I had the previlege to play football in the University league for our guild's team OPTIEM. Because I come from Portugal, my colleagues must have thought that I could play like Figo or Cristiano Ronaldo, or somewhat close to them. My responsability was huge! I could not let them down. I was so out of shape for not doing any kind of sport for several weeks, but I just can't refuse an opportunity to kick some ball around. No real portuguese can ever do that !! (otherwise the "football spirit" will be mad)1.
Niittyaro football pitches
So we went to Niittyaro, a place in the middle of nowhere that had these 2 great football pitches, made for 7-player teams. OPTIEM played against REAL KROUVI. The weather was rainy and my sports shoes were not very "sporty", but I had to use what I had with me (aaah if I only had brought my football boots from Porto - but who expects to play football when going to Oulu?!?) After putting on my green team's jersey, they decided to place me as a striker. (Great! I don't have to be afraid to lose the ball up front, it's worse to lose it at the back...). We completely controlled the match, and were winning 2-1 at halftime. Then I received a pass from Aki (great football player, for a finn... just kidding, dude :)) , quick turn and GOOOOOAL!!!! Yes! I scored a goal for Optiem!!! How cool is that? I wish someone had made a video of it. I'm going to include that on my Curriculum. My moment of glory! Then we still made it 4-1. Easy.I do feel the need to say something here. For those about to to play with Finns, hear me out! They are not soft!!! They kick ass (and the rest of the body too if it's in the way). I thought they played like babies, but soon I realized that they are actually great players, very tactical and physical. And they don't fool around. On our second game, we faced SIX PACK LIONS (how finnish is this name?) and I was very confident... until I got a taste of finnish harshness myself. Protecting a lost ball with my frail body, I couldn't stop a guy from trying to shoot it to our goal, as he was in full speed mode. Result: hard kick at my ankle and need to be replaced. Well... I got the chance to take some pictures and rest for a while until I got back in the game to try to prevent our 2-1 defeat. But without success. Needless to say I didn't play anymore, for I really got injured from that one. It was good while it lasted.
I think the team was highly dependable of me, because they didn't qualify for next round during the next matches. We, in Portugal, call that sort of team "Eduardo-dependent". Hey guys listen! I'm sorry I got injured and made you look bad. Next time I promise I'll kick some ass myself! Ok, now all of you must ignore this paragraph since... it's really not true...
1 please check the "Fuksisauna" article (Sep 4th) for the analogy...