Last week we were in Uruguay watching the Uruguayan team vs Peru in the Copa America Soccer games. Unfortunately, our Uruguayan team lost in the penalty kicks after controlling the ball 80% of of the time and making 3 goals. Unbelievable!
All three goals were not counted because according to some invisible line the player’s foot was outside the line each time he scored but the game was fantastic and a ton of fun to watch. I couldn’t help but think of how cool the dynamic is at a soccer game when there is true sportsmanship. The Uruguayan team was clearly robed but they went out with their heads up.
I remember attending a few of those games myself. There is something incredibly energizing about having an entire stadium of people cheering for their team to win. There is a passion and energy amongst the crowd that you cannot help but get caught up in. The music and dancing just adds to the fun. Having so many people focused on a common goal of winning is incredibly exciting. And I love that everyone is cheering each other on. Total strangers become friends for the period of the game, high-fiving the people around them that they have never even met before. Everyone is united. All are cheering their favorite team to score!
I also think there is so much excitement in watching these incredibly talented players who have truly worked on their skills to the point that it is genuinely a beautiful thing to watch them play but I wished they didn’t tattoo their bodies so much, other than that, they inspire everyone watching to want to grow in their own talents and abilities. It is just awesome.
Two great lessons that I took away from that game:
One, The Uruguayan team played much better but lost the game at the end. Maybe they thought it would be an easy win and were not careful. The Peruan team on the other hand, pulled ahead in the last minute of the game even when it looked impossible for them to defend the offensive players from the Uruguayan team, they were focused and did what they had to. What really impressed me is that even though everyone knew that the chances of Peru winning were almost nil with just a few seconds on the clock, the players still gave it 100%.
Two, even though our team didn’t win the game it was truly inspiring to me to see that they continued to give full effort right up until the end. It would have been so easy to slack off and just let the clock run out, but they didn’t do that, and win or lose they could walk away tonight knowing they gave it their all and ultimately that is what matters in life, for all of us. It isn’t whether we win or lose in life that counts, it’s that we give it 100% and we keep trying all the way until our final whistle rings, walking away knowing we left it all on the field. That is winning. For all of us. Thanks Uruguay for reminding me of that!
You could see that the Uruguayan team was exhausted and worn out and somewhat discouraged when Suarez, their best player didn’t make the first goal but nonetheless the rest of the players kept kicking the ball the best way they could and all four remaining goals made it but Peru’s players had better luck and made all five goals and won.
Today we were in Argentina watching the game between Brazil Vs. Argentina and clearly Brazil made it to the next round. The score was 2 Brazil 0 Argentina. We feel for Messi because he tries so hard, poor thing, but like my dad used to say: “Asi es el Futbol”
Con amor,
Vero
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