"Goal?! Goalll! Hahaha!" Tyler couldn't help but break into laughter as he ran towards the corner flag and broke into a knee slide. He then stood up and pumped his fists while laughing.
Like many little boys, he'd had dreams of scoring a late winner in a Champions League match or in a league title decider, and he had all the cool celebrations in his head planned out for that kind of occasion.
Balotelli's iconic no celebration, Ronaldo's calma, Messi's jersey drop. So many celebrations, but when he scored the ninetieth minute winner in an U-18s semi-final in a grassroots competition, his brain automatically discarded all these celebrations that he had thought of. Now, he was pumping his fists while his teammates flanked him from all sides and eventually jumped on him, trapping him into the ground.
The celebrations went on for so long that the referee had to use a couple of yellow cards to get things back in order and force the Rising Stars Academy players to get back into their half of the pitch so that the match could be restarted.
There were four minutes of added time, all of which passed in the same way. Instead of sitting back and defending the lead, Rising Stars Academy did the nastiest form of time wasting known to U-18s. They just passed the ball around, from the goalkeeper to the right back, back to the goalkeeper who stopped it, then held it. Then the left back.
It was frustrating for the Valhalla Academy players, but they knew that there was nothing that they could do. That was the price that they would have to pay for conceding such a delicate goal at such a delicate time in the match.
In the end there was nothing they could do. The four minutes of added time passed, and the referee blew his whistle. The match was over. Rising Stars Academy won.
Tyler had a huge grin on his face as soon as he heard the referee's whistle. He briefly scanned the crowd and nodded slightly. There were scouts watching, he was sure of that. He was also sure that he had done enough to impress them.
He had put on a show. A very good one at that. Two goals and an assist. That should've been enough to convince the scouts that were watching.
After the match was over, he shook the hands of the opposition, occasionally saying words of comfort. When he saw the Valhalla Academy attacking midfielder, he shook his head and smiled. That was a player he was sure was going to get scouted. He was a nuisance throughout the match and very nearly won it for his side.
Tyler walked up to him and shook his hand.
"You played well man". Tyler patted his back.
"Not well enough". The attacking midfielder shook his head. "Not well enough".
"I'm Tyler". Tyler said. He didn't know why he was introducing himself, he was dead sure that he wouldn't see him again.
"Damson". Damson said.
The two of them exchanged some shallow words before Tyler left him. Ideally, Tyler would have asked him to swap jerseys, but he was too broke to have to pay for another jersey.
A few moments later, the match officials found him and handed him the man of the match award. He took a few pictures and was surprisingly asked to do an interview.
According to what he was told, the tournament caught the attention of a few youth football social media powerhouses like Rising Ballers so they needed him to give some sort of an interview.
The interview went smoothly. He was just asked a few questions about the match and how tough it was and whether or not he thinks that he was going to get scouted or not.
After he finished up, he returned to the locker room where he was quite surprised.
"There he isss...". Jerome, the team's starting attacking midfielder shouted as soon as he spotted Tyler entering the locker room. "The man of the hour!"
"Insane carry job out there man". Moses, the captain and the team's starting defensive midfielder said while slapping his back. "Nice work".
Quite a few of his teammates came to him and thanked him for his performance, after which he went to his locker and sat down. He was quite exhausted after the match and couldn't wait to get in the shower.
While he was waiting for whoever was inside to come out, Jason came and sat down beside him.
"You seem happy". Jason said with a smile.
"Do I?" Tyler smirked. "I didn't notice. I only scored two goals and gave an assist in a three- two win and did I mention, I was the freaking man of the match".
"Yes". Jason replied dryly. "I saw, I also played the match. In case you didn't notice, I scored the goal you assisted".
"That was you?" Tyler raised a brow.
"Enough with the sarcasm". Jason nudged Tyler. "I want to talk about something serious".
"I'm all ears". Tyler said.
"You know, you've had a really great tournament, and even before this match you were one of the favorites to get scouted. And this match confirms that you're going to a very big team". Jason said. "While I've mostly been on the bench, and while I've put on one or two solid shifts, it's obvious that even if I get scouted, we won't go to the same place. Do you know what this means?"
Tyler got sober all of a sudden. "The final could be the last match that we play together".
Jason nodded. "Yeah, as sad as it is, I'm also very happy. Because this means that one or both of us are going to get out of here and go to bigger places. If it's just you, I'll be very happy for you, although I'll be a lot happier if I also get scouted". Jason smiled. "From the first time I saw you training, I knew that you were going to make it to the top. I knew that you were going to go on to bigger things. Just... While you're climbing to the top and you're probably getting compared with wonder kids all over Europe... Don't forget me. You're the best friend I've ever had, even though we've not known each other that long".
Tyler exhaled when Jason finished talking. He smiled back at Jason and clapped his back. "No matter where I go, no matter how good I become. I won't forget you. And I won't have to because I know that you're going to go just as far as me". Tyler said, before slowly standing up. "And besides, it's hard for me to forget someone whose step overs look like he's doing it in timberlands".
As soon as Tyler finished talking, he ran away while Jason just smiled and laughed. These were good times.
But didn't they say good times don't last.