And Shane Falco’s Quicksand
I am sure even if you are not a soccer (football for the rest of us) fan, by now you have heard about the dismantling of Brazil by Germany on July 8th.
I have always had a soft spot for Brazil. I remember being six years old and watching Pele and Brazil defeat Italy 4-1 at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. Some memories just stick with you.
As I have gotten older, however, my emotions have somewhat taken a back seat to logic. The fact is, in my opinion, Germany has been the most impressive team over the past three World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014). Ironically, the team traditionally known as producing “blonde robots” is now playing some of the most beautiful soccer, and the team traditionally known as playing the “beautiful game” has morphed over the past two decades into something else (I am, of course, taking about Brazil).
Regardless, how can a strong team such as Brazil be defeated 7-1, in their own country? The last time Brazil lost in their own turf was 1975 (62 undefeated games!). Brazil has never lost by more than 4 goals. So what happened? Perhaps too much pressure on the players to perform well finally took its toll?
I am not sure why this occurred, but it reminded me of the speech Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves) made in the movie “The Replacements”.
Unfortunately, we sometimes create our own quicksand (drug addiction, for example). But sometimes we just get stuck in such situations. I sometimes have a difficult case: the patient has a bleeder which takes a while to control, some of the secondary cases I do with me not having been the primary surgeon can often be very challenging, since I am literally going into the unknown! The advantage I have is I can at least control the pace of the surgery and gather my composure and thoughts. Obviously, when one is playing against another team, such control may be almost impossible to achieve.
I still have a soft spot for Brazil and I pray they will play their last game at this World Cup with flair and the same joy I remember back in Pele’s time.
I also hope none of us will ever have to face quicksand!
Michael Jazayeri, M.D. is a board certified plastic surgeon in Santa Ana with over decades of experience. His office is located in Orange County, California. For a consultation, please call (714) 834-0101.