The Stuff of Movies
It really could have been a Hollywood movie. A bad Hollywood movie, but a movie nonetheless. In Alan's second soccer game, a rivalry started almost immediately between Team Yukon and the opposing Edmonton team. Alan said the Edmonton kids seemed to have it out for our boys right away. They made comments like, "This is gang country, you know. I'm in a gang," to which one of the Yukon boys replied in feigned admiration, "That is SO COOL!" Alan just cracked up.
At the end of the second game, the score was 1-0 for Edmonton. Alan's team wanted nothing more than to have a chance to play them again in the finals, and that's exactly what happened.
Shortly into the first half of the gold medal game, the Yukon scored. By the end of the first half, it was 2-0 for the Yukon, and Edmonton was getting pretty agitated. Then, 15 minutes into the second half, Edmonton made an illegal move, so the Yukon got an indirect shot on net. Eight Edmonton players lined up on the goal line. Alan's friend Paul was to take the kick. By this point he'd had enough of the threatening comments and rough play from Edmonton, so he pointed at one guy who'd given him particular grief and said, "I'm going to kick it right at you." The rest of the Edmonton team laughed, and Alan - ever the coolheaded one - said, "Don't do it Paul. It's just a waste of a ball." But Paul said, "It's OK - I'm going to get that guy AND I'm going to score." And he did. With much force the ball hit the Edmonton player in the groin, bounced off him and hit the back of the net.
That's when pandamonium broke out. The Edmonton team started yelling obscenities at the ref, and the ref started handed out yellow cards. The parents and coach were furious and joined in the verbal abuse. The Edmonton players, egged on by the adults perhaps, continued to kick up a stink, so the ref handed out a red card to one of them. But he refused to leave the field. The parents of the Edmonton team then started running on to the pitch, still screaming, and the coach called the ref an asshole. And that's when the ref ended the game, and the Yukon boys won the gold 3-0. The Edmonton team couldn't believe they'd been beaten by a hick team from the boonies.
This is the second time this sort of thing has happened to teams Alan has been on. In Anchorage too, which is a city much larger than Whitehorse, the Americans were so sure that the Yukon was no competition. There was stunned silence when the Canadian boys took away their prized trophy (one of the most gaudy trophies I've ever seen by the way).
It's a good reminder of how much of a mental game soccer is. It's also a good lesson in how important it is to approach a game (and life in general) without any pre-conceptions and with respect for your opponent, no matter who they are.
7:25:35 AM 
|
|
