With one of the largest sporting events in the world coming to an end in a couple of days (from the day when I wrote this), I thought I would just look back and reflect on what has transpired over the past month.
If I had to define this year's FIFA World Cup in one word, I'd call it unpredictable. It has been all sorts of crazy, with massive upsets everywhere, new heroes emerging, screamers being scored for pleasure, and tempers flaring. The level of the football being played is so high, and it is just a beautiful time to be alive for a football fan, for it has been equal parts nerve-wracking and exhilarating.
And the craziness did not start with the commencement of the World Cup, as even the qualifiers leading up to the finals gave us quite a few shocks. While it was a time for celebration for Iceland and Panama, who booked their first-ever appearances in the WC finals, it was time for big dogs like Italy, Netherlands, and Chile to pack their bags and head home following their shock exit from the qualifiers.
Moving along to the actual finals, it was a frenzy of upsets. The biggest (and sadistically most pleasing) being Germany failing to move past the group stages. Given the recent trend of early exits by previous winners, no one actually believed that the German side would be ousted from the tournament, and that too on the back of a 0-2 loss to the Republic of Korea, who was playing with nothing to lose, one of the most lethal attitudes to have.
Russia's Igor Akinfeev became a national hero overnight when he denied Spain not once but twice during their Round of 16 penalty shootout, sending the 2010 WC winners packing.
Similar fates befell upon Argentina and Portugal, when they got ousted by France and Uruguay respectively, sending the two best players in the world currently, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, home on the same night (although not major upsets, it did shut the two sets of fanboys up, and I am eternally grateful for that.)
With the English lads reaching the semifinals against all expectations (sorry, but it was never coming home), Belgium getting the better of Brazil in the quarters, and Croatia going through to the finals, it is pretty evident that nothing is certain and that anything can happen. Who knows what happens come Sunday, when the Croats take on the mighty French? Nothing can be predicted when it comes to this World Cup!
And that is why I feel this tournament provides a commentary on life and highlights its uncertainties (What? You thought this was going to be an article JUST about football? Guess you really can't be certain about things, huh?)
People believe that there exists a "natural order" of things. In layman's terms, it is the way things were meant to be. But this World Cup displayed a very screwed up natural order, with most big teams facing early exits on the hands of lowly ranked oppositions. Nothing was certain, and you couldn't just go into a game knowing the result beforehand. Whoever wanted it more that evening won and that, to me, is a better commentary on life than any sort of natural order.
There is nothing certain in life, except maybe death. You do not come into this world with a set plan laid out for you; there are no directions for you to follow, just a blank slate for you to do your thing. The sooner you realize that the Universe does not owe you anything, the better.
Each day is a new fight, and each day is a new enigma in itself. You have to come out every day willing to fight for what you want because that is the only way that you're going to get it.
You could be certain that you are going to get that promotion you've had your eye on for a while, but when the day comes, you see someone pull it out from under you, just like that. Or you could be Germany, needing just a point against the Korea Republic, who have lost both their games before your meeting, and you are confident enough of getting the point you need. But on the day, the result ends up being 0-2 in the favor of David to your Goliath, just because David believed more and fought harder.
The point being, nothing is a given in a life, and if you don't believe that, you are either being ignorant, naïve or just entitled. Just by thinking that you deserve something without having worked for it harbors a feeling of complacency, which breeds unhappiness and even stagnancy.
Some people might be born into riches, while others in sheer poverty, but that doesn't define their lives for them. People have been known to drive empires into the ground and end up with nothing while on the other side, there are people raising empires from the scraps they were given. You have to believe and do the best with what you're given. Take Luka Modric, for example. He was made a refugee at the age of six when his home was burned down and his grandfather was murdered. He was told he could never play professionally because of his physique, but all he could do was play football, even during the time of extreme adversity. Today, he is set to lead Croatia, a country that did not even exist the last time England played in a WC semifinal, to their first ever World Cup final. You cannot make this kind of stuff up, huh?
The entire point of this article was to highlight the unpredictability of life and how nothing is certain. Some days can be your days, and some days won't be. There are battles taking place daily, with a number of Davids taking on their Goliaths, and if you want something, you're going to have to fight for it, for it won't be handed to you.
