Scoring a Goal

Scoring a goal

I was thinking this morning... about achieving goals. The much anticipated second leg Champions league matches between Liverpool and Manchester City, Barcelona and Roma and Real Madrid and Juventus were simply breathtaking. Liverpool, Barcelona and Real Madrid all went into the second leg with a three goal advantage, meaning it will only take a miracle for their opposition to overturn the deficit.

 

Against all odds, Roma did the magic, Real Madrid was given the biggest fright of all their European life and as for Liverpool versus Manchester City, when the match finally began, within two minutes, Manchester City had scored and their fans were optimistic that they will overcome the odds. Thy battled the for the next 43 minutes without the ball finding the net of their opponent. At this point, the commentator said, 'the most difficult thing to do in a football match is to score a goal.'

 

Initially the statement seems like a no-brainer to me, but as I thought about it, I realized it was simple but profound. I wondered why it was easier to score in a basketball game than football even though the basket is a lot smaller than the goal post. If you are outside and watching a football match, you wonder why they can't just kick the ball through the post considering the goal keeper is less than 20% the area of the post. But when you are in, then you will agree that 'the most difficult thing to do in a football match is to score a goal.' It is not the dribbling, throwing or kicking the ball towards the goal, it is putting the ball into the net that is most difficult.

 

I recalled in October 2014, when Nigerians were bemoaning the paltry electricity we generate, Babatunde Raji Fashola had boasted that it was not rocket science to generate electricity and that if given the opportunity he will double generation in 6 months. Everyone believed this man can capture lightening in a bottle and was willing to give him a chance. Fashola was vigorously warming up by the side, eager to get into the pitch. When he eventually went into the field of play in 2015 as Super Minister in charge of Power, Housing and Works, everyone expected instant performance like Mo Salah or Ronaldo, but three years on, he has since realized that 'the most difficult thing to do in a football match is to score a goal.'

 

I have discovered that life is like a football match. You sometimes see an empty post ahead of you, you dribble like Messi, huff and puff like Buffon, you can even have the best player like Ronaldo in your team, but you still discover that the most difficult thing to do in a football match is o score a goal. Scoring is difficult because there is an opposition with no other job than to prevent you from scoring. Sometimes, without opposition, you can be calamitous in front of goal like Arsenal strikers (apologies to Arsenal fans) or Raheem Sterling's miss-of-the-season in Manchester City's 1-1 draw at Burnley, justifying the saying that the most difficult thing to do in a football match is to score a goal.

 

On this day, my prayer is that you will score all the life goals you have been praying and working so hard to score, because Psalms 108:13 says, 'With God on our side, we will win.'

 

Happy Sunday.

 

.....Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey.