A few days ago an incredible soccer champion, Luis Suarez, passed away. In his interview with Gianni Mura in 2014, I was struck by two ideas that are important to me when talking about champions. The value of technique: “Without technique there is no appreciable soccer. Today, when I see so many crosses that end up behind the goal I change the channel.” The value of emotions: “Adventure is the right term, because in 1961 it’s not like Inter was at the top of Europe. It was aiming for it, that’s why it had taken the Wizard and, as a result, the Wizard had convinced me, but without big speeches. Then it was said that I was the soul of that Inter, but that was not true. That Inter had many souls, from Facchetti to Corso, from Picchi to Mazzola. I was the experience, that I think.” Suarez goes to Inter for adventure, for the Magician and to be one of its souls.
Champions allow us to make these arguments and understand the reasons why we need them.
The first concerns the issue of excellence in human performance. Champions allow us to know what the current limits of the human experience in sport are and show us how to go beyond them, in a seemingly endless chase for this improvement. The sciences that study the human being provide data that inspire the best coaches who use training methodology to improve those technical-tactical aspects Suarez speaks of.
The second concerns the soul of a team, which is embodied in the close relationship between thinking and emotions,. Everyone likes to win, but not everyone knows that in order to express themselves at their best, you have to put your soul into it. Those who do not follow this approach, which is very difficult to live by on a daily basis, fall into the trap of resentment toward themselves and those around them because they have not been able to avoid this problem. Novak Djokovic also describes this concept well by telling us:
“When we feel hurt, resentful, sad or feel that we have failed or disliked or whatever it is, we get trapped in that emotion. It happens to me too, no doubt, on and off the field, very often. It’s normal, it’s the life experience of all of us. But I always try to be aware of what I have said or done or the emotion I feel and not get trapped in it for too long. I go back. I get out of it. Because we cannot control what happens outside of us, but we can control how we react to those circumstances.”
Suarez and Djokovic, different generations of champions, however, affirm the same idea let’s have a dialogue between our thoughts and our emotions, let’s stay in touch and have a dialogue with our souls and the souls of our teammates and those who work with us.
