Sven, the strange power of football and maybe even the meaning of life | Max Rushden

To be fair to him, it was a terrible touch. I wanted to explain that I hadn’t played a full 90 in about five years, that my toddler had been up since 4.50am, that I had the remnants of plantar fasciitis in my left foot, no meniscus in my left knee, and tendinopathy in my left groin which meant every step had been painful all afternoon – and despite that I’d had less remedial surgery than most of my teammates – and frankly, his team of lithe 20- and 30-somethings really should be out of sight against a side down to 10 men whose starting centre-backs had a combined age of 110.