Bikram Vohra
JournalismPakistan.com
July 11, 2014

The Brazilian defeat is an eye opener to all those people in our world who believe that everything they have is forever and behave that way. I think this match is the perfect metaphor for propping up the inadequate and the less than the best just because...the yellow shirts were in danger of losing every match and not even making the second round.

Just like folks with fancy designations and sudden injections of power who think their chairs are guaranteed into eternity and who act as if they walk the earth as a favor to the rest, the Brazilians were placed on a pedestal they did not deserve.

Why people have to kill themselves or think the world has come to an end is beyond me.

This was not even a question of the mighty falling. Brazil was not mighty, some of us just wanted them to be what they were not. The charade fell apart. It is so sobering to recognize fallibility and acknowledge that history can throw you a curve and the fates can have other plans. Seven goals...it has never happened before. And it will happen again. To teams, to individuals, to nations, to CEOs and tea boys.

The way I see it, Brazil should come out stronger, a resurgence in its soccer, not dependent on one or two players or the greats of the past, but on their own talent and love for the game. They got so wrapped up in history and the media hammer was so powerful they fell apart. Media ability to destroy is now a fact and the social platforms are poisonous spiders, they won’t let go.

Yet, there is so much to learn from defeat. Imagine how much more productive we would be if all the bosses in the world were to have seven goals scored against them every now and then. A wake up call that they are turning inept and not doing their job and living on past glory. That they should get moving, change tack, lead from the front and not fall back on the misplaced arrogance that comes with reputation or lock the door on their ivory tower.
A reality check is healthy...simple as that.

(The writer is a Senior Editorial Advisor of Khaleej Times and the paper’s former Editor. He has also been the Editor of Gulf News, Gulf Today, Emirates Today and Bahrain Tribune)