A special tournament for older soccer players was Organized, with a capital “O,” by the British Chamber of Commerce. When I signed up, I anticipated seeing some of the same faces that I had grown to have some sympathy with during the regular season, which ended recently. I’m talking about the greyhairs.
A few of those players were around, but most of the participants were strangers. Not surprising, considering that many had flown in to play this tourney. And not just flown from Chiang Mai or Phuket: our first match, in the morning, was against a team from Brunei. Before playing Malaysians in the afternoon, we watched Singaporeans go head to head with Australians.
Turns out this event was a pretty big deal. A slick 40-page brochure, meal coupons, and commemorative shirts (splashed with names of several big corporate sponsors) were handed to everyone who registered. An all-star team of ex-English professional stars put on a clinic in the morning, played an exhibition in the afternoon, and keynoted at the evening banquet.
It’s amazing how seriously people take their football in these parts. Who needs the World Cup? when you have over-35s willing to pay for plane fare, hotels, entry fees, and perhaps a couple nights’ worth of booze and wom…
…wait … I think I get it now.
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Football might be the world game but not in the USA. I'm still taking some heat about missing work to see the US vs. Italy match. Let me know about the next tournament. I'll dust off my Tony Shinto memories and jump on a plane. ~vincent.
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