Have you ever been active in a team sport, for example football, and scored a goal that you still remember today?
That’s how it was for me.
⏭️ “Tore wie gemalt“ (Goals as painted) is the name of the book by Javier Caceres and is the inspiration for this article. It is an impressive collection of goal descriptions by the scorers themselves. ⏮️
And here’s my dream goal.
I had started my studies in Tübingen and had therefore moved to a new club, SV Oberndorf, which played in the Bezirksliga Reutlingen / Tübingen.
We played a weak preliminary round and were in a relegation place there. But at least I had fought for a place in the starting squad. In the second half of the season, things went uphill. However, I had to take a break for a few weeks due to an injury. What a frustration, after I had found my way into the team and into the starting eleven so well.
A few matchdays before the end, we were only three points short of staying in the league when we had a home game against VfB Bodelshausen. I had been in training for a week, but I wasn’t fit enough to play, yet.
When the score was still 0-0 shortly before the end of the game, the coach looked at me: “Bernd, you will have enough power for ten minutes, warm up.”
And then I had not been in the game for two minutes when the ball fell at my feet in the sixteen-yard box and I scored directly and flat into the bottom left corner with a tight shot on goal. 1:0. My joker goal and a comeback for the remaining games of the season. What a dream.
The next day you could read it in the newspaper. “And finally, from Oberndorf’s point of view, the damn ball wriggled in the net”. We had the three points and celebrated exuberantly our success staying for sure in the league.
It wasn’t the most beautiful goal in my football career, but one that taught me a lot. The way back after a personally difficult situation is often not as hopeless as it may seem at first.
➡️ Feel free to leave a comment on how you remember your best goal. Whether in football or in another sport.
My name is Bernd Scharbert and I write about experiences that can be transferred from football to business life. If you’re interested, feel free to follow me at LinkedIn, #fussballmeetsbusiness or visit my blog there at #Prepare4Landing.
