Soccer - Again

Here are a few more stories about playing soccer at Ako (Aloiuskolleg) in Germany during 1965/66...

I scrimmaged with the same group of kids at least 10 hours a week for a year. And you would be amazed at how hard we pushed each other and how much we learned from each other. There is no way I would've have gotten that good that fast if I wasn't forced to constantly improve my game (or if others hadn't been willing to help me)... I'd learn something new - it would work a few times - then the others would catch on - and I'd have to learn something new (again). When you played with that group you had to be on top of your game all the time...

Then there was Remi...

Sidebar: Germans have a simple formula for giving people nicknames. They take the first syllable of your last name and add an 'i'.... He was Remi - I was Gali, etc. But back to the story:

Remi was one of the most magnificent ball handlers I've ever seen. His balance, footwork and timing were beyond description - absolutely mesmerizing... But there was one problem. The other kids described it as being "ausgespielt" - translation: "played out" or "finished".
His game was not improving. He had a repertoire of brilliant moves - but we'd seen them all many, many times. They no longer fooled anyone and he didn't seem to notice...

Now - I hope this is funny even if you didn't see it. Otherwise I will have totally wasted my time writing it down :-)
We were stunned to find out that Boris (the Russian kid - that really was his name) had never played soccer before... As a matter of fact - he had never played any sport before... We weren't sure what to do with him - but he was a big guy so we put him in as an extra defender.
So here's the setup: We're scrimmaging... I'm in the goal and Boris is standing there about 20 yards in front of me. Remi (on the opposing team) takes a brilliant centering pass and Boris is the only thing between him and a shot on goal... So Remi heads straight for Boris and puts a devastating triple fake on him that (by all rights) should have left Boris on the ground tied in a knot next to his cleats :-)
But Boris never moved a muscle (he didn't know enough to react) - Remi runs right into him - bounces off - and ends up flat on his ass. (Like I said - the Russian was a big kid.) Remi is absolutely enraged - he gets up screaming at Boris "What is wrong with you!!! Why didn't you move??? You fouled me!!!!" Boris is totally confused - and all the rest of us are rolling on the ground laughing :-)
So we told Remi to chill out and explained to Boris (who was incomprehensibly clueless about soccer): "No - you did not foul Remi - he fouled you... You are not required to move out of his way... He's just pissed off cause he got toasted by the worst player on the field"...
Well - I thought it was hilarious ... I guess you had to be there... :-)

Next story:
This happened during a game - I was playing goalie and was in one of those nightmarish situations - my defense had collapsed and the shots were coming from so close that I could barely manage to block them - and the other team kept fielding the rebounds and shooting again... I think I blocked 7 or 8 shots before we regained possession... I felt really good about having stopped the other team from scoring but our coach was livid - he was screaming at me over and over again to hold the ball.
I was pretty annoyed - I wandered over to one of my defenders and we had an exchange that went something like this:
Me: "What an a$!! He obviously has no clue how hard it is to hold those close range shots!"
Defender: "Actually... He does..."
Me: "What makes you say that?"
Defender: "You really don't know??"
Me: "What?"
Defender: "He used to play goalie for the German national team..."
Me: "Oh..."
Yeah - I was embarrassed...

Finally - here's the story of why I stopped playing goal:
Before I arrived at Ako the top goalie in our grade was a kid named Peetchen (little Pete - they didn't always adhere to the "nickname formula"). Even after I "took over" the top position we still took turns - and one day during a scrimmage he gave up an easy goal... I did some good-natured teasing (at least I thought it was good-natured). Afterward one of his friends took me aside and gave me a bit of a lecture. I don't recall the exact words but went something like this:
"Look - Peetchen does not have the natural talent you do - we know it - he knows it... But he has never wanted anything else. It all comes easy for you - he has had to work really hard at it... Being a goalie is his life... So - could you please just cut him some slack??"
I could not have felt worse about teasing him - he was a good, solid goalie - and I hadn't given a second thought to what he was going through... And that's when I shifted my focus (and OCD) to other positions...

I could go on and on... It was the first (and only) time in my life I had been regarded (and respected) as an athlete - that was definitely new territory for me... And it was not about my ball handling skills - they were solid, but ordinary (by German standards)... Soccer is (at its core) a psychological battle over a constantly changing geometric puzzle - and that was the aspect of the game I excelled at...

And I have to say that those hours on the soccer field were some of the best of my life.