Life lessons from the World Cup

THE EDITOR, Sir:

Football, or soccer, teaches very important lessons for life. Football games are replete with many of the struggles and joys we encounter on a daily basis. For example, there is anger in football when members of either team engage the other in an unfair tackle, or sometimes intentionally kick a player instead of the ball.

This usually prompts the referee’s intervention to administer justice as a judge would in a court of law.

Football is not immune to cheating, and therefore requires rules to instil discipline and fair play for all.

It is an emotive game, and requires deep concentration and foresight. Players, therefore, have to be versatile, at times zigzagging the ball between a block of opponents or hopscotching with it to elude the contenders as they measure moves.

Just as an appropriate degree of aggression may be required to confront one’s purpose or goals in life, in soccer/football, there is similar aggression which must, however, conform to the rules of the game.

The World Cup games also highlight another very important feature of life, that is, unity. The man who kicks the final goal has no more claim to victory than the team that guided the ball through the difficult terrain of the football field towards him – and finally into the net!

HOMER SYLVESTER