I Love Soccer
Even when the rules change around as you play, and goals don't really count unless your the opposing team, playing the game is just fun and and an awesome workout.
A bunch of us "youngsters" from my church got together to play some soccer. A group of ten Mexicans came to us and asked if we wanted to play against them. We had the guys, and apparently the guts, and said, "Let's do it." So the ten of us stood on a make shift, grassy football pitch with goals made up of ice chests, trash cans and trash bags (the usual look for a pick up game), with our opponents ahead of us. They wanted to play with their flat ball and rules. We were fine with that.
The rules started with no out-of-bounds, no off-sides, and goals are below the waist (about 3 feet or so) through the "posts." As the match progressed, the rules began to change. No out-of-bounds became "no out-of-bounds unless it's behind the goal"; later, an addendum was made that even if the ball goes behind the goal off of one of their players, it's their ball.
We scored first. A friend of mine received a sweet setup in the middle of field, about 5 yards out, and struck the ball firmly. That ball hit the inside half of the trash bag and went straight over. The unwritten rule of pickup games is you give the benefit of the doubt to the opposing team; they decided it was not a goal. So, still 0:0 (though we know it was 0:1).
They scored next. They had a lot of energy and loved to shoot the ball up as quickly as possible. They always kept 4 men back in defense while our team tended to scramble around. The ball ended up in front of the net, some nice passing ensued, and it squirted by our goalie. Now, 1:0 (or 1:1).
We scored again. Our tendency was to bring the ball up on the wings, and draw some of the midfielders and defensemen. That usually left us two strikers open in the middle, or at least with a two on one advantage. This time, the ball was crossed in to my teammate, who then pushed it to me. My back was to the goal, I got the ball to my left, I did a pivot, spun, and struck the ball square. The ball went through the goal, easily two feet in from the right side, and barely 1 foot off the ground. My team and I were celebrating, going back to our positions, and they said, "No goal." Whatever; we were having fun. So, still 1:0 (sure; 1:2).
They scored again. Much like their first, they got the ball up quickly, had a large scramble in front of our net, moved the ball from left to right by passing, had an open net to the left, and knocked the ball through. 2:0 (or 2:2).
That's when we had to leave. A lot of us stopped playing and started walking off. I already shook hands with a bunch of them and was headed out. They kicked the ball up and knocked in goal number 3. They celebrated a little, and one of them yelled, "Mexico wins" (unlike the real Mexican national team that was upset yesterday in the quarterfinal round of the Gold Cup by the no longer soccer power Columbia). We were just happy to have played and had a great time.
We had great exercise and enjoyed the competition. We all had wonderful attitudes, which is something I appreciated from my teammates.
Is this sport not one of the greatest gifts God has given us humans?
A bunch of us "youngsters" from my church got together to play some soccer. A group of ten Mexicans came to us and asked if we wanted to play against them. We had the guys, and apparently the guts, and said, "Let's do it." So the ten of us stood on a make shift, grassy football pitch with goals made up of ice chests, trash cans and trash bags (the usual look for a pick up game), with our opponents ahead of us. They wanted to play with their flat ball and rules. We were fine with that.
The rules started with no out-of-bounds, no off-sides, and goals are below the waist (about 3 feet or so) through the "posts." As the match progressed, the rules began to change. No out-of-bounds became "no out-of-bounds unless it's behind the goal"; later, an addendum was made that even if the ball goes behind the goal off of one of their players, it's their ball.
We scored first. A friend of mine received a sweet setup in the middle of field, about 5 yards out, and struck the ball firmly. That ball hit the inside half of the trash bag and went straight over. The unwritten rule of pickup games is you give the benefit of the doubt to the opposing team; they decided it was not a goal. So, still 0:0 (though we know it was 0:1).
They scored next. They had a lot of energy and loved to shoot the ball up as quickly as possible. They always kept 4 men back in defense while our team tended to scramble around. The ball ended up in front of the net, some nice passing ensued, and it squirted by our goalie. Now, 1:0 (or 1:1).
We scored again. Our tendency was to bring the ball up on the wings, and draw some of the midfielders and defensemen. That usually left us two strikers open in the middle, or at least with a two on one advantage. This time, the ball was crossed in to my teammate, who then pushed it to me. My back was to the goal, I got the ball to my left, I did a pivot, spun, and struck the ball square. The ball went through the goal, easily two feet in from the right side, and barely 1 foot off the ground. My team and I were celebrating, going back to our positions, and they said, "No goal." Whatever; we were having fun. So, still 1:0 (sure; 1:2).
They scored again. Much like their first, they got the ball up quickly, had a large scramble in front of our net, moved the ball from left to right by passing, had an open net to the left, and knocked the ball through. 2:0 (or 2:2).
That's when we had to leave. A lot of us stopped playing and started walking off. I already shook hands with a bunch of them and was headed out. They kicked the ball up and knocked in goal number 3. They celebrated a little, and one of them yelled, "Mexico wins" (unlike the real Mexican national team that was upset yesterday in the quarterfinal round of the Gold Cup by the no longer soccer power Columbia). We were just happy to have played and had a great time.
We had great exercise and enjoyed the competition. We all had wonderful attitudes, which is something I appreciated from my teammates.
Is this sport not one of the greatest gifts God has given us humans?
posted by Eddie at
2:07 PM
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