Dr Bruce Manners
Senior minister
Avondale College Seventh-day Adventist Church
“Will someone put their hand up and admit that we’re not an international soccer nation?” That was “Reper’s” comment in response to an ABC News story on the Internet about the drubbing Australia took Monday morning. In case you missed it, Germany beat Australia 4–0 in their World Cup soccer match.
Hands up those who got up early enough to watch it (a 4.20 am start time). Yes, I thought so. Thankfully, it was a long weekend.
I was there—in the lounge room. As an Australian watching from afar, it was embarrassing.
“Hank” said, “We played like a bunch of school kids. The team was lazy, undisciplined, no cohesion and no intelligence.”
Hank won’t be on the team’s Christmas card list this year. Neither will “Hector,” who suggested those who play soccer recognised “the football lesson being inflicted on the Australian team.” He said the team has a bad reputation for “biffo,” the lesson deserved.
Among the comments, though, some were positive. “Nat” encouraged the team to focus on the next two games—“Come on Aussie, come on!” “Carol Niemann” wrote about wanting to email the team to say she was not disappointed in them.
Even “Markitos,” a German who lived in Australia, was supportive. He said he was surprised at how well Germany played. Because of this, he felt Australia has a chance of winning against Ghana and Serbia. “So good luck, Mates!” (did you hear the German accent?).
Australia has qualified for the World Cup only three times. The team is not expected to win it. It’s easy to kick a team when it’s down. That’s when it’s easy to see the faults and look for blame.
But we’ve all been there. We’ve all failed. Sometimes badly. That’s life. And that’s when we need support and respect, and encouragement.
Soccer’s only a game. Life isn’t.
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