One is an Argentine World Cup winning wonder and the other is a Portuguese man who just can’t get his hands on the prize, and is probably going to retire before the next World Cup.
I’m actually going to use this post as a lesson on how to lose gracefully at games. It will definitely not be solely on how Messi won the gold or Ronaldo moved to Saudi Arabia to try and salvage a bit of dignity after blowing up his re-signing chances at Manchester United!
We all know winning a game of something is that you have to be better than the opponent.
The Messi and Ronaldo rivalry is probably one of the biggest questions in the whole of football. They both have unique character and that is good because it would be boring if everybody was to be the same. Like robots in a lab being programmed with the same USB stick.
Being a footballer or any kind of game player, even playing in computer based games like Minecraft or Fortnite, you have to accept that you will lose – your character may get shot or you may fall from a great height. You have to accept these things happen and if it does, what to do about it.
Learning to lose is a skill in itself and it starts with being down to earth and not full of yourself that you will win everything that is put in front of you.
The second step is to just focus on the things you want to improve on. This will help you to learn more skills to be more self aware of things you still have to work on. You are not perfect. Nobody is.
Thirdly the reaction to losing a game can be tough and players will display this in so many ways. Some like to talk it out and some like to be left alone. The number one thing to remember is not to take it out on other people or things.
The more you say that you’re the best at whatever it is, then more you will believe it and the ego gets bigger. This is why I think that Ronaldo will never be a football coach because he can get a little too full of himself. Messi on the other hand I think would probably do so much better as a manager, and that’s not because he’s a left footer like yours truly. To be a great coach you have to drop down a few rungs of the ladder and start from the beginning. Players today in the top flights can be very unpredictable and very un-real. They play up to the cameras and they like to show off their physiques.
Learning to lose gracefully is a huge skill and if you have experiences loss in any shape or form you know it can be a real sadness. If you feel you can comfort another player then try it. Other players and their fans will look up to people that are down to earth and that makes good role models and future sports coaches.
As a coach, I will always teach the children that it is always OK to fall over or miss a goal etc. Dust yourself off and go again, but if it happens next game you start to work on the types of things to combat them. How can you hold onto the ball more? How can you get more shots on net? How can you be faster to a loose ball?
The deeper solutions to that can be a different post but these are the things that will help you to hopefully turn that loss into a win!