An athletic lesson from the U.S. World Cup team
Regardless of age, talent alone can't compete with self-belief & a trusted support system.
I’ve watched the U.S. men’s national soccer team’s quadrennial World Cup performances for most of my life—about 12 of them. The current squad, known by the acronym USMNT, is different from any previous incarnation.
These guys are capable of competing with everyone and beating anyone, which neither I nor anyone else would have dared say during any previous World Cup. Not because of superior talent—impressive as they are, they’re not on the raw-talent level of the French, Argentine or Spanish teams—but because of a singular quality that they share with all top athletes, pro or amateur, regardless of age. So I thought I’d write a short post on this topic, for any athlete, of any gender, managing an aging body, athletic injuries or performance challenges that typically don’t show up before age 50 or 60.
What this USMNT has is self-belief, individually and collectively. Yes, they’re also flowing over with unprecedented natural-born physical talent and, unlike in years past, most are now playing with name-brand European clubs. Talent alone might let you qualify for this tournament but it won’t get you past the group stage and into the Round of 16, where this group of Americans—including many players born outside the U.S., I’ll add—now finds itself.
Self-belief is the sine qua non of performance regardless of age. At the gym, on the courts, during the race or in the office, stoking and achieving belief in one’s ability—including the ability to outperform one’s own circumscribed expectations—fuels all positive outcomes especially in the second half of life.
It’s such a simple observation about a quality so easy to overlook.
In case you missed it….
This USMNT squad exhibits radical self-belief, and its success thus far is the result.
These guys so obviously believe they can beat anyone. Watching their passing attacks and defensive structure, you can see how confidence, born of deep self-belief, allows these players to coordinate, trust and execute. This is a lesson anyone attempting to achieve, or begin, a level of athletic performance can absorb as a foundation for success.
Lack of self-belief or simply relying on only talent, conversely, often lead to stagnation or avoidance. Francis Tiafoe, the wildly gifted tennis pro who is capable of beating anyone in the world, often underperformed, he said recently, until he committed to doing the work that winning requires. The sentiments he expressed, recorded in a recent ESPN article published after an early-round win at the French Open, hint at the need for developing foundational self-belief.
They also underscore the athletic reality that talent alone doesn’t win Grand Slam tournaments, either.
The big takeaway: Believe you can do it, and if you can’t yet, figure out why and address the cause. Such work pays for itself many times over.
One other lesson from the USMNT’s performance this summer: a trusted support network takes you far, and keeps you winning even when you yourself may not have it on a particular day or week or season. Seek out and build your trusted support team for your athletic (or professional) goals.
That’s all from the Quantas Airlines gate at LAX. I believe the next 15 hours seated in a chair in the sky will yield more aging insights from Sydney, where I’ll write more in the coming days.