The Name of the Game

Euro 2008 has started, and so far, the favorites have fared decently well. Both Germany and Portugal have won their opening games 2-0, without losing any key men. The same cannot be said for the Swiss, one of the co-hosts for this edition of the Euro Championships. I really empathize with Frei, and his Switzerland.

The knee is one of the most important parts of the body, and for a soccer player it is even more so. When I saw him fell after the collision and his grimace and the profound sadness in his eyes after he realized it was his ligament that had been damaged, I could not help but feel a sense of melancholy. He had worked so hard to recover from another injury to be in time for this competition, on home ground, and his dream ended before it even began properly, and for him, there is no next time. Even if there is a next time, it will not be the same.

So Switzerland is out of the running; actually, I think they were not even outsider contenders for the title to begin with. Home advantage as hosts is always useful, but when the opponents are of such caliber that the playing field is not level to begin with, what can you do? To compound matters, you lose your captain, your goal-scorer, your inspirational talisman right at the start.

Hmm, why am I getting so worked up over the Swiss, when they are not my favorite team(s) to begin with. I am rooting for the Spanish, and for the Oranje, so the Swiss were not really in my thoughts at all initially. I guess it is because of Frei, and his injury. He reminded me of someone, and the tears he shed as he limped off the field, they reminded me of someone's tears four years ago.

When you know that what you have lost is irreplaceable, when you know that no matter how much effort you put in, that which is broken cannot be repaired, and even if it is salvaged, it won't feel the same, how would you feel?

Once again, a question that cannot be answered, or rather, that question is not for me to answer. If I had to say something, my reply is that I would choose to believe, choose to hope, choose to stay and fight, because miracles do happen. I am not talking about the big ones like the parting of the Red Sea; on the contrary I am talking about little miracles that occur in our daily lives. The ones that most of us are not even aware of, the little things such as being woken up by the chirping of the birds at 4-30am in the morning, entering a store and discovering that the music that they are playing happens to be your favorite song. (^-^)

The name of the game is to have faith and keep hoping, while doing your best at the same time.

それだけやで。簡単やろ。

少なくとも、俺はこうするつもりやで。悔いが残らんようにせえんとアカン。俺じゃなきゃできないことなんてそんなにないけど、俺だからこそできることはたくさんあると信じるよ。

『Hope, like faith, is nothing if it is not courageous; it is nothing if it is not ridiculous.』
~Thornton Wilder~