Bridget McNulty

10 things we learnt from the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009:

// June 29th, 2009 // Inspiration, Life (and the living of it), Philosophy

I know, I know! Me, writing about sport? Impossible!
Except… The Confederations Cup was played in South Africa, which got me interested in it, and there were some big surprises, which got me even more interested, and then South Africa made it into the final four, which got me hooked!

Here, then, life lessons learnt from soccer:

1. Nothing is ever certain until the final whistle blows.

2. You might think you know where the game is headed, but that can all change in the 90th minute.

3. Underdogs can become finalists.

4. You can’t only defend; you can’t only attack.

5. South African fans are the most colourful, the most enthusiastic and, yes, the loudest.

6. No matter what country you’re from, when the camera focuses on you, you will jump up and down like a crazy thing.

7. Bafana Bafana know how to play soccer.

8. Our players might be small, but they’re tough. (Not like some other players, who fall over if you look at them funny.)

9. Soccer really is the beautiful game.

10. South Africa is ready for the World Cup in 2010. Not quite 100% ready, but it won’t be the disaster many predicted. It might just be one of the most exciting months of our lives.

(Want to read what other people have to say about this? Read the same post on ThoughtLeader – and check out the comments!)