"phew phew phew"
As the game ensues
Chests heaving up and down from the stress of the game
Everyone taking heavy breaths as the game comes down to the last half of extra time
The scoreline 3-3 Nigeria vs Spain
A clash of titans
Then at the last minute....
The refree blows his whistle
Pheeeeewwww
Points to the spot for a penalty kick
Nigeria is awarded a penalty...
The question ensues
Who will take the penalty
Only one man is fit enough to score under this kind of pressure
The one, the only
Jake steps up as the man to take it
The coach calls him to the sideline
" You have to score. Don't let the pressure get to you, I picked you for moments like this
Go win us that trophy "
With a determined face he says " yes boss "
He steps up to take it
Chest heaving
The crowd goes silent ... Only thing that could be heard around the stadium was the loud voice of silence.
As the refree blows
Jake starts his run up
Each step echoed in his head
Each breath getting heavier with a step
His mind racing with tension and thoughts
And then when he's about to shoot
He snaps
The pressure gets to him
He kicked the ball but also hit it slightly with his left leg
The ball sails wide
Desperation and disappointed written all over his face as he couldn't even look up
The penalty is to be retaken
This time
Jake looks at the ball
Determined to score this time
The stadium once again goes silent
Jake takes deep breaths in and out
In and out
Finally the ref blows his whistle
Jake started his run up
Still tense but slightly cool
He looks at the ball then at the keeper
Then the goal post
Then he strikes the ball with the inside of his right foot aimed at the top right corner
The goal keeper goes the right way
He dives and tries to reach the ball and slightly brushes the ball with the tip of his fingers and it seemed enough to keep it out of the goal
But at the last moment
The ball strikes the bar and sails into the goal
Jake stood there awe strucke and shocked
He felt a mixed feeling of joy, amazement and disbelief
The crowd was shut for moment then the commentator broke the silence with an ear breaking scream of
GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jake looked at the scoreboard which boldly said showed the scoreline Nigeria 4-3 Spain
He let out the words " I can't believe it "
The words barely audible to himself
He had finally achieved it
What he had dreamed of his entire life
His teammates ran over to him and celebrated with every ounce of energy they had left the joy left him almost petrified as he couldn't say a word or even move a muscle
He could only hear his thoughts
' I did it. I finally did it dad '
...
The play restarts but it's too late for Spain to do anything
The refree blows the final whistle
" Nigeria win the world cup!!!!!! "
The words resounded around the stadium followed by a huge uproar by both the fans and players alike
Jake got lifted by his teammates like a king
And at that moment
He indeed felt like it
In fact
He felt like a God
An overflow of joy rushed through him sending chills through his entire body
No one could believe this happened
In the history of football
Nigeria has never won the world cup but this one kid made it happen
At the age of 19
Jake won the world cup
.....
Walk with me to the journey of how this happened 🙂