Remembering the Fußball player

Not too many people know that I used to play football a.k.a soccer when I was a kid. I wasn't the worst player in the team, but I definitely spent most of the time on the bench. I guess that's why not too many people know. Practice was twice a week; shooting and passing was fun, because it required precision and showed a player's skills. But there was also the running and the drill which, as a chubby kid, I hated like nothing else.

My position was, well, my position was the bench, but when I played, I liked playing hinten rechts. I always thought that a good pass was worth more than a bad goal. And to me, intercepting an offensive attack was a nobler move than scoring a point. And also it was less sprinting. Every other weekend we had matches, too. But like I said, I didn't play a lot. To be honest though, I didn't care too much about Fußball altogether. My friends back then were playing and it was just another thing we did.

There were the starters, who took the sport very seriously, and there were the others. Obviously I was part of the others. And I wasn't alone. There was a fat kid, who was more excited about the hot dog stand than the game, there was a skinny kid, who could barely manage a penalty kick, there was a spare goalie, who coudn't catch a ball, and there was me, the chubby Asian kid who didn't know why he was there. I remember one time the coach called me out to warm up and I said something like 'Naa, I'm okay.' And that's when I realized I quit.

Anyways, a few days ago Tobs called me and said he was going to visit Bassam at the ice cream parlor. I told him I'd meet him there. We had ice cream and coffee like a bunch of grandpas. It's always fun, always good to see the guys. At some point though, we stopped laughing and talked about Japan. We grew quiet and when the shop filled with customers, we went to the back yard. Bassam's dog, Diego, was playing with a small soccer ball.

Now Tobs used to play as a kid as well, he was actually in a few different clubs till he switched to playing baseball. And Bassam, well, Bassam played for quite some time and even got payed for it, but that was a long time ago, before he started to concentrate on earning real money. So there we were, stealing the ball out of Diego's mouth and kicking it around. Bassam was warming up already and in an oddly natural manner I took position and stretched my legs while Tobs removed his backpack and jacket.