THE DEBUT part two

Two brawl opponents hehind. The pleasure’s suddenly beoming pressure. ‘There’s nowhere to go now, rat!’, one said, reminding me once again of Bash. All i can see now is his face and his voice echoing…’Down you go kid’, and alas, I was going down. But i could feel strenght spontenously surging through my nerves. My body-mind and soul, focused onnly on the oval object approaching, though still feeling some form of infringement. All power was directed to my lethal left foot as i connected the ball through a bicycle move. Stunning! Brilliant! Dynamite! are chants I got for scoring my first touch. Even I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was the hero of the moment, the saviour of the ‘fantastics’. Overjoyed at the euphoria of the moment, I made an unconscious celebration move- My head hung high in the sky with both arms spread backwards like a bird soaring high up in the sky- That became my signature celebration since then. Parity was restored, and both sides were already looking up to extra-time. Coach ordered a defensive strategy after the equaliser making me the only man up-front. Azar, C.C.Rovers’ hit-man was edging close to the 18 area. Not until a timely tackle by the captain, Ifeanyi, a.k.a. Wind-rythym, who made the clearance. He seemed to me a psyche, for he knew where I was even without seeing me. The ball balanced under my right soccer boot. It was a three on one situation. I could see the stadium’s big screen reading ’90:00+3:07′. Last throw of the dice it was, leaving me with only one option; face what’s coming. The roar of the fans sure help me complete a 360 move, beating two defenders down and out. Nitro!Nitro!!Nitro!!! chanting by the crowed jeered me to raise the ball up to my chest, helping me escape a dangerous tackle from the last man. BOOOM! It’s in. The goalie was well beaten. 2-1 it ended as joyous teamates engulfed me in bear hugs. ‘Great game kid, but more troubles soon’ coach chided. The legendary l’afolabi’s number 10 jersey was awarded to me at the end of the season.