ‘normal’ life.

Fortune—or rather, the love that only generosity can create—arrived from family. “My maternal grandfather was part of a very large family with nine siblings, so you can imagine how many cousins we have,” Zoppos boasted.

“When word started spreading through the family, one of my mother’s cousins offered to take a compatibility test.

“It was confirmed in August 2013, with the transplant taking place in October of the same year.

“The recovery was quick—not entirely easy, but—I was back to playing five-a-side football and golf by January 2014.

“The year I met my future wife—2016—I also met a guy from Queensland who was creating a football team for transplant patients with players from all over Australia,” he shared.

“I joined their team made up of many players with similar stories to mine.”

What started as a game among ‘survivor’ footballers has turned into quite the worldly adventure.

“The team was coordinated by the late Matty Hempstalk, who decided to create a global football event,” explained Zoppos.

“Matty is another true hero who had undergone four kidney transplants since he was three years old and was in touch with all international transplant communities.

“The World Cup was ready. Matty had announced that Cervia was chosen for the event, but then the years of COVID-19 stopped us.

“Sadly, Matty, always a fighter, lost his battle in 2022.”

The team hasn’t lost heart and will honour the memory of the founder of the first Transplant Football World Cup, which will now take place from September 8 to 14 this year.

“We wanted to continue to represent the Australian national team and are now thrilled for this unique event, where there will be a great opportunity for sharing in the athletes’ village.”

Zoppos embarks on a journey that would not have been possible without the help and literal donation of a part of oneself by another.

To the World Cup and beyond, he’ll continue to spread his message: “When my drama started, almost none of my friends knew about the organ donation system. But now they have all become donors thanks to my example.”