2024-02-23, 07:02 PM - Word count:
I am used to cold. I am used to being in treeless places. (Maybe this is why playing soccer in the Black Forest is special for a Mongol.)
And I am used to the feeling of the ball betraying me and going into the net behind me. It is simply what soccer is. You hope your teammates score more on the other net. This happens sometimes. This can not happen every time.
This week, the Zebras - the Schwarzwald Fußball club - travelled to Iceland. This was the away leg of the SSL Cup semifinal. We came to Reykjavik knowing, as many teams coming to Reykjavik know, that victory is not to be expected. Even if it is earned, fortune may decide it will not be granted.
Today, I felt the feeling of the ball betraying me and hissing into the back of the net. Still: I felt this feeling only once, against the strongest team in soccer, on their home pitch. They held the ball in our end for so much of the game, endlessly lining up shots and sometimes taking them. And they scored, though only the once.
Today, the Zebras earned victory, but fortune did not give it. But today was only the first leg. These bastards must now come to the Black Forest to see what we can show them at home.
And I am used to the feeling of the ball betraying me and going into the net behind me. It is simply what soccer is. You hope your teammates score more on the other net. This happens sometimes. This can not happen every time.
This week, the Zebras - the Schwarzwald Fußball club - travelled to Iceland. This was the away leg of the SSL Cup semifinal. We came to Reykjavik knowing, as many teams coming to Reykjavik know, that victory is not to be expected. Even if it is earned, fortune may decide it will not be granted.
Today, I felt the feeling of the ball betraying me and hissing into the back of the net. Still: I felt this feeling only once, against the strongest team in soccer, on their home pitch. They held the ball in our end for so much of the game, endlessly lining up shots and sometimes taking them. And they scored, though only the once.
Today, the Zebras earned victory, but fortune did not give it. But today was only the first leg. These bastards must now come to the Black Forest to see what we can show them at home.