The Comeback

My feet touched ball this afternoon. It must be the first time I took to the field since I came ENPC. The last time I played in Paris, about 8 months ago, was with Brazilians, Bolivians, Peruvians and Argentinians on an artificial pitch at Nation. This time round, the make up of the teams was even more international. We had Moroccans, Tunisians, Brazilians, French, Chinese PRC and a Singaporean. 4 continents were represented.

About 15 minutes into the match, Lida sent a cross from the right into the penalty box. I had my right foot perfectly pivoted. I swung my left à la Zidane. (See video above. Reflect play to the right. Imagine hair sprouting out of Carlos and Zidane's heads and you get Lida and I.)

While Zidane's goal rocketed into the net, my shot rocketed into the sky. The ball gained altitude in its first 2 seconds of trajectory, went over the fence, lost kinetic energy and disappeared into the bushes of thorny plants behind.

Attempts were made to retrieve the ball but they were abandonned when the thorny plants proved too prickly for our naked legs. Luckily, as there was another ball around, we were able to continue the game. However, I was already affected by the thought of having to pay for the lost ball and ended the game with a soft own goal that even Djimi Traore would have been ashamed of. Voila, the comback of Le Chye the Soccer Player.

I will be braving the thorny plants again tomorrow morning in search of the lost ball. In the case of a no find, I will be dropping by my school's Bureau des Sports to report loss. Hopefully, I will be able to amuse their members enough with my account, in broken French, of how the ball got lost that they will forget to make me pay for the ball. Hopefully.