During the trophy presentation, Mateo stood with his teammates, the Supercup trophy gleaming under the floodlights. As the captain, Mats Hummels, lifted it high, the stadium erupted in a deafening roar. This was what it was all about. This was why they played.
Mateo, at just seventeen years old, had won the Supercup for the second consecutive year. He was the youngest player in history to achieve such a feat. But as he stood there, surrounded by his teammates, the individual accolades didn't matter. What mattered was the team, the victory, the shared moment of triumph.
Later that night, back in his dorm room, Mateo lay in bed, the Supercup medal on his bedside table. He thought about the match, about the comeback, about the look on Lewandowski's and Guardiola's faces. He had been on the bench, frustrated, feeling helpless. But he had stayed ready, he had believed, and when his chance came, he had seized it.
