I hope you like sports of some kind. If you don't, the following account is still worth reading as it applies as much to life as to football. Literal 'goals' are scored regularly in the game of football or soccer. A team of eleven people have one goal - to score a goal - to put a round ball in the back of the opposing team's net. The game is thus a realistic metaphor for the game of life. It can teach many lessons about how to achieve our own 'goals'. Every year in the UK, one of the greatest football competitions in the world takes place. It is called the Football Association Cup - the FA Cup. It allows the less talented teams including some amateur teams to compete with some of the best professional teams in the UK. The competition is hugely popular because everyone loves to see the top teams or 'giants' killed or knocked out of the cup competition. On Sunday Jan 8th 2006, one 'giant' was held to a draw and two 'giants' were 'killed'. The one thing all these games had in common was that a more talented team was playing a less talented team. Why did the less talented teams win or draw? Why did they score more goals than the other team or manage to stop hugely talented strikers from scoring goals against them? They believed they could do it and played flat out. Burton Albion is a non-league team. They are not even members of the Football league. They were playing the world famous Manchester United team. United failed to score in the first twenty minutes or so of the match and the confidence and belief of the Burton Albion team began to grow. They achieved a draw - a result beyond their wildest dreams. Nigel Clough, the manager of Burton Albion, commented: "For a group of part time lads to get a draw with Manchester United is staggering. I'm thrilled for all their hard work." Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United gave his verdict: "We were up against committed opponents on a difficult pitch." A neutral commentator, Harry Redknapp, the manager of Portsmouth believed that: "This is what you can do when you really give it everything you've got." Burton Albion then showed belief, hard work and commitment and they gave it everything they had. They didn't score any literal 'goals' but they achieved the goal of stopping the great Manchester United from scoring any goals. Any one who shows these qualities in their life is going to go far towards achieving their dreams. Those who believe they can win, tend to win in both the game of football and in the game of life. So do those who never give up. Leicester City played Tottenham Hotspurs on that Sunday. Leicester who were near the bottom of the second class group of teams in the English league were soon two goals down against a first class team, Hotspurs, who were fourth in the top division. Spurs were cruising and looked certain winners. However, two prophetic banners were hanging over the barriers where the Leicester supporters were sitting. One said: "I believe in miracles" and the other stated firmly: "Foxes never quit". Foxes is a nickname for the Leicester team. The Foxes did not quit in spite of their apparently hopeless position and were rewarded by scoring a goal at the end of the first half. As a result, they had new belief at the start of the second. They kept going and kept believing and scored an equalizer. In the final minutes of the game they scored a third goal and won 3-2. Spurs, the giants, had been knocked out of the cup. Craig Levine, the Leicester manager, remarked that his team "showed resilience, discipline and great belief." Martin Jol, the Dutch coach of Tottenham Hotspurs commented about Leicester: "They never gave up". The other matches on that Sunday all showed the same thing. Those, who believed and who kept working hard, even if they were in a discouraging and apparently hopeless situation, scored goals and defeated teams that had more talented and better paid players. However, there was another reason that the less talented defeated the more talented. They wanted success more. The giant killers and their fans love to beat the giants who are normally paid far more money and respect than they are. They don't normally get the chance to do this. When they do, they seize the opportunity and are willing to do whatever it takes to win. That means doing the 'ugly' and boring things like tackling to gain the ball as well the more glamorous things like scoring goals. Many of us want to achieve our goals but give up when we have to do the boring things. If we are trying to make money on the internet we give up when we face the boring and detailed tasks like submitting ads and articles to the ezines and various directories who all have their own rules and regulations about how they should be approached. In business, keeping accurate records and filling in tax returns can be a huge stumbling block. However, if we want success badly enough we will do the boring and less glamorous tasks. Later on we will reap the glamour and the glory. To score or achieve goals we need to believe in ourselves, to keep going whatever happens and to want success so much that we are willing to do whatever it takes to get the results we want. We need to reach a point where we will be willing to take on the most boring tasks without hesitation. We will have to work hard when no one is watching except ourselves. Someone has said that winners don't argue and bargain about how much they will do. They are committed to do whatever is necessary to achieve their goal. Losers are always calculating how much they are prepared to sacrifice. David became the most famous giant killer in the world when he killed Goliath. What helped him succeed? Belief in God's support and daily, probably boring, practice with a sling and stones. |
