Pablo Hernandez Scored a Goal

He hardly touches the ball. What does he do with it? He’s not kicking it. A poor soul or some poor souls must have been counting the touches for one or many football data services, so what did they do when this happened? I hope they stopped that dum-dum-dum count and threw their hands up in the air, realising the truth behind something I read this week: there are lots of tutorial videos to help you drum like Neil Peart from Rush, ‘because you can learn how to do that’, but hardly any to teach you to play like Charlie Watts. Or Pablo Hernandez.

Have I really dragged you away from whatever you were doing to read this blog post, where I’m writing not very much about someone not really kicking a football? Yeah, but if you get it, then you’ll love this. It’s Sunday morning and we can watch the goal together. It’s the first Pablo Hernandez has scored since the one at Swansea that you love, and it’s for his home town team Castellón, that he loves:

pic.twitter.com/JtevNleBlU

— Mar Garcia ???????? (@Margarciafdez) August 28, 2021

(I don’t count his goal at Derby for tired, emotional reasons.)

How does this goal look if I try writing it down? Something like:

.	.	.	.		.	.			.		.
pablo .	.	.		.	.			.	.
.		.		.		.	.	pablo		.
.		pablo	.	.	.		.	.		.
.	.			.		.				gol	!

This wasn't even a winning goal, Albacete were two ahead when it went in and later they scored another. But this is how come a couple of weeks ago I was insisting on loving Luke Ayling's goal at Old Trafford. A goal can transcend a result. In Bill's case it was a struggle. Old Trafford. 5-1. Here I'm less involved with any rivalry with Albacate, it's a little easier. But the point is the same.

Football is a ninety minute game from which one moment can be all you need. A team game in which an individual can overcome the other 21. Even if they're hardly touching the ball to make the space for magic, or hardly touching the drums. When for the best it's just like breathing. Football is the best, because you can celebrate victories, you can celebrate goals, saves, tackles, even some throw-ins are great. There are so many ways to enjoy some people messing a ball around, it makes all the cryptobaubles people try to invest with football's thrilling meaning look silly and unnecessary. When you really understand the beauty of football, you know the players don't even have to kick the ball to touch their fans' hearts. ◉