FERNANDO Torres' goal against Manchester United on Saturday was intriguing because in a flash of a few seconds it told us so much about sport and himself. First, that contests are often decided, in any sport, by a mistake.
No doubt athletes have moments of classical inspiration, whether Tiger Woods hitting a sweeping three-wood to six feet of a pin, or Messi threading through a defence like a committed shopper through a crowd at a sale.
But usually it's the errors that collect slowly, the missed putts from other golfers, the two double faults in a game, the fumbling goalkeeper. Inconsistency is often fatal. Sometimes a single error is catastrophic, sometimes the sheer weight of errors sinks a player. In the Australian Open final, Roger Federer hit 21 more winners than Rafael Nadal, but more pertinently he made 23 more unforced errors. No doubt Federer is more a shotmaker, Nadal a retriever, yet this error count was crucial.
On Sunday, at the WGC-CA championships, Phil Mickelson's victory was helped along by a massive mistake from his rival Nick Watney. On the 12th hole, a par five, Mickelson's drive went under a plant, he hit out, pushed his third into the rough and managed to get onto the green in four and eventually made bogey.
Watney, who was one shot behind Mickelson then, hit a perfect drive and was 246 yards from the green. He should have easily put his second shot on the green and two-putted for birdie and left the hole one shot ahead of Phil. Instead he hit into the bunker, took two shots to get out of the bunkier, missed a par putt and also had a bogey. As Watney said later: "I'm going to look back at 12. I probably gave away two shots there.''
On Saturday, Vidic erred, surprisingly and badly. In speed, in timing, in judgement. Why he erred we cannot say. Was he being harassed by Torres and unsure, did he lose his concentration and was thus a quarter of a second too slow, was his decision-making awry? Either way, while the error was like unlocking a door, the error itself is not enough for a match to turn.
The other actor, in this case Torres, must be alive to the error so that he can react to it. It's probably why coaches always insist "concentrate, concentrate", because in a 90-minute match it's possible you may get only one one opportunity, or two, in the first minute and the 89th minute, and you have to be alert for it, recognise the opportunity, take it. And Torres did this beautifully. He was ready.
Torres is 1.85 metres tall and muscular. He does not have the low centre of gravity that many great footballers have, yet for a large man his balance is extraordinary. Perhaps he tightrope walks in his spare time. Basketballers, probably the best big athletes in sport, incredibly athletic and nimble for fellows inching towards seven feet, would approve of Torres' footwork.
The Spaniard is fast and on Saturday he showed how fast. Yet it was fascinating that even though he was sprinting on Saturday, even though he was caught in the middle of this moment of chaos, speed, control, adrenaline, noise, even though he knew he had to score, Torres didn't rush. He didn't just blast the ball, he didn't hurry. In fact he took an extra step, waiting for the goalie to dip a shoulder, to make some sort of commitment.
Great athletes often say time slows down for them, or that in the midst of madness they stay calm. Perhaps that happened for Torres. Either way, we often take this ability to think rapidly on the move, to decide and act in a nanosecond, for granted, but it is a wonderful skill.
Finally, Torres has to execute. When Van der Sar comes out, he leaves a tunnel of roughly half a metre or thereabouts for Torres to slot the ball through. Torres has to be perfect. A little to the right and he hits the goalie, a little to the left and he hits the post. He's threading a needle with his foot, which is of course what makes football an astonishing game, and he directs the ball neatly into the corner.
Torres reminded me that evening that the simplest goal is still a complicated act. So many small skills go into a goal and I marvel at every one of them.