My Dream Goal!!!!!

I played football this past Sunday at Juhu beach yet again. I was tired from partying on Friday night and watching two movies, my legs hurt, but that footballer in me gets up when it is time. Without fail.

So there we were, 6 of us at Juhu beach, and we found a similar number of players to start a game with. We conceded two goals early. Miserable defending. And the first one started with me losing the ball to a young fellow in the opposite team. I was determined to make amends. So I aggresively attacked. And I was doing well, their left-back was having a torrid time with me. I was getting past him with ease. Anyway, I ended up scoring 4 goals, and that was the total that we scored and the match ended in a 4-4 draw. But this post isn't about the game. It is about that one goal that i scored. One unlike any that I have ever scored. And one that I replay in my mind over and over again, and smile every single time.

We were defending. They had a corner and most of my team was back. I was standing at the virtual half-way line as all good strikers do, waiting for a loose ball. The corner was taken, it fell to one of team-mates feet. He looked up and saw me, and hit the ball towards me. As the rolling ball came towards me, I turned without touching it and let it run, and I ran behind it. Since most of their team had gone up for their corner, there were only two defenders and the goalie behind.

I saw one of those defenders running up towards me. I heard his team-mates screaming from behind, ordering him to stop the ball, or me. As we drew close, the ball between us, I dont know where I got the inspiration from. I have absolutely no idea. It just came as a flash. With just a few feet left between him and I, I touched the ball with the outside of my right foot (my first touch) and the ball glided untouched through his legs. And I was past him from his right side in a flash. One obstacle done with.

As I continued on past the defender, I saw the goalie running up now. And as he got close, I again hit the ball with the outside of my right foot and it went past his left, along the beach sand into the bottom left corner of the goal. And it went in.

I was in love with myself in that instant. Since I was still running, I continued past the goal, turned back towards the playing area and took my jersey off, and did the entire 'swinging-the-jersey-above-my-head' run.

That was the goal that made it 3-3. There was this little argument from the defender who had the ball go thru his legs about how it wasnt a goal, but his own team mates shut him up before I needed to. And I felt good.

We planning to play tomorrow as well and the footballer in me so wants to. But my body is pretty stiff, and my toes hurt too. Oh, did I mention that we were playing barefeet?