I’m a bit of a football fan. Not a huge one but big enough that I get excited when the World Cup comes around. I don’t know if you were watching last night but Brazil and North Korea played their opening game against each other in the so-called “Group of Death” – Brazil, North Korea, Portugal and the Ivory Coast. Before the start of the tournament, everyone had believed that it would be a three way tussle for the the top qualification places for the next round with North Korea left to make up the numbers.

However, after North Korea’s display last night where they eventually went down 2-1 to Brazil, one of the tournaments favourites to win, things could change. Regardless of the rumours flying around about North Korea and the team including that match would only be played in North Korea if they won, that the North Korean fans in the stadium were paid Chinese actors etc, I believe that the North Korean football team (Note: I say the team itself here. Not the country, of which I, like most people, know little about) won some fans on their own merit last night. According to a story in the Guardian, even Dunga, the Brazil manager, who usually is a man of very few words said:

“They passed really well and defended extremely well – it was really hard to play against adversaries that were so tough and defensive.”

Great praise indeed.

But what does this story have to do with this blog I can imagine you are thinking as you read this post?

For me, last nights game was all about teams and how they work together and compete and I think there are a few lessons in there for us as we build our teams in our businesses. So, what did I learn about two different teams last night:

• Different approaches can be successful – Both teams set themselves up differently. North Korea set themselves up to defend against one of the most talented teams in the world and to attack on the break or counter attack. They were successful in their strategy for 55mins until Brazil got their first goal. Against a lesser team, I believe that they could have gotten a better result: a draw or even a win. Portugal and the Ivory Coast on last night’s performance will not be taking them them lightly.
• Sometimes you’ve got to have a bit of luck (or extraordinary skill) to make the difference – For the majority of the game, Brazil had most of the possession but could not break North Korea down. Until Maicon scored in the 55th minute from an unbelievable angle. Call it luck or unbelievable skill. Either way, sometimes a bit of both is the difference between winning and losing.
• It doesn’t matter what you or other people say about you, it’s your actions that count – There were many rumours and jokes floating around about North Korea and their team before last night’s game. North Korea did their talking on the pitch. And, I believe, gained a lot of respect and fans for their performance last night.
• Persistence and patience pays – Brazil had to be patient and stick to their game plan. Despite a stifled performance, it was their persistence and patience that paid off in the end.
• It’s about the whole team and not just the individual stars – There were a number of ‘stars’ in the Brazil team that had a bit of an ‘off’ night and didn’t play as well as everyone had expected them to. However, what was noticeable was that everyone was involved and playing for the whole team even if they individually were not playing too well.

These are a few lessons that I thought of after last night’s match. What do you think? Did you watch the game? What did you learn?