Eddie Arcaro dreamed of becoming the world’s greatest jockey but after
watching him ride a horse for five minutes, reality reflected a harsh
contradiction. He was awkward and clumsy, and in his early years in the
saddle he couldn’t do one thing right. He was left behind at the post,
he got trapped in traffic jams, he got bumped and boxed in. In his first
100 races he never even came close to winning. Still, he got right back
on and tried again.

Last Saturday, 16th of May 2009, happens to be a great day for me and all Manchester United fan all over the world. The GREATEST team in the world claimed its third Premiership title in a row and also equaled Liverpool F. C.’s history of winning eighteen (18) League championships.

It was amazing seeing United lift their fourth trophy this season, starting with the Charity Shield. I couldn’t help but stand in awe of these great achievements as the players celebrate another trophy. I was watching with excitement when the interview session came and I got a glimpse of how the Great Sir Alex Ferguson brought the team this far from the humble beginning.

I was listening to Sport Radio, Brila FM, this morning and the Big Larry himself was doing a feature on FC Barcelona’s coach, Josep “Pep” Guardiola. One striking thing about his story is that Guardiola started at Barcelona as a ball boy before working his way up the ladder of the club.

From the programme, I learnt that when he started as a ball boy, he had his sight on moving up the ranks and was willing to work hard in order to achieve his aim. From being a ball boy, he went to the Barcelona academy where he graduated to the junior team. He later went on to captain Barca’s senior team and also play for the Spanish National team.