Last Wednesday we had our first friendly soccer match of the season. When the coach told the entire team that we were having a match a couple of weeks ago, everyone thought that it would be against a mellow team to loosen the legs and gain some muscle, you know. Nevertheless, Alianza Lima was our first opponent. And I'm not talking about some silly club that calls themselves Alianza. This was the real deal. We were starting the season against one of the strongest teams of the country.
I had ACT classes that same day, but I managed myself to arrive on time for the game. The ref blew the whistle and the ball started moving. Through the entire 90 minutes, Alianza was dominating the match; they had the possession of the ball, but our defense was solid enough to counter their attacks. As soon as we recovered the ball, we made sharp, long passes to Ernesto, who with his speed and dribbling skills, was able break passed the opposing defense system. We scored 3 goals like that in the first half. We waited for the right moment and made letal and effective counter-attacks. However, not everything was perfect. Alianza scored a goal in a well-played free kick were our goalkeeper had nothing to do. We went to rest with a score of 3-1. In the second half the coach sent an alternative team on to the field. I kept on playing though. My legs were fatigued, it was the first game I played since about two months. I was truly exhausted, and the opponents took advantage of our tiredness to score their second goal. The final score was 3-2. We had, under all expectations, beaten one of the best teams of the country in our first game. The most rewarding part wasn't that we won, but that Alianza's asked my coach if I would like to join their team. Apparently they liked how I played. |
Cristobal de Osma(?) |