Am guessing, like many of you, I sat watching the football last night with a mixture of, embarrassment, disappointment and intrigue and with a horrible sense of déjà vu. We've come to expect these kind of evenings if we follow the England football team! Much has been made of the large wage packets received by the England players and the contrast of this with the amateur players from Iceland. The population of Iceland is the same as that of Leicester and they have no professional league football.
However, is it pay, individual skills and profile that makes a 'team'.
What we saw last night in the match in Nice was an Icelandic team with tenacity. They didn't have many tricks up their sleeve or one stand out player, but what they did, they did well, consistently and with conviction. They didn't get the ball as much as England but when they got it they booted it down to their opponent's end asap and had a try on goal. When England had the ball in their end Iceland flooded the box with players so there was no way to get the ball past them. In short, they knew their strengths and limitations.
As players not dedicating day in day out to club football the Iceland team would have had more scope to work together, to know and respect each other, to want the best for each other. Never underestimate also the energy and encouragement that comes from success against the odds: the support for the team, the will for them to do well.
As we move into our school and phase teams, now is the perfect time for us to get to know each other, the skills we bring, the qualities that can help us get the most out of learning. If we can get behind our teams maybe we can capture a little bit of the Iceland magic and achieve more than we could have imagined.
However, is it pay, individual skills and profile that makes a 'team'.
What we saw last night in the match in Nice was an Icelandic team with tenacity. They didn't have many tricks up their sleeve or one stand out player, but what they did, they did well, consistently and with conviction. They didn't get the ball as much as England but when they got it they booted it down to their opponent's end asap and had a try on goal. When England had the ball in their end Iceland flooded the box with players so there was no way to get the ball past them. In short, they knew their strengths and limitations.
As players not dedicating day in day out to club football the Iceland team would have had more scope to work together, to know and respect each other, to want the best for each other. Never underestimate also the energy and encouragement that comes from success against the odds: the support for the team, the will for them to do well.
As we move into our school and phase teams, now is the perfect time for us to get to know each other, the skills we bring, the qualities that can help us get the most out of learning. If we can get behind our teams maybe we can capture a little bit of the Iceland magic and achieve more than we could have imagined.