What I learnt from the FIFA 2022 world cup final match
We watched a ‘phenomenon’ yesterday in FIFA 2022 Qatar world cup final match between France and Argentina. At the end, Argentina won the match in penalty shootout. Both the team played equally well and gifted the world one of the best football matches, if not the best, ever. I think ideally the trophy should have been shared between Argentina and France after extra-time. Apart from the end result, I think there is a lot to learn from yesterday’s match.
We must appreciate France’s tenacity and ‘never give up’ mentality. They stayed in the game till the very last moment although they were lagging in goals, in main game and also in extra time. It shows that even if we have initial set back in life, even for an extended period of time, if we have ‘never give up’ mentality, we will come back and may end up winning. In good side, an initial success gives us confidence but an initial failure makes us more focused and determined. In bad side, an initial success may make us complacent, and an initial failure may lead to lack of confidence. For yesterday, we saw the good side of it and that made the match even more beautiful and memorable. In either cases, being in the game and loving the game is most important, if we do so, there will be good outcome. That is why we should play and aim for longer game. In life, our game is with us, there is no other opponent. Here our mentality, thought, expectation, ego, etc. may act as our opponent. If we love the game being humble, calm, with gratitude and without being worried much about results, we will have better chance of winning.
The penalty shootout also gives us a lesson in this regard. There also Argentina gained initial advantage by netting first two penalties when France missed one. Down the line that initial difference gave Argentina confidence and put France in pressure. That confidence and pressure further propelled and gave the outcome with Argentina winning netting all four shots and France netting two only. In short game, initial advantage matters, but what would have happened if there were 9 instead of 5 shootout. The result could have been different, who knows. We enjoy penalty shootout as it gives adrenaline rush, but I think none of us want that. There result is not determined by the skill or performance of the team, it is based out of luck. The point is that, in life or anywhere, shorter games are bad, the results are very much dependent on initial success/failure. But if the game is long, it is all about skill, patience and perseverance. Even if we face initial defeat/failure, it does not matter in long run, rather we can use our failure in our favor to fight better. And again those who stay in the game long enough will eventually win.
