Yesterday I watched 2 World cup matches live on Malaysia channels for free at home, the match between Australia and Japan and later, the one between Czech Republic and USA. The later match was more exciting even though it was a one-sided affair. Czech Republic totally outplay the Americans because they were so much better.

Imagine you are a Czech player, when the USA players got the ball, you know they had to pass the ball, no matter how many dummy moves they do they will eventually pass the ball. That is because, from what I see, the Americans couldn't dribble the ball well. In order to defend against the American, all you need to do is open your eyes and anticipate where he will pass the ball to.

Now imagine that you are an American player, when the Czech players got the ball, they could either pass, dribble or if he is near to the goal, shoot. When a Czech player gets a ball or do a dummy, you have to guess what he will do next. Fly in a wrong tackle will earn you a yellow card. Defending against the Czech players become a game of 'Scissors, Paper, Stone'.

Now imagine that you are defending against Ronaldino. He can dribble, head, pass, cross, shoot etc and with either legs. Now you feel like you are betting on 4D where the chances are much slimmer. No wonder the Brazilians are the hot favourites in winning the World cup.

Of course, individual skills only do not win you the world cup, team work is also very important in the beautiful game. So we can look at soccer from a wider perspective.

The same can be applied to your life too. There are many skills that you can pick up in life, just like dribbling, passing, team work and shooting. None of the skill alone would make you successful, but when you have a whole array of abilities/skills/knowledge to tap upon, you just increased your odds of being successful. Would you want to be the one to bet on 4D or the banker to receive the bets?

singapore soccer world cup essay