22men, down to 21, after a goddamned ball.

Written May 18, 2006 in Personal

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Today I went to the the pub with a couple of friends to catch the finals of the European Championships. It was a lovely game of 22 men running after a ball, trying to put it into the net on the opposition.

It was a most memorable experience because it was my first experience watching football in an English pub, with a pint of Carlsberg. The feeling was simply amazing. People watching the plasma screen, teering on their toes, cheering and jeering. The heart stops several moments in the game, sighs and screams fill the pub. When Arsenal got a player sent off, the emotional outburst was overwhelming. When Arsenal led, one man down, the place was estatic. Well, Arsenal is a London club, no doubt the locals support them. Over a period of 70minutes, Barcelona struggled to break the defensive walls of a 9man defence. But the inevitable happens, and Arsenal fell. When the equaliser from Barcelona came, SkySports suddenly disappeared from the screens, and there was much disappointment and jeers. No one knew if Barcelona had equalised as we were cut off before the shot. Everyone was anxious to know. When the TV came back on with the score 1-1, there was chaos. People were bouncing, while others buried their faces. There was another group of Barcelona supporters on the other end of the pub hooked onto the other TV screen. When the final whistle blew, and Barcelona was deemed the champions of Europe, some of the English fans calmly walked over to the Spanish supporters, and shook their hands, congratulating them. Who ever said English football was all about hooliganism and brawls?
In my opinion, Barcelona deserved their victory. It was hard fought, and they never gave up. Soccer is not just a sport, more often then not, it’s a show of the human spirit. We had a good night, one very memorable night.

Tags: Personal