GOM World Cup Diary #20 – Whatever Happened To Living On Past Glory?
The knockout stages reminded us of one of football’s greatest truths yesterday.
Yesterday counts for absolutely nothing.
Brazil survived.
Morocco knocked out Holland on penalties.
And Germany, four-time world champions, were sent home by Paraguay, who only just squeezed into the knockout stages as one of the best third-placed teams.
It was Germany’s first ever World Cup penalty shoot-out defeat.
More remarkably, they still haven’t won a knockout match since lifting the World Cup back in 2014.
Which got me thinking.
Whatever happened to living on past glory?
Football is wonderfully ruthless.
It doesn’t care how many stars you’ve got embroidered on your shirt.
It doesn’t ask how many trophies sit in your cabinet.
It has no interest in what you achieved ten years ago.
Every tournament starts the same way.
Zero points.
Twenty-two players.
One ball.
The rest is up to you.
Life has a habit of working like that as well.
We’ve all met someone who still talks about the promotion they got twenty years ago.
Or the business deal they once pulled off.
Or the winning goal they scored at school.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s lovely to have memories.
But memories don’t pay today’s bills.
They don’t solve today’s problems.
And they certainly don’t win today’s football matches.
Of course, I should be careful what I say.
I can still bore anyone within earshot about the magnificent goal I scored in a Sunday League match sometime in the late 1980s.
In my version of the story it gets further out every year.
By the time I’m eighty, I’ll probably be claiming it was from the halfway line.
The truth is, football keeps us honest.
It reminds us that reputation might earn respect, but performance earns results.
Germany discovered that.
Paraguay proved it.
And perhaps there’s a lesson there for the rest of us.
Be proud of what you’ve achieved.
Just don’t expect yesterday to do today’s work.
Anyway, what do I know?
I’m just a grumpy old man.
Would you have given Paraguay a chance v Germany?
Well here’s your chance to let me know (or not if previous history counts for anything)
