They do several things at once

In the summer of 2018, the soccer World Cup was held in Russia and I had the day off and we had gone to lunch at a friends house.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
29 March 2023 Wednesday 23:44
15 Reads
They do several things at once

In the summer of 2018, the soccer World Cup was held in Russia and I had the day off and we had gone to lunch at a friends house.

We ran and laughed and around us children and teenagers roamed. The boys would kick the ball around in the yard, or play table tennis in the basement, and every now and then they would appear, attack a croquette or an orange Fanta, and leave again.

I would, at times, glance at my mobile phone to see how Germany-Sweden was going, but I preferred not to look around too much, because I had the day off.

And if I deliver, it is delivered.

Even so, professional deformation…

At one point in the evening I took another look at the screen, maybe the match was already over. And when it was so, I said:

- It seems that Alem has won...

I hadn't finished the sentence and, out of nowhere, Hugo appeared, a ten-year-old child with an innocence that left me speechless. Holding a screen in my face (maybe a cell phone, maybe a tablet), he yelled:

-Germany won with a goal from Toni Kroos! Look, baby, do you want to see it?

And there we had it.

Almost live: the goal.

Hugo was showing me the wonderful free kick - there was the execution, with high quality footage.

- Wow - I said.

I really didn't know what to say.

And while I said "wow" and savored Kroos' goulash, I asked myself: "When has little Hugo been following Germany-Sweden? Hasn't he been kicking the ball around in the yard and playing ping-pong in the basement for quite a while? And how could he find the goal so quickly? And how come I haven't been able to find it myself? Aren't I supposed to be a professional journalist, aren't I supposed to be ahead of the rest?"

I went over the matter for a few minutes, and while I was pondering it another croquette and another beer was poured down, and after a while I parked the matter for another time, as someone at the table explained a joke, which I can't remember if it was good or bad, and my mind changed channels.

PS: Actually, I didn't think much about that silent humiliation until this weekend, when Pique and his streamer friends' Kings League drew 92,000 people to the Camp Nou. Piled in there, parishioners bided their time watching low-key 7-a-side football while listening to Twitch, dancing to DJs, munching on popcorn and playing Stumble guys on their cellphones. All for 20 euros. And I have understood: I will never be able to be like Piqué.