I teach my players how important it is to never, ever, ever give up! It would be a pretty poor example if I gave up and pulled my team from the pitch because they were down by 4 goals. It also doesn't show much confidence in them. I've had teams play their best games and even win when playing with only 10 or 11 players and some of those playing through minor injuries. It's a pretty simple conviction that my father taught me: NEVER give up!
About 8 years ago I had a club team that was outmatched in a game versus the #1 team from North Carolina. We were down 4-0 at half time. We did not even consider giving up. We outplayed them in the second half and lost 4-1. I could not have been prouder.
