Page - 43 - in Hanadi & Christian - English

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 43 shame because I think we do have good defenders, but we all have different playing styles. We all played like we normally do with our local teams, and we still haven’t learned to play together. We need to work on playing as a team.” “I agree with Kevin.” says Raul. “We didn’t play as a unit be- cause we are not a real team yet.” “What do you mean?” asks Juan Carlos. “I don’t know how to put it. Being a real team means a lot more than just signing up, getting our licenses and training together, but I don’t really know what. How can we make the best of the way we play in our local teams when we play together? How can we get the best out of each player’s style when we are playing with the big team? And how can we combine the way we train with our local teams when we are training as a big team? How can we do all that and reach a better understanding when we play together? Could somebody help me explain it better?” Raul asks. Episode 9: Birthday celebration and the ablution rite The next week, it was Mohamed’s birthday and he was going to have a party at his house. Mohamed wanted to invite his friends, so he had asked his parents. They agreed, but they told him to tell his friends about some rules and rituals that had to be respected. Mohamed knew they were referring to food and the ablution before eating on feast days. “Ablution” was a word he always had trouble pronouncing. When Mohamed got to the park, we were all waiting for him on our bench. Raul and Silvia were playing with the ball as usual, José and I were throwing stones at an empty plastic bottle, and Bochdan was sitting in silence next to Elena (Bochdan had been sitting with Elena quite a lot recently). “Hey parses (mates)! What are you up to?” says Mohamed. “Guess what? I’m celebrating my birthday at home on Sunday, and I’d like you to come.”