Akjol Wants to Return Home With Title

Ali Akjol will take a lot with him when he returns home this summer. As an exchange student at El Toro High School, Akjol has absorbed American culture: the attitudes and styles, including neon T-shirts.

In July he will take that knowledge, and the shirts, back to Essen, West Germany. But the souvenir Akjol really wants is a letterman’s jacket with a Southern Section championship patch on it.

Tonight, he may get that patch. El Toro plays Cerritos in the 3-A soccer final at Gahr High School in Cerritos at 8.

“It’s amazing how much he’s learned about our culture,” El Toro soccer Coach Carlos Acre said. “What does a Southern Section patch mean to someone over in West Germany? Nothing. But Ali has picked up how much it means to kids here.”

When Akjol arrived in September, he expected the United States to be a virtual wasteland when it came to soccer.

Akjol, who has played soccer since he was 5, didn’t even bring cleats with him; the only soccer shorts he had were for show.

“When I found out they had soccer at El Toro, I thought I would walk out and be a starter,” Akjol said. “Then I saw a couple of the players and realized I was going to have to work at it. They were a lot better than I thought they would be.”

Akjol did become a starter, but at first, playing was difficult because of the language barrier. Although he understood English, he had trouble communicating.

“I remember one time during a game, Ali told us to pass the ball to the other team,” teammate Greg Schaick said. “But he picked the language up pretty quickly. He doesn’t like to tell anybody, but Ali is No. 1 in his class in Germany. He buys every newspaper every day and spends hours reading them. He’s very intelligent.”

Akjol said soccer helped him learn the English language quicker, in much the same way it had helped him learn German. Akjol’s parents are from Turkey but moved to Germany when his father got a job at an import/export company in Essen.

Although Akjol was born in Germany, he spoke mostly Turkish because that’s what his family and friends spoke. He didn’t become fluent in German until after playing soccer on a club team.

“He understands a lot more than you realize,” Acre said. “I used to talk real slow to him, so he could understand. Then one day, a couple of the players said, ‘Coach, Ali understands every word.’ But he’s so quiet, you’re never sure.”

Acre, in fact, has only seen Akjol get vocal once. On the bus ride home after the Chargers’ semifinal victory over Dominguez, the players were discussing international soccer.

Al Majia and Jair Gonzalez, whose families are from Colombia, started telling everyone that Colombia was going to win the World Cup.

“All of a sudden, this quiet kid from West Germany became a nationalist,” Acre said. “There was a lot of flag waving during the bus ride. There were even a few kids who said the United States would win a couple games in the World Cup. That got some laughs.”

Akjol has had a few problems adjusting to the style of soccer. He said the game here is a little rougher than it is in Europe, which he attributes to the influence of football.

The rules of the game differ somewhat. In one game, Akjol got a yellow card because he kicked the ball while the other team was setting up for a direct kick.

“In Europe, you don’t have to wait for the referee to blow the whistle to kick the ball,” Acre said. “So, when the kid from the other team touched the ball to set it up for the kick, Ali thought it was in play. Ali looked a little bewildered.”

Akjol is among the team leaders in goals with 11 and also is one of El Toro’s better passers.

“It’s amazing how well the other guys have accepted him,” Acre said. “You’re talking about Orange County high school kids who have to make a remark about every hair that’s out of place. And our team is very cliquish. But Ali is just one of the guys. He’s even wearing fluorescent shirts now.”

After months of learning and interacting, there’s only one thing left for Akjol.

“I definitely want that patch,” he said. “It’ll give me something to show my friends when I get home.”