[Opinion] The World Cup Bandwagon

With the World Cup approaching, the Spanish national soccer team hired an American psychology therapist. Although the team is a strong contender that is ranked fifth in the world, Spain cannot seem to avoid a substandard performance at the World Cup. The best performance by the Spanish team was way back in 1950, when the World Cup was hosted by Brazil, and they advanced to the semifinals. The persisting failures seem to have infected the players with a “losing virus” that causes them lose confidence. The Royal Spanish Football Federation, or RFEF, called upon the expert because they thought the problem was not with the players’ capabilities, but with their mental state.

It is said that high school athletes that have won national tournaments and those that haven’t already have different looks in their eyes. If athletes with similar talent compete against each other, it is likely that the more focused and confident athletes will come away victorious. That is the difference between knowing and not knowing how to win. With Korea developing prosperously the physical stamina of athletes, one of the weaknesses of Korean sports, has drastically improved. In the era of information and knowledge it is also easy to acquire skills. What remains are spirit and mental state. That is why nowadays meditation is an important training component of all sports.

Athletes must only receive a moderate amount of stress before their games. They cannot win if they are too loose; on the other hand, if they are overly stressed, they cannot perform as they should. The same applies to our national soccer team players. The expectations of the Korean people are sky-high, and as the games approach they will feel an enormous burden. On top of that, the individual athlete’s aspirations to gracefully show off his talent in the world’s biggest soccer tournament will also serve as pressures for them. Under the circumstances, managing the stress of players is one of the top priorities.

It is reported that some government ministries are bothering the Korean Football Association (KFA) with requests such as “Our minister is going to watch the World Cup, can the minister meet the players?” or “We will set up a booth at the national team’s quarters in Germany to publicize Korea, can you pay for half of the costs?” It seems that they want to belatedly find a way to receive credit without doing much, but I am concerned about the stress that Korean players will go through. I wish they would listen to KFA’s demand, “Please, we do not need your help, so just leave us alone.”

Hong Chan-sik, Editorial Writer, chansik@donga.com