The Gains of “The Game”

Soccer, a game of 22 people playing a ball around a field with the sole aim of scoring in the opponent’s goal is one that brings excitement to people world wide. The love of the game is so intense that during soccer tournaments you find men, women and children entirely caught in the frenzy. During periods like this, we forget we are made up of over 500 ethnic groups and for a change we see ourselves as one Nigeria. This reminds me of the Coca-Cola advert where the tree-cutter hugs the tree, the balloon falls in love with Spikey and Albert Einstein becomes a friend to his specimen when a goal is scored. Those are the gains of the game that initially comes to one’s mind.

Then we have Club soccer followers, this is another level of soccer fanaticism and this is the group where I find myself. It often is debated, what are the gains of being a fan of a particular team and following that team so ardently even though one has no physical relationship with the team? Questions such as “do they pay you for your support?” or “Are any of your relatives in the team?” are usually asked by people who think we merely waste our time.

Often times I have asked myself, “Are they right about me wasting my time? But when I leap for joy after Louis Saha puts the ball past Cudicini in goal, I am reminded they couldn’t be more wrong.

What would they rather have us do? Gloat over the problems that beset us as a nation and have proven unsolvable even though we claim to have a democracy? , or argue about who will become the next president of our country when our opinion doesn’t really count? , or go around with a sullen face and give ourselves a heart attack thinking about our problems when we know they won’t help in proffering a solution but only make things worse?

The world today is one that has gone absolutely crazy, we can’t tune to the news except we want to see gory sights of bomb blasts, mutilated bodies, famine, pestilence and war. Good news is strange and bad news has assumed normalcy. We are forced to watch egoistic men in either suits or agbada trying to gain supremacy over one another and enforce their will on the masses. Are these the sort of things I am supposed to pay rapt attention to? It is true that most times we can’t help but get caught up in the happenings in our environs but we can ease the tension a little bit when our favourite teams line up against oppositions every weekend, when our hearts, mind and passion are focused on nothing but the game. And during periods when our teams excel past our expectations and win trophies, what joy envelopes our heart. If you do not understand this, ask Barcelona fans how they felt when their team lifted the champions league last season or Liverpool fans how they felt when they won the champions league two seasons ago. Of course our teams do not win all the time and when they don’t we are unhappy, but that doesn’t reduce the joy and excitement that come with the game. No matter how woeful their performance is, we as fans would always hope for an improvement in the next game and that is the same hope, we as a people have when we wake up and we feel like the world is on our shoulders.

There are lots of other things that inspire in soccer and are characteristics of people and teams that have been successful. I learnt from the 1999 champions league victory of Manchester United that it isn’t over until it is over (once there is life then there is hope), and the career of Sir Alex who took over the reins at Old Trafford in 1986 only to claim his first league trophy almost six years later teaches that resilience and hard work would eventually pay. The Career of Jose Mourinho who only about 10 years ago was Sir Bobby Robson’s interpreter in Barcelona but today is one of the greatest Managers in the world. The completeness of teams like Chelsea and Arsenal only emphasizes the importance of team work. I could go on and on about how much one could learn from “the game”.

All in all soccer is beautiful, from the players to the managers to the owners of these clubs there is always something interesting and for me, no matter how bad my week goes i always look forward to the weekend when I’d be seated, watching with all attention the red devils and supporting them to victory, same goes for Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and all other soccer fans.

I am a soccer fanatic, it is a part of my life and I am very proud of it, at least it’s better than being a political, religious or any other kind of fanatic. People look at me and make comments condemning my love for the game but you would be amazed at the sort of frivolities and excesses these people engage in. They are no more than mere hypocrites.

I owe nobody any explanation, but for those of you who have a similar view, great minds think alike, for those of you who don’t agree with me, you’re entitled to your opinion and for those who think this article is outright crap, maybe you just read the vain babblings of a soccer fanatic.

* Wrote this article in the NYSC Editorial Publication in 2006