Of unsung heroes

Midfielders are often the unsung heroes of a team where all the attention goes to strikers (Getty Images)

Far removed from the hustle-bustle of the everyday training, an unsung cog in his team’s wheel pours his heart out.

Another grueling day of training has just ended. As we move out of the training ground, laughing cheerfully having enjoyed each other’s company and looking for a well-deserved rest, I mentally replay the multitude of passes I distributed to teammates, either in the various drills or the mock match. Even as I feel stretched to my limit, I go back somewhat hungry, to be noticed, and to be appreciated a bit by the fans and the gaffer.

As I lie down in the dorm, my mind goes back in time to when I was nine….

Fifteen boys aged between nine and fourteen chase the ball with no co-ordination whatsoever, all trying to stop the smallest of them who is charging towards the net with the ball at his feet. Seeing the goalkeeper approach, the young boy flicks the ball imperceptibly to his left, looks back at the charging bulls for a second, and coolly taps in before the bemused twelve year-old goalie realizes what happened.

Meanwhile, the goalscorer just looks ahead and smiles, finding nothing new in this finish. Toying with the ball in this manner has long been his favourite pastime, and it often helped him in the game.

A couple of years pass and a dream comes true when scouts come around and see this short little guy enchanting teammates and rivals alike with his clean ball control and pinpoint passing. He is usually deployed as a striker, but displays a keen eye for any chance to add in the assists tally as well. He sharpens his skills in the club academy, where some bright souls realise that he would be better off as a play-maker in the centre of midfield than playing upfront. The goals dry up, but the team benefit from this hawk-eyed guy who always manages to pick out a killer run at the right time.

Yes, life had been idyllic in this existence of a mere eighteen years. However, there lay a void within me which was hard to explain. Sure, it was a pleasure to be creating goals, triggering those wonderful runs down the wing, dinking the ball over the opposition defence for a teammate to flick in, and above all, playing football in its purest form, passing the ball around.

It is a curse we have to live with. Being the quiet, unsung engines of a team. Our situation is often like life. Everyone knows its the personality that really makes or breaks a person, but we would rather focus on the momentary pleasure of glitz and glamour. Likewise, the limelight stays often on the strikers, because they are the ones who impact the scorelines. However, read between the lines and its far deeper.

As I think, I realize that this phenomenon is omnipresent. Who does not realise the attention guitarists may get in a rock band, even as the chorus and that little pianist as the back is often overlooked. Who hasn’t mistaken the CEO to be the face of the business when thousands of employees contribute to its profitability. Who doesn’t attribute a movie’s success to the lead actors, forgetting the dozens of spot boys who helped him get that romantic shot right?

Believe it or not, we still live in a world of romantics. A great goal, an overhead kick, a brave business move, a fine action sequence. It’s all a release from the drudgery of our own lives. We are all those midfielders, creating chances for others, being cogs in the wheels, and waiting, persevering for our own chance to go forward and score. In this melee, we often forget the beauty of our own jobs. A wonderful flick of the ball, a brazen tackle, the soft note of the piano, or even the importance of the tea one might serve to a higher-up.

Not only in football, but also in life, there is a need to salute these unsung heroes. Not that they ask for it, they’ll do their job just as well all the same, but it’s worth making them smile once in a while.

For its not only goals that win games. Passes and great tackling or saves do that too!