MY WORLD CUP LESSONS

Every four years, the world goes to war. Shots are fired. Egos bruised.

Buckets of sweat shed by combatants locked in uncompromising battles. Mercifully, it all takes place on the pitch, the rest of the world riveted and enthralled - in our seats.

Waiting, breath held, to explode in victory or implode over a loss, carried away by national, regional even continental jingoism and all.

It is the World Cup, today acknowledged as the single most watched sports event with TV viewership in millions. You would then think that of those millions of followers just about everyone would be conversant with the rules of engagement governing the beautiful game.

As I’ve made a futile attempt to keep up with the breathtaking and not so breathtaking pace of the games in Sambaland, I couldn’t help take in the import of one TV commercial. Set against the buzz of a match, the catchy Coca-cola commercial lumps the fans into four classes: the worrier, the admirers, the diehards and the clueless. It is the latter that left me with food for thought.

“We won! We won!” shouts an excited young female fan. “It’s only half time,” a more knowledgeable chap coolly corrects, a little too condescending for my liking. The girl lets out an ‘Ooh!’ sigh as the camera freezes her “clueless” gaze into the distance.

See, I cannot catergorically tell you I'm part of the clueless fans. Sure I know enough to tell my football from basketball, a red card from a yellow one, Messi from Ronaldo and Ghana from Cameroon. I'm a Manchester United fan

I even know a few rules of the game, enough at least to shout ‘offside’ every so often in a match. And once I have picked a side, usually any that does not have Luis Suarez in it’s ranks (I’m yet to forgive him for that 2010 incident with Ghana), I can cheer or weep with the best of them.

FOOTBALL DIEHARDS and AMIRERS

We are damned if we are clueless when it comes to life. After-all, the signposts, clues and lessons are everywhere, even in a football match. If life is a game, not too different from football, we each get to decide how vested we will be.

Do we stand at the periphery watching our life unfold with mild curiosity or do we engage thoroughly into the business of living like a football diehard? 

Secondly, many of the matches in this tournament have had surprising outcomes. And isn’t that so much like life? Who can tell how it all ends? What matters is that we prepare adequately, and while we are here, we give a good account of ourselves.

Third, who can forget the goal saves that had to be determined by goal line technology? All because a player refused to give up, going after the ball when many would have shrugged their shoulders in resignation. After all, it was almost in the net, a done deal. What would life be like if we went at it with the dogged determination of a football player? Sadly, we give up too easily on our dreams, health, relationships or businesses.

Fourth, life, like football, is a team sport. We need other players, the referees and even the clueless fans. It doesn’t matter how brilliant we are, the goals we score in life were passed on to us by someone else.

There have been many life lessons in the 2014 World Cup. The final match has been played and the last of the fans will leave the stadium, either ecstatic or disappointed. But if we mind the lessons and apply them to our lives, we still win. Thumbs up for Germany.