CONNECTING the GENERATIONS: Women Soccer World Cup 2011 Final

I have been very busy with my project lately, but I just feel so compelling to stop everything I am doing and blog about this.

After learning through twitter that Japan has won the Women Soccer World Cup 2011, I was quite emotional.

Techcrunch reported that a historical high volume of 7,196 tweets per seconds on the final game of the Women Soccer World Cup 2011. more..

I am not a fan of Women Soccer but I love soccer and I don't separate whether is it men or women soccer. To me, the soccer spirit is the same for both sexes. The spirit of facing the given forever changing situation (why? because the ball is round, it can row to either side), preparation for the game, mental calmness and strength during the game, physical endurance, team work & spirit, player's skill and commitment, coach and captain leadership, playing by the rule, fair game, sportsmanship .... the list can go on and on.

All these spirit also exist in businesses, institutions, working life, personal life and even as a Nation or a Country.

It just happened last week that I chanced upon the women soccer world cup 2011 quarter final match video in youtube between USA and Brasil. I then went into learning more on the performance of the other matches.

Honestly, I was impressed with the standard of Women Soccer this time round. I did watch some matches many years ago and I thought there was an imbalance of standard between the top team like USA and the average team. However, I can see that things have changed over the years. Good for you Women Soccer, keep it up.

When Japan beat the mighty host team Germany in its homeground in the semi-final, that was good enough for me to salute the whole team. The Japanese players are so small in size. They are much shorter. They are like girls or teenagers. Despite all their short comings, compared to their opponents, they worked on their strength and overcome their weaknesses. They played calmly, composed and.... and carried a NEVER SAY DIE spirit.

To me, the Japanese team is the underdog in the game. USA got many chances to score. USA went ahead to score first. Then Japan came back to equalise and force the game into extra time.

In the extra time, USA scored first again. With limited time left to the final whistle, the Japanese team just keep on going..... and they EQUALISED. Forcing the game into a penalty shoot out.

During the penalty shoot out, the situation kept on changing. 1st USA kick was saved by the Japanese keeper. 2nd USA kick was wide. Then the 2nd Japan kick was saved by the USA keeper. And you know what, the 3rd USA kick was saved by the Japanese keeper! For the 3rd Japan kick, it was nearly saved by the USA's keeper. Goal..

From the face of the last Japan player who took the penalty shoot, you can see that she was silently composing herself by occasionally looking at the excited crowd. Knowingly that she can do It. And when she scored... she knew she can do it. History is made for this winning team.

Some of you might say that the Japanese are lucky. Well, just like life, it is to a certain extend. However, I can tell you that luck is only a factor after effort. You will still need to make an effort to buy a lottery ticket, pick up one or take one if you ever want to have a chance to strike the lottery. I am not promoting gambling here. What I am saying is, nothing is totally based on luck. What goes around comes around. You decide your own destiny. You write your own life story.... effort plays most of the part, some consciously and some are not.

At last, I made a conscious effort to do this blog. Enjoy watching the game :)