Soccer is in the air

Soccer is in the air here in South Africa, with the biggest sports tournament in the world arriving in about four months. I watch soccer all the time, there are soccer ads and billboards, and we play soccer all the time. Everyday at maybe three o’clock, kids go down to the UCT turf field, where there is a relatively new small sided, net enclosed, mini field. It is the greatest thing ever, with lines, mini goals, and even penalty kick spots. We play 4 vs. 4, winner stays, first goal wins. There are usually about 4 or 5 teams down there at a time, and it is relatively competitive. We always bring an American squad down there, and play simple, aggressive, powerful American soccer, which is effective, even if it is not as pretty as some of the South Africans we play. I am just amazed at all the spontaneous soccer going on everywhere here, it is very refreshing. In the US playing a good game of soccer takes organizing and tracking down enough people. Here there are enough people for small-sided tournaments, everyday of the week for hours on end. Now I understand why the rest of the world is so much better than us at soccer… All of the Americans here seem to be soccer fans or players also, probably because the World Cup happens to be occurring at the end of the semester. That’s about all I have to add for now;  I love soccer and so does everyone here, its great. Nate, over and out