Bask In The Impossible

There was an article on the front page of yahoo that I feel has a very valuable take away. It was an article pondering the success of Ghana during the World Cup. These were the answers:

***But according to Ghana’s Stephen Appiah, it’s not just the fans that have been joining the revelry – the players are at it, too.

Not that Appiah is complaining. In fact, Ghana’s captain believes that the willingness of other World Cup teams to let their hair down between matches is a major reason why his predominantly teetotal side has reached the quarterfinal, where it will take on Uruguay on Friday.

“We are strange,” Appiah said. “If you go to some of the other teams, after a big victory you will see players outside the lobby, drinking and going to bed late. In our camp, you won’t even see the players outside.”

The team, nicknamed the Black Stars, is known for their rugged, uncompromising style on the field, but Appiah insisted that away from soccer they are a united, relaxed and down-to-earth bunch.

“You’ll see us in our rooms, maybe talking to our wives and girlfriends or friends,” Appiah said. “We will be playing cards or listening to music. We always stay in and focus. I think it is a good sign. The moment you think everything is going well and you start getting a cocky head, then everything goes wrong.

“You can see that there is no tension, no pressure. Always with smiles, singing and laughing – stuff like that. What I’ve learned is the more pressure you put on yourself, the more things go wrong.

“So, I have been telling the guys that they should be free and that nobody should even think about the games. For now, we are relaxed, training, laughing, singing, dancing. I think that’s very important.”

“We are proud to represent Africa,” said Gyan, the team’s leading scorer with three goals. “We know the continent is behind and that is great inspiration. It is not something which makes us nervous, it just makes us proud.”***

This is amazing for so many different reasons, the main one being because these guys who are so surrounded by tomfoolery find a way to stay focused through all the distractions. This is the time for them to live it up, but instead they remain low-key, quiet, and energize. This is something to be admired and emulated. This leaves me with one last thought:

GO GHANA!!!

article citation: http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/news/ghana-takes-a-pass-on-partying--fbintl_ro-ghana070110.html