4 January 2012
The Ciutat Esportiva Dani Jarque was ready for the Alevín A Catalan derby. Usually, even for such an important game, only some of the staff and parents would be in attendance. However, today, there was an unusually large crowd. This was because, just 20 minutes ago, the Espanyol management was informed that Johan Cruyff and his team were here to watch the match. No matter the rivalry with Barca, they could not slight this legend of the game and quickly formed an important contingent to accommodate Cruyff. And so, as the game kicked off, there was a large group to the north of the pitch, amongst which sat the man himself, with sunglasses covering his eyes and a lollipop in his mouth.
…
It had been 10 minutes since kick-off, and if someone could look behind the sunglasses, they would see Johan Cruyff's eyes follow only a single kid amongst the 14 on the pitch. It was the handsome 8-year-old with the captain's armband. Barca's captain was conducting every play and leading the team to press and circulate at his will. Of course, Cruyff could see it; the boy was reading the game several seconds before his peers. The boy had that gift of time very few have. A smirk rose on Cruyff's face as he found himself agreeing with many of the 8-year-old's actions.
…
I signal to Abdou, our keeper, to pass the ball to me, but Abdou's ball veers a bit too much to my right. At the same time, I can hear the footsteps of their #10 from behind me. If I receive the ball on a half-turn, he will tackle me. If I pass the ball first time to the left defender, he will press the defender, which is quite a risk. So I direct my body to block the #10's path, and instead of stopping the ball, I angle my right foot. The ball skims off the inside of my boot and behind me to my left. I turn left and sprint after the ball, leaving the #10 catching my shadow.
As I run for the ball, I take a quick scan. One of their 3 defenders has left his line to challenge me. I take a heavy touch to the right and accelerate, forcing the incoming defender to pause and change directions. It is, however, too late for him.
I don't run further into the created space because I see Alejandro Balde, our lightning-quick left striker, run in between the two defenders. I simply roll the ball into Balde's path. He takes the ball comfortably and runs past the progressing keeper before passing the ball into the net.
1-0!
I high-five Eric and the others as we jog to Balde, who is still celebrating in the corner.
"Jordi, you genius! I love you!" Balde rubs my head and slurs his words in his excitement.
I chuckle and shove him back towards our half. There is no reason to celebrate this much for a 1-goal lead.
…
Johan took his sunglasses off when Jordi Lloret turned after manipulating the ball through his legs. Murmurs and chatter rose around Cruyff as Jordi went past the second player with a simple change in direction. Next, the through pass was fairly simple, but Cruyff understood that it was timed perfectly. Most young players would've carried the ball further when they had so much space in front of them.
Johan folded his sunglasses and placed them in his jacket's pocket. From the same pocket, he retrieved another lollipop. The football he had seen from this boy was downright exaggerated. When was the last time he had been so absorbed in an academy level game? Cruyff could not help but think back to the first time he saw a short Argentine boy play at La Masia.