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Throughout his career as a professional football player and his successful accomplishments on the fields, which gained him international acknowledgement,  Iván Luis Zamorano Zamora has touched the hearts of the Chileans. However, it was his humane quality, his profound social responsibility, which has placed him on an honorable level, rarely achieved by an athlete of his kind.

His sensitivity has brought him closer to the world of children and the young, and rapidly he became an idol, an ambassador of the children and the young. It was as so, that he sealed his compromise with them in the fight for their rights, working actively in UNICEF campaigns. Later he founded his own foundation, which carries his name and has as its mission to better the quality of life of children who live in a social risk situation.

During his career as a football player, which has stretched over more than 15 years, he always gave his best efforts to attend to the dreams of a child, and has strongly promoted and transmitted the values of family, discipline, solidarity and respect.

His connection to the world of children during the last decade has continuously intensified during the development of multiple sporting and recreational activities. So much so that his main business unity "Ciudad Deportiva" (Sports City), which also carries his name, has as its purpose to develop sporting habits in the heart of the family.

His relation to the literary world has been sporadic. He has read with passion children's stories, amongst which those of Hans Christian Andersen stand out. He asks, "who hasn't read the Ugly Duckling and has found a legacy in it" - a legacy which in the passage of time can have various interpretations, can overcome obstacles, get the best out of us, look for beauty and that with time, sees a transformation to the true beauty that all humanity has within.

The appointment as ambassador for the Hans Christian Andersen Foundation is a present in life, entailing the possibility of being close to the most precious treasure of humanity - the children.