For those of us not in on the day to day machinations of football this seemed a strange media plaudit for what seemed to be people getting on with their job. On closer inspection, it seems that this ‘young team’ as they were consistently referred to, had not been burdened by so much of the celebrity status of more established footballers that often rendered them incapable of(to quote the BBC’s television programme The Apprentice) ‘shin(ing) as individuals while working as a team’, as they only wanted to ‘shine as individuals’.
There are obvious parallels with the dance world here — all dancers are experts at team work — otherwise no choreography would ever get on stage — however everyone needs to work together, whatever their role in the production, to make it work as a whole. This is not the only parallel with football– much was made of England team player Ashley Young’s moniker as he was one of the ‘oldest’ in the team, being all of 33. You may not be surprised to know that there is a charity called the Football Association Benevolent Fund, that supports footballers, many of whom have a similar career span to dancers; not all footballers are paid the headline hitting salaries of a few.
The other point about this football team is that there is media speculation that they will ‘come to regret’ in time what might have been. Why? They did their best — I personally will look back on the excitement of this World Cup, during a long hot summer, with great fondness particularly as the next World Cup will be in the winter of 2022. If my team succeeded, but didn’t get the top prize, I wouldn’t want them to be harking to what might have been, only what might be possible in future. There is a saying ‘you don’t remember the goals you saved, only the goals you missed’. Again, why can’t we all concentrate on the goals we saved?
Incidentally, we are currently recruiting for our team. If you feel like joining us, please visit our website and download an application form.
Ability to score goals not essential.
