Goleador

Goleador: a portuguese word that means "a soccer player who scores goals."

A couple of weeks ago Anderson had a futsal (indoor soccer) tournament. His soccer school does this every year. It's a tournament just for kids within their different soccer schools. It's fun and they ask different dads to be the coaches of the teams.

He had a ball. He always enjoys playing and his attitude is great whether he wins or loses. He plays with joy. Pure joy. It's like he already understands that life is short so enjoy what you do, especially what you love. And he loves soccer.

My girlfriend and I went to his game.

They won the first game. Our son scored four goals. My girlfriend and I were just looking at each other with our mouths hitting the floor. He's never scored four goals in a game in his life. For one game he made it look easy. Yes, I'm bragging. It's my blog.

They won the second game. Our son scored another goal.

They tied their third game. Our son was scoreless.

They won their fourth game. Our son scored one more.

They won the fifth, and championship, game. Our son scored two more.

During the games I was sending texts back and forth to Garrett who was out of town. He kept telling me how awesome Anderson is and how he is going to play pro one day. High praise from a 17 year old brother.

Here is a pre-tournament picture. Think he's posing a little bit? Like I said, he is joyful about life.

Game time photo.

Post game photo. They always ask the parents to present the medals to their kids. We think that's cool.

After everyone received their medals the coaches gave medals to the best goalie, the best overall player and the player who scored the most goals.

My girlfriend and I knew Anderson scored eight times but we had no idea if anyone scored more. Here is what happened next:



Here is the picture with the coaches.

And here is what you do with your little brother to celebrate.



This year he has also played in a futsal tournament. It's called the Liga Norte (North League) It's a tournament where all players have to take their Brasilian ID's to every game to show that they are the same age. It's a serious league. The semi-finals and finals are this weekend.

Here is our refrigerator with a calendar to remind us of meetings, doctor's appointments, games, practices, birthdays, etc.

The paper out to the left side was put up last week. With a reminder that Saturday is a big day.

That was followed up by a note, on Harry Potter lego stationary no less, with instructions on what to do before the game and during the game.

I think he'll be ready. After all, for one day, Anderson was the goleador. Yes, I'm still bragging.