Wissam made a dummy to get past one of the players, when I started to run towards the goal. Although I had just met him thirty minutes before, I knew what he was gonna do. As I ran behind the defenders, I saw him put the long ball towards me from the other end of the pitch. I had already made up my mind when the ball was floating midway in the air. I took it on the volley and BAM! Top right corner! Rohi, who was playing goalie, had no chance. My first goal in my first football match in Delft. Although it was just a friendly, it felt special.

Football has always formed an intrinsic part of my life. I have played in school, college and even in office when i worked for a year. TU Delft, obviously could not be an exception. After arriving, ‘Do you play football?’, was a question I never failed to ask when I met someone new. Over the course of one week, I already knew about fifteen people, equally eager to play. Without further delay we formed a whatsapp group and decided on a time to play. I was extremely excited to unpack my footballing shoes and my Chelsea jersey! And there we were, playing a 8v8 match, in one of the magnificent AstroTurf of TU Delft sports center. Football is a crazy game, a language, bringing people together. A group of guys hesitant to talk to each other before the match, became friends after one hour of tackling, passing and shooting. It was in this match, I met Dhruv and Kanav, who are very close friends of mine here in Delft.

The sports center has innumerable facilities. From handball to tennis to indoor games and music classes, one can have access to anything they want with a meager annual fee of 110 Euros(although to access the gym one needs to pay extra 110, pretty cheap nonetheless). One can even join fitness classes or learn pottery if they want to. The options are huge and I want to explore a few of them in the near future.

But, football will remain the definite constant. These days we play once or twice every week, arranging our matches in a Facebook group(yes we upgraded from Whatsapp). I also play in the Monday League, which is an official football tournament of TU Delft.

It’s a dream to be playing this beautiful game in the land of Cruyff, Gullit, Rijkaard, Robben. I intend to make my game better every week, score more goals and have this warm feeling of familiarity in a place far away from home!