Football is a game of one ball and few men running across a flat field with two goal posts on opposite sides. It’s about running hard without loosing the focus and hitting the spot with that ball. Team effort needed, individual contributions will be celebrated.
Arguably, Diego Armando Maradona, stand tall as an icon bigger than this game. Few call him a god, some consider him as a controversial figure. Given Maradona’s humble childhood, and the name he gained globally in his short lifetime, makes him a man of highlighted talent for sure.
1986 Football World Cup has cemented Maradona’s crown. Who can forget that 2-1 quarter final win against England? That too at the backdrop of historic significance – Argentina was taking on UK in the Falkland war. Needless to say, with those 2 goals, Maradona just walked in to the podium of football gods of all time.
A week back Maradona has left us from this world. Another loss of 2020. Let’s renew his memory through those 2 goals as 2 important lessons for our career and life.
Goal 1 – Lesson 1: Past is Past.
Maradona had a very humble past. Poverty and adverse situations that could lead him to only two roles – a factory-worker or a priest. Yet, he rose to a stage the entire world could look and envy.
How that happened? Luck?
Working patiently towards an objective, and, when the right time strikes, one find himself/herself in the right place with right criteria. If you reckon this as luck, yes, Maradona was hugely lucky And, good news is that, we all could be lucky too. But, we need to have following qualities – patience, focus, constructive attitude and ability to identify and dive into the opportunity presented to us.
Goal 2 – Lesson 2: You Can Be Famous, Yet Hated.
Till we live our school/college life, life is simple. Do your home works, be in the good books of parents and teachers. You are good to go.
What after school days?
You are no more a school boy/girl. We start to realize existence of multiple truths for the same situation. We come across people who hate us for our place of birth, religion of birth, color of skin, kind of politics we follow, even for the nature of school we attended.
We could be successful in many parameters, yet, we will be shown ground for the values we never represented. This may leave us in a spot wondering, “WHAT?”.
We also realize, it is impossible to be in good books of everyone.
Before concluding this topic, I would like to recall the football legend and his God-given skill in the game yet again. Maradona taught us, we could be coming from nothing and still can be something in this world of many things. Few among us will still depict us as nothing.
Not to worry, be yourself, and move on.
Published in TheMujeebPatla.Wordpress.com on December 2, 2020
Mujeeb Patla 