Love comes in all sorts of ways. Love for life, love for the Motherland, love for parents, father’s home and work, love for children. I can enumerate a long list of human feelings of love. However, there is another strong feeling; it is the love for football. This wonderful sport has an amazing ability to unite billions of people on the planet at a moment. Therefore, we decided to talk about the fans’ love for football.
I would like to share my feelings with those who have never fallen ill with the ‘football illness’. Strange as it may seem, but a football fan experiences stress and great excitement after each game he watches (no matter as a spectator at the stadium, or sitting at home watching TV). At moments like this, you think it is time to get rid of this ‘illness’.
Each of us who is a sports fan knows that football matches of the national championships are played late at night. A true ‘torcida’ courageously fights sleep and deliberately shortens his rest time to watch such great players as Messi or Ronaldo, Salah or Neymar playing. Alas, this is the fate of a true fan.
Football is akin to art. The football field is the theatre stage, the football players are the actors and the fans are the spectators in the theatre. Both the spectator in the theatre and the fan at the stadium should enjoy the game.
As for true football fans, I would like to remind them that you can relax while watching your favourite game.
I know you cannot command your heart. Every disease has its cure. Life-wise aksakals say Allah created 1,001 diseases and cures for 1,000 of them, and healers cannot find a cure for only one illness. I do not know if it is true or not, but after having been among the football fans you begin to realise that the love of football is the illness for which no cure has been found.
The heart can be commanded on many occasions. However, to do so is impossible only when it comes to His Majesty football. I have known about this since I was 10 years old. Although I do not admit the advice to watch football and relax is just complacency, those who read these notes will understand me perfectly.

Hojaberdy APBAYEV,
A sports fan