Professor Gray's Lesson
Dearest prof Christian Gray, you scored a goal in the Club World Cup against Boca Juniors , Maradona's team, and we, your students at Auckland Grammar School, are tremendously proud of you. We are waiting for you, but in the meantime, take this letter that comes from the heart. Well, prof, it wasn't easy after that 10-0 against Bayern... Everyone was making fun of us. "Your prof was a good defender... How did it go? Two missed tries? It was rugby, right?". We didn't explain that you stayed on the bench, because you taught us that we win and lose as a team. And you taught us that there is a modesty in victory that the Germans evidently don't know. What was the need to look for the 10th goal in the 89th minute?
But, above all, you taught us that sport is not about winning or losing, but how to win and how to lose, how to honor the game and the shirt. You told us a thousand times that for you that Hector is no less a hero than Achilles. We understood what you wanted to tell us when, after another 6 goals conceded by Benfica, we saw you fight like lions, on equal terms, against the glorious Boca. And when we saw you rise to the sky, beyond the walls of Troy, where Diego could only reach with his hand, and smash into the net the first historic goal by a New Zealander in a Club World Cup, Hector became Achilles and we started dancing a wild haka that those who mocked us will never understand… We have been eliminated, you remain an amateur with another job, but we feel like we have won. We are waiting for you at school, teacher! We will not leave the equipment in a mess in the gym anymore, promise.
La Gazzetta dello Sport
