UEFA EURO 2016 FINAL MATCH: PERSONAL LESSONS LEARNT

It was all smiles for Portugal last night, as they defeated France to win their first European Title in more than 40 years. The 109th minute Eder goal was the difference in the keenly contested 120-minute encounter.

Though I enjoyed the interesting match, I as well pick up some few important lessons which I will like to share. Here they are:

(1) In life, no one is irreplaceable.

In life, no one can be said to be irreplaceable and yesterday’s encounter once again proved this assertion right. Ronaldo limped off in the early stages; this was enough reason to write off the already unfancied Portugese National team, but the team came back stronger in unity to well effectively fill the void left by the super star’s absence. Personally, I’ll say the team spirit substituted Ronaldo and not Quaresma.


(2) Life is easier when we have each other’s backs.

Portugal played with passion and commitment. Everybody knew his role and executed it to the letter. They had each other’s back. The strikers track back to help the defence almost every time. This made the work easier for the defenders because the strikers and the midfielders got their backs.


(3) Self-believe is a very strong weapon to achieve greatness, arguably the strongest.

Portugal had been written off right from the group stages, but they kept on believing in themselves and this kept them going till the finals. Against all odds, Portugal defeated France because they believe in themselves, though the football world had given it to France on paper.


(4) You can always contribute your own quota at all times, irrespective of your capabilities.

CR7 was injured and had to be stretched off after many attempts to keep him on failed. The superstar was emotionally and physically wounded, yet he didn’t give up. He limped out to the field of play after the regular time to give his team a resounding moral support. He was tagged the “assistant manager cum team captain” by many analysts during and after the match. Though incapacitated to some extent, CR7 still contributed his quota to the team’s eventual success.


(5) Picking out positives in testing times is key to success.

CR7’s injury was enough discouragement to the whole team. However they didn’t give up, they kept pushing having seen Ronaldo’s absence as an avenue to prove to the world that Portugal is not a one-man team as widely speculated. The lads were right after all, they won without CR7.


(6) Individual brilliance doesn’t always count.

Your individual brilliance might get you recognized but trust me it can be complemented better if incorporated into a team. France had all the stars with dazzling individual brilliances, whereas Portugal had a very few stars. France couldn’t win with all the stars because they couldn’t turn their individual skills into a collective team power.


(7) Watch more than goals and skills, see other non-football lessons in football.

It’s a football match though, but there were important life lessons in it.

Thank you for reading.

Ridwan A. Oyetunji (REALONE) writes from Osogbo, Osun State. You can reach him via realone18@live.com

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