Episode IX: Gambeta (Dribble)

Episode IX: Gambeta (Dribble)

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Ball, spherical, balloon: many ways to ask for the ball. And endless flourish to make the dribble. The skillful dodges one rival and another, is accompanied by the ball as if it were a dance partner, crosses the defense, faces the goal, aim and kick: it does not matter if it is a bunch of socks, a number five leather ball or an octopus, that one that bounce to the moon. Goal! Even without being united by anything other than the passion for football, the ball seems a synthetic extension of his body (different is the thing for the irremediable clumsy: like any object that defies the law of gravity, the ball poses a threat against his physical integrity because, damn luck, it always goes straight to the nasal septum of a particularly brittle nose). More than an object, the ball is a talisman of the magical order: it initiates the kid in the first skills and connects the adult with his inner child. ¿Is there a team? It is moving to see the big guy who despairs at the possibility of a match: you don't know how, but on the beach or the field there always appears a ball from somewhere, materialized by the intensity of desire. And more than a talisman, this ball is a trophy: in tribute to the legendary number five, that we all ever ask or receive as birthday present, it has eighteen segments of leather, exhibits seams without modesty and pays homage to the one used in Switzerland 54, the first World Cup of the four that Germany won. ¿At that time the lawn was black and white? T-shirts tight, pants raised above the navel, hairstyles slathered with rubber: at pure dribble, the match with this ball-trophy take us back to the time of our grandparents. And although it is very robust as everything that was manufactured before, and enduring any epic achivement that lasts ninety minutes, at the feet of the skilled will seem as silk because winners and losers will say the same of the scorer, with joy or regret: "He unstitched it!".

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