Football Lessons

Euro 2008 frenzy is all around me here. Especially with the dutch kicking ass of the world cup finalists, all Oranje fans are convinced that this their year. I am cheering for the Oranges this time too coz well you know they being the host country and paying for my holiday, it only seems fair. So all was well until I got too excited and decided to test my rusty legs on the football field again before the Germany-Portugal match. I went along with my footballer friend to the field where we met 14 other guys (some dutch , one spanish , 2 italians and one afrikaan). Everybody shook hands and then teams were decided with one side to play with bright green training jerseys. Now I know that football is a round ball that is supposed to be kicked around with your legs , occasionally with your head and you are suppossed to pass the ball to your teammates or put it between the legs of the last guy standing on the opposing side. But I learned a lot more yesterday and the lessons were very painful.

Lesson 1: Unless wearing shin guard ,dont provoke the Italians. I tried and he responded by well placed kick on the shin and thanks to him I am now walking around with a wobbly leg.

Lesson 2: Dont try to dribble for more than 5 seconds. Chances are you will be elbowed in the guts, shouldered in the back or simply kicked in the nuts while you curse your teammate for passing the ball to you. Did I mention there was no refree.

Lesson 3: Never volunteer to be a part of the wall that blocks free kicks. I did and was smacked right in the face with a  lump of smooth rubber travelling at 60miles/hr. Somewhere in my previous posts I mentioned something about a broken nose. Talk of predictions….

Lesson 4: Heading is not a good option if you arent doing it regularly. Apart from being downright ineffective it can also affect performance at workplace i.e. if you are not already underperforming.

P.S- The Dutch have now been knocked out so I m rooting for Turkey now.  They might just do a Greece this year.