11 May
Today it’s the fifth and final skill from Amir Zidane’s bag of tricks, as performed in The Victory Boys sequel ‘Team Spirit’.
After last week’s ‘Roulette’, we go street soccer today with the ‘Knee Akka’.
Read how Amir befuddled his opponent in Team Spirit, as he
Here’s how to perform the akka (click to enlarge the image)
Take a look at the link in the comments section below, to see current Tottenham player Jan Vertonghen’s casual akka while in training at Ajax!
10 May
Colin Bateman: Husband. Gardener. Free thinker. Shabab al-Nasr fan.
Dear Diary,
What a strange day. Only a week to go until the tournament, and Amir’s father drops a bombshell like that. I think the boys were all in shock, to be honest. This whole Amir episode really seems to have unsettled them. And I suppose, when you add the pressure of being the reigning champions, they’ve got it all on their shoulders at the moment.
Still, when you can take a free-kick like young Ali, you’ve always got a chance of being on the winning side! What a crackerjack his goal was! I can’t wait for next Sunday! I really hope the boys can do it again!
I just can’t shake this feeling that it might not go according to plan this time…
Yours apprehensively,
Colin
5 May
Today we learn the fourth of Amir Zidane’s five favourite skills, as performed in The Victory Boys sequel ‘Team Spirit’.
Following on from last week’s ‘Elastico’, we present the Roulette, made famous by Amir’s namesake: former Juventus, Real Madrid and France midfielder Zinedine Zidane.
Here’s Amir performing the trick in Team Spirit:
And here’s how you do a roulette! (click to enlarge the image)
If you want to see a double roulette like Amir’s, check out the comments section below for a wonderful example by Yannick Ferreira Carrasco!
3 May
Colin Bateman: Husband. Gardener. Free thinker. Shabab al-Nasr fan.
28 Apr
We continue to share five of Amir Zidane’s favourite skills, as performed in The Victory Boys sequel ‘Team Spirit’.
After mastering last week’s ‘Rainbow Flick’, you’ll be ready to have a go at Amir’s third skill, the Elastico, a trick Amir uses to mesmerizing effect in the book:
So, here’s how to do it! (click to enlarge the image)
See the comments section below for a fabulous elastico by Cristiano Ronaldo (although the less said about the cross that followed, the better!)
26 Apr
Colin Bateman: Husband. Gardener. Free thinker. Shabab al-Nasr fan.
Sunday 26th April
Dear Diary,
Jolly interesting day today. Mrs Bateman had me get up early to crack on with some pruning I’d been putting off. (No, Diary, that wasn’t the interesting part. Far from it, in fact.) While I was trimming away – and long after mosque school had started, I might add – I encountered young Junayd and Ibrahim, the perennial latecomers, running up the street (young Ibrahim looks more and more bleary-eyed every time I see him. I do hope he’s getting enough sleep and not staying up all night watching Match of the Day).
So, it being a long time since I’d had a good old chat with the Imam and Coach Saleem, I asked Junayd to pass on an invitation. Anyway, long story short: they all popped round later and informed me of a most intriguing development as regards the Victory Boys’ team… you won’t believe it, Diary… they’ve only gone and signed Zidane!!!
Well, OK, not that Zidane, but a very promising sounding young chap by the name of Amir Zidane. (Interesting first name – I must look that up on the Internet and find out the meaning). I suppose the only possible problem might be: if he’s really that good, are the other boys’ places in the team secure? I wonder what they’re thinking about their new team-mate!
Sleep well Diary. I know I will, after all that pruning. Never again! Until the next time, anyway…
P.S. The Imam evidently hasn’t been using his time to brush up on his football knowledge. We were talking about transfers and someone mentioned the Bosman Ruling. He asked, “Is this the same busman who Jossy Marino gets to park his bus in front of the goal in the Chelsea matches?” He said he’d heard about that on the radio and that he’d be happy to report other football news to us in future!
(Don’t give up your day job, Imam Munieb…)
Yours achingly (my sides, at least),
Colin
19 Apr
In this series of posts, we share five of Amir Zidane’s favourite skills, as performed in ‘Team Spirit’.
Having learned the ‘Rabona’ last week, our second skill is the Rainbow Flick, a trick we find Amir putting to good use in his first Shabab training session:
Here’s how to do it! (click to enlarge the image)
Check out my comment below for an instructive ‘rainbow flick’ video from Daniel Cutting, skills specialist.
9 Apr
Assalamu alaikum everyone – peace be upon you all!
Drumroll please…
Yesterday, after several ‘takes’ (I had to take the rubbish out, then I took my family grocery shopping, then I took a nap), a brand new book trailer was born. And here it is! What do you think?
(Here’s the trailer for the first book too, for those of us who like to reminisce!)
Jamal
4 Sep
Assalamu alaikum; peace be upon you all, and a belated Eid mubarak too.
We held an Eid barbecue at our local mosque yesterday. It was opened up to the whole community; not just the local Muslims, but our neighbours, friends, and a few dignitaries as well.
Wanting it to be special for the children, a number of activities were organised, including a bouncy castle, a tug of war, a Qur’anic recitation event and – I just couldn’t resist this one – a ‘Beat the Goalie’ competition.
'Beat the Goalie': the grand final! My able deputy stares down the barrel...
For such a competition to be a success, there are a few essential ingredients. I can think of five.
(1) Participants.
No problem here. Three penalties per turn, anyone scoring all three to write their names in the Hall of Fame and take their place in the grand final later in the day. The queue to take part was predictably long at all times.
(2) A space.
The majority of the events took place inside the large prayer room, with the bouncy castle at the opposite end. Plenty of space, but a need to be very careful.
(3) A ball.
Easy enough in normal circumstances, but given the surroundings, a sponge ball was deemed to be appropriate.
(4) A goal.
Fortunately, a member of the community bought two of these as a gift for the mosque. They arrived less than 24 hours before the event and one was promptly assembled in time for the big day.
(5) A goalkeeper.
Well, you can guess who took on this role – at least until my knees couldn’t take any more! (I didn’t quite make it to the grand final myself…)
The event unfolded in a manner entirely in keeping with the spirit of The Victory Boys. It is impossible to measure the enjoyment experienced by the children who took part, whether firing blanks in front of goal or bagging a hat-trick of penalties and making yours truly look a little silly in the process. By the end of the activity, the main task was to prevent the enthusiasm of the grown-up spectators from turning it into a competition for themselves!
The second goal was erected today, and now occupies a space at the opposite end of the yard from the first. It is the same yard in which I imagined many of the scenes from the opening pages of my story, with Junayd, Ibrahim & co. tearing around delightedly and giving everything to score between the brick-stack goalposts, consumed for a moment in the joy of sport, and at the same time unknowingly cementing bonds of brotherhood.
The yard, the goals, are ready.
The new goal, born today.
Once upon a time there were brick-stacks for goalposts...
The other end. (Note the bricks in the corner).
Taking a breather at the barbecue, a neighbour pointed out to me the rear of her house, adjacent to the yard. I mentioned The Victory Boys to her, and my hope that her greenhouse would be safe from footballs. She reassured me that she only had a pretty resilient peep of chickens out the back; it was next door’s greenhouse.
Mr Bateman’s house, perhaps?
Follow @imammunieb14 Aug
Assalamu alaikum – peace be upon you all.
It’s been a whirlwind year for Imam Munieb. As the short excerpt at the bottom of the page will demonstrate, it began with a considerable amount of frustration at the condition of the boys in his madrasa, and in particular their evident love of football above anything else. (Imam Munieb would freely admit that, back then, he had no time for the game whatsoever).
The Imam on football: he used to bleat about it; now he tweets about it!
So, why the change? And what exactly does the Imam know about football? Perhaps this interview with theKubekidsblog will shed some light…
Kube: What possessed you to start a football team?
Imam M: Yaa akhi, I hope your readers will not think it is a case of possession. Actually, I have a group of boys at the weekly madrasa – they are all about 10 to 14 years old. All they talk about is “football this”, “football that”. I began to think that maybe football was their life. But Islam should be their life, and I wanted them to see this. But you know, after a while, I started to think: maybe there is room for football in their life too. So I tried to marry the football to the deen, in a good, halal way.
K: Do you know much about football?
I: What would you like to know? It is a round, leather thing. Inside there is air. Also there are two goals and you have to kick the ball into these goals.
K: Can you explain the offside rule?
I: I have heard of this off-slide rule but no, I do not know how many points you will get for an off-slide.
K: How will you be able to manage a team knowing so little about the game?
I: I have made the good intention, and I pray for its success, Insha Allah. I hope that maybe I can find someone to help with the team and I have a young man in mind who I think will be perfect. Also, the boys are telling me we need a good coach, but I do not plan for any long journeys to games. We can play in the local park. Or catch a bus if we need to.
K: Has the introduction of football made a difference to any of the boys’ attentions in class?
I: I feel yes, Masha Allah, there is a big difference now. Before the boys didn’t want to learn about their deen. Now they see the team and the deen are things which bring them together.
K: Do you think the team are good enough to win anything?)
I: They think they are good enough! I think you will have to read the book to find out if they really are!
Chapter 4, "A Change of Heart"
View the new book trailer @Youtube.
View the first ever Victory Boys book trailer @ Youtube!
Sequel to the net-busting debut,
'The Victory Boys'!
The Victory Boys 