Oscar Cordoba signed the flag and hosts the Under-20 Soccer World-Cup in Colombia

With a white marker on the red stripe of our national flag, goalkeeper Oscar Cordoba signed and became a part of the project "My country, my flag” to become the host for the international tourists arriving in the country for the Under-20 Fifa Soccer World Cup to be played between the coming July 29th and August 20th.

Cordoba, who signed with the traditional “number 1”, is one of over 380 thousand Colombians who have joined the project, intended to gather support with one million signatures, both physical and digital.

"This is a great opportunity to show the world we can organize events the right way and with high value. Now, each and everyone of us have to put our T-shirts on and export our kindness for the people who will visit us and run the risk of wanting to stay,” said the soccer player in his invitation to all Colombians to sign the national flag.

The project, led by Coca Cola and supported by PROCOLOMBIA, El Tiempo, Caracol Radio, Caracol Television and Fox Networks, is currently on a tour of the country which includes the eight host cities. To date, Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena, the Coffee Triangle, Bucaramanga, Ibagué, Neiva, Pasto, Santa Marta, Villavicencio, Cúcuta, Duitama, Tunja, Valledupar, Montería, Buga, Buenaventura, and Barrancabermeja have joined the cause.

There are two strategies in place to achieve the goal of collecting one million signatures. The first, the tour around 22 cities with different portions of the flag that will later be sewn together with the others to make the huge tricolored flag of 60 x 40 meters.

The second is a novel project that includes social networks, the web page www.somosanfitriones.com (we are the hosts) and a Facebook application to gather another 500 thousand signatures where fellow countrymen living abroad can support the initiative.

“PROCOLOMBIA has joined this initiative because it is a way to promote feelings of affection and love for our land,” said the President of PROCOLOMBIA, Maria Claudia Lacouture.

The President of the country, Juan Manuel Santos, was the first Colombian to sign the flag this past May 21st. Celebrities like the former Culture Minister, Alberto Casas; the Governor of Magdalena, General Manuel Jose Bonett Locarno; the Mayor of Monteria, Marcos Daniel Pineda Garcia; the Mayor of Pereira, Israel Londoño; and former boxing world champion, Miguel “Happy” Lora, among others, also became engaged with the initiative.

“We are just a few days away from living the junior soccer celebration in our country, and this project will bring us together in a message of friendship to receive all tourists arriving in Colombia for the FIFA Under-20 Soccer World Cup,” said Lacouture.

A bracelet designed by Mercedes Salazar will be given to everyone who signed the great, tricolored flag as a token of commitment to being the best hosts.

“When the World Cup starts we are going to welcome our visitors as friends; they are foreigners who will perceive Colombians as excellent tour guides to know our country,” stated Cordoba in his invitation to all Colombians to sign the flag.

The goalkeeper also joined part of the Latin American tour led by PROCOLOMBIA around Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panamá, Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina to promote the Under-20 World Cup and exhibit the tourism offering soccer fans will have available to them when they set foot on Colombian soil.

Fourteen tourism entrepreneurs from several parts of the country participated during the promotional tour, as well as promotion entities from the cities of Bogotá, Manizales, Medellin and Barranquilla, with the support of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism Promotion Fund.

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