MY JOURNEY THROUGH MANCHESTER
By Samuel Oputeh
I have been asked this question quite frequently in my short time on planet earth,
How come you know so much about football (soccer) but you don’t even know how to play?
As I went further in life I frequently asked myself this same question, wondering if my legs were ever going to be able to someday do what my brain envisioned, I often reminisced back to those sunny break periods in primary school, when most boys rushed outside to play around with a ball, or any object bearing semblance to it, as I observed and buried myself in my thoughts, wondering if there was ever a point to chasing only one ball, when everyone could as well have a ball.
Then again, I’d remember where the love affair all began, At Fratton Park in the Barclays Premier League, when a certain Portsmouth took on Manchester United back in April of 2004, where I first got to see the current world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo (my!!! has he grown since then), as a lanky teenager and his bag of tricks that often resulted in the opponent getting the ball, United however lost the game to Portsmouth with a Steve Stone goal settling the encounter, but that day I had fallen in love not just with football but with United and the lanky, noodle haired Portuguese.
It wasn’t until June of that same year, during the Euro championships were I finally came to grips with football, understanding most of the terminologies, I recall even going as far as writing the names of each Country, and its players at the back of my class notes, I obviously had a favorite team then, which was any team that lanky teenager was playing for, which happened to be host Portugal.
In a short period, I was already addicted to the sport and my new team Manchester United, but there was just one problem, I couldn’t play, no matter how hard I tried, my legs were of no help, I often looked at my mates on the field with envy, wishing every time that I was playing and I could be like my hero Cristiano Ronaldo, so I spent my time learning various facts about the game and got well acquainted with it, I kept on wondering how I going to get to be involved with my mates playing.
My big break came in my 3rd year in junior secondary school, I had volunteered to coach my class, which had not won a single match in the schools history, and at my first try we claimed a 6-3 victory over our juniors, I was particularly elated, it was as though a fuse had come up in my head, I soon had one of those “eureka” moments and thought I had figured everything out, I was finally one of the guys, but could I carve out a career from this?, it was too soon to think I later discovered. I was greeted with large smiles and hearty congratulations from my mates. It was the best feeling ever.
It took some five years before I ever felt like this again, in the university myself and some friends had been doing pre match analysis for 2012 FA Cup final between Chelsea and Liverpool amongst ourselves, when that question came up again; I looked dumbfounded, I had no answer to that question again, I basically gave a shy smile and continued talking to my friends who were left in awe for much of the day. Finally, the match had been played, and one of them walked up to me and told me I needed to start honing my skill set so I could further better myself, I smiled.
Five years on from that day, I have embarked upon the longest ride in my lifetime and I’m yet to arrive at my destination, but wherever it takes me, I sure would have gathered a lot of experiences along the way that should hold me in good stead in the future, some bitter, some sweet but the journey will continue.