Fighting for Your Football Field

Football is the most played sport in the world. And most people who have played football have loved it. The free flowing style, the passing of the ball, running with it, going past people with the ball at your feet -- these things make football an art. But what happens when you CAN'T do these things? If you don't know the answer to this, kudos to you.
Anyone who has ever played football at a school playground during recess, or on a neighborhood pitch on a bright sunny afternoon, knows of the misfortune I talk about. Usually in such a setting, a group of boys decide to play football on a certain pitch, and the most irresponsible of them is entrusted with the responsibility of bringing a football. Often, this individual arrives late or doesn't arrive at all. Arriving late is the biggest mistake you can make when planning to play on a public field, because usually you are only one of dozens of groups planning to take over the playground. Even if you are one of the first to get onto the field, there'll always be those pompous, bothersome guys who like to show off their shooting skills before the game, sending the ball flying way over the goal bar, wasting precious game time. Then comes that one loser who thinks he looks like Franck Ribery when he dribbles, so he runs around in circles all over the pitch, wasting more time.
By the time teams have been split, and you get the idiots to stop showboating, the ground is already filled with people already playing, and that's a LOT of people. The crowd around you will make it extremely hard to find your team-mates at any given time. And if the game is taking place at a school playground, it becomes way more difficult to know who is who, because everyone's wearing the same damn uniform!
Now, you're in the middle of the game, and you want to pass the ball to someone standing ten yards away. Simple enough, right? Let's throw in five random guys standing in the way, would you pass the ball? No. You wouldn't because you couldn't. Two of the greatest goals in history have been scored by Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, when they dribbled for a distance of 50 to 60 yards, went past 6 or 7 players. But if you are planning to dribble for a distance of 30 yards in a game played in your crowded neighbourhood field, you will have to go past 10-15 people. Let's not forget the actual defender who'll be lurking around somewhere and you won't even see him coming. Running with the ball? Not gonna work, Robben.
What if you are a goalkeeper in all of this? It's actually quite fun because there'll be lots of people to socialise with. Keeping goals under the same bar creates a special kind of bond between people. If there are half a dozen goalkeepers, it's practically a social gathering. Your keeper-bro will kick away the ball once in a while, save your goal. It's normal to lose track of where your game is actually going on in such a crowd. Now remember, each of the 6 or 7 goalkeepers belong to a different game. You get my point, don't you?
The most annoying part of playing football on a crowded field is scoring, to be honest. What happens when your goal-bound shot hits someone walking in front of the post and ends up not going in? Or what if a stray ball gets deflected in a fascinating fashion and after having travelled through a complicated path, ends up in the goal? In truth, you don't really score a goal in these games, you claim them. Basically, the more intimidating you are, the better striker you become.
Football is a beautiful game. It's an annoying experience when played in a field with too many groups vying for space, but most will say they will take it, because connecting a kick to that round object is a beautiful feeling any way. Can we do anything about the space, or rather lack of it? Not really. What we can do is stop tripping people and interfering in their game when we're a part of the crowd. In truth, nothing can diminish our love for the game. Not even sharing football space with several groups, stray balls and goals blocked by players you're not playing with.