Soccer

One of my passions in life is soccer. I grew up watching and playing the sport back in my native Peru. I remember being a fervidly soccer player for my school when I was little, I played in every soccer tournament and even spent summers at soccer camp. One of my dearest and most remembered childhood memories was when I would spend afternoons playing soccer on a dirt field located a few blocks from my house. My mother would get so angry at me because I stayed out past my curfew sometimes and she literally had to drag me home. To this day, I think that one of my biggest regrets in life was not becoming a soccer player. I had to give up that dream when I came to the United States at age 12. Sure, I could have joined my school team and pursue my dream but the love for the game here is not as big as it is in Peru. My parents were never supportive of the idea of me being soccer player. When we came here, they wanted me to focus on school and adapt to the culture before I could play soccer again. Now as an adult with a full time job and school taking up most of my time, it is a little difficult to play soccer but I still watch it on TV whenever I get a chance.

One of my favorite soccer players is Mario Balotelli. He is an Italian soccer player who plays for Manchester City FC and he is also the first black player to play for the Italian National team. Manchester City came to the United States over the summer to play a few exhibition games against some local teams. In the clip, we observe Mario unsuccessfully trying to score a goal with a back heel against the LA Galaxy. The fans immediately booed him and even his coach subbed him out to reprimand him. My question to you is, had he scored the goal, do you think we would have seen a different reaction from the commentators, the fans and even his coach? I personally admire Mario for trying to pull off a feat like this. This is, after all, the Beautiful Game.