I am a football aficionado. Whenever possible I want to play football. Despite my not exactly outstanding size I enjoy being the goalkeeper， and I am not bad at it. And despite my advanced age I still show very rapid reactions， especially on the line and in the five-metre box. I am fairly agile and fast， I only cannot jump high.
After having rented an apartment in ShenZhen I want to be active in sports again at weekends， and not just walking and hiking. I want to play football again. I notice that there are many football pitches， but where are the clubs， how do I approach them (without knowledge of the Chinese language)？ Sure， there are foreigners’ associations and internet forums for foreigners where you may find football teams， too， but I want to play with Chinese， I do not want to lock off myself with other foreigners. Will I find teams of the same age somewhere？
In my German football club I am the goalie of the oldest senior team. But I am also able to compete with much younger players in company-facilitated football， especially in the fast indoor football.
I buy my first goalie equipment： shoes， shin pads， gloves， trousers， shirt， knee pads， elbow pads. Equipped like that I’m going one Sunday afternoon to a football pitch near my apartment， across from SiHai GongYuan， a park that would later become my second
favourite one. I perceive at once that the teams playing there are no professionals but ‘leisure players’. No problem， that will make it easier for me.
But they are young， some of them are younger than my sons， which is making things less easy. I watch the match， I need a plan. It grows fruits while I observe one of the goalkeepers. He is totally incapable！ The other one is o. k.， but what about the one on
Thispoorfellowhadneverbeforebeengoalkeeping， they have not found another sucker， soon he will be replaced by me.
the right side of the pitch？ It seems that he never kept a goal before. This poor fellow looks rather unhappy！ Is he hurt？ Did he have to be the goalie because they had no better one？
I am standing behind the goal and go on watching. I warm up. I realise that there is no coach， no one who calls instructions from the outside. This is a self-organising match. After the next goal was scored against the poor chap I indicate to him with arms， legs and head： “Get off the pitch for a while， I will keep the goal for you.” He smiles kindly， no， he does so happy and relieved； I must focus， for there already the next attack approaches， the opponent’s strikers are amazed： a new goalkeeper？ And one who now saves every shot！
“My” defence and the other team-mates are surprised and delighted. I do not remember the result， especially since I cannot recall at which score I “had been” put in. No matter： It was fun！ Unfortunately I did not know how to go on， something was wrong with the phone number that I gave to the team captain， I received no information about the next match at next weekend. This team I lost as quickly as I found it.
I had to use these tactics two more times， then – the third time – it worked out： one player – they called him Stones， his Chinese first name was ShiTou (石头) – spoke a reasonable English， we exchanged phone numbers， he said： “Next Sunday at 2 p. m. there will be a match in WanXia， I will send you the address in Chinese， which you will show to a taxi driver who may drive you there.”
Next Sunday it turns out that the team in which I have recently put myself in is not the one in which I will be playing on Sundays from now on. Stones had been just a guest player there， it was pure coincidence (and persistence) that I met him， and now I have found a team， “Lao Niu” (老牛)， the Old Bulls. Except that I am by far the oldest bull， on average， the other bulls are as old as my sons， then about 25， now about 30 years， the oldest other one on the team is 12 years younger than I am， the youngest just reckons 23.
We discover that while scatting along in the evening of the first Sunday match. From
One of our best players during the shot on goal.
now on – till today it has been going on like that for more than five years – we will be playing every Sunday (if I’m in China) and then almost always go for dinner together. Here I learn to know China， at least a portion of today’s modern China： emerging， ardent and well-paid young men， only a few of them married， no one has any children， they all have girlfriends who accompany us sometimes to the match and dinner， and they are working for a large part in the high-tech industry.
Not only the players of this team arrive together or alone with their car at the pitch (the “pitch” on which we are playing most of the time is a larger site with lately nine individual pitches)， no， all the players in general do arrive by car. There are the small cars， there are also larger and luxury cars， vans and SUVs. The footballers in ShenZhen are not poor unskilled labourers but self-employed or well-salaried specialists with an income above average， many of them are working in the electronics industry. I am the only one who comes regularly by bike， the only one among about 500 players who are every Saturday and every Sunday on the site.
At some occasion， someone pointed out： “30 years ago， everyone in Germany wanted to travel by car， in China everyone took the bicycle， today the Germans go again by bicycle， all the Chinese want to travel by car.” Splendid insight！