By MT,
USA

Congratulations to the new world champions — Spain! I was going through all the games I saw in this world cup in my mind and some of the lessons they brought with them:

1. There is a first time for everything. Think South Africa. Before now, all host nations have made it through the group stages. In 2002, even South Korea and Japan, arguably the weakest teams back then made it to the knock-out stages “just” because they were hosts. Of the last 18 editions of the World Cup (WC), host nations have won the ultimate prize six times. France and England have won the Cup once and that was when they were hosts! The host nation myth is just that — myth. Reality is painfully different. And we all watched with surprise as the host — South Africa — got kicked out early in the tournament. South Africa fans started the tournament chanting “Bafana Bafana”, before long they were singing “BaGhana BaGhana”! Understand: There’s scant consolation in the belief that nothing will never happen because it hasn’t, yet. Each day is different and so are the forces at work. A new history is always waiting to be made.

2. A house divided against itself cannot stand. Think France. France was one of the four European teams to play in the inaugural WC in 1930, in 1998 they were host and they won the final match beating Brazil 3-0, in 2000 they won the UEFA European Football Championships and a year later the Confederations Cup. As recently as the last WC, they were in the finals which they lost to Italy under, uh, dramatic circumstances. By any standard, this is one of the world’s football powers, a team to beat, a benchmark of some sorts. But all that they came to nothing as infighting took its toil and tempers flared. The world watched in disbelief as the coach’s insecurities, the captain’s ego and the players’ indiscipline played out in training camps, in press conferences and on the field. Ever heard of players going on strike during a major tournament? This mighty giant self-destroyed. This great team imploded. They couldn’t overcome the enemy within and so they were like a city with broken down walls. They became a prey to every team they came across. A 2-0 loss to Mexico followed by another 2-1 loss to South Africa was enough to quickly send them back to Paris. Franklin once warned: We must indeed all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.

3. Success is how you define it. They were 32 teams in the WC and they all were contesting for that Golden Cup or were they? Each country came to the WC with different expectations and so while Spain are definitely happy, they are not the only “successful” team. Greece for instance was very happy with their performance even though they were eliminated in the group stages. Why? Because for the first time in their history, they won a World Cup match! That, to them, is success. It looks like the world is set up to make one miserable. Or why else would FIFA create only one Cup knowing very well that 31 other teams won’t touch it. Can we all be winners? Must some people lose out? Key: Define success on your own terms. Compare yourself with yourself only. Are you progressing? Is today’s performance better than yesterday’s?

4. The fence is an unprofitable place to sit. Think New Zealand. The All Whites never won — or lost — a game in this WC. If you strike them, as did Slovakia and Italy, they will strike back; if you leave them alone — like Paraguay did — they will leave you alone. There’s something endearing about pacifist teams like New Zealand: they are fun to be with, they won’t disagree with you or strike you first. There’s also something unsettling about people like that: you don’t really know where they stand. In times of moral crisis, they keep quiet. Are they for it? Are they against it? They are afraid to take sides so they find a middle way, a fence, to sit on. Because they neither blew hot nor cold, they were promptly spewed out of the tournament. The world can be ruthless. There are win-win scenarios, win-lose situations and lose-lose circumstances. There’s just no place for the neutral, the lukewarm, the apathetic. Theodore Roosevelt said it best: Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though chequered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.

5. Past performances are no guarantee for future results. Think Italy. You see this caveat in adverts on financial services. I think it is a motto everyone who has tasted success before should be reminded of. The Azzurris were the defending champions and most of the members of the winning team four years ago were here but history is not enough. Three matches later (every team is entitled to at least three matches, we have that to be grateful for), they were back in Italy. So is history useless? Doesn’t history repeat itself? Make no mistake about this: History repeats itself, but only in outline and in the large. We can reasonably expect that the in the future, as in the past, some new empires will wax and some old empires will wane and that new generations will rebel against the old and pass from rebellion to conformity to reaction. History repeats itself in the large because human nature changes with geological leisureliness, and man is equipped to respond in stereotyped ways to frequently occurring situations and stimuli like hunger, danger and sex. But in a developed and complex civilization individuals are more differentiated and unique than in a primitive society, and many situations contain novel circumstances requiring modifications of instinctive response; custom recedes, reasoning spreads; the results are less predictable. There’s no certainty that the future will repeat the past. Every year is an adventure.

6. The World is bigger than your backyard. Think England. All the English players ply their trade in the English Premier League (EPL). The EPL is one of the best football leagues in the world and so England has its fair share of stars. Rooney , Lampard, Gerrard, Defoe to mention but a few entertain us weekly with their surreal soccer skills. They struck fear in opponents during their qualifying matches. On paper, they should be a strong team. So why don’t they win WCs? Perhaps because its easier to get players together than to get them to play together. A collection of brilliant minds is quite different from a brilliant collection of minds. Or perhaps the answer lies in that statement: “All the English players ply their trade in the EPL.” They are a bunch of local champions. They have not seen the world, not played in other good leagues around the world, think the EPL is God’s gift to mankind and so when they come to a truly global stage like the WC, the bubble they live in burst quickly. Is it any surprise then that the only time they won the WC was when they hosted it in 1966? I predict they won’t win it again until they host it again or until their pampered players leave their cocoons in England and engage the world. Don’t miss the point: Do yourself a favor, leave your country for a while, no matter how great you think your country is. You will be much better off for it.

Found this article, written by a friend, insightful.

7. Inferiority complex will surely destroy your country Think NIGERIA and NIGERIANS