By Arinze Ude
Conclusion of Life Lessons from the Game of Soccer. For the first part, click here
16. Underrated people find life easy. They surprise everyone when they do well but overrated people are always under intense pressure and are often criticised for every wrong move they make. Google Freddy Adu.
17. Listening to renowned commentators like Martin Tyler can improve your vocabulary.
18. Karma is like a dog with a bone; just make sure that the bone is beautiful. Our past come back to haunt us one way or the other. Sunderland’s appointment of Paolo Di Canio as manager has caused an uproar because of his fascist salutes/political views in the past.
19. Drugs, alcohol and lovers can ruin you. Diego Maradona (drugs), Paul Gascoigne (alcohol) and George Best (alcohol & women) all ruined their careers.
20. Money can’t buy happiness. Robert Enke and Gary Speed committed suicide after succumbing to depression.
21. A leader is a person who leads by example and not words of mouth. Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard led by example in the 2005 UCL final against AC Milan; having started the game in midfield, he shifted to the right back position in the extra time of the match to send the game to penalties, which his team won.
22. Don’t be a quitter. Ronaldo de Lima suffered recurrent knee injuries in the early 2000s. Prior to the 2002 world cup, he didn’t play a part in Inter Milan’s season, but went on to win the Golden boot and World Cup with Brazil that year. He also won the FIFA World footballer of the year award that same year.
23. Team work supersedes individualism. Chelsea won the 2012 Champions League not because they were the best team but because they worked hard as a team.
24. No knowledge is wasted. In 2012, 21-year old, Vugar Guloglan oglu Huseynzade was named as coach of Azerbaijani club, FC Baku based on his experience of playing the computer game, Football Manager. He beat former European footballer of the year, Jean-Pierre Papin to the job.
25. Hard work will always beat talent if talent doesn’t work hard. Nani is more talented than Antonio Valencia but Valencia’s work ethic is impressive, thus he’s kept Nani out of the team for most of the campaign.
26. Don’t underrate anybody, everybody has something to offer. Monaco & FC Porto surprised everybody when they beat G-14 clubs to reach the final of UCL in 2004
27. Proper planning makes the decision making process a lot easier. A strategic plan is usually developed for every opponent. This plan is developed after careful examination of their strengths and weaknesses. The experience gained from this plan, whether successful or not, would be useful in subsequent matches.
28. Be flexible to change. Sir Alex Ferguson is an epitome of flexibility to change; he’s gone from 4-4-2 that won him the treble in 1999 to 4-5-1 in 2001 to 4-3-3 in 2008 to 4-2-3-1 in 2013. This has helped him wrestle the EPL title from the likes of Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Roberto Mancini and Arsene Wenger.
29. Always have a substitute or back plan. I’m yet to see a season Sir Alex Ferguson has played without four recognised strikers in his squad. When one or two strikers aren’t performing at an optimal level, the others are thrown into the game.
30. Everybody remembers the winner. Nobody remembers the person in second position. When a goal is scored, nobody remembers the player with the killer pass but they all know the scorer.
