Football always presents an interesting spectacle, because this sport is indeed a game that is made with good planning. When starting to play it or when we are playing or even after it is finished playing, there is always something to prepare.
Before playing, we need a field with two goals, a ball, friends to play this sport together. All of that must be prepared so that the game runs well.
When we play, preparation is also needed again, how we start dividing tasks to each player in the positions that are needed in the game of football itself. There are players who are assigned to be goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, and also attackers.
Everyone has their own tasks with different ranges of game movements. But the essence is that they must work together to ward off opponents so that they do not concede goals, and together try to score goals to achieve a victory.
Preparation after the match is also needed, especially in non-technical matters. Why? Because this is where it is important for us to truly be able to understand the meaning of a football game itself. We can win, but we can also lose.
So what should we prepare? The answer is, we are prepared to win and also when we lose. Ready to celebrate victory with something reasonable, and ready to accept defeat with something reasonable too. How? We must be willing to accept defeat by congratulating the winner, regardless of the drama that will always occur in the process of achieving victory.
And the story of a match can be discussed for days, months or even years. For example, when Maradona won against England in the 1986 World Cup, with his hand of God goal. Until now, the controversial drama has been a topic of conversation for football fans across the ages. There are many more dramas that occur in football matches at various international events, which are always the spice of the most popular sport in the world.
For me personally, the most important thing is to understand the meaning of defeat in a football match. We are required to continue to learn and learn to fix things that are lacking. Improvement is absolutely necessary in order to perform better in the next matches. There should not even be the word “give up” or “despair” in the dictionary of this game. Many national teams, professional clubs, amateur clubs have never been champions since the team was born. They continue to play football matches and never get tired of dreaming of pursuing achievements.
Football is not always about championship titles. The Netherlands, whose Total Football game is loved by many people, has never won the World Cup, China, which has produced many successful athletes in various sports, has never won the Asian Cup, Laos, a lower-level country, has succeeded in the Southeast Asian competition.
But did they then choose to hang up their boots and stop playing football? Not at all. Until now, they are still struggling to pursue achievements that they have never felt.
Bradford City, an old club in England that was founded in 1903, has never won the EPL. Its highest achievement was promotion to the elite caste competition in 2012-2013. The success in entering the highest level competition was greeted with joy by its fans.
It took more than a century to enter the elite ranks. Never mind aiming for the championship or breaking into the Big Four competition, Bradford is very happy to play in EPL matches, even though in the minds of the club’s players there is always the shadow of relegation.
This club has existed for so long without a top-flight title, during that time Bradford has continued to train and prepare the team to be able to perform better in each season.
In Indonesia, there are several examples of clubs that have never won the top-flight title. Take Persiba Balikpapan, which was founded in 1950. The best achievement of the Honey Bear Team was third in the 2009-2010 Indonesian Super League (ISL) below Arema Indonesia and Persipura Jayapura.
So did Persiba disband, just because they always failed to become ISL champions? No. In the 2009-2010 ISL, they were very happy to enjoy third place with the sweet seasoning of repeatedly beating clubs that were full of titles. The desire to improve themselves soared in every season that Persiba went through. For fans, Persiba players are “champions” without having to win a title. The never-give-up mentality is a good example.
In other words, the meaning of champion, does not always have to talk about trophies. Champion is an obsession, champion is a pump of spirit for all players to play to the maximum, the club is