Rise of a Football God-Chapter 303: In the flow...
In the face of adversity, man is presented with either of 2 options, evolve and win or fail to evolve and lose.
Sam did not want to lose.
He hated losing, he dreaded losing, and this was why his dark side awakened.
’Win!’
The demon in him slowly awakened.
’Win!’ ’Win!’
The voice in his head roared.
’Win!’ ’Win!’ ’Win!’
And before he knew it, he entered the state of flow!
FC Barcelona splurged 80 million Euros to secure his signature from Fulham, this was despite the mounting economic problems of the club.
This was despite the fact that the club was broke!
’Is this how I am going to repay their faith in me?’
’Is this how I am going to repay the President’s faith?’
’Is this how I am going to repay the faith of the fans?’
’NO!’ Sam was defiant.
’I have not started…’
His eyes widened, drool gathering in his lips even as his eyes burned with fire!
’I’ve not started…’
’…I’m just starting!’
Sam was already in the flow state due to his incredible yearning to help his team comeback and win this game.
It was already past the 80th minute but Sam didn’t care, all he cared about was the fact that he was still in this game and that there was still a chance to win.
The rest of the Barca attack was not clicking due to Real Sociedad’s dark arts and their valiant defensive display.
As the striker of the team now, Sam was expected to wait for chances.
But this would not work!
If Sam decided to stay passive and wait for chances to be created for him, he was 100% sure that the game would end like this.
’I’m not satisfied!’
He decided not to wait and hope for luck.
Instead of waiting, he would go out there and get his own luck!
BZZZ!
Having won back the ball back from Lamine Yamal, the Real Sociedad players were passing in the back, looking to start another counterattack against Barca when Sam erupted, jumping into action.
The sound of his feet hitting the field as he ran reverberated like the hooves of a mighty Horse engaged in a sprint.
"…!"
The Sociedad player with the ball heard his footsteps and panicked, but the player was not fast enough to react as Sam arrived the next moment.
Bang!
Abusing his physicality, Sam barged into this player with force shoulder to shoulder, outmuscling him and shoving him to the side!
Thud!
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The Sociedad player collapsed helplessly to the pitch but immediately, he sat up, looking at the referee in silent protest.
"Ref! Referee…!" He called but the referee paid him no heed, indicating with his actions that the ball was won back fairly.
The other Real Sociedad players also wanted to protest but they were elite professional footballers. They knew that if the referee did not stop the play, they had no right to stop playing.
But that moment of hesitation as they looked at the referee was all a certain midfielder turned striker needed…
’Chance!’ Sam’s pupils dilated in extreme focus.
Thud!
A Real Sociedad player closed him down but with the outside of his boot, he pushed the ball to his nearest teammate.
Whoosh!
Immediately after pushing the ball, like a ghost, Sam literally left afterimages behind as he rushed behind the player, charging behind the defense.
Lamine Yamal read his intentions perfectly.
"Stop him! Block the pass…!" The Real Sociedad captain roared in Spanish but Lamine Yamal already executed what he intended.
As soon as the ball rolled towards him, he hit it with the inside of his boot, raising it above the Real Sociedad defense.
Bam!
Sam barely beat Real Sociedad’s offside line.
As he ran, his eyes tracked the ball, following it with single-minded focus even as it levitated above the defense, coming towards him.
Thud…
The Real Sociedad goalkeeper reacted immediately, charging out…
Bzzz!
Sam’s brain geared into overdrive immediately even as his eyes flickered, alternating between the ball and the onrushing goalkeeper even as he ran.
In that moment, lessons that Sam learned in secondary school that he already thought he forgot swirled in his head in this state of flow.
Mathematical formulas and logics that were complicated to him before became so easy that Sam felt like a genius.
In a fraction of a second, he calculated the distance between the ball, him, and the goalkeeper, including its movement speed, correlating it with his own movement speed and that of the Real Sociedad goalkeeper.
’He’ll get it first!’ He arrived at his mathematical answer.
And so, Sam improvised…
If things continued the way it was going, the goalkeeper would catch the ball before he could get to it and so, he improvised.
Before the goalkeeper could get to the ball, he would intercept it!
The first thought that came to Sam’s head was Maradona’s iconic Hand of God moment in the World Cup decades ago but it wouldn’t work. Afterall, this was the age of VAR where every single play was heavily scrutinized.
His eyes gleamed…, the only way was breaking his limits.
’I need to jump!’
’I need to jump high!’
’I need to break my limits and jump so high that I’m able to intercept the ball in mid-air as it flies above me…, that’s the only way!’
There was no time to waste.
As soon as he thought of it, he did it.
Thud!
Kicking the ground, Sam jumped, propelling his tall frame into the air like a prime Lebron James about to perform an iconic dunk in a basketball court.
In that moment, Sam exceeded all his previous jumping heights…, rising as high as 3 meters above the ground!
…high enough for his head to barely hit the ball, tipping it away from the grasp of the onrushing goalkeeper.
Whoosh!
The Real Sociedad goalkeeper rushed past, mis-catching the ball.
’This is it!’
Thud!
As soon as Sam landed back on the pitch, he felt the shock of inertia go through his legs like electricity, briefly freezing him but the Black Mamba in him reared its head again.
’Move…!’
Sam commanded his body and it moved!
He moved, sticking his right leg out and kicking the ball just as it was about to go out for a goal kick, directing it into the net.
"…"
"…"
"…..!"
A deafening silence befell the Reale Arena, but then…
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BOOM!
The away stands of this stadium erupted.
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!" The FC Barcelona fans screamed at the top of their lungs like they just won the UEFA champions league final.
