Sheldon Miller
19K posts
Sheldon Miller
@SheldonMiller
Founder of @stocs_global - building the Ai Gateway to Global Resale. Ex-Journo, 4th gen Forest fan, ex-Editor of The Trent Times @NFFC fanzine. Views my own.
UK, US, EU Katılım Şubat 2009
2K Takip Edilen2.3K Takipçiler
La Federación Española expresó su malestar después de que el MetLife Stadium se iluminara de celeste y blanco justo en el momento en que España levantó la Copa del Mundo. 🇪🇸🏆
Ante la polémica, la FIFA aclaró que esos colores formaban parte del protocolo oficial de clausura del torneo y respondían a la identidad visual de la competición, descartando que se tratara de un homenaje o referencia a alguna selección en particular 🤔
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Sheldon Miller retweetledi
Argentina’s behavioral crisis in the World Cup final has brought to light traits many of us in Latin America have internalized and that we need to come to terms with.
In many countries, emotional self-control and the ability to admit mistakes are seen as virtues. A behavioral problem in parts of Latin America is that there are social circles where the opposite is often celebrated.
This is the idea that someone who remains in control of their emotions is a coward or, depending on the situation, a traitor.
If someone offends you, your family, your team, the reaction that is celebrated in these circles is not restraint but flipping the table. The more berserk you go, the more you show that you care. That is a harmful value to hold, and also, one that many of us once shared. I certainly had it internalized when I left Chile 20+ years ago. In fact, I’ve spent much of my adult life trying to unlearn what I grew up believing was the socially acceptable behavior.
The second trait is an unwillingness to admit mistakes. You can always find an excuse, move the goalposts, or, once again, start a fight instead of publicly accepting that you’ve made a mistake. Admitting fault is a sign of weakness. Defending a losing position is a symbol of courage or, in sports, a test of loyalty.
Together, these two traits are behavioral dynamite. People explode because they cannot admit fault, and double down. Instead of learning from their mistakes, they become prisoners of them.
I grew up watching football with my father. When I was 10 or so, I was learning what was right and wrong from the way he interpreted the game. This included behavior both on and off the field. Only later in life did I realize that every penalty he called for, or contested, had little to do with the play itself. Whether a call was fair depended entirely on which team benefited. He was happy if his team received a nonexistent penalty or an opposing player got an undeserved red card.
These traits are among the things that pushed me away from the continent. They are certainly not exclusive to Latin America or the Southern Cone. I’ve encountered them in people all over the world. In an important sense, these are behaviors that all of us exhibit as children. What strikes me as unusual from the place I am from is having been part of social circles where these behaviors were not seen as flaws of character but as virtues to be admired, celebrated, and enforced.
These excessive forms of pride are not conducive to learning. They make it psychologically difficult to update one’s beliefs, accept responsibility, or improve. Although they become particularly visible in sports, they are by no means confined to them.
Something I am proud to have learned is to apologize quickly and often. Not because it is too difficult, but because it was like learning a new language at old age. That doesn’t mean becoming a pushover. But I’ve learned that a man who never apologizes cannot be a man of integrity, because we all make mistakes.
Argentina’s behavior on and off the field during the World Cup final was, to me, a particularly blatant expression of values that many people continue to defend. In some circles, these attitudes have become intertwined with ideas of national identity and loyalty. Yet they are shackles that ultimately limit our development, not because they make us lose a football match, but because they make it harder for us to learn from our mistakes.
The right thing to do now is the least likely: offer an honest apology. If my interpretation is even partially correct, we are more likely to see the opposite. Never back down. Never apologize. Never control your emotions. There is such a thing as having the wrong values. I hope that one day we can do better.
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Sheldon Miller retweetledi
Argentina's shots in the World Cup final after 90 minutes.
(don't look too hard).
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When I came back home to the @rfef , I wanted to follow the example I learned at the Football City when I first started coaching: believe in our young players, trust our coaches, stay true to the way we play and, most of all, believe in the people who are with us every day. (I)
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Seems strange to post a resignation video at this time, but it’s a measure of the man; hard to imagine anyone else doing anything quite like this.
The greatest ever to do it, in every aspect that mattered.
Rest in peach, King Kev. The best.
🖤🤍
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Sheldon Miller retweetledi
Does anyone know where to purchase a bottle of those Argentinian tears? #fifaworldcupfinal
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Sheldon Miller retweetledi
Football won today. Well done Spain. Congratulations 🇪🇸🇪🇸
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@AtaqueFutbolero They lost.
You could hear a pin drop in their stadium every time England won a try.
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Ufff, la casaca que usan Los Pumas hoy para enfrentar a Inglaterra en honor a la icónica del Mundial 86'.
Espectacular. 😮💨🇦🇷
Español
Sheldon Miller retweetledi
Who said these Bronze Medal matches were a waste of time?
That was one of the most ridiculous, exciting, open and thrilling games I can ever remember for an #England team.
Of course, there was a huge sense of unreality about it, with 10 goals in a game that looked dead at half time when England had a 4-0 lead.
When France started coming back in the second half, there was panic in the England ranks and a sinking feeling, just three days after the lowest of the lows. But credit England’s resilience once more and their sheer guts, they ground this one out when the muscle memory must have been saying terrible things to them.
Mbappe and Olise were running riot by then. But even those two were eclipsed by Bukayo Saka.
The Arsenal man becomes only the fourth Englishman ever to score a World Cup hat trick, and England scored six! That they conceded four, we can discuss another day.
Thomas Tuchel didn’t park the bus, and it led to a glorious basketball game.
It is an extraordinary way for England to end their World Cup, one now with the highest finish since 1966.
Of course, it will anger many - rightly - that Saka and Rashford were outstanding tonight when they were ignored in the semi-final. Of course, the damnation of Tuchel’s tactics when it really mattered still stands.
But let’s just enjoy this one, eh? It was a fantastic, rollercoaster ride, where England just about managed to stay in their seats as we looped-the-loop.
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This is why we lose…
too many @England players have now stopped showing for and wanting the ball.
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@nw_nicholas All of the far right are…that’s why Putin finances them all. Active Measures.
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I honestly believe Farage is up to his neck in organised crime.
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@henrywinter How much of this performance is down to @England not being in a pressure cooker? Shackles have come off in more ways than one.
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Players swapping shirts in the tunnel at half-time sums up the exhibition feel. But still. Magnificent half from England, full of confidence and precise counters. Free from fear. England have good players. That's why the muddled subs in Atlanta was so frustrating.
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