After seeing the Champions League final, I wonder if we are all doomed never to be satisfied. This article is not just about football but about expectations, the ego and old-fashioned values.
The score is 1:1 between Liverpool and Real Madrid and the sides are pretty even when Gareth Bale is put on as a substitute for Real Madrid in the 61st minute.
A few minutes later, he is standing on the edge of the box when a cross comes in from the left wing. The ball is flying past behind him but he does an acrobatic somersault in the air and manages to kick the ball. The ball is projected towards the top corner of the goal at high speed and the goalie Loris Karius dives but cannot reach it. Bale scores with his first touch of the ball.
Football or ballet?
Millions of TV viewers see the overhead kick again in slow motion. It is one of those moments you can watch over and over again when football becomes ballet. Magical moments like these make the relative tedium of watching the rest of the game worthwhile. It is a rare goal that brings a smile to your face (unless you are a Liverpool fan) because it is just about impossible to score with your back to the goal.
Bale runs towards the corner post and takes a dive gliding along the grass before he is buried under a pile of white shirts. The Real Madrid fans in the stadium are ecstatic.
About 20 minutes later, Bale gets the ball a long way out and doesn’t appear to pose an immediate threat to the Liverpool goal. But he unleashes a powerful shot that makes a trajectory straight towards the Liverpool goalie. (Remember Karius has been rattled earlier in this game. He has made a terrible mistake when his throw was intercepted by Karim Benzema who scored the first goal for Real Madrid.)
The hapless goalie sees Bale’s shot coming from long range but doesn’t know what is about to hit him. He puts up his hands and the ball bounces off them into the net. A staggering mistake by a goalie but a bold shot by Bale.
Ronaldo eclipsed
Bale has sealed victory for Real Madrid and the final score stands at 3:1. He is the hero of the game and has eclipsed Ronaldo for once. Shortly after the game is over, I see a TV interview with Bale and his first words go something like this: “I am disappointed that I didn’t get to play from the beginning of the match.”
He is disappointed! He does not look the least bit jubilant about his victorious appearance. Later on, he repeats how disappointed he is not to have been playing from the start of the game.
Another world class player did not get to play the full 90 minutes either – Mo Salah of Liverpool. He was carried off the pitch after 30 minutes with a dislocated shoulder and will probably miss some games in the World Cup in Russia. He has an excuse for not feeling very joyful.
I may be naïve, but I am looking for some sign of joy from Bale after he was played the starring role in winning the most coveted cup in European club football. He expresses no satisfaction. Instead the interview ends with him hinting that he may leave the club over the summer if he gets a good offer.
Bale for sale
So this interview has been a forum for Bale to publicly vent his disappointment at the manager Zinedine Zidane and to send a clear message to other clubs that he is up for sale. Where is his loyalty to the club who he has just played for?
I must add that I also watched joyful scenes of a smiling Gareth Bale holding up the huge Champions League cup and kissing it as footballers do. Nevertheless, the interview leaves me wondering: Are we never satisfied?
There will always be something we could have done better or something more out there to satisfy our greed and our ego. It also depends on our expectations. Bale probably had the expectation that as a top player he would be chosen to play from the start in this big final. When this didn’t happen, he was disappointed. And the disappointment led to resentment at the manager for not choosing him. And this led to him going out onto the pitch to prove that he was worth a starting place in the first team line-up. He proved it in no uncertain terms. He is not just a footballer, but an artist.
But am I expecting too much to ask if he could have shown a little more joy, humility and loyalty? Perhaps my own expectations are too high for a sport driven by winning and played by footballers with huge salaries and big egos.
By Peter Goddard