Football is no individual game

Football is no individual game

BY ANANIYA ALICK PONJE


In any kind of sport where more than one individual make up a team, it is impossible for one individual to be the sole contributor to the team’s success; yet in football, especially with our national team, for many times, there are some individuals who take themselves to stand out of the rest because of their talents.

It is absolutely true that there are footballers who are more skilled than others on the pitch. This usually is as a result of experience, or just inborn potential. And there are others as well who may not be as competent as others, but they too make up the whole team and are as important as anyone else.

It is oftentimes the nature of football for some players to be more famous than others and this is the case world over. These players are in most cases strikers or midfielders who score goals. It is rare for a defender to be as famous as a striker who scores goals; even if in reality the defender undertakes a harder task than the striker.

More often than not, the fame that goes with strikers is usually inspired by fans who adore the strikers so much while ignoring the contributions of the rest of the team who are as significant as anyone else.

Success in football seldom emanates from one individual’s skill, whatever the case. It is a direct result of concerted efforts of all players. Defenders have their own task of shielding the opposing strikers from scoring and midfielders have their own task of balancing the game so that the defence and the striking force have proper recipients and suppliers.

But, in spite of the fact that every player on a football pitch is an important lot, some players have the audacity of lifting themselves so high that they reach the point of thinking that a team cannot win if they do not play. Well, he might indeed have some extraordinary talent, but he himself scores goals because he is playing with others.

Not even the world footballer of the year will play alone on the field against a full rival team and expect to score. In fact, even for strikers’ goals to be appreciated there is need for the rival team not to win. If a striker scores six goals and the rival team scores seven goals, the six goals will not make any sense. But if the striker scores even one goal and the rival team does not score any goal, the single goal will be of much significance.

This is where the defenders become as important as anyone else, because if they let the opposing strikers penetrate them and score goals, the single goal scored by their striker might be meaningless. Even for the strikers to score there is need for the midfielders to supply good passes, and to balance the game properly. Hence, no one individual player can claim to hold the key to a team’s success.

Yet in Malawi, with both the national team and clubs, some players oftentimes behave as though they are the only important ones in the team. They sometimes boycott games and it has to take the coach and other involved individuals to coax him. This is an insult to other players in the team, because they conclusively view themselves as less important. In this case, it is impossible for such players to play to the very best of their abilities.

In fact, a single player’s success cannot be attributed to him alone. There are many other individuals involved. There is the coach, the people who surround him where he comes from, the fans who offer support as he progresses to score on the field and many others. That is why it does not make sense for one footballer to take himself as the carrier of a team’s success.

Even the most talented player will seldom deliver to the best of his ability if he is playing among a bunch of incapable players. Concerted efforts come from a combination of capable players on the pitch. Thus, no footballer should take himself as more important than the rest.