TRICKS and treats of FOOTball

GOALLLL!!!!!!.....I hear that and I go wild……wild if our team scored a goal and I go running around crazy happy else wild because I’m mad that the other team got through us. If the latter’s true….hope the goalkeeper isn’t anywhere around me else he is sure to have a bad day. Football is something that has captured the hearts of millions through ages. Die-hard fans of football travel the world round just to support their team. Wow that’s crazy football….I like it but it’s hard for me to digest. Anywz….football and me…we’ve been good friends for a long time…I’ve seen myself progress playing football…and blah blah…errr…did I say something wrong?

I categorize footballers into a couple of groups. It makes sense to call them footballers because each one of them thinks that they are the best or maybe another C.Ronaldo or Henry. Whatever, this is the best part of ‘gully’ football or ‘street’ football. Everyone believes that he’s got the best plan for the team. Going out of the conceived strategy finds nasty looks and whispers going down the field against the offender. Thus is born the groups of footballers.

Let’s talk about the group of not-so crazy enthusiasts who believe in playing football because their friends play it. These guys come down on the field just to kick the football around. It doesn’t matter to them where the ball is going to go, or into which goal he kicked it into, or if he just robbed the ball from his own player. What matters to him is that he gets to kick the ball. And if he doesn’t get the ball, he might be well satisfied with kicking someone else’s leg. And at the end of day, he will exclaim, “Wow that was a good game…wasn’t that?”

Then there are those who stand around and they just keep doing that throughout the whole match. “Can’t he pass the ball…?” he mutters to himself all the while standing away from the main game. If life will ever improve for him is when he actually get a pass and messes up the whole game. “What the hell….why did you pass the ball to me. You know that I wasn’t ready. You should have at least called out. Damn it…all because of you….” he exclaims aloud to the fellow who passed the ball to him and walks away with a big grin on his face as if he accomplished something.

Then there are those who believe in themselves much more that what they are capable of. They believe that they have a perfect plan jotted down and run ahead asking for a pass. The other team players see his confidence and readily pass the ball to him with high expectations. And poofff…he manages to kick it out or maybe just run over the ball leaving behind those high expectations. And then he will look back and scratch his head profusely and hush “that pass was a bit too fast…”

Then there are those who get fed up with the way his team is playing and when he gets the ball runs with it determined to score cutting past his own players. All that he can see is the goal and the ball under his foot. He does a trick or two along the way getting past those players who really don’t play well and in his determination continues running with the ball. Till finally when he is about to shoot, someone walks by him and slips the ball away from him. But alas!! He is too late to change plans, too late to shun away the nasty looks and too late to run away from the wild critics thrown out in the air. Frustrated he looks back and gives a sad look saying, “Come on…I thought you guys will help me…”

How can I forget those real passionate footballers? These are the guys who breathe in and out football - guys who stand out for hours trying to master the craziest football tricks. They can pull out of their sleeve some of the toughest football tricks. Well it is a treat to watch them performing these tricks, but on the field, they are no special. Where did all the tricks go?? They say, “The ball didn’t have sufficient air.”

Then there are they who oft complain that they have become old (…they are still in their early 20ies) and cannot play as well as they would actually play. They brag about their past and remember their old days when they kick the ball outside instead in the goal and say, “Oooh, how I miss those good old days…”

Then there are those who really play well. These are the players, everyone actually claim as the king of football on the field. They do perform, they do play very well and they do know how to maintain their reputation on the field. If you ever do want to spot these guys just look around for half-a-dozen players running like wild dogs behind a person trying to get the ball from him or else at least trying to trip him down.

Then there are people like me who can nicely fit into all the above categories (guess not in the last one) and still stand aloof the field and say, “Man! These guys can’t play as well as me…”