World Cup Aftertaste

World Cup GERMANY 2006 memang baru saja berakhir, tetapi aftertastenya masih terus dirasakan. Ada taste manis dan gembira bagi negara pemenang dan mereka yg mencapai target, ada taste pahit dan kecewa bagi yg kalah, ada pula taste pedas dan ketidakadilan, dan yg saya kira paling menonjol adalah the taste of sportsmanship di antara 32 tim (736 atlet) sepanjang 64 pertandingan selama 31 hari. Saya sendiri jauh dari kategori pemerhati atau penggemar sepak bola, tetapi ada kekecualian untuk ajang empat tahunan yg mengklaim disaksikan oleh 5 miliar pemirsa ini.

Seorang rekan, penggemar "asli" sepak bola, mengatakan bahwa meskipun World Cup adalah event sepak bola paling bergengsi, tetapi permainan yg disuguhkan tim-tim Piala Dunia ini belum tentu yg paling menarik! Mengapa demikian? Dalam kompetisi Liga-Liga di Eropa yg sangat banyak sepanjang tahun, para pemain yg berprestasi gemilang dari berbagai negara "dikumpulkan" di klub yg paling berduit (saat ini dipegang oleh klub Chelsea) sehingga jelas lebih seru apabila melawan klub lain yg juga "mengumpulkan" para pemain andalannya. Jago lawan jago!

Sedangkan dalam event Piala Dunia, setiap tim bermain mewakili negaranya masing-masing dan tidak mungkin semua atlet yg bersinar "dikumpulkan" di negara tertentu. Namun bedanya, mereka berjuang dan bertanding seraya mempertaruhkan keharuman nama negaranya. Rasa dan semangat nasionalisme sangat kental di sini karena mereka (dan para penonton) sangat ingin membawa nama negara masing-masing ke puncak yang setinggi mungkin sehingga kalau bisa "All Eyes on Me!! This is my country!". Bagi saya yang awam soal persepakbolaan, ini jauh lebih menarik dan lebih relevan!

Memang betul kata orang bahwa bola itu bundar, eh salah, bulat. Apa pun bisa terjadi di lapangan hijau dan serba tak terprediksi. (Memangnya kalau bolanya berbentuk persegi bisa diprediksi? :-) Prancis yg harus maju tertatih-tatih ketika masih di Group Phase (bahkan melawan Korea pun seri!) ternyata bisa mencapai Final. Brazil yg kita perkirakan akan menjadi calon kuat pemenang World Cup 2006 ini sudah harus pulang kampung dengan kepala tertunduk setelah kebobolan satu gol di babak perempat final. Satu lagi, Italia yg sebetulnya juga sudah berada di ujung tanduk karena ditahan 0-0 oleh Australia hingga menit ke-95 di Babak 16 besar ternyata bisa lolos ke perempat final sesudah wasit menghadiahkan penalty kick yg sangat kontroversial pada detik terakhir pertandingan dan mengubah skor menjadi 1-0 untuk Italia dan… game over!

Hingga usai Piala Dunia, inilah satu-satunya match yg saya saksikan secara full karena suasana dan spirit perjuangan mendukung the Socceroos (sebutan utk pesepak bola Australia yg berlaga di World Cup) sangat terasa di kangaroo country ini bak lidah api yg menjilat-jilat sampai ke langit. Seperti masyarakat Aussie, saya pun menginginkan Australia bisa menang atas Italia. Bukan mimpi di siang bolong karena kalau kita perhatikan jalannya pertandingan terlihat bahwa tim asuhan Guus Hiddink ini menguasai permainan dengan mendominasi ball possession sebanyak 56% melawan the Squada Azzura (julukan tim Italia dalam bahasa aslinya). Seperti kita tahu, Guus Hiddink adalah pelatih soccer kondang yg secara mengejutkan membawa Taeguk Warriors (tim Korea Selatan) melaju ke semifinal pada World Cup 2002. Karena itu, tidak terlalu berlebihan apabila para pendukung the Socceroos memiliki harapan serupa karena we have everything we need (penguasaan bola, pelatih kelas dunia, dan pemain yg ulet dan tak kenal menyerah). Bahkan saat bermain melawan tim Brazil pun, ada kutipan dari harian lokal: "Kalau saja kita hanya menghadapi 11 orang penari Samba itu dan tidak perlu menghadapi sang referee yg berat sebelah, maka keadaannya mungkin akan berbeda." Dalam match itu, Brazil mengalahkan Australia dengan skor 2-0 yg keduanya juga kontroversial (meskipun tidak sesadis kekalahan 1-0 dari Italia).

Reaksi saya secara alami pada saat menyaksikan akhir dari Italy vs. Australia itu adalah tidak menerima, tidak percaya, marah, dan bingung. Tidak menerima karena tidak seharusnya tim dari Down Under (julukan benua Australia) dihukum dengan memberikan 'hadiah' tendangan penalti ke lawan gara-gara seorang socceroo Lucas Neill divonis oleh wasit men-tackle Fabio Grosso dari Italia di kotak penalti dan membuat Grosso tersungkur jatuh ke depan. Padahal sebagai penonton, amat jelas (juga dari video replay) terlihat bahwa hanya ada kontak fisik yg sangat minimal antara kedua pemain dan Grosso juga memang sudah akan terjerembab meskipun Neill tidak berada di dekatnya. Hanya karena Neill ikutan "menyerang" ke arah Grosso dan ingin membantu rekan setimnya untuk menguasai bola dan bukan dia yg tergeletak di tanah, wasit langsung memutuskan secara arbitrary dan memberikan sanksi tendangan penalti ke Italia sebagai pihak yg "dijatuhkan" dalam insiden itu.

Ada beberapa hal yg menjadi perenungan dan bahan pembelajaran saya pribadi dari event World Cup ini. Pertama, tidak ada seorang pun yg secara literal dapat diandalkan untuk bertindak adil dalam segala hal. Mungkin saja seseorang kurang adil karena ia kurang menguasai bidang keahlian yg menjadi pekerjaannya. Saya yakin sekali mereka yg dipilih menjadi referee utk pertandingan sepak bola sekelas World Cup pastilah wasit yg sudah sangat berpengalaman dan memiliki reputasi unggul. Akan tetapi, bahkan mereka yg sudah expert dan tersaring pun masih banyak melakukan blunder yg merugikan banyak tim dan menimbulkan taste pedas ini. Saya ikut mengirimkan komentar ke surat kabar Sydney Morning Herald online dan menyatakan ketidakmengertian saya kok bisa-bisanya "this blatant unfairness was allowed to unfold before the eyes of millions of spectators?" Mengapa tidak ada mekanisme yg dapat membatalkan keputusan wasit? Apakah FIFA tidak berdaya apa-apa dalam hal ini? Ini 'kan World Cup yg disebut-sebut sebagai the world's greatest sports game. Apakah sang wasit sudah kena bribe mengingat persepakbolaan Italia sedang dilanda masalah suap dan kecurangan manajemen? Banyak pertanyaan yg mencecar otak saya.

Ada pembaca yg menyatakan: "It's part of the game! Terima saja kalau memang sudah kalah." Apa benar begitu? Jadi terlintas di pikiran bahwa insiden ketidakadilan semacam ini sangat dekat dengan keseharian kita. Bagaimana dengan tim manajemen di organisasi kita? Atau kita sendiri sudah menjadi bagian dari manajemen yg memengaruhi "profesionalisme keadilan" para bawahan kita? Jelas tidak seorang pun dapat di-expect untuk menerapkan judgment yg tepat dan fair bagi semua pihak di setiap saat. Namun, kalau kita sudah bisa melihat betapa rawan posisi seorang wasit sepak bola yang memimpin dua tim yg sedang berlaga, tentu kita juga bisa menyadari betapa terlebih "berbahaya"nya posisi seorang leader yg mengawasi puluhan atau ratusan anak buah karena faktor kecerobohan dan unfair act itu selalu mengintai seberapa hebatnya sang pemimpin.

Butir kedua yg juga penting kita cermati adalah mengenai peran penonton. Kita tidak akan pernah tahu apa yg sesungguhnya terjadi di lapangan apabila tidak ada yg memerhatikan setiap pergerakan para pemain. Siapa yg bermain cantik, siapa yg melakukan tendangan umpan yg sangat indah dan menghasilkan gol yg mantap, dan siapa pula yg curang dengan menjegal lawan atau berpura-pura jatuh (diving) agar tim lawan terkena hukuman. Semua ini tidak akan terdeteksi jika penonton tidak memberikan perhatian yg tentunya sangat terbantu dengan adanya rekaman ulang dari pelbagai sudut oleh puluhan kamera yg dipasang di sekitar stadium. Sering kali kita sulit memperoleh gambaran yg jernih dalam menganalisis suatu masalah atau dilema dalam pekerjaan atau persaingan bisnis karena kita tidak menempatkan diri sebagai "penonton" -- karena kita memang bukan penonton, kita adalah "pemain"nya. Karena itu, mungkin ide yg baik apabila kita bisa berhenti sejenak, keluar dari medan laga, lalu mencoba utk melihat apa yg sebenarnya terjadi di dalam. Atau bisa juga kita minta seorang rekan atau sobat untuk bertindak sebagai pihak ketiga dan memberikan pandangannya.

Dalam suatu pertandingan sepak bola jelas diperlukan suatu kerja sama tim yg kompak. Sang bola berkulit bundar itu rela saja diperebutkan dan disepak ke mana pun, terkadang sudah mendekat ke daerah musuh tetapi harus digiring menjauh dulu ke anggota tim yg lain untuk kemudian dioper-oper beberapa kali sebelum ditembakkan ke gawang. Kalau kita terapkan ini dalam organisasi, tidak semua anggota tim -apalagi the team leader- bersedia mengoper "bola" (mungkin ini yg disebut cheese menurut Spencer Johnson) ke rekan setimnya untuk kemudian membiarkan dia menggolkan bola itu ke jaring lawan dan memberi kontribusi skor kepada seluruh tim. Sama seperti suatu kesebelasan sepak bola, barang siapa yg menghasilkan skor bagi timnya dari sundulan bola ke gawang, dialah yg memperoleh kredit dan siraman perhatian media lebih daripada rekan-rekan setimnya termasuk kapten tim itu. Hal ini amat berlaku bagi tim Australia di mana sang kapten Mark Viduka tidak pernah menyumbangkan satu gol pun selama World Cup ini, sementara rekan-rekannya yg sukses menggolkan bola lebih terangkat namanya dan memperoleh puja-puji berbagai pihak. Pertanyaannya: Relakah kita men-transfer kredit (atau cheese yg sangat menggoda) itu kepada orang lain demi kepentingan dan kemajuan tim dan organisasi kita?

Anyway, tidak dapat disangkal semarak dan gemerlap World Cup ke-18 selama sebulan terakhir ini sudah menambah kemeriahan dunia ini, menghiasi surat-surat kabar, layar kaca, internet, dan media massa lainnya. Paling tidak ia telah meneteskan beberapa titik momen yg entertaining –meskipun sekaligus painful– di tengah hiruk pikuk panggung dunia yg diselingi campuran taste manis, pedas, dan pahit. Majalah TIME mencatat: "... this year's World Cup the foremost shared experience on this planet regardless of who won and who lost... despite strict refereeing gave everyone -especially players- something to argue about... nothing beat the passion in the stands." Sampai jumpa di World Cup South Africa 2010! ***

Relishingtheworldcuptaste,
Emil Jayaputra



« Some World Cup Quotes »
[ It would make me a lot happier if I could meet up again next year with as many friends as possible from all over the world who I've met during my career. That's where the great opportunity lies, for me personally, in our role as World Cup host. -Franz Beckenbauer ]

[ Money isn't everything in life. I need to have sunshine, to wear shorts, to go to the beach, and I get all that in Portugal. - Luiz Felipe Scolari in seeing the benefits of staying on as Portugal coach ]

Into PSALM 90

OF THE NUMEROUS parts and chapters in the book of Psalm which total 150, Psalm 90 is individually unique among the others. This is the only psalm written not by David nor Asaph, but by Moses. Unless thanks to this psalm, we would probably have been not sure if this great leader of Israel was also a writer of songs, poems, and prayers in the midst of his frustration and pressure heading those over two million stiff-necked people.

Psalm 90 conspicuously describes the sorrow and restlessness of a man before the Holy Lord. This Psalm contains prayers to the eternal God so that He shows His mercy upon His servants constantly living under God's rod of wrath and His deadly threats. In spite of this, the psalmist is indeed an honest person, confessing his sins & weaknesses to the Lord, and has faith that he may appeal to His God who is not only just but is Love Himself.

There are many striking points that have been my personal discovery within this chapter. As early as the first verse, Moses has acknowledged that it is the Lord who becomes his dwelling place throughout generations. In Bahasa Indonesia, the phrase “shady place” or “safe haven” is used. If you’re not indoors and it’s suddenly raining all over, you’ll be rushing off to any dry spot. Either a shady tree, covered bus stop, enclosed train station, or porch of people’s house or shop on the street. These are the sorts of places which personify our Lord in protecting us from the drenching showers of rain or battering wind. Throughout generations means genealogical from great-great- grandparents, great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on endlessly. The Lord remains unchanged, never dying or finished like man, and consistently stays with us and our lengthy lineage since ages ago, now, and forever more.

From this point, Moses carries on to verse 2 where he declares the presence of pre-existing God prior to the universe, the earth and the mountains being born. The choice adverb of time to highlight the condition is ‘from everlasting to everlasting’. Man does have a beginning (when he/she comes out of their mother’s womb), but will not end (our soul won’t die). God is both beginningless and endless. He is there from everlasting to everlasting, so amazing. As for us, human of flesh and spirit, we’re really only trivial dust (v.3) easily gone at the blow of the wind.

Furthermore Moses’ contemplation brings us to a fact that the life of man spans like a dream just as the grass bud in the morning but wither soon in the afternoon on the same day. Time runs, even flies swiftly to our oblivion. Still fresh in my mind where I was about to enter the very first stage of my campus life with the compulsory Osmaba (new student orientation) program which was apparently a mere “formalised” occasion of the seniors bullying their juniors. But now, I would smile away at the reminiscence of those silly moments more than a decade ago. The human lifetime does travel forward (not in a circular way) so rapidly. Certainly there are lots of sins, old or new, that we have committed. Despite having been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, repented, and received Christ’s grace of forgiveness, we keep falling down the hedious traps of the devil. The prophet Moses openly admits this before God in verse 8. Moses is so fearful of God’s anger and wrath due to his transgressions. In verse 4, it dawns on him that 1000 years in the eyes of God is like a watch in the night. Then in verse 10, he contrasts it with the extent of human life reaching only for 70-80 years! At this point, can we possibly say that the days and years that we have walked past behind were full of significance and spiritual growth? Have we made any progress, in our roles, not merely as the recipient of God’s blessings, but more as the channel of His favors for other people?

Through a God-directed journey of life, Moses spent the entirety of his youth in the all-luxurious and sparkling palace of Pharaoh. During this time he made best use of studying the abundant repository of Egyptian knowledge and science of priceless value. At the second phase, Moses had had to live his life being guided by the Lord of shepherding sheep and goats in the barren desert. For this 40-year period, Moses suffered from loneliness and realised that he was nobody in the face of the mighty Lord (v.7). Which is probably the reason he got it off his chest in verse 9. Upon commencing his third 40-year when he was already 80, God commissioned him to lead the people of Israel out of the slavery in Egypt to go into the Promised Land. Physicallywise from human’s viewpoint, it was just impossible for someone in his eighties to be in charge of such a huge exodus. He was aware of this when he uttered verse 10. Nevertheless he did submit and comply under the authority of his God. In humbleness, he raised a prayer of request in v.12: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

This down-to-earth prayer is so beautiful and has such a deep level of reflections that it grows very famous and becomes a personal favorite of many Christians. Moses was thoughtful that his days would just be “gone with the wind” had he not walked it with the Lord all the way through. This verse implies a kind of time management concept where we should not make futile and underestimate the ‘grace of time’ that God has been giving day by day. Although a watch roster in the night is passing so briefly, perhaps at just the blink of an eye, it is still noteworthy. The various difficulties and miseries run into on the way were converted into learning occasions which dragged himself even closer to God and taught him to comprehend the meaning of life more broadly and wisely.

Moses also prayed: “Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble.”(v.15) Imagine such a fifty-fifty living! 50% is filled with laughter and sounds of joyfulness, the remaining 50% is clouded with grief and tears. Should we be honest, we would not say a prayer that we are granted unhappiness or suffering upon us. At best, we'd pray: “Lord, let your will be done! Give us the strength and comfort when we have to go through all these.” This is of course not an inappropriate prayer. But like Moses we can, in fact, learn to ask for a “balance” between joy and sorrow going through our days on this earth. Why did Moses have such a prayer? In the following verses (16-17), this faithful servant of God explained his reasons, i.e. that God’s children and His chosen people (including himself) could still witness the great acts and glory of God in whatever situation that befalls them. The splendor of God’s grandeur is only clearly demonstrated by those who have succeeded the exams of life in such forms as twists and turns, pressure, oxidation and reduction of this life and comes out as a renewed individual, more mature and sparkling. A Chinese proverb expresses it so nicely: Zhen jin bu pa huo, pa huo fei zhen jin (pure gold does not fear fire, the one which fears fire is not pure gold).

Having said all the above, Moses acknowledged the sovereignty of God who makes all things possible to happen and reinforce all the “mighty” works of human hands and brains, both of which are too given by God the Omnipotent Creator. In the serenity of night, shall we whisper this in prayer:

O God, our Lord in Christ

You are indeed the Creator of man and this universe

our stronghold and our safe haven

Pelt far away our sins hidden in the light of Your face

Let our feet trod on high places for the joy that flows from You

Through the years of our age in such a way

To present before You a heart of life springing. (EJ)

PS:
This piece is the updated and translated (from Bahasa Indonesia) devotional article appearing first time on Reformedia bulletin Vol.4 (Jun-Aug06). Please feel free to fill in the comment form if you would like a copy of the bulletin.