Last night was tough.
As an Englishman it still feels raw today.
Despite my own emotions there was a clear difference between the two teams yesterday.
For the last 35 minutes the tension in the game was high.
The pressure was intense.
England had just taken the lead.
You would think they would now be filled with confidence and composure.
That Argentina would be panicking and on the ropes rushing to get back in the game.
The stakes couldn’t have been higher to book a place in the World Cup final.
It would have made complete sense to lose some composure and control.
The time was running out.
However, what happened was very different.
Argentina showed a level of maturity only the most successful teams show.
They showed high levels of emotional intelligence, resilience, patience and control.
Total calmness.
They demonstrated it on another level.
They adopted a completely different mindset.
England gave them an opportunity to attack after changing their set up to defence after scoring the goal.
The type of defence most teams in the would struggle to break down.
The panic of trailing, the emotion of the occasion, the fear of failure all waiting to run the mental show which they so often do, having a major effect on performance.
But last night watching Messi and the majority of the Argentine side it was something special witnessing how calm they remained despite being a goal down.
All the way up until the 85th minute.
Still a goal down, yet they didn’t panic whatsoever.
All the way until they got the second goal a few minutes later they were so calm and collected.
They carried on playing their way.
England simply couldn’t handle the pressure.
They became more and more stressed.
The panic was intensifying,
This made them retreat further.
It made their decisions poorer.
They were on the ropes.
Argentina pushed further forward knowing it was just a matter of time.
They were an example of how to handle stress under pressure through staying calm, maintaining control, and knowing that opportunity will come.
Belief, patience and calmness under high tension situations.
England were looking at the clock, they were stressed, and it showed.
When it really mattered, they lost some belief.
They lost control, composure and therefore the ability to think clearly like they did in the first half.
Their mindset had changed completely.
They simply didn’t know how to manage the pressure of the situation - albeit a great one, being in the lead.
They became more afraid to lose than to go and win the game.
The Argentines were the opposite.
They smelt blood and upped the tempo yet they never lost their composure with the ball.
They knew if they kept level headed and bided their time the opportunities would come.
They maintained this belief deep into the game.
In the end the opportunities did come and two crucial ones won them the game.
There’s a huge lesson there for England moving forward.
But there is one for outside of football altogether.
That staying calm and composed in the most pressured, stressful of moments will give us the tools we need.
If we stay in control of our emotions we maintain power.
Our thinking stays sharp and we make much better decisions.
We remain calm and see solutions.
By building and maintaining this mindset we can overcome and win just about anything.
Argentina were the perfect example of this last night.
See you in four years with some lessons learned!
Nick.