Today, I went to the pitch at my niece's school with her, Nicholas, and my dad. Nicholas was confident, poised, and deliberate. He looked and played like a mini version of his hero Xavi Hernandez, Barca's midfield maestro and possibly the best to ever play that position.
Nicholas' love of playing soccer is only matched by his love of studying it - watching highlights, reading magazines, looking at the "table," or standings, and constantly discussing the game with me. He loves that soccer is a global game, and he loves learning about the geography and history of the teams.
His knowledge is encyclopedic, and his tastes have become more refined. One recent morning he said, "Dad, I am getting tired of U.S. Major League Soccer. It is just not top class." He is 7 mind you.
With that in mind, after we played at my niece's school, we watched the highlights of the Club World Cup. The final match pitted the Champions of Europe - Chelsea from England - and the Champions of South America - Corinthians from Brazil. Chelsea lost the match 1-0. The lone goal was scored by Paolo Guerrero.
Afterwards, Nicholas said he was glad that Corinthians had won because they were from Peru, which is one of his favorite countries. I corrected him saying that Corinthians were from Brazil. He protested saying that one of the players was holding a Peruvian flag after the match. I said he must have been mistaken and changed the subject to avoid a fight. We moved on, and this dispute never came up again.
However, before I began to write this piece, I read an article about the match. Guerrero, it turns out, is a Peruvian. I stand corrected about the flag.
Top class. Nicholas is top class indeed.
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