Lessons Learned From World Cup 2010

World cup 2010 is done and dusted for now, another four years to go. Brazil awaits, so does the Malaysians, but surely watching world cup 2014 in Astro whether on 3D or 4D in four years time is not going to promise a thrilling finale like the one we had this year. Brazil and Malaysia has 12 hours gap, which is a big disadvantage, matches will be aired 8am in the morning. So Malaysian you just enjoyed a perfect world cup with perfect timing, and hope for a better time frame eight years to come. But i am pretty sure i-phone will have Astro channel integrated in them. So lesson learned from this world cup?

Sounds of Silence
The most annoying noise at the moment, worst than a crying baby, worst than your girlfriend nagging, worst than turbo powered kapchai...the one and only vuvuzela. This traditional music pipe instruments can go up to 120db. This is a rebirth of new football frenzy after the Mexican wave. Imagine world cup held in Australia, u will see audience blowing Didgeridoo and to make the matter worst, imagine world cup held in Malaysia which is famous for various type of blowing instruments. Can you ever imagine?

World Cup South Africa 2010.South Africa Vuvuzela

World cup in Malaysia in year 3000 (Malaysia Vuvuzela)

Didgeridoo has better bass effect.

Random Predictor
Well now it’s proven that animals are after all an awesome predictor living organism. Proven after world cup, not after tsunami 2004, where fish strangely swim ashore, migratory bird aimlessly flying away from the recent volcanic eruptions. Eight picks, eight correct, eight tentacles. Paul the Oracle Octopus is clearly the biggest winner of the World Cup after recording a perfect prognostication record whether he knows it or not (he probably doesn't). And you make the animal kingdom proud. Go paul!! Sure a lot of human Paul will be annoyed with this famous name. Kids will be going “mum I want Paul for dinner”!!

• Paul Masak Sambal. Don’t be surprised if you found this in your restaurant menu.

Teamwork wins
Football is a team sport. A team can have several star players but if they do not work together effectively, they can forget about advancing to the next round, let alone winning. Like what happen to my favorite team France. Just like a football team, each member in a family also has his or her own role. Like the captain, the head of the family must provide a strong leadership and motivation to his or her charge.

Attack and secure victory early on
Most of the successful teams in the tournament scored early goals. They did not slog or wait until the dying seconds to find the elusive goal. Unlike Spain in the Final where Iniesta scored at the dying minutes. This reminds me of students approaching their studies and examination. Those who have the discipline to start studying early will have the advantage over those who like to put in off until last minute like Iniesta.

Keep on going until the final whistle is blown.
If it is not able to score an early goal, a winning team is known that the game is not over until the final whistle is blown. The player will keep going without giving up even though the odds are stacked against them. Trailing town goals down against Slovenia, the Americans staged one the most dramatic comebacks in tournament to level 2-2.The lesson is no matter how big the challenge, victory may still come our way as long as we do not give up trying. Even if the final whistle is blown before we score a goal, we can leave the pitch with our head held high and without regrets.

Loser blame but winner never complains
The referees, the ball and even the giant screen have received fair amount of flak during this tournament. Much has been said about poor quality of refereeing and the unpredictability of the ball providing a tired line of excuses especially from losing teams.The irony is, the winner playing under the same referee and using the ball have not been complaining.The reality is, there will never be a perfect referee or a perfect ball. We live in a world of imperfections. Life is not fair but sooner we realize it. The better we can be. Our family and frens may not be the best in the field but that should not matter at all. What matter is how we continue to work together to make them better. We can choose to harp on their weakness but at the end of the day, we will only be left with a long list of complaints.Just like the winning team, they quickly adapt to the poor referring or the unpredictability of the ball. They will seize the moment and focus on their strengths. Hence they are the ones who will score goal after goal using the same ball. Kudos Diego forlan. Player of the tournament.

Be confident with your ability.
Perhaps the biggest lesson in this WC is how the traditional football powerhouse are failing while the lesser teams are gaining strength and confidence after each game. Japan n South Korea is the best examples. They used 2 be treated as warm up teams that struggled to score even a single goal against the more well known opponents. In this tournament they advanced to the second round, surprising many footballs expert. Team Asia has arrived. We impart this lesson in us that we are capable of being with the best in the world. With hard work, knowledge and right attitude nothing is impossible we must not let ourselves be our own worst enemy by thinking that we do not have the capability. Malaysia may not be in the world cup but we already benefit from the lessons it brings .Be the best and win the cup of life.