Let's start with the great news: I had a trial with my faculty's soccer team on Monday night at some fields near my dorm. The team was 100% French with the exception of two players (one Japanese and the other Dutch), which was fantastic because I haven't been able to spend much time (outside of school) around native speakers. Everyone on the team was incredibly welcoming and seemed genuinely interested in making me feel at home allowing me to relax and have fun. The practice complex is composed of two full sized fields, but unlike in the US they were neither grass or synthetic turf - instead they more or less resembled traditional boule or petanque courts. To put it more simply, they reminded me of the infield of a baseball diamond. Needless to say this was a bit odd at first, but as the night went on I started feeling more comfortable on the stuff. Practice went well and afterwards I talked to some of the guys and got to know them a bit before Ryoma (the Japanese student) and I walked back to the dorms.
The real story comes on Wednesday. The player/coach Jeremy asked me to come back for a friendly game on Wednesday night in order to see me in action during a game. They had scheduled a match against the Law Faculty at a local Stadium with a synthetic pitch. I didn't start the match, but after about 30 minutes was called on as a sub and didn't look back. I played excellent and held down the fort as a defensive center mid - connecting simple and technical passes to give our team control of the game. It helped that Ryoma came on at the same time as me, and he is a fantastic player. From the beginning there seemed to be some chemistry between him and me, and we managed to connect on many occasions while breaking down the other team.
After finding ourselves 1 goal down, we turned up the heat and in the second half we had a fluid attacking movement that caught the other team off guard. As the play built of the left side of the field one of our wingers passed the ball into our forward in the center of the pitch. He mis-controlled and the ball trickled past him moving from right to left smack dab in the middle of the field. I pounced on the opportunity and smashed a low drive about 2 feet off the ground from 25-30 yards out that hit the goalkeeper with such force that he fell backwards and was unable to control the ball. When the ball hit the ground it had so much back spin that it hopped into the goal as the keeper lay watching it. One of my teammates yelled "American Power" and everyone congratulated me on the shot. (After the game I told them that they could call me Clement Chantome - a favorite player on my favorite team PSG - and they thought that was hilarious).
Our team maintained control of the game and as the half wore on we created more and more chances. Finally, after some slick combination play between Ryo and another forward the Japanese striker found himself free with no one to beat but the keeper. He was extremely patient and waited until the goal had gone to ground before delicately lifting the ball over him, watching it tuck gently into the far corner.
After the game 3-4 kids came up to me and said I was the difference maker on the night and that they were really happy to have me on the team - needless to say, the game put my fears to rest (that I might not make the team etc) and made what could have been an anxiety-filled evening incredibly fun.
The only other news to report is that I managed to make it to Marseille yesterday. A group of us took the bus into the city - which only took about 25 minutes - and explored the Old Port and the area around it. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and it rained for the first time since I've been in France. It reminded me of a typical winter day in Portland: windy, wet and cold. We made the best out of the situation and wandered the streets until we found something to eat. We saw the local fish market - complete with live eels squirming - and a 5th century Church. I had my first Macaron - the classic cookie of Southern France - and enjoyed spending the day out and about.
The Founder of Marseille
The Marseille Stock Exchange
Fish Market in the Old Port
Greg and Co.
L'Abbeye Saint-Victor - founded in the 5th Century
No comments:
Post a Comment