Red Card Narrative

The Red Card A red card flashes to a player in soccer, this is the most detrimental penalties. This small card has the power to take away a player from its team, leaving them outnumbered and at an arresting disadvantage. Not only is the team physically at a disadvantage, mentally many players abandon effort and accept loss. This mentality is a mistake many players, including myself, wish they could travel back in time and change immediately. I have virtually played soccer my entire life. It’s inconceivable to me to reflect on my past without soccer being involved. I have played in plenty of games in which a player on my team has received a red card. Players, coaches, and “soccer moms” would cringe at the sight of the deadly card knowing that their team now has to play a man down. There are two mental stages I would go through when a player received a red card: First there was animosity. Not only would I be utterly disgusted with the referee’s decision, I would be enraged with my teammate for their

Conversely, he was not distraught as we were; he used the red card as motivation to win the game. He expressed adamantly, “Listen, we’re down a man, but let’s not hang our heads. Let’s beat this team with ten and give all of our effort. If the result isn’t what we wanted, and we worked as hard as we could, then there is nothing to be ashamed about.” His sense of pride and desire and struck all ten players like a lightning bolt. As the half started, we came out of the huddle a different team. The passion each of us played with was superlative. It was without a doubt the best game I have ever participated in. Although we were down a man, to a person watching it looked as if we were running circles around the other team. We netted four goals to the opposing team’s lone goal. The exuberance I felt that day was a feeling that could not be matched by any other winning result I had in the