The sun was going down on Luang Prabang. In the middle of the Mekong river, on a dusty and dry bank of sand, Lao kids were playing soccer.

We were watching them when I was invited to join the game…

“A piece of cake” I told myself, after all Laos’ Fifa world ranking is 178th, just between Somalia and Cayman Islands.

After 2 months of backpacker diet (banana pancakes and beer, anyone?), I was really struggling to catch up… The result? Well, another bitter defeat for the French team.