In the 1956 FA Cup Final, Manchester City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann broke his neck, but, unaware of the full extent of the injury, carried on playing until the end of the match. In the 1970 World Cup semi-final Germany versus Italy, Franz Beckenbauer played the second half and overtime with a broken collarbone and a dislocated shoulder. Yesterday, I took part in the company soccer tournament, running, tackling, shooting across a field almost a sixth of the official FIFA size under a burning sun for full three hours.

Today, I can feel every bone and muscle in my body and sport an unfashionably reddened face. I should probably stick to bowling, especially since I suck at soccer: no orientation, no ball handling skills, poor shooting and passing. I did two nice headers, though.