How to Get Up After Falling and Breaking Down? Lessons From Football

The sixth of February 1958 remains one of the eternal dates in the history of British football. The British Airways plane intended to transport Manchester United players crashed while trying to take off from Munich airport. 23 passengers were killed, including seven players of the Red Devils.

On 27 April 1993, a plane carrying the Zambia national football team crashed after it took off from Gabon airport for the World Cup qualifications. All the players and staff on the plane died.

What should be the correct reaction to the fall?

The reaction of Manchester United was magnificent and great, after which this club became the best and most famous football club in the world. Five years after the accident, they won the English Premier League. Furthermore, ten years later, they won the European Champions League. These were the first steps in the achievements path of this ancient club.

As for the Zambia national team, they participated in the African Nations Championship - months after this horrific incident - with a completely new team. They showed an honorable performance. They even reached the finals, but lost by one goal against Nigeria.

It is true that both teams' planes fell, crashed, and burned, but it was only a material fall. A spirit full of determination rose from this ashes and made wonders.

We all might fall at any moment in this life. We might be happy as this fall did kill us, and we might feel that we have lost everything we have, as if everything we had built all these years had been destroyed. However, it is okay, we will rebuild, as sadness, crying, lamentation, and complaining will not fix anything.

We fall, but at the same time, we can do what the Red Devils and Zambia did, so that it remains an immortal story in history. We can also be victims, and the story can be painful, but only for us. Therefore, we might fall, but we must get up.

Breaking down is a personal decision

Many famous athletes went through some stages in their lives, where everyone told them clearly that they were losers and not at the appropriate level and that they should leave. However, they never succumbed to these negative signs at all, as they continued to strife and struggle until they proved that those who did not believe in them were wrong.

The famous basketball player "Michael Jordan" received a lot of skepticism and even bullying that he was short compared to the height required for the basketball player. The Portuguese star "Christiano Ronaldo" also faced a lot of skepticism in his beginnings and a lot of bullying about his hair color and that a player with such appearance would not succeed. Likewise, "Pavel Nedved" was told by his coach - at the beginning of his career - that he did not have sufficient physical ability as a football player.

Is breaking down easy or difficult?

Breaking down and giving up is very easy, not difficult as some people pretend. The most difficult and arduous option is to continue our struggle and strife by continuing the path. Some inner voices might tell you that you must withdraw and surrender, but you insist that you can reach what you want and aspire to, and you will. Persistence will amaze this inner voice at what you have reached, and with repeated success, this negative voice will be silenced and will be turned into a positive voice.

How to overcome breaking down?

Breaking down and giving up usually comes as a reaction to the pain we experience. So, we cancel a YouTube channel project, for example, if it fails to get enough views. If we continue the project and wait a little, we might come up with a new idea to improve the channel, or we could learn some ways to spread the content we provide; thus, views will increase and the project will succeed.

Many people seek to learn English, for example. The learner starts learning enthusiastically, but after a while they feel that they are progressing slowly. They listen to songs without understanding anything, and watch the newscast to find themselves lost in the midst of the language.

Then, an inner voice asks them to stop wasting time. They do not know that they had to bear this pain or distress and continue to listen to songs and newscasts in order for miracles to happen. Miracles require effort, hard work, and tolerating pain.

“Antoine Griezmann” and the habit of not breaking down

In his beginnings, the French player, “Antoine Griezmann,” did not find any football team in France that would include him. His father used to accompany him from one city to another to find a team that would include his son.

Every team stated that his son was weak, skinny, and unable to play a rough game like football, until he found the Spanish club Real Sociedad. They believed in his ability and talent. Then he became one of the most important football players in Europe for years, and even won the World Cup 2018 with his country.

We can say that Griezmann's success did not come out of nowhere, and his coronation in the World Cup was not a matter of luck or coincidence. It is a celebration of resisting breaking down and not submitting to it. Not breaking down is a habit in itself, just as breaking down can be a habit.

"Victor Valdes"; a thousand good deeds cannot erase a single mistake from people's memory

Barcelona goalkeeper "Victor Valdes" retired from playing permanently in 2017, then deactivated all his accounts on social media. He stuck to what he said in a television interview that he would completely step aside from fame after retiring. He stated that he wanted to live in peace with his family after his retirement. However, two years later, he reactivated his accounts on social media.

Before Valdes retired from football, he got a cruciate ligament tear. An emotional video recording of him went viral, in which he stated that football had stolen his life in exchange for fame and money, to the point that he could no longer enjoy a cup of hot coffee or the arrival of a bus after a long wait.

Victor Valdes went through many experiences in his career that taught him real laws that can be applied to all aspects of life. When he left Barcelona, ​​​​he said that he did not feel comfortable and confident in Barcelona because everyone reminded him of his old mistakes. This is an important lesson in life. People forget your achievements, but remember your mistakes and lapses.

Everyone forgot that Valdes stopped Thierry Henry's ball in the Champions League final in 2006, and his interception of Drogba in the Champions League semi-finals in 2009 was forgotten, but they accurately remember all his mistakes. One evil is matched by a thousand good deeds in people's memory.

No one respects your history unless you provide a personal service to them. Everything that is said about respecting the player's career is just perfect talk, nothing more or less. Manchester United did not treat Victor Valdes with the respect the latter expected.

Is fame a positive thing in most cases?

We conclude that fame might not suit many or even most people, as it turns them into rigid artifacts that are driven only by money, media, and the economy. What we witness recently of celebrity suicides, depression, or addiction is nothing but a reference to a clear law, that life does not give anything for free.

What could be more valuable than money and fame?

One of the things that puzzled football fans was that Antoine Griezmann refused to leave Atletico Madrid to Barcelona, ​​then changed his mind after one season, and agreed to Barcelona's offer. What convinced Griezmann to turn down a tempting offer to represent the world's oldest clubs?

It later became clear that he stayed in Atletico Madrid because of his strong friendship with “Lucas Hernandez” and “Diego Godin”. After their departure, Griezmann left and joined Barcelona.

Later, Griezmann admitted that after the departure of his two friends, he became alone without loved ones. We learn from this incident that there are things more valuable than money and fame. No matter how much your salary or power is, life without people you love and who love you back is devoid of any meaning. It is like someone who owns a large ship in a large desert. The world without loved ones is a dead world.

In conclusion

It's football, and it's not just a game or a ball that players run after. It is a history, culture, and philosophy of a person who made a whole world of fun, excitement, and benefit out of a rubber ball.