soccer – Mimi's Thoughts

Yesterday meets Today

There are moments in parenting that don’t seem important when they happen, but somehow become beautiful memories later.

On the 2nd of April 2025, my son sat down and sketched Lamine Yamal. Ten days later, on the 12th of April 2025, he drew Lionel Messi. At the time, they were simply two drawings by a boy who loves football and enjoys putting pencil to paper. We admired them, smiled, and moved on.

Fast forward to today.

Spain and Argentina meet in the final, and I found myself scrolling back to those sketches. It made me smile that, without either of us knowing, he had already drawn both sides of today’s story. Whichever team lifts the trophy tonight, one of his sketches will be the winner.

The only thing missing is him.

He’s away at boarding school, and I wish he were home so we could watch the match together, argue over every decision, celebrate every goal, and laugh at the funny moments.

Tonight, I’ll be watching for both of us with two sketches, one memory, and a heart that’s missing its favourite football companion.

Different Strokes

“That guy doesn’t entertain me. From his fashion sense to his sheepish looks and all.”

A colleague said that about Messi.

My reply was simple: Different strokes.

I love Messi. His humble looks. His simplicity.

See how we both say the same thing about him but use different words?

I think it comes down to what our views and lives perceive in people.

Messi may not entertain my colleague, but he fascinates me.

Completely.

And that’s okay.

We are all different. We don’t all admire the same qualities, and we don’t all find beauty in the same things. Sometimes, what one person dismisses is exactly what another person treasures.

Perhaps that’s one of the quiet reminders life keeps giving us: different strokes, indeed.

One heart, two feelings

The Euro 2020 tournament couldn’t hold in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. It was rescheduled to hold in 2021 and it did. This is a soccer tournament organised by UEFA (Union of European Football Associations), it is referred to as UEFA European Championship. I was very preoccupied during the group stages so I didn’t catch the matches, but I wasnt going to miss anyone from the quarter finals.

Right from the very moment England qualified for the the semi finals, I was super excited and couldn’t wait to watch the game. I love the English team and I have always been a fan. They were scheduled to meet Denmark. Denmark, that’s where the problem was. At the beginning of the tournament, Denmark’s midfielder Christian Erikson slumped and was confirmed to have had a cardiac arrest. This affected his team mates emotionally and it affected their performance. My husband narrated how they miraculously made it from the group stage to the round of 16. It was a good story, a kind of story that would be told really well if they were to win the championship.

So here comes the day and I’m torn between the team that I love and the team that I’m feeling emotional about. My son didn’t understand my situation so I took my time and explained it to him. He smiled at me and said “sorry” and then he drew me a picture. He’s at a stage in his life right now where he draws everything.

This is me, as illustrated by my 8 year old son, SonTer

At the end of the day, at the end of the game, England won. There’s always a story for everyone. England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 qualified for their first ever major final in 55 years.