This weekend, the world’s greatest sports event is coming to an end (at least for the next 4 years) and I must confess that since I’m Brazilian, it took me well over a week to recover from the unexpected loss to Holland in the quarter finals. I should also confess that my healing process started to take place the day after the loss, when Argentina’s Maradona was brutalized by the young and vibrant Germany.

My intention with this post is not to cry over spilled milk (believe me, I was going through major withdrawal this week as I saw Holland, Uruguay, Spain and Germany play), but to take some practical lessons from this sporting event. I believe that this should be our attitude with all of life. Here are a few lessons.

1. Victory does not always belong to the strong. Brazil came into the competition ranked as #1 in the FIFA ranks, had the best track record in terms of success in the World Cup, the best individual talent and, a coach that (in my opinion) played smart and did a very good job in selecting and preparing a team. But, in the end, they were disqualified for the second time in a row in the quarter finals. It was great to see teams like Japan in the round of 16, Ghana and Paraguay in the quarter finals and, Uruguay in the semi-finals. Even the two finalists are countries that have never had the privilege to sew a star in their jerseys. Spain has never been in the finals in 80 years of World Cup history.

2. Invest in the next generation. Italy and France were in Spain’s and Holland’s respective places four years ago but this year, things were very different for them… to say the least. Italy didn’t win one game in the whole tournament and France imploded in an internal crisis going home with one, I said one, miserable point. Why? Looking back you will see that both the teams (especially Italy) were filled up with veterans with a lot of experience but with slower reflexes and smaller gas tanks compared to the teams that succeeded (such as Germany, Ghana and Spain) in which the average age was in the early twenties. Pele won his first of three world cups at the age of 17.

3. Individual players can’t win by themselves. The Lionel Messis, the Drogbas, the Rooneys and, the Cristiano Ronaldos did nothing, nothing this world cup!! Their performances were at best mediocre when compared to what they are able to accomplish in their clubs. Why? Because C.Ronaldo needs good players to create with him and Drogba needs mild-fielders to serve him. Messi and Rooney, I don’t have much to say… they simply sucked! On the other hand you have the positive example of guys like Donovan and Uruguay’s Forlan that carried their teams as super heroes in their bare backs. They were both phenomenal but it doesn’t help when you have guys like Dempsey on your team.

4. In adversity, keep emotional composure. Got plenty of examples for this one. Brazil played a great first half. After Robinho’s goal in the beginning of the game I had no doubt that they would make it to the finals. I was wrong. Brazil lost the game in a stupid-pure luck play 8 minutes into the second half. After that goal, they lost emotional composure which led to Holland’s second goal, the loss of structure in the formation of the team and to Felipe’s well deserved red card – the same happened to Mexico against Argentina and Argentina against Germany. France’s emotional crisis led to an investigation from their parliament and Ghana lost the game in the last second because of one’s player emotional execution of a penalty shot.

5. Take advantage of your momentum. Dave Ramsey says that when you have momentum you look better than you actually are, which explains why things keep happening for you. That’s Holland. My prediction is that they will win their first cup not because they have a great team but because they look better than they actually are to the Spanish team. They have been undefeated in the tournament and most of all have beaten Brazil.