I have finally started soccer here! Or futbol as they call it here! I have been waiting so long to play on a real team ever since leaving the states. I had a way sweet team back there and it was hard to leave.
I played my first games last Sunday. In our first game it was an utter mess. It was our first game as a team and you could definitely tell. We ended up losing 5-0. Thats hard to believe considering out game was only 30 minutes. Our next game which was an hour later was much better. We were more organized as a team. We were experts at hitting the crossbar that game. We hit it I think 5 times before one went in off the crossbar. We won the game 1-0. Yes!! My 'W' playing international! That concluded soccer... I mean futbol for the rest of the day.
The styler of soccer here is so different. It doesn't involve team play as much as in the states. You constantly have players flopping. Its pretty rediculous. In 2 games I broke up probably 5 fights. If you even nudge some one off the ball the there is a rainbow of words flying about. I find it fun to break the fights up. hehe.
One week later we had 2 more games on sunday. I woke up early and got on the bus. We got there 5 minutes before our game because our driver got lost (he was totally Arab and they are known for being late.) Once again our first game was a mess. We got scored on in the first 20 seconds. We held them off for a while before they could put one more in. Finally luck went our way and after one of our star players, Karim (hes from England) dribbled through everyone got fouled in the box and we got a PK. Karim stepped up to take it but put it right down the middle fot the keeper to save it. The other team got one more which ended the match 3-0.
We didn't have time for rest because we had our next game 10 minutes later. It was the same team we had beat 1-0 previously. We started the match pretty strong, passing the ball around for a bit and keeping position. After about 8 minutes Karim played a through ball to me where I was right open. I was about 20 yards outside the 16 yard box but I saw that the keeper was rushing me anyways. I calmly hit the ball between the keepers legs to watch the ball roll on the ground for 30 yards. It was probably the farthest goal I have ever scored. The team gathered around me and celebrated! Everyone telling me welcome to Palistine and nice job. I felt like I was on top of the world. We ended the half 1-0, we could have got more but we had missed alot of chances. We started the second half a little different. Instead of my playing forward and Karim playing center mid we switched places. It paid of right away by me assisting Karim for a goal and him getting another on his own. After a while we had a defensive error which the other team pounded us for and scored. It was lame. But we got right back in it and Karim got yet another PK. He stepped up to take it again only to miss for the second in a row and hit the cross bar. Luckily the ball bounced right to me where I headed it in. Second goal accross the ocean!!! We won the game 4-1! I like futbol here, its a whole new experiance with a completely different style of play. I can only hope that it will further improve my madskillz in the states when I come back! Saba heckle Kief Alek!
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