No fairy tale or miracle
Hamzah Haz is Indonesia's new president! Ralph Nader beats George W. Bush and John Kerry in the U.S. election! Maria Sharapova wins the Wimbledon women's title! Greece clinches the Euro 2004 soccer championship! Indonesia takes home three gold medals from the Athens Olympics!
None of these headlines would have looked possible at the start of the year. Some may remain impossible (sorry, Mr. Hamzah and Mr. Nader), but this weekend we saw little-known Russian teenager Sharapova beat favorite and defending champion Serena Williams to claim her first Grand Slam title in style, and 80-1 outsiders Greece beat host Portugal to become the new European champions.
Just a couple of fairy tales? Miracles? No. Both Sharapova and Greece earned their places under the European summer sun through hard work, persistence, consistency, discipline and good strategy. So much went into their respective games, but we often forget what it takes to win and become champions.
In the case of Greece, we can also throw in solid teamwork. Greece does not have a Beckham, Zidane or Figo, a player who has become a household name in world soccer. Unless you were Greek, you would probably have a hard time remembering, let alone pronouncing, the name of the scorer in Greece's 1-0 victory over Portugal in the final on Sunday. Greece is a team made up of players with names too long to pronounce, even for the best TV commentators. They hardly look or sound like champions.
Soccer giants Germany, England, France, Italy and Spain are probably still searching for explanations (excuses, more likely) for their early exit from Euro 2004. They can put it down to fatigue from playing a long and very demanding league season. They may blame the hot and humid Portuguese weather for depriving them of their ability to play the "beautiful game". We all know for a fact that many of the players were not at their best during the tournament.
But let us not take anything away from Greece. They obviously were prepared for the tournament, perhaps more so than any other team, including the hosts Portugal. Ditto with Sharapova. Most tennis fans by now know the story of the seven-year-old Russian who came to the United States with her father in search of fame and fortune.
Those who followed both Wimbledon and Euro 2004 for the past two weeks know that their victories were not flukes. Luck certainly had a part in them, but you cannot win game after game on luck alone. Sharapova and Greece won fair and square. They showed that hard work, persistence, discipline and consistency, plus a good measure of strategy and solid teamwork, can pay off. They planned and God disposed. But in between, they worked hard.