Our Cup Runneth Over

 
School’s out in South Africa, but World Cup classes are being held from 1:30 – 10:30 pm. Life lessons abound and we all have much to learn:
 
1. Don’t Blow Your Own Horn Too Often. 
Phil, an American friend of mine, had top-dollar seats for the England/USA match at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg. Turned out his perch was a rough neighbourhood. Just behind Phil sat a rabid English fan who kept unleashing vuvuzela blasts aimed at the back of Phil’s head.   After enduring a few minutes of this, Phil, a patient soul, could take it no longer. “Enough with the vuvuzela,” Phil warned. Ten seconds later, another blare rattled his eardrums.  Acting instinctually on behalf of many, Phil reached around, grasped the offending vuvuzela, and quickly bent it to create a colourful, inedible pretzel. This was then returned to a less-than-grateful owner. 
 
2. Start Young & Maximise Touches. 
Netherlands ace, Wesley Sneijder, began professional training for his starring World Cup role at the age of seven when he joined the youth academy of the famed Dutch football club Ajax. According to New York Times reporter Michael Sokolove, Ajax puts young players into “a competitive caldron, a culture of constant improvement in which they either survive and advance or are discarded.”.
 
The academy is called simply: De Toekomst – The Future. Well, the future is now.  Or, as we are relentlessly reminded: “Ke Nako” or “It’s Time!”   Author Malcolm Gladwell says that in order to achieve true mastery of something you need to spend approximately 10 years or 10,000 hours at it. As one of Ajax’s anointed youngsters, Sneijder’s preparation was all about maximizing touches or contact with the ball; he was drilled to move quickly and to pass the ball at high velocity to other players at close range.   Everything was done very hard and very fast.   
 
It seems to have worked; Sneijder was not discarded.   At the tender age of 17 then, Sniejder completed his 10 years/10,000 hours of training and signed his first professional contract with Ajax. Now 26, and a deadly accurate free kick specialist, he’s been “Man of the Match” in both Dutch World Cup victories so far.
 
3. “When You Go in Search of Honey You Must Expect to be Stung by Bees.”  
When Kenneth Kaunda, Zambia’s first president, uttered these memorable words -- no doubt while fluttering a white handkerchief -- he was probably thinking more of the bee stings of political opponents, than of the late tackles, shirt pulling and shoving by players surging toward a loose football. But talk about anticipation! Some players are so keenly aware of the possibility of being stung – Portugal’s Ronaldo springs to mind – that, with the help of high-definition, slow-motion replays, their limbs can be seen buckling and their faces contorting with pain before any contact has occurred.  
 
4. “Even If You Know Many Things, Do Not Argue With The Judge”
To be honest, this bit of African wisdom, an Ethiopian proverb to be precise, appears to be completely lost on the present generation of footballers. Players and coaches seem genuinely shocked by the vast majority of the referees’ calls. Apparently they believe that if only the offending official could properly register the anguish their call has caused, then a blessed reversal would follow. As if to emphasise the futility of protest, FIFA President Sepp Blatter, has banned the use of video replays which might help to review those inexplicable calls with game-changing consequences. Fortunately, the TV folks always have one camera trained on the coaches’ faces so their reactions to missed chances and their requisite anguish at errant calls can be fully captured. As in life, blunders abound, but why argue?
                 
5. Know Your Mascots
Let it be known that not one 2010 World Cup game unfolds without an appearance by Zakumi, the leading character in South Africa’s charm offensive. Zakumi -- for those of you who are a bit fuzzy about officially licensed FIFA mascots -- is a smarmy yellow leopard-like creature, whose green hair and unsettling, rictus smile are meant to exude a warm African welcome.   According to FIFA, Zakumi is not only “cheerful and sporty” but has reached 16 years of age.  
 
It’s enough to make you blow your vuvuzela in someone’s ear while shouting: “Ayoba!”
 
Andrew Taylor is the Principal of the Maru-a-Pula School in Gaborone, Botswana. His email address is: principal.map@gmail.com. Maru-a-Pula’s website is: www.maruapula.org