Futbol!

Quick update on my viewing of Dan's volleyball team playing soccer... INTENSE. I was under the assumption that a day off of playing volleyball would be a fun, easy going break for the team with a little cross training. However, Dan wasn't kidding when he told me that they are pretty serious about futbol. First off, Dan took off his jacket to display his FC Porto jersey and the guys started going crazy- literally. Some where cheering, "F***ing Dan! F***ing Dan!" About half the team was caressing the jersey to see if it was authentic and after it passed the test, they were so stoked to see Dan wearing it and even more impressed when he told them he bargained for it at the local Friday market.

The game started and I couldn't take my eyes away. The rules are as follows: play with a volleyball, goalie cannot use his hands, goals can only be scored off of a header, no out of bounds, no fouls, and no shin guards. There were a few obstacles near the edge of the court: portable basketball hoops, partitions, tables, and chairs. Bodies were flying, bodies were flying into each other, bodies were crashing into obstacles, and many bad Portuguese words were being communicated. There were a few times where I was positive an ankle was broken or an ACL torn, but nope! False alarm. When the first goal was scored (on Dan) I started to laugh really hard and the head coach (also playing on Dan's team) was extremely pissed and I am pretty sure he was even more angry at me for laughing as he continued to say, "Fodus" (spell check), the equivalent of the F word. All in all it was extremely entertaining and Dan really only had one lousy play and the rest of the time he did pretty well with blocking the shots (take into account his size compared to the goal size). The final score was 4-5... close game! If Portugal had University sports like we do in America, I am pretty sure half of Dan's team would be playing soccer.