If you play or have ever played soccer, I think you will especially appreciate this spectacular, stunning video. Aside from the fact the Nico Calabria plays many sports (he’s even climbed Kilimanjaro), what impressed me particularly was his scissor-kick goal. I want to focus my attention on this one goal; first, because it’s gone viral on the web, and second, because soccer is the sport I know best – I play and follow it – and so I find myself particularly struck by it.
Why has a goal like this become a worldwide phenomenon? I take for granted that soccer is the king of sports and that every player knows full well that a goal from a scissor kick – whether at school, university or professionally – is, in itself, worthy of being seen…so why? The answer seems to be obvious at first glance: scoring a goal like that,but with only one leg, is out of this world!
I say this because there is something deeper here that is worth showing, namely, that behind this spectacular success is a hidden testimony, which gives us pause for thought. It’s something very much from this world, something that reveals, reminds us of, and awakens, many of the deepest yearnings which we carry within: yearnings for greatness, for giving, for overcoming, for…infinity? This is the first point for drawing good reflections, to pass from the most superficial level of the spectacular to what is beneath, to what touches us deeply in this incredible video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lIe9_K4HZms
A testimony like this is very beneficial for awaking in us these longings, even just for a moment, and thereby showing us the great horizon that we can reach if we set ourselves to it, but which often we don’t try for. This may be either because of bourgeois criteria – “I prefer to keep things calm, comfortable, without so many sacrifices, etc” – or for an opposing criteria of fear in the face of sorrow or difficulty – “It’s not worth risking my life, I have too many problems, they’re too big, etc”. To this responds one who was born with only one leg and who went ahead with honor: our disabilities (problems, wounds, etc) are not what define us.
Finally, as the commentator says at the end, a picture speaks a thousand words. I think that the video can be useful to irrefutably demonstrate the banality and falseness of the thousands of words and arguments which so many sophists use in our time to make negative judgments, and sentence to life or death guys like Nico – who are disabled or sick. Yes, a picture of Nico Calabria is living proof that they are wrong; he not only refutes them by living life to the fullest, but even more fully than many of his peers without disabilities. Therefore, faced with the shameless pretence of so many who “want to protect, help them avoid a lower life, or one filled with suffering” – words which are heard behind proposals of abortion, euthanasia, eugenics, etc – it is necessary to show the facts, which speak louder than words. Nico Calabria’s story is another testimony that is worth sharing. Life is a great gift and our driving spirit opens us beyond all limits, without ceasing to surprise us.
