Golden Goal
I am not a football fan, hooligan or any kind of enthusiast.
Yet I literally enjoyed the football match between world legends Brazil and the African favourites, Nigeria during the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta, Georgia!
On that day, Nigerians became football legends too.
For 77 minutes, Brazil dominated the game with a comfortable 3 goals against a measly 1 goal.
All hope seemed lost for the Nigerians - yes, by that I mean the players, the viewers (physical and virtual) and all other citizens of Nigeria.
Then the unexpected happened.
In the 78th minute - 12 minutes to the end of the match! - Nigeria scored their second goal!
You can imagine what happened.
You are right.
The teams swapped psychology.
Brazil suddenly faced the pressure that was formerly bearing on their opponents. While Nigeria got re-invigorated with the hope hitherto adorning the samba team. Apparently, the close margin of just one goal in the new 3 - 2 score had different effects on the two teams.
But the mythical lord of football (or soccer, as the Americans call it) was not done yet.
If a comeback initiated from 12 minutes to the end of a tense football match was astounding, what of a total comeback on the 90 minute mark?
Yep, you read that right!
The score line was equalised by Nigeria in the 90th minute - just seconds before the final whistle!
Now picture this - everyone knew that Brazil were the global kings of football, so losing to them wouldn’t be a surprise or a devastating occurrence. Some were even content with that happening.
But equalising? And having the match end at a draw?! That was pure ecstasy!
(For those JJCs that I know just a little more football than😁, a draw is an equal score line e.g. in this case it was 3 - 3 for the two teams).
But as fate would have it, the game had reached a level where a winner must be declared. And so the match was continued with the ‘golden goal’ rule, as it existed then.
The first team to score during the extra time wins the game.
Nigeria won.
Thanks to a goal scored just three minutes into the extra time allotted.
Grand lessons to learn here.
- We must never give up on our meaningful dreams, desires and/or quests.
- Continue striving, for that is the only way progress is made.
- You will stumble, you will fall. But what counts is the number of times you pick yourself up and try again.
- It is never over until it is over.
If you persevere and pursue your dreams diligently, you just might score your GOLDEN GOAL.
Wishing you all a golden 2020.
Abdullahi
Senior Tony Buzan Licensed Instructor
Global Accredited Mind Mapper
Founder, MindZone
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