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+---- Thread: Forgetting a first goal (/showthread.php?tid=7941)
Forgetting a first goal - woog - 2025-09-21
In 15 years, I may be too old for futbol, at least as a player. If the gods of the sport decide I have learned enough, and can pass on those learnings to others, I might become a coach. Coaches are more extraverted than I am, though.
This week I scored my first coal in the minor league. It took a few games to get there; I am only a rookie. I am finding my footing, learning when it to hang back amid faster and more skilled teammates than I have ever known, learning when to surge forward, and with how much control versus acceleration.
The goal was from my favourite range, right at the edge of the area. I moved laterally after picking up the ball, for less than second, probably. Then, because I am me, my right foot blasted the ball from there, without concern for seeking a better position. I have teammates whose play is all about position - my play is about timing. Especially when it comes time to strike.
15 years from now, what will I remember of this goal? Still a hint of lateral movement, the mere second of possession before my strike, then the clarity the keeper would not stop the shot. But otherwise, the memories of every player's first goal: smells of grass and sweat. The sounds of athletic exertions from nearby, with the much louder roar of the stadium's crowd all around, my actions driving their sound to change and intensify. A stadium is the world for a moment, and for a moment the world revolves around me.
Then the match resumes, and though this new moment is a part of me, it is past. I watch my teammates' position, I consider my own timing.
I may not remember whether the game was at home or away, or what colour jersey I wore. But I will remember that hunters and warriors took note of me.
RE: Forgetting a first goal - Matt Turk - 2025-10-16
What a goal! Hope you don't forget it.
Media Grade 3/5