Name : Abhishek Marwaha

The Beautiful Game

The purpose of psychology is to give us a
completely different idea of the things we know best Paul Valery. The
psychology of winning in soccer has many different aspects to it and a
part of my study includes listening to a fresh perspective in the form of
an interview. This interview is important for my study because , in
addition to reading books and articles , the perspective of an expert in
the field is important. I decided to interview Onur Cn , a senior at
Purdue university majoring in psychology. He has done extensive
research on psychology in sport and is also an avid soccer player, .I
feel he is perfectly adept to perfrom the role of an interviewee for this
topic. I was excited to know what an expert in the field had to say. The
purpose behind the interview was to get an insight into what makes
winning teams elite and what it takes for soccer players , mentally , to
drive their physical capacities to the limit to win the ultimate prize, of
winning.
I met with Onur in the Krack leadership centre and the
interview lasted around ten to fifteen minutes. The interview began
and naturally it took its course. We started talking about last weeks
soccer fixtures , that seemed to make him a bit more comfortable. The
first question I asked him was what was his opinion on winning and
loosing in general in a soccer game to which he responded in a very

relaxed and cool manner that winning and loosing was an interesting
question, which depends on the person, but for him , winning is as
important as loosing. The reason he said this was because to win one
needs to loose first, one needs to know what one is not doing and
start doing what one supposed to . I was very impressed with the
answers as it seemed simple on the surface but it was tied with
complexity to the very core of its meaning. The next question I asked
him was what does it take for teams to win a soccer game, was it all
about an equal amount of physical and mental preparedness or was
one aspect more important than the other to which he responded If
players are mentally strong only then they will be physically strong
because to be physically strong the player needs mental toughness.
Mental toughness with respect to showing up for training every day ,
not being lackadaisical at training and giving everyday his two hundred
percent, so you could say mental toughness and determination is what
really makes for individuals to progress in their game. When it comes
to teamwork , what some players fail to realize that soccer is a team
game , for a team to win in soccer , no matter how good the individual
players , the team will loose if they dont play as a team. The team
should be cohesive unit mentally, only then will teams start to win
consistently. The next question I had for him was how do some
teams perform extremely well under pressure compared to other
teams such as in he case of world cup finals etc. He replied , This is an

age old question even I have had. The intrigue that revolves around
this question is mystifying , but I will tell you what I have gathered
from tons of research on this topic. In big matches the pressure is on
both teams equally , they both have the same mindset to go out and
win the game but when it comes down to it some players crack under
the pressure, and that is because they simply havent been trained in
that way. For example in the world cup final of 2010 when Spain and
Netherlands were fighting for the world cup , Arjen Robben
(Netherlands) missed an easy chance that he would have score any
other day of the year .That missed chance cost Netherlands the world
cup as Andres Iniesta (Spain) scored in the dying embers of the game.
The difference between these two teams was their training leading up
the matches. Vincent Del Bosque , the coach of Spain made it very
clear in his documentary that he trained the team in the same mindset
every game. He told his players to treat every game like the world cup
final , so the players were used to that amount of pressure and in the
end they were the ones who lifted the trophy. On that Netherlands
looked outplayed Spain for most of the match but the pressure got to
Netherlands and they couldnt convert the easiest of chances whereas
Spain injury time winner was made from absolutely nothing I counter
questioned him on that point asking him whether sometimes teams
such as Spain just get lucky to which he replied Luck only favors the
prepared I would left speechless at the gravity of that statement.

It was almost time for him to go , so I squeezed in another

question .My question to him was what can teenagers who play soccer
improve their game mentally to which he replied Concentration is vital
..along with a love for the game and most importantly , to have fun
while playing! This answer was perhaps what is fundamentally
required from the players , a love and dedication to the game .
(O. Can, personal communication, March 27th, 2015)
The ten minutes flew by very quickly but provided me with
enough information for my topic. I thanked Onur for his time and his
inputs. The interview gave me a much needed and deep insight into
the psychology of winning in soccer, that it is not just about training
hard , but training smart. His inputs helped me conclude that players
need to train under pressure to perform at their peak whent the
circumstances get daunting. I was very pleased and grateful for his
inputs and the fact that I had the opportunity to interact with such a
knowledgble man. He made my research rich with vital bits of
information it was missing .It was pleasure interviewing him as he dint
not have any formal resistance when answering any question. Thus I
feel I gained more than what I had originally expected to gain , out of
the interview. The various examples and opinions Onur provided are
sure to shape my research in the positive direction.