World Cup Slip Up; The Value of Avoiding the Big Mistake

The premiere sports event occurs once every 4 years; The FIFA World Cup & it occurred this last month in South Africa.
It is an event of much anticipation, in fact this event is more anticipated by the participants than their wedding day.
And why not? After all these fellows lives revolve around soccer, it's literally how they make a living, & this is the ultimate
Football experience. The chance to play the sport you love and be able to play for your country, it doesn't get any better.

But the biggest reason the world cup is so popular because it means so much to the FANS. In America we really don't
have an equivalent to the world cup, even the US participating in the world cup is no where near the excitement Mexicans, Italians, Spaniards, or the Dutch feel. We have the olympics to be proud of, but even for the most passionate fan it is only a matter of months of anticipation and its only for niche gimmicky sports like ice dancing, sailing, or rowing. This IS the World's
Game, and these are the worlds best teams.

4 years of anticipation are rolled into 4 weeks of utter nerve racking insanity & fun. But the fans are what really make this come to life, picture your favorite football team be allowed the chance to win the super bowl once every four years and you have scratched the surface. Imagine your alma matter being given the opportunity to win the national championship only once every 4 years, and you are still far away. The way Kobe Bryant felt the 6th time he rose the finals trophy pails in comparison to Iker Casillas the Spanish captain raising the World Cup trophy. The reason for this is the fact you have taken the worlds best shot. Compare it to winning a state sailing championship race to winning the Boston Marathon. The Sailing winner is pretty good at what he does sure, but how many people in the world sail compared to how many people in the world run? And how many competitors is the sailing winner going against compared to the marathon winner?

All this pressure being put on the shoulders of a few extraordinary gentlemen can lead to utter chaos.

The Stadium; Soccer City in Johannesburg South Africa. The game; THE FIFA World Cup Final
The game pits two of the most unluckiest national teams of all time; Spain vs. Holland. More on the game later....

Spain mind you has never once even sniffed the trophy, albeit that has never taken away from their overall success and confidence as a football team. The closest Spain had been before was forth place 60 years ago. However recently they have been on a tear with several players on the team who are considered the best player in the world at their position. They have lost only twice in the last 4 years, and they feel like this truly is their year. The Dutch? They are the unluckiest team in World Football History. For nearly 8 years they were the darlings of World football, the epitome of tactical genius, rich with talent, confidence and flare. Johann Cruyff one of the best footballers of all time was the heart and soul of that team. Sadly while reaching the finals in 1974 and 1978 they ran into really good host nation team both times (West Germany '74 & Argentina '78). But as of late they had put together a top 5 team. With the likes of Sniejder, Robben, Van Persie, Kuyt, Von Bronkhorst, and Von Bommel. But the deck was stacked against them yet again, with the best team in the last 4 years and ultimately one of the best teams of all time standing in their way of the trophy.

The game was set up to be a classic battle, 2 high flying offenses, 2 World Cup starved nations.
It was becoming an amazingly physical game, 4 yellow cards for Spain & 6 yellow cards for the Dutch. With just a few minutes left in extra time I just felt like the team with the yellow card advantage would accomplish soccer's dumbest magic trick and turn two yellows into a red sometime soon. And then, it happened. Holland had been holding the skilled dribblers of Spain away from the goal for sometime now, with only a handful of "descent" chances afforded the Spanish. The Dutch had 2 chances to put the game away earlier but just like so many inferior teams in the past have done, they blew them (I guess thats why they are inferior).

John Heitinga the 26 year old dutchmen commited his second clattering offense and off to the locker room he went, to finish the game of his life by himself, ultimately and utterly alone. He did the right thing I guess, since Spain would have had a pretty clear shot on goal in the penalty box if he hadn't. But the Spaniards had blown every descent opportunity they had to this point. However the foul turned out to be the turning point in the game, as the rapidly fleeting flying dutchmen who were fighting for their world cup hopes virtually the whole game lost their grip for good.

I shockingly watched the 35 year old Dutch captain of Indonesian descent Giovanni Van Bronckhorst come off the field with only a few minutes left. And it was a sad moment to watch. This "Old Guy" in soccer years was set to retire after the match. He was hoping to be on top of the world, just like he had been just a few days ago when as the commentator Ian Darke put it he fired "an absolute fire cracker" of a goal against Uruguay in the Semifinals. A goal which for most was the goal of the tournament. He was a heroic figure playing in this game but yet as he came off he was powerless to stop the final events of this scrappy match. The manager took two defensive players (De Jong, & Von Bronkhorst) out in favor of 2 players with more offensive initiative. This decision proved to be the fatal flaw that was the catalyst to the slip up of the tournament.

Rafael Van Der Vaart the late substitution made the mistake of letting Andres Iniesta roam free onside, and Iniesta like the cagey vet that he is hammered home the winner with 3 minutes to go. With only three minutes to go the team that had never once been world champions blew the opportunity to become just that, world champions. It is always a sad day for soccer when a tournament of this magnitude is determined by such a big mistake. But thats what it really is isn't it? Avoiding the big mistake to give your team the best chance to win. Somebody has to make the mistake ultimately and that is a sad price to pay for a team and country that could taste the victory they have strived for.

My Top 5 Moments in the 2010 FIFA World Cup

5. The South African Tsambalala scores the first world cup goal with an amazing cross shot to the right corner. Viva Africa.
4. Maradona Loses. Poor Messi, but its hard to root against a guy (Maradona) who once said "I hate everything that comes from the United States". Hopefully your buddies Castro and Chavez will have simpathy for you because I don't.
3. An Absolute FIRECRACKER! Gio Von Bronckhorst fires a laser into the net off the right post from 40 yards out to jump start the Dutchmen into the final.
2. Bradley's sliding toe poke into the back of the net against Slovenia. This was quite a feat, America had never come back from a 2-0 deficit to force a tie and this was against a top class keeper. Bradley rescued the Americans from the clutches of elimination and set them up nicely for a historic come from behind win, but thats another story.....
1. Donovan puts it into the back of the net with vigor and purpose for the win, to send America into the round of 16. Not the most amazing goal, since it was a quick thundering slash from about 10 yards out but the entire game built up to it, plus with everyone falling down all around the ball it made for one of the greatest moments in American Sports history. Too bad they couldn't do something like that again in the next round.

5 Things I Think I Think

1. My Nephew is challenging my will to become a parent. He's a good kid but wow, I mean kids....yikes.
2. I think Austin and Katrina should name their (Guaranteed) Son Donovan, we need more purposeful names in this world after people we greatly admire. Just finding a name that is rare is not cutting it anymore. I'm talking to you Graysons of the world.
3. I think that Softball will be fun this year, my team isn't the best, nor is it the worst (yet to be determined actually) but we have cool guys on our team. And after so long playing to win, its a breath of fresh air to simply play with people you like (what an idea), and its hard to like a Pirate sometimes.
4. I think the rain was amazing this morning until I heard the games tonight were cancelled. Softball players wonder why people make fun of softball and this is why, it rained 8 hours before the games were set to start and they were cancelled. Why?
5. I think Andrea is going to be the best PTA ever.

Pleasant Travel Thought of the Week
My thoughts are focused on Australia. With this dry hot weather we have been having its hard not to think about the Outback. How pleasant it would be to check out the Sydney Opera House, or Ayers Rock. The pictures are pretty amazing in themselves.