Rise of a Football God

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(International Friendlies:)

(Nigeria – Togo)

(Date: 13th November, 2025)

…

(Ghana – Nigeria)

(Date: 16th November, 2025)

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For Nigerians, time was moving so fast.

One moment, they were stuck worrying about FIFA World Cup qualifying as they were just one step from missing another FIFA World Cup.

And yet, somehow, a miracle came in the form of Sam.

But that was not the end. Just after securing qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, another worry came in the form of the AFCON, the African Cup of Nations tournament, Africa's version of the Euros and Copa America tournament.

The last AFCON was played in 2023, a time of heartbreak for many Nigerians as they made it all the way to the final only to lose to the host nation, Ivory Coast.

After that final, the heartbreak lingered for a long time and after 2 years of healing from it, the AFCON was here again, starting this December.

Before the AFCON tournament though, Nigerian organized 2 international friendly games during the international break so the Nigerian coach could get in tune with his team and get them up to speed as fast as possible.

This was why Sam left Barcelona to join the Nigerian camp for the International friendly games.

Another reason why he did it was because International friendly games are unlike club friendly games.

Unlike in club friendlies where goals and assists are not recorded in the official stats record of a player, goals and assists provided in International friendly matches are recorded in a player's career stats, highlighting their importance.

This was why Sam was eager to don the green of the Nigerian national team again after his heroics the last time.

And oh boy, did his decision pay off.

It didn't take a long time. Like a blink, it was already D-Day.

The Togolese national football team visited Nigeria, only to be placed to the chopping block by a rampant Nigerian squad led by Sam.

For this international friendly, certain big names of the Nigerian squad were nowhere to be seen. Big names like Victor Osimhen, Victor Boniface, and Ademola Lookman didn't make the squad, leaving Sam as the biggest name there.

And for this reason, the Nigerian coach decided to take a gamble.

He decided to play Sam as a striker for the national team.

Afterall, Hansi Flick was doing it successfully in Barcelona and besides, this was just a friendly game which meant he could experiment.

And boy was the experiment a success.

In the game against Togo, Sam dominated from the first minute of the game.

In the 8th minute of the game, after some tight space dribbling in the box, he set up Alex Iwobi who scored from a precision shot towards the top right corner.

That goal sent the Nigerian national football stadium into a frenzy.

Togo tried to rally after going behind but not when Sam was on the pitch. The Togolese defenders struggled against him on the pitch, their struggle was clear as day, highlighting just how good he was.

In the 23rd minute of the game, he rattled the bar with a shot before doing the same again in the 38th minute.

"F*ck!" Sam cursed, grabbing his head in disbelief.

'Damn! My luck is crap this game!'

Before the 1st half came to an end though, after an incredible solo run with the ball, he gave the pre-assist to another Nigerian goal, this time buried into the net by Frank Onyeka.

After that, the first half came to an end.

In the 2nd half, the game was more even as Togo threatened more but they got nothing to show for their efforts.

In the 77th minute of this game, tripped in the box, Sam won a penalty for Nigeria and taking the ball confidently, he waited for the ref's whistle.

FWEEE!

Once it sounded, he took a short run before hitting the ball, sending the goalkeeper one way and scoring the other way.

He jogged towards the corner flag with a big smile on his face, and then he did his Black Panther celebration.

The game came to an end with Nigeria winning 3-0 comfortably.

Trust Nigerians, after the game, they worshipped Sam like a God, raving about his performance all across social media.

But then came the big test against their archrivals, Ghana.

Joining the rest of the Nigerian squad, Sam made the trip to Accra, the capital city of Ghana where they clashed against the Black Stars.

This time, it was not as straightforward as the game against Togo.

The clash against the Black Stars of Ghana was tight and incredibly intense, but in the end, led by Sam, the Super Eagles of Nigeria got the edge over their rivals with a single goal difference.

Both countries played a goalless first half.

All the action came in the 2nd half though as they came with energy and fire.

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Ghana struck first, stunning the visitors as their striker buried the ball into the net after an incredible sequence of passes, flaunting their seamless teamwork.

In the 61st minute, Nigeria trailed by 1 goal.

Today, it seemed that the Black Stars would be running away with the bragging rights but there was a defiant player on the Nigerian side.

'Win!' 'Win!' 'Win!'

He played with an obsessive desire to win.

Yet, the opponents didn't make it easy, till he forced their hand.

It happened in the 79th minute.

Trailing behind, the Super Eagles amped their attacking tempo, launching raid after raid of attacks against Ghana's defense, a move which finally bore fruit as Sam leaped highest, lashing into a slightly mishit cross.

Bending his body in mid-air, his head managed to hit the ball, directing it towards the top left corner of the post.

The Ghana goalkeeper dived, but not enough.

"GOALLLLLLLL…!!!" The Super Eagles fans screamed at the top of their lungs.

Sam charged towards the corner flag, sliding in celebration even as they started chanting his name at the away stands.

Clearly, after that, the end of this game was a draw but again, Sam was not willing and so, he came up clutch from his country.

Leading the press from the front, he pressed the Ghana defense relentlessly till they made a mistake, the goalkeeper fumbling due to his pressure.

The goalkeeper panicked, mishitting the ball.

Stretching his leg, Sam managed to intercept the ball and just as the panicked goalkeeper rushed him, keeping his composure, Sam nutmegged the goalkeeper, the most humiliating move ever as the ball rolled into the net.

Cold…, just cold.

"SAM!" "SAM!" "SAM!"

The Sam chants broke out again in Ghana.

Sam equalized for his country in the 79th minute, then won it in the 88th.

The game came to an end with a Nigerian victory.

That game was later called the game of the King.

The Nigerian fans chanted. "Best striker in the f*cking planet!"

With his brace, Sam took his goalscoring tally for the season to an incredible 23 goals in just 15 games!