Introduction: Since FIFA 2010 started on June 11, 2010 in South Africa, there is a great feeling of euphoria and excitement around the world about the games that spans the planet earth through the media, news channels, newspapers and televisions. . We all love football and in India too there is a huge fervor among the population to watch the match even though the Indian football team has never qualified for the biggest football event in the world. We all love our heroes, the demigods like Pelé, Maradona, Beckham, Ronaldo, Kaká, Wayne Rooney and many others. Looking closely at the game and how the players are positioned, their role in the football stadium and the way the game unfolds, one cannot help but find a great metaphor for life in it. That’s what this article is about. It is a humble dedication and salute to the biggest and most popular games in the world.

The Field: The game of soccer is played on a field 90 to 120 meters long and 45 to 90 meters wide. On both sides we see the goal posts. Your team, which includes 11 players, will try to score a goal at the opposite post. The opposing team would be trying to defend that and rather counterattacking your goal post to score a goal. In life you have to have goals. Your goal is to score goals. You cannot passively sit by and watch while external circumstances counter you and score goal after goal by pushing you with your back foot. You have to be proactive. Sometimes you have defense but also attack. You have to know where you have to go, where you have to score a goal. Your goals are like the beacon for the ship that helps them navigate the right path. Remember that we are all placed on the soccer field by the Almighty Lord. We are all players on the field, we have to do our part, and we have to be proactive and know our goals and do everything we can to reach our goals. Then our life becomes exciting, and then we find meaning in this life. So that’s the first metaphorical lesson we get from the football game. We are all players in the field of life and we have to score goals. We have to be proactive about our goals.

Positions: As football matches begin, the 11 players on a team are positioned on the field according to the various roles they play. We can learn many things from the different positions they take and the various roles they play on the soccer field.

Goalkeeper: Close to the goal post is the goalkeeper, who plays one of the most important roles in a soccer match. He is there to defend the goals that the opposing team puts into the net. Typically, he has developed the knack, agility, and alertness to prevent the opposing team from putting a goal in the net. He is like the compound wall around our houses that prevents intruders. In life we ​​have to play the role of gatekeepers when it comes to protecting ourselves from being hit by negative thoughts. Our minds are like the goal post. Outside circumstances, people, and events can try to fill our minds with negative thoughts. We must play the role of a gatekeeper in those moments and see that our mind is not invaded by thoughts that can bring us down and demoralize us. What happens to a team whose Goalkeeper is not capable of defending the goals that are put into the net. The team weakens and their focus from scoring goals is changed to defending goals. He is demoralized and is rapidly moving towards defeat. That is exactly the image of a person who defends himself against negative thoughts. He or she will become weak and sidetracked from their goals of seeking excellence and succumb to defeat in life. So playing the role of goalkeeper in life is very important, we must know how to defend ourselves from negative thoughts.

Delayed players: In the Soccer game, the Goalkeeper is not the only one who defends the goals. There are some players positioned at the back such as the Center Fullback, Left-Right Fullback and Wingback who also help to defend and mark and attack the Forward players of the opposing team. The roles played by these players positioned in the back, is the role that reminds us that in life it is often important to be on the defensive and whenever the tide is against us we must be able to remain calm. It should not surprise us that many times there are people, circumstances, and events that will seem to press and hold us back. When you venture out to sea on a ship, you are bound to encounter storms. This is life! “Ships in port are safe, but that’s not what ships are made for.” William Shed says. The ships are supposed to go out and venture into the depths of the sea and fight the storms that come against them. Many times we have to be back players, defending ourselves, our principles, our values, our faith and our lives from being left behind, from getting bogged down. Many times there are people or circumstances that can force us to leave it. Many students encounter failure, also many professionals and entrepreneurs at times when we are tempted to give up but here comes the role of the players located in the back. We have to mark what is worrying us, go to the source of the problem and defend ourselves. Many times we may have to defend ourselves against bad company that brings us down, bad habits that corrode our lives and bad actions that reap bad fruits. The Bible says, “When the enemy comes like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will raise a banner against him.” That standard is the players who play football positioned in the back.

Midfielders: There are now also players positioned in the middle of the football field. Some of them are left and right midfielders, defensive midfielders and central midfielder. These players have a duty to create games. Sometimes they defend and also play the game and then pass it to the players placed forward. In our life there is also a time when we have to sit down and strategize to make it convenient for us to reach and achieve our goals. In those moments we have to be the creators of the game, the midfielders. There is a lot of room in our lives to sit down and plan and organize our lives. We have to resort to things like time management planning, goal setting, and writing our life’s mission. Many times we have to prepare ourselves by learning different skills and techniques so that it suits us to move forward to achieve our goals. In those moments, we are playing the role of playmakers, we are playing the role of midfielders. Midfielders play an important role in the field of their team, without them the players who play as strikers who have to score goals against the rivals would be defenseless. They will have nothing at their disposal to go ahead and shoot or score.

Players Positioned As Forwards: Finally, let’s look at the players who are positioned as forwards on the football pitch. When the Goalkeeper defends the team’s goals, the players behind defend from the attackers and the midfielders play the game, the Forwards carry the ball into the opposing net. The players who are placed in front are the Deep Forward, the Center Forward and the Winger. The main role of these players is to hit. They are always in attack mode. Once they have the ball in their possession, they look to pass it through the opposing team’s Goalkeeper and into the net. When we also defend our lives from negative attitudes and thoughts, when we defend ourselves against the wrong practices, principles and people, when we prepare ourselves for the opportunities that come our way, then there will come a time when our goals, our objectives will be as clear as the soccer goal post and we would be in a position to hit and score. Then in life we ​​would see opportunities in front of us wide awake that would help us achieve our goals. You may miss a lot of shots, you may hit and miss by a mile, but you have to keep hitting until you put the ball through the keeper into the net. In life we ​​encounter failures, many times we lose reading opportunities, many times we make mistakes but we have to get up, dust ourselves off and get it right again. A Japanese proverb says: “Fall down seven times, get up eight.” Scoring a goal in the net is achieved through immense practice and patience, and we must also instill these two qualities when we want to achieve our aims and goals in life. That is why the role played by forwards positioned in the lead is important, as they give the final touch to the game.

Conclusion: Friends, in the end I would like to encourage you all to go ahead and enjoy FIFA 2010. But I would also encourage you to look at the philosophical side of the game, the metaphor that the game of Soccer presents. May it excite and excite you with courage, confidence, and the ability to enjoy, explore, and elevate your life to the next level. May they succeed and reach their goals in life, may they be winners and even when they feel like they have lost, remember that there is always a next time. The next FIFA in 2014 in Brazil.

The joy be all yours.
Sohan.