NATHANIEL LEE | Morocco should be lesson of how to achieve goals without giving up

From Cape to Cairo, Morocco to Madagascar, Africa will be rooting for Morocco’s Atlas Lions after they became the first African and Arab country to reach the milestone of qualifying for the semifinals of the football World Cup where they will face world champions France on Wednesday.

Despite rumblings by the likes of the EFFs Mbuyiselo Ndlozi, who feel that Morocco’s achievement should not be celebrated because of the country’s occupation of Western Sahara, this should not dampen the mood of celebration and expectation gripping the African continent.

It is also ironic that Ndlozi is in the habit of dishing out spirited displays of the struggle song “From Morocco to Madagascar”, with the EFF always urging continental unity.

There is also that question of Morocco’s apparent conceit of being better than other African countries with claims that they once tried to get membership to the European Union added to the fact that they are not part of the African Union.

Politics aside, the performance they have dished out at the World Cup in Qatar where they disposed of more fancied teams such as Belgium and Spain is worth their forgiveness. Nothing can take away the fact that on Wednesday, when “Hymne Cherifien” is sung when Roman Saiss, the captain and his boys line up for the start of the game, the continent will be fully behind them claiming them as their own.

The coach, Walid Regragui has termed the Atlas Lions as the “Rocky Balboa of this World Cup” and it is our fervent wish they go past France and reach the final where anything can happen. The Moroccan experience holds several lessons for countries such as ours, which still have to triumph over mediocrity by cultivating excellence-driven attitudes.

Moreover, there are also lessons about the value of competitive sport and how this can serve to instill national pride and build proud nations. Competitive sport teaches valuable lessons including how to keep ones temper and respect others. Young people need to know what it feels like to succeed and how it feels to fail.

The inculcation of healthy competition attitudes means teaching children how to handle winning without gloating and boasting and also being gracious in defeat but never giving up and trying harder. In schools, competitive sport helps pupils learn what can go right or wrong and arms them with tactics that they can use to do better in the future.

It also teaches pupils how to achieve goals without giving up. Participation in competitive sport leads to improved physical activity and better health, which can serve as an antidote to premature aging. It will also increase motivation to study in pursuit of greater educational goals in addition to aiding team-building capabilities.

Teamwork can lead to improved efficiency in life endeavours such as in real work life and serve as a springboard for synergy. The importance of sports goes further than just physical health as it teaches life skills such as self-discipline, accountability, confidence, responsibility and teamwork. Studies show that physical exercise increases blood flow to the brain and helps the body build more connections between nerves, leading to increased concentration, enhanced memory, stimulated creativity, and better-developed problem-solving skills.

It a nutshell, it helps the brain grow and work better. Since pupils engage with a lot of learning activities, exercise will help relieve the stress from such and help them to recharge their batteries and focus. On competition, pupils need to learn that they cannot win all the time, with losing affording them the opportunity to review how to improve next time. In this regard, schools must ensure pupils are given a chance to compete at something they excel in.

Overall, competition will provide pupils with motivation to achieve goals, demonstrate determination, perseverance to overcome challenges, understanding that hard work and commitment leads to greater chances of success. They also learn to stick to the rules and how this relates to consequences. Some have argued that competition is divisive and can humiliate less-physically capable pupils. The retort for such a concern should be that pupils should focus on the achievable, their personal best. Such personal bests should not mean getting personal with other people but geared towards synergy, which will foster confidence, cooperation and positivity.

The Atlas Lions have blazed a trail as a decent footballing country. Other countries on the continent including ours can only work to emulate their remarkable example. It must have taken some work for them to be at the level they find themselves. We hope to see them in the final on Sunday against either the Messi-inspired Argentina or Luca Modric’s Croatia. To De-Mantshantsha and the crew at Eishkom, our plea is to be spared from load-shedding to allow us to scream our lungs out in spurring Morocco to an African spot in the World Cup Final.