Rise of a Football God

Sam's first game on the international stage ended with a 4-0 win to his country where he grabbed an assist and Ademola Lookman got a hattrick.

Ademola Lookman won the man of the match award.

One of the key moments of that memory that made him exceedingly happy after the game was when his coach approached him. "You did well Sam, that was a tidy performance".

'He doesn't hide his praise!' This was a welcome surprise, Sam was excited. 'This means I'll have an easier time of worming my way into his heart'.

To him, that exchange was the best aspect of his debut.

Immediately after the game, Sam drove back to his family home right there in Abuja where he met his father who was already drunk in joy and passion.

Mr. Moses was a lot of things, and one of those things he was biggest in was that he was a patriotic Nigerian despite how bad the Nigerian economy was turning into. And he was an even bigger football fan.

The middle-aged man once tried to play football professionally but failed.

Seeing his son fulfilling this dream on his behalf, playing for a club in England was already a great source of pride for him, but playing for Nigeria?

To Mr. Moses, there was no greater pride than that.

When Sam gave that unreal assist, while watching the game on his TV, this middle-aged man could not hold himself as tears streamed down his eyes.

He felt like the luckiest dad in the whole world.

…

A few days later, Sam joined the rest of his teammates as they went on a trip to Rwanda where they would play their last game of the international break.

The game was scheduled for 10th September.

In this game, the Nigerian coach, Finidi George started with the same line-up and players, making just a single change as he replaced Alex Iwobi with Dele-Bashiru who completed the midfield quadruple today.

Rwanda played with a unique 4-4-1-1 formation.

It was clear that despite playing at home, Rwanda intended to play defensive football. And when the referee's whistle eventually sounded, they did just that.

FWEEEE!

The game started incredibly slowly as this Rwanda side showed their coach's philosophy, playing a slow paced, physical, and grueling game.

The Nigerian defense barely got any work as they snuffed out any Rwandan counterattack on time, but the midfielders and offensive players were having a horror day at work against the defensive block of their opponents.

The players who were supposed to be creative on the pitch were finding it incredibly hard to create anything noteworthy.

In recent times, Nigerian coaches have been heavily criticized by fans for playing boring defensive football despite having such an elite crop of attackers. And maybe they were right because today, there was zero creativity against the Rwandan defense as frustration mounted on the pitch.

Only Ademola Lookman looked lively in attack, constantly driving at the Rwandan defense. He threatened but he got nothing to show for it.

The first half ended in a drab goalless draw.

During half-time, Finidi George was highly critical of his players as he gave a few instructions before sending them back to the pitch with no change made.

And well, that was a decision that the coach learned to rue.

The drab performance continued as the Rwandans showed no intentions of coming out of their shell. Clearly, they were more than glad to settle with a draw.

And despite the boring display, the Rwandan fans showed no signs of displeasure as their voice remained loud. They were firmly behind their team.

'So fans can actually love a display like this'. Sam's eyes widened. 'No, I don't think it's love, they know they're the underdogs so they just want to win'.

'They don't care how their team do it, if they can't win, then a point'.

'They're satisfied with a point'.

Today, Sam's eyes opened to the reality of international football and it was safe to say that it was an eye opener.

But still, he itched to take part in the proceedings. He constantly threw glances his coach's way that were yet to be answered.

After some time, Finidi George finally made a bunch of offensive changes as he swapped out his whole forward trio and 1 of his midfielders, introducing Frank Onyeka, Victor Osimhen, Moses Simon, and Awoniyi.

Immediately, these fresh players injected much needed energy into the game as Nigeria became much more threatening.

Osimhen, the lethal striker repeatedly unleashed dangerous shots after entering the game, but none of it bore fruit yet as the game drew to an end.

This continued till the 80th minute.

At this point, Finidi George felt exhausted since his team already tried everything in their arsenal to break the opponents' defensive block to no avail.

With nothing to lose, he made another change, introducing Sam into this game at the 80th minute.

Sam did not think about anything, not even the opportunity that he just got. As he jogged into this pitch, he thought of only one thing.

'Win!' 'Win!' 'Win!'

He already started chanting the mantra in his head.

It seemed childish, the delusions of someone yet to recognize the immensity of mount Tai but that was Sam's mantra and it worked for him.

As soon as Sam entered this game, it changed. Like a Dragon spreading its dominion over its territory, he chased down every ball that passed through his area in the middle of the pitch with rabid energy.

His energy enabled him to steal the ball within just a minute of entering the pitch. Immediately, the Rwandan players responded to his threat with multiple players swarming him.

Sam didn't panic as with his spatial awareness, his highest mastered skill at the advanced mastery level, he spotted Victor Osimhen's markers briefly leave him in reaction to his movement.

'Wrong move!'

Bam!

Sam moved instinctively, caressing the ball with the outside of his boot while threading it through the Rwandan players with deadly accuracy.

Time seemed to stop as the ball arrived before the Nigerian striker.

"…!" This stadium briefly froze as Victor Osimhen got the ball, unmarked in the 18-yard box.

This striker took one touch of the ball to control it, and then with his second touch he unleashed a powerful shot at goal.

The Rwandan goalkeeper was rooted to the spot, but then…

BAM!

It hit the bar!

Victor Osimhen tried to pounce on the rebound but he was bundled out of the way by the tall and physical Rwandan defenders.

On his knees, Osimhen grabbed his head in agony at the missed opportunity.

"What an impact from the substitute!"

"He almost just became a super sub, what a steal and pass!"

Sam did not listen to the commentator though, he only listened to the voice in his head.

'Win!' 'Win!' 'Win!'

When the game continued, recognizing his threat now, every time Sam received the ball in a dangerous position, multiple Rwandan players moved to respond to his threat but that was not enough to stop Sam.

In the short time he was on the pitch, he set up Moses Simon who took another shot that the in-form Rwandan goalkeeper stopped.

And then, he unleashed a thunderous outside the box shot only for the goalkeeper to tip it over the bar for a corner.

Sam ruffled his black hair in frustration but he quickly recovered, preparing for the corner.

When the corner kick was taken, a determined Sam rose highest, planting a firm header towards goal only for the goalkeeper to catch it again.

"Come on!" Sam screamed as the frustration of his teammates started getting to him; his blood burned hot like a volcano.

90 minutes already elapsed, they had just 4 minutes of extra time.

In the last 4 minutes, every Rwandan player camped in their defense, weathering storm after storm of Nigerian attacks.

Sam's inclusion into the pitch infused rabid attacking energy into the Nigerian side as they kept on going and then in the 90th plus 1 minute, Sam did it.

Showcasing his title as Space Interpreter again, Sam drifted into space in the 18-yard box through the blind spot of the Rwandan defenders like an assassin, ghosting into the box as with his right leg, he latched into Moses Simon's cross.

Bam!

Sam poked the ball into the net; the net rippled.

"GOALLLLL…!" Screaming excitedly, Sam removed his jersey, swinging it wildly as he charged towards the corner flag.

"What a goal from the Nigerian midfielder!"

"Even I didn't see him run, what a frightening command over space!"

"But oh, wait, the referee's assistant just confirmed and raised the flag. Can you believe it? It's offside!"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"What a game this is turning out to be!"

Hearing the commentator's words, Sam stopped his run, placed his arms on his head and looked only to see the offside flag.

"Come on! I was not offside!" He complained loudly but the referee paid him no heed, beckoning for Rwanda to continue play.

The referee did not forget to give him a yellow card for taking off his jersey.

Sam's frustration was rising to a boiling point.

"Come on Sam, the game is not over yet". Osimhen patted him on the shoulder, trying to get him going again.

Even the striker could tell that he was playing at an elite level.

Sam nodded, jogging back but inside. He was boiling with frustration and just as he started jogging, Rwanda played a quick freekick, catching the Nigerian players off-guard who were yet to recover back to their natural positions having just tried to go celebrate with Sam.

Sam spotted the danger immediately. 'This is bad!'

Thud!

He dug into his stamina, engaging in a sprint immediately.

Muhire, the Rwandan second striker caught the Nigerian defenders napping as he caught the ball in his strides just after the halfway line, about to blast past the defenders with his pace when he heard thudding sounds behind him.

Before he knew it, this player felt contact then he was swept off his feet aggressively from behind as he collapsed on the ground.

Immediately, he grabbed his leg, exaggeratedly screaming in pain.

FWEEEE!

"Wow! A straight red card to Sam!"

"Well, it was a sliding tackle from behind so the referee got that right. But it's so cruel for the Nigerian teenager, just after having his goal disallowed".

"He must have let his frustration boil over".

When Sam stood up, only one question rang in his head. 'What have I done?'

Sam was sent off the pitch.

Nigeria drew the game 0-0.