The unsung hero

Close your eyes, and paint this picture in your head. Without “him”, there would be no World Cups, no European Championships, no Champions League, no UEFA Cup, no English Premier League, no Beckhams, no Owens, no Rivaldos, no Ronaldos…

The Brazilians caress “him” while the English wallop “him. “He” would not utter a word of complain when kicked. “He” often became the target of complains from goalkeepers, should he lose weight, though strikers would prefer “him” to be light. One would find “him” anywhere, though he might look different, depending on “his” geographical location. Evolution saw “him” changed his dressing from leather to rubber and now synthetic polymer, and thus from brown, tanned, orange, white, silver and yellow. Despite the changes, his role remains unchanged. So important is “he”, that he indirectly caused the death of Andre Escobar in the 1994 World Cup.

You should have guessed it. No? It’s the ball! More specific, the FOOTBALL!

Yet, one seldom heard people talking about it! One the other hand, once they start, they cannot stop. A very good incident would be the infamous “goal” in Old Trafford when Spurs visited recently. “Did it cross the line?” “Why didn’t the linesman see it?”

Ball pickers can get too excited when duty calls. During one of the weekday matches this week, one of them actually went onto the pitch to pick up the ball before it goes out of touch. And the referee had to restart from there!

Among the few who have appreciated its existence, is Brian Clough. “This is what you play with. Go and get it!” would be his prep talk, ten minutes before the kick-off.

So perhaps next time, before your start kicking THE ball, think of all the joy “he” had brought to you, bring to you and will be bringing to you.