Last night, when I should have been upstairs trying to sleep, I was instead watching one of the oldest international football (soccer) rivalries in the world: England v. Scotland. I was also tracking the Bosnia v. USA game on my iPad, as it wasn't on TV. The US came back from 2-0 down to win 4-3. I was ecstatic. However, the England - Scotland game was even at 2 all, and I wasn't going to leave before the end of that game. The threat of a fight between players is always a possibility when the Auld Enemies take the pitch. Happily, there wasn't any. But there was a bit of magic that really was inspiring. Real "Roy of the Rovers" stuff.
I'd only heard of Rickie Lambert previously because he played for Southampton, and last season they played beautiful football. Rickie was one of the reasons for that. Turns out, Rickie is one of the few players to have scored in all four divisions of the professional football league in England. He's played at the lowest professional level, where if you're relegated you're semi-pro, and then moved to one of the biggest stages in the Premiership. It's amazing really, and he's a hard worker with the ability to pop up at the right place and time for a goal. The thing is, Rickie Lambert is 31, and had never been selected for the England National squad. Good rule of thumb: If you've not been selected before you're 26, there's a pretty good chance you won't be ever. Heck, Southampton deity Matt Le Tissier was only capped 8 times in his career and you have to mention his name in a hush if you're in St. Mary's ground, the home of Southampton. So the chances of him getting a game, or even a call up, were almost nil.
Roy Hodgson decided to call him up anyway for the friendly. I mean, he'd done quite well with the Saints, so why not? Not like he was going to get into the game, right? Not with people on the bench like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin, Jermaine Defoe or Wilfried Zaha. But, Hodgson gave him a run out. And so, in the 67th minute, Rickie Lambert, at the age of 31, came on for Wayne Rooney to earn his first international cap for England.
In the 70th minute, off a corner kick, Rickie lost his man, jumped above everyone else and, with his very first touch of the ball in an international game, nodded it into the right corner of the goal. Let me tell you, it was awesome to see the joy on his face, and on those of his teammates, as he celebrated the storybook finish. (He did miss an open goal shortly before the end of the game hitting the right post with a bullet shot, but that'll be airbrushed out when he tells the grandkids about it later in life.) Rickie Lambert was at one time in the lowest position in Professional football. He could have resigned himeself to never going further, playing in lower divisions for the rest of his career, calling it a day, and lived a very happy life. Many players do that. However, he kept trying. Playing for Rochdale he kept trying. Playing for Stockport County he kept trying. Heck, playing for Macclesfield Town he kept trying. Finally he got to ride with Southampton from League One, through the Championship to the Premiership and ending with a trip to represent his country on the turf of Wembley. Doesn't get much better than that, does it?
You know, watching that, and thinking of all the stuff that we all go through each day, it goes to show that you can always try and you won't succeed if you don't even try. My Lovely Little Girl does this every day. She tries her best, and is doing well considering all the difficulty she has just sitting still. ADHD and Autism Spectrum are not things that are easy to conquer, but I know she'll keep trying. Maybe I can tell her one day about Rickie Lambert, or Temple Grandin, or even Einstein who didn't talk until he was 4, and let her know she can do whatever she sets out to do, even when the odds are against you.
Thanks, Rickie. You're an inspiration.
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