Last night, all of Egypt went to bed with a knot in their stomach. But here is the thing: Egypt didn’t just play in the round of 16.
Egypt led it with its insistence, determination, and fearlessness against the reigning world champions, against Messi.
For 79 minutes, our national team had Argentina rattled, down two goals, staring down one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history. And then, in a cruel final stretch, it slipped away. 3-2. The kind of ending that makes you want to throw the remote.
Of course, our kids were watching with us and felt sadness and disappointment when the goals slipped away. But in this moment is a very rare parenting moment where we teach our kids the perfect lesson.
Before giving any pep talk about resilience, our kids need actually to know that what happened was history.
Egypt has never in history reached this stage of the World Cup before; to get to this stage, we beat New Zealand and Australia, and finally our national team walked into a stadium in Atlanta against Argentina, and the match was led by two goals, till unfortunately, it ended with our loss by three goals.
Our kids need to know plainly that our players did not fail us.
They gave us something that we have never had before, which is reaching round 16 of the World Cup and losing narrowly to the best team in the world, after leading them for most of the match. This is a mark of pride, not shame.
Through what happened, we can teach our kids how to hold both feelings at once. Even most adults have not mastered this skill yet; you can be disappointed and proud in the same breath. You don’t have to pick one.
Don’t rush them with “it’s just a game” because to them and even to us it isn’t. But sit with them in it for a minute and then gently turn the page.
That's a much healthier lesson than "don't get upset" or "don't get too invested." Feeling things deeply, and then moving forward anyway, that's the whole game, on and off the pitch.
The bigger lesson: how we cope with loss and with people being unfair to us.
Losing in a game must give our kids perseverance and persistence to be better and better. Not frustration, not “this is the end of the world,” but take it as a chance to get up once more and keep trying.
Here, I am not only talking about football but life in general. Our kids are going to face people who might be unfair to them, maybe because of their ethnicity or background, because people are not the same.
Teach them early: that kind of unfairness says nothing about who they are. It's a reflection of the person being unfair, never a verdict on your worth. The answer is never to shrink or carry bitterness around with it. It's to keep showing up, keep working, and let your actions speak for you.
That's resilience: feel it, then rise anyway.
Egypt lost to Argentina last night, but our national team won our hearts and love. Last night, Egypt announced itself to the world that it is a worthy country; however, such a heartbreaking moment can be a little tough to teach to eight-year-olds, and that’s exactly the thing worth teaching again and again until it sticks. Pride and disappointment can share a room.
That’s not just a lesson for football season; that is a lesson for life.
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