No Matter What I Preach...Losing Always Stings

The other day team Libero Sports India played in the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Corporate Soccer Festival.  A year ago we played in the same event and lost in the final to a strong Barclays team. I scored 15 goals in 5 matches and proudly received the Golden Boot award from Coca-Cola India CEO Mr. Atul Singh. The whole tournament was incredible for me both personally and professionally as I regained my confidence as a player and made a name for myself within the Delhi football community. 

Unfortunately things didn’t work out as well for me or Libero Sports India this year. We started off strong beating Pepsi and NTPC with ease even with our office housekeeper, Prakash, playing goalkeeper. I scored a few goals and felt my touch again.  Our quarterfinal match on Sunday morning was against WNS who were considered the best team in the tournament. We knew that if we beat them we would easily go on to the final.  After being up 1-0 for most of the match, we conceded a goal and then lost in the subsequent penalty shootout.

After the match, I was mess.  I’ve been known to eloquently preach to young Indian players about the importance of development over winning matches however during the few hours after losing, development was the last thing on my mind. All I could think about was how fun it would have been to play in the final in front of hundreds of people and possibly get the Golden Boot award again. 

Anyway, life goes on and our team has already started preparing for the next tournament we play in. Also, from an Indian football perspective, CII did a fantastic job offering 24 corporate teams the opportunity to experience playing inside of the best football environment in Delhi.  I know this property will only grow bigger from here…










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