"Football is not a matter of life and death, it is more important than that."
Penalties
Peter Handke wrote a novel "The goalkeeper's fear of the penalty kick". In England it is not the goalkeeper but the penalty takers who fear the penalty kick. This week the England team lost 13-12 to Netherlands in the semi-final of the European Under 21championship. In 1990, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2006 the full England team went out of the World Cup or European Championship in a penalty shoot-out.
Stuart Pearce cannot get away from penalty England shoot-outs. He missed in 1990, scored in 1996 and was coach in 2007. No escape from the tension. Some players never recover from the ordeal. Gareth Southgate was able to laugh at himself by appearing in a pizza advert mocking the penalty shoot-out.
How does one cope with the tension of a penalty shoot-out? How does one cope not just with the fear of failure but also the reality of failure? It is all about identity and knowing who you are.
Remember Psalm 27 that we looked at a few weeks ago. David found his significance and identity in God. No matter what happened in his life, he knew, "The Lord will receive me" Psalm 27:10. If our identity is based on our sporting successes, our experience will be a roller-coaster - up one moment, down the next.
If we are convinced that Jesus Christ really is the same, yesterday, today and forever and that he will receive us, then we are equipped to take our successes without being carried away and our failures and disappointments without being crushed by them.
Bernhard Langer was faced with a putt to decide the outcome of the 1991 Ryder Cup. It slipped past the hole. Bernhard put it in perspective when he said, "There has only ever been one perfect man and we crucified him. I only missed a putt". Bernhard went out and won the tournament the following week.
May 2007