So, Wendell Lira popped into my head the other day. Remember him? The guy who won the Puskás Award back in 2015. Yeah, that Wendell Lira. It wasn’t Messi, wasn’t Ronaldo, it was this chap playing in the Brazilian lower leagues. Wild, right?
I remember seeing that goal. It was this crazy spinning bicycle kick thing after a nice team move. Honestly, just watching it felt unreal. How does a guy relatively unknown pull that off on a stage big enough to get noticed for the Puskás?
My Own Go at Glory
It got me thinking back then. Like, really thinking. If this fella could score that goal, maybe I could pull off something way out of my league too. Not football, mind you. My knees wouldn’t survive a bicycle kick attempt, not even on soft grass. No, I got this idea to build a custom arcade cabinet from scratch. I mean, total scratch. Woodwork, wiring, setting up the emulation software, the whole nine yards.
I got started, you know? Bought some MDF boards, printed out some plans I found somewhere. Got my jigsaw out. Man, the mess I made. Sawdust everywhere. My first few cuts were totally crooked. I spent hours just trying to get two pieces of wood to join at a right angle. It looked simpler in the videos, always does.
- First attempt: Box was wobbly. Looked like it would fall apart if you sneezed near it.
- Second attempt: Got the frame sort of okay, but messed up the measurements for the monitor space.
- Wiring: Don’t even get me started. Following diagrams felt like trying to read ancient hieroglyphics. Lots of trial and error. Mostly error.
My mates thought I was nuts. “Why not just buy one?” they’d say. “You’re wasting your time, man.” They’d come over, see the pile of badly cut wood and tangled wires, and just kinda smirk. Felt a bit like how people probably viewed Lira before that goal, just some guy dreaming big, maybe too big.
The Switch-Up
I never actually finished that arcade cabinet properly. It ended up being a half-finished eyesore in the garage for a year before I salvaged the monitor and controls for something else. It was way harder than I thought, and honestly, the criticism kinda got to me after a while. I just lost steam.
And that brings me back to Wendell Lira. What did he do after his moment of glory? He quit football relatively young and became a professional FIFA player! Talk about a pivot. From scoring arguably the best goal of the year to playing video games for a living. I bet loads of people scoffed at that too. “Giving up the dream,” they probably said. But he seemed pretty successful at it, carved out a new niche for himself.
Thinking about it now, maybe that’s the real takeaway. It’s not just about that one spectacular moment, like the goal, or like me thinking I could build an arcade machine overnight. It’s about trying stuff, even if it seems weird or impossible. And it’s also about knowing when to switch tracks, find something else you’re good at or passionate about, even if people don’t get it. Lira did it. I kinda did it too, by ditching the impossible arcade project and using the parts for simpler things I could actually finish. Still stings a bit that I didn’t complete the big project, but hey, you live and learn, right?
