Simple

Flying Soccer Ball

Landing softly on your foot

Cushioned by the grass

The haiku sounds simple, and it is. Yet whenever somebody thinks about writing a haiku it is always seen as difficult. Soccer is a lot like a Haiku. Legend Johan Cruyff said it best, “playing soccer is very simple but playing simple soccer is the hardest thing there is.” When watching, it looks so simple. A player receiving a pass? What could be so hard about that? But as a player, as the ball flies off a teammate's foot and is fizzing at you with speed, you need your foot in the most perfect position, with the most perfect angle in order for the ball to just stick. Like it is covered with glue. Or even a penalty; when watching a game, a spectator doesn’t appreciate the difficulty of a penalty. All they see is an open shot from 12 yards away. As a player, it's so much more. Which way is the goalie going to dive? What if I miss? What if I hit it over? It is no longer just an open shot from 12 yards away— it's so much more. What Cruyff meant by this is, just like writing, in soccer you need to master all the fundamentals in order to be great. If you just focus on the stuff you need and make them perfect, everything else will just fall into place.