The Merkur CUP 2020 is on ice. Nevertheless, the Book of Values is supposed to shed light on the essentials of sport with stories from youth football.
Already ready for professional sports at the age of 13?
Pssst, don't tell anyone. Otherwise they'll be at the door tomorrow, the hyenas who pretend to be consultants and managers. We have discovered a huge talent. A boy who has everything you need to be successful in top-class sport. Cold-headedness, assertiveness, one who really takes every chance.
Almost ready for professional business at the age of 13. Do not you believe? Well, then we tell this story: The match was on the knife edge. In a duel, a defender injured himself, remained lying, the game continued, until one decided to kick the ball towards the line to allow treatment.
"Somehow clever, the boy"
Everyone turned to look for the injured man. Just not one. The sprint suddenly started, grabbed the leather just in front of the line, pulled in and pushed the ball past the surprised opposing goalkeeper into the net. The referee decided on goal, the ball had not yet left the field.
The boy grinned broadly and was celebrated by his teammates, his coach and the parents on the sidelines, who enthusiastically patted their thighs. "Kind of clever, the boy," they cried, making fun of the opponents' baffled faces.
When the Maserati is in the workshop ...
The boy will make his way, for sure. At 13 he already recognized what is important in sport and in life.
Everywhere he will be ahead, he will never stand in the back of a traffic jam later because he - clever as he is - will drive past everyone with a big grin in the lane.
If the Maserati is just gone in the workshop or the driver's license, he will always get a seat in the subway, because he cleverly exploits the stubbornness of older people when boarding.
Sport as a reflection of society
Cleverly, he will use all just legal ways to save tax and will definitely never have to queue up for shopping.
It will prevail everywhere, after all, sport is seen as a reflection of society. Admittedly, a bit at the expense of those who are not so clever, but he will say to them with a broad grin: "Bad luck."
"Cool guys" like racing cyclist Lance Armstrong need top-class sport
He also said that to his opponents when they asked him if he hadn't acted a bit unsportsmanlike.
Top-class sport needs such clever boys, who sail like swallows through the penalty area and would never admit an intentional handball on the line, cool guys like the cyclist Lance Armstrong, who know that success ultimately justifies all means.
You have to be clever. Also so as not to get caught if you are once again pumped up to a doping control. After all, there are these masking agents that you can definitely get from the team doctor.
Cleverness vs. fairness
Impudence wins, sorry, cleverness means in German. "Clever" is a buzzword in sports. According to the dictionary of foreign words, it means "clever, clever". Although it has another meaning, namely "cunning, cunning", but you should see everything a bit positively.
So we are happy with the parents about this "clever, clever" boy, who can enjoy himself so delicately about the naivety of his opponents, who still have such funny sporting values as fairness, but are not familiar with cleverness.
They will definitely be as far as he is. In fact, he should have had requests from clubs in the Bundesliga for a long time and the managers would have to fight for this talent.
Because there are not so many of this clever variety. Kind of reassuring.
Text: REINHARD HÜBNER