THE HAND OF GOD PART II

THREE
At 7 PM the match kicked off at the magnificent Olympic Stadium in Munich. The crowd roared in anticipation of an epic encounter. Juan kissed the cross that hung around his neck and took his position.’ This is it’, he told himself and concentrated hard. He could hear the ref blow the whistle as things got under way, but the only thing he was eyeing sharply was the Zeitgeist ball crossing over from one foot to another in a blur.
The first half went fairly event free for Juan which made him feel very happy. There were no hard saves to make thanks to the defenders doing their job well. The only scare had come in the closing minute of the half when Chriser had found himself free on the left edge of the penalty area from a brilliant through ball from Michael Owen. But his powerful shot went wide of goal and Juan heaved a sigh of relief. Juan could have sworn he had heard a cry of 'Stupid striker! Too nervous!' as the ball went past him.
'Could it have been the ball?’ Juan quickly dismissed the thought as he made his way to the dressing room with his teammates. ‘Surely it was one of those English fans’, he thought having known how harsh fans can be on their own players. To be fair to Owen, he had a tough angle and the ball hit the outside part of his foot.
By the second half, Juan’s nerves had calmed down. He was handling the England attacks better and made two good saves off Owen and Chriser, which doubtless gave him renewed confidence. But at the 88th minute with two minutes to go in the game and an increasing prospect of a 0-0 draw (just what Spain needed) Spanish defender Robert Artez fouled England midfielder Gary Brenham. The referee yellow carded Artez and awarded England a free kick just on the left edge of the penalty area and the man who stepped up to take it would have sent a shiver down any goal keepers spine, let alone Juan. It was David Beckham whose swinging, curling and deadly accurate kicks became famous as 'The Beckham Delivery'. Juan knew that if he let this one go in Spain would have no chance with only a minute left. He positioned himself on the right goal post hoping the defensive wall would guard the left post.
With every second passing like an eternity Juan waited, almost breathless, as Beckham stepped up and kicked. The ball swooshed towards the right post over the wall, but then began to curl away wickedly from where Juan was standing. Juan knew it was not possible to get it now. In a desperate last minute attempt he leapt towards the direction of the ball and screamed out, ‘Come towards me you idiot!’ He was trying to control the ball by talking to it! Even he did not know what had made him do this. But to his shock, the ball seemed to be swerving away less and less. He stretched out his hand and made a lunge at it. ‘Come on!’ he shouted and the ball made a dramatic back spin towards him. He managed to get his fingertips to it and the ball sailed over the bar. ‘Ouch' he heard as the ball flew over. ‘It cannot be the ball again!’ he thought.

FOUR
Beckham stood stunned at the save. The TV commentator for BBC1 could hardly contain his astonishment.’ And what an extraordinary save by young Ferreto. Surely one of the best since Gordon Banks' outstanding save to deny the great Pele in 1970. And definitely the save of the 21st century.' [Gordon Banks’ save is featured in this YouTube Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQA234KPA2s]
Juan could hardly believe it. Was it just plain luck or had he really managed to control the ball by talking to it? It sounded insane to him. The game was over soon afterwards in a 0-0 draw. Juan could hardly contain his joy at the final whistle as he and his teammates celebrated. They had made it to the next round and would avoid Brazil. The match ball was presented to Juan as a token of his heroic performance. For a young goal keeper there couldn’t be a better feeling.
That night, the whole team partied in the hotel and the coach brought more good news. 'Michel will be fit for the next round'. Every one cheered. Juan too felt relaxed at the thought that no more nerve wreckers were in store for him. But he felt a tinge of disappointment too because he was beginning to like it.
Later that night as Juan lay on his bed in the hotel room he watched the replays of the save being showed on TV. Every time he was amazed at the fact as to how the balls perfect arc was interrupted when he yelled at it and it turned towards him. The commentators said it was perhaps the wind but Juan knew fully well that the air was very still at that time. At last he decided to get some sleep after the extraordinary day. But as he switched the TV off he heard a voice in the cupboard,
'That kid is good. He deserves more chances.'
Juan felt like fainting. The voice was coming from the cupboard where he had kept his match ball along with his kit!

EPILOGUE
Juan was replaced by Michel in the next match which Spain won but in the quarter finals they lost to Netherlands on penalties. But Juan’s save was discussed throughout the tournament. Juan never tried the trick of yelling at balls again although he did hear odd voices when he was practicing alone. But he never told anyone this secret. He was reading the newspaper after practice one day and was surprised to see the following line in an article on him by Josh Clarevill, a British football analyst, just after the world cup:
'The save against England was easily a masterpiece. It appeared as if this boy could control the ball on a string like a puppet.'
‘Yeah, I can’ thought Juan. And he really could. But for the rest of his life he decided he was going to play by his natural abilities and not his supernatural ones. 'That’s the spirit!', came the footballs voice lying nearby his feet.

P.S. Juan currently plays for Real Madrid and Spain. Footballs still talk to him but he's never tried to control ball paths ever since 2006.