The very first time I played football in
England was against the school XI of St Chad's in Wolverhampton. This was the
time when Wolves - Wolverhampton Wanderers - was
one of the top teams in the EPL and the late Sir Alexander Matthew
"Matt" Busby was the manager of Manchester United. This was six years
after the plane crash in Munich which almost wiped out the MU team. That was a
very long time ago...a truly long time ago!
On the afternoon of the match, it was very
cold and damp as it was winter then. It drizzled before the game and then it
started to rain after we kicked off. However, we were not soaked as the rain
was rather light.
The match saw us being completely
outclassed by the boys who stayed on our half most of the time. I had hardly
any chance to kick the ball. I would just pace along the right wing, with my
arms folded and my hands under my armpits trying to keep warm. The score at
half-time was 4-0 in the schoolboys' favour.
During the second half, sleet fell and then followed by a short spell of snow. The schoolboys had complete possession of the ball so I had nothing to do on the right wing. I was extremely cold. Just a few minutes before the end of the game, small hailstones rained down on us, too.
We lost 12-0 but we were too numbed with cold to feel or care about the defeat. It was my first encounter with the wet weather in England. But it was not as bad as fielding on a cricket match - playing at slips - and standing in the windy cold for ages. I wonder why I tortured myself then by choosing to take up these two games in the UK, where we lost badly all the time, and had to endure the terrible, cold, windy weather.
ltbs
If you can't accept losing, you can't win.
Vincent Lombardi
During the second half, sleet fell and then followed by a short spell of snow. The schoolboys had complete possession of the ball so I had nothing to do on the right wing. I was extremely cold. Just a few minutes before the end of the game, small hailstones rained down on us, too.
We lost 12-0 but we were too numbed with cold to feel or care about the defeat. It was my first encounter with the wet weather in England. But it was not as bad as fielding on a cricket match - playing at slips - and standing in the windy cold for ages. I wonder why I tortured myself then by choosing to take up these two games in the UK, where we lost badly all the time, and had to endure the terrible, cold, windy weather.
ltbs
If you can't accept losing, you can't win.
Vincent Lombardi
