This summer I had the amazing opportunity to attend the UEFA Nations League semi-finals between Spain and France in Stuttgart. What a game it was! 5:4 to Spain. Oh, by the way, the arena fka Neckarstadion is fantastic.
Interestingly, I was reminded of a football game I saw in a more humble ground in the Himalayas. And I kept wondering why I was reminded, and in what way, except that in both occasions teenagers were chasing a ball.
Obviously, it was something else to see players like Pedri, Lamine Yamal or Désiré Doué live, as they have already set standards for their generation of players.
Another phenomenon that stood out for me, something that probably is one of the ingredients that makes football so special for millions of ‘aficionados’ around the world:
You can literally sense the power of mental strength that comes with those outstanding physical skills. Shooting a penalty for instance, that “do or die” moment.
Half of the stadium wants you to score, and all of those people who cheer for you want you to be their hero. The other half wants you to miss and sends all this intense noise right down onto the pitch, where you stand. There is no in-between, no “two-sides-of-a-story”: either you win or you lose. And in both cases, you will experience huge reactions and big emotions.
The ability to totally be in the moment or even in this split second – the density of it has a beauty of its own. When sixty thousand people are all following the one who does not give in to the pressure but is right there in that perfect mental space – that stadium moment creates a magic of its own.
It makes you wonder: how did you deal with those hit or miss moments…when you were seventeen…? What about now?
A lot of those moments are pure tension. But allowing yourself to feel the essence of it has a special alchemy, too. It forces us to be right there and nowhere else. Maybe we can allow ourselves to be drawn to the fascinating side of it.
No thinking of the past or the future, just being right there.
Like enjoying your favourite football game. The commentaries afterwards can be fun – but only if you witnessed the real deal.
No wonder the young monks in the Himalayas enjoy kicking that ball: being in the moment is their specialty.