The following text contains many details of sports content that may not be of interest to many. However, I considered them necessary so that the reader of the article could understand the background that created the mental composition of each athlete and each team.
On Thursday 4/10/2018 in Frankfurt, Germany, within the framework of the Europa League, the local Eintracht played against the Italian Lazio. Marco Russ and Lucas Torro were in the starting line-up for Eintracht and Francesco Acerbi in Lazio.
Marco Russ, 33, and Francesco Acerbi, 30, were diagnosed with cancer in 2016 and 2013, respectively. They normally started the long journey of recovery and both returned to the field with their teams trusting them by giving them a contract and counting them as their key executives.
Lucas Torro, a few hours before this important European match, learned that his beloved brother had died. His team gave him the freedom to travel directly to his homeland, Spain, to be close to his family during these difficult times. He chose to stay in Germany and be at the disposal of his coach for the match against Lazio.
None of the three changed and they fought throughout the match. After the game, Marco Russ and Francesco Acerbi exchanged shirts with the Italian defender of Lazio posting a day later on his personal Instagram account a photo from the moment they exchanged shirts with the message “Never give up”.
For his part, Lucas Torro, who was crossing his own Golgotha, after the end of the game, fell on the grass and began to cry. Then his teammates ran to him and made a circle around him hugging, something that was announced on Twitter by the official profile of the team.
The whole team, athletes and technical staff, stood by their teammate, acknowledging the fact that he set the team as a priority in this difficult time.
A third who would not know the individual stories of the athletes would just look at the result: Eintracht won 4-1. However, the final score is probably in the background, as the victory of these three athletes in the fight with their demons, on a symbolic level, overshadowed everything. No one claims that such battles with the greatest enemy, death, are not fought by other people, and in fact, many are under much more difficult economic and non-economic conditions, but this does not mean that the perseverance, stubbornness, and self-denial of these professional athletes cease. to serve as an example to imitate other people who struggle daily and see failure or, even worse, death in front of them.
This race, with its many symbolisms, is another example of the enormous dynamics of the sport. A sport where the main goal is not the immediate result but the multifaceted development of people with sensitivities and fists. In order to achieve this development, the appropriate psychological support is necessary in difficult and easy times. The help of the psychologist and the sensitivity of the athletes is not a condemnation of sins, but rather a lifeline in times when everything seems in vain and sad. But also in moments when the athletes and all the members of a team feel good spiritually, say 8 out of 10, why not help a sports psychologist to maintain this feeling or to reach 9 out of 10 or even 10 out of 10?
PS1. Eintracht finished the year finishing 7th in the German Championship, reaching the Europa League semi-finals, where they were hardly eliminated by the eventual winner Chelsea. A very dignified course within the goals of the team and Lucas Torro was a key executive.
PS2. Lazio finished 8th in the Italian league and Francesco Acerbi was a key figure throughout the season.
Vasilis Xernos
Psychologist-Sports Psychologist-Psychotherapist