Just after midnight, my wife switched on the bedroom television.
“We’ll watch for a little while,” we told ourselves.
It was well past 2:00 a.m. when we finally went to sleep.
Some football matches don’t merely decide who reaches a World Cup final. They quietly dismantle the assumptions we carry into them.
Like millions around the world, I had convinced myself that France would find a way. Kylian Mbappé had been in breathtaking form throughout the tournament. The media had almost made it sound inevitable that France would be playing in the final.
But football has an inconvenient habit of ignoring predictions. Spain didn’t just beat France 2-0. They educated them.
From the opening whistle, Spain controlled the rhythm of the game as though they were conducting an orchestra. Rodri, Fabián Ruiz and Dani Olmo seemed to have all the time in the world. Every French pass near the Spanish goal arrived a fraction too late. Every misplaced touch was punished. Every attempt to speed up the game was calmly absorbed before Spain slowed it down again.
What impressed me most was not Spain’s goals. It was their patience.
In an age where everyone celebrates speed, Spain reminded us that control is often the greater strength. They never appeared hurried. They trusted the process, trusted each other and trusted the game plan.
Perhaps the most striking moment came after the final whistle. There were no excuses. Mbappé admitted that France had been outplayed. He spoke of the tactical shortcomings, the lack of communication, the technical mistakes and Spain’s superiority in controlling the midfield. It takes courage to win. It takes even greater courage to lose with honesty.
That, for me, was the lesson of the night. Spain didn’t produce magic. They produced mastery.
As I finally switched off the television sometime after two in the morning, I realised that the World Cup had once again offered a lesson far beyond football. The game does not always belong to the team with the biggest stars. Sometimes, it belongs to the team that plays the better game. And perhaps life works that way too.
In musing…… Shakti Ghosal
A New Beginning 