Rise of a Football God

45 minutes, 1-1…

During half-time, Eric Chelle had only a few words for his players.

"Come on boys, you know, and I know what we're capable of".

"Cameroon are not our true opponents".

"They're just a stepping stone towards glory".

"In the 2nd half, pull no punches, go for the knockout blow!"

"Let's show them who's boss!"

It was only a few words but the Nigerian players had so much respect already for their coach that they came out for the 2nd half with their blood boiling.

Especially in one of the players, an old habit came back.

They do say old habits die hard.

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

The voice was already rearing its head in Sam's mind.

And in kind, Sam responded, embracing his mamba mentality and singlehandedly turning the game around in the 2nd half.

Tonight would be remembered as the night when Sam went berserk.

As soon as the 2nd half started, for the first few minutes, it was still a game of end-to-end football as Cameroon played Nigeria like equals, eager to lay down their credentials in the biggest stage of African football.

They were eager to cause an upset, but then there was Sam.

BZZZ!

In the 61st minute, he erupted.

Tiki taka football, Sam brought it to the Nigerian squad.

The Cameroonian defense did a good job since, holding him and Victor Osimhen's threat off, curbing Nigeria's fearsome attack but they could only do it for so long before one of them truly erupted.

In the 60th minute, Sam entered the flow state, fueled by his incredible desire to grab this game by the scruff of the neck and win it.

And in the 61st, he showed exactly what he was mad off.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

3 swift passes to cut the Cameroonian defense open.

The first starting from Sam who passed to the right to Alex Iwobi, the 2nd being Alex Iwobi cutting the ball back to Sam, Sam skipping past a challenge, and the 3rd into the 18-yard box towards Victor Osimhen.

Bam!

With his incredible physicality, Victor Osimhen held off the press of the Cameroonian center backs, tracking Sam's run and as soon as he entered the 18-yard box, he played the final pass, laying the ball in Sam's path.

Before the Cameroonian defense could react…

POW!

Sam struck the ball with venom, hitting it with such force that the ball seemed to bend from the point of impact, rushing towards goal like a missile.

Andre Onana stood no chance, caught ball watching as the ball honed towards the top left corner with absolute speed and force, almost tearing the net apart in its wake.

"GOALLLLLLLLL…!" The Nigerian fans erupted in ecstasy.

"COME ON!!!" Sam roared at the top of his lungs.

His first goal was straight out of the top drawer, but Sam was not done yet.

Far from it.

Rather, he was just starting.

BZZZ!

8 minutes after his first goal in this game, giving Nigeria the lead, Sam buzzed into the Cameroon 18-yard box again, just in time after an incredible Ademola Looman dribble as the winger played a cross into the box for Osimhen.

Osimhen reacted to the cross but the Cameroonian center backs also reacted to him, and so he decided to leave it having noticed someone behind him.

Osimhen feinted, jumping over the ball and fooling the Cameroonian defense, leaving it to the unmarked Sam.

"Mark HIM!!!" The Cameroonian coach screamed at the top of his lungs but it was already too late as buzzing into the right position at the right time, Sam hit the ball on a volley with his right foot.

BAM!

Another powerful shot that left Andre Onana no chance.

Like a thunderbolt, it streaked towards goal, nesting into the top right corner before Andre Onana could blink his eyes.

"F*ck!" Onana cursed, punching the air in frustration.

Sam?

Having just scored his brace in the AFCON quarterfinals, he was already wheeling away towards the corner flag as he slid on his knees in celebration, igniting the stadium into a cauldron of noise.

Familiar chants were started by the Nigerian fans.

"Sam!" "Sam!" "Sam!"

In the 69th minute of the game, with his 2nd goal of the game, Sam doomed all hopes of a Cameroonian comeback as the scoreline was now 1-3.

And yet, he was not done yet.

From the 70th minute on, Sam's dribbling was fully unlocked.

BZZZ!

Like a bee, he buzzed around the Cameroonian players, eliciting cheers from the Nigerian players as he ran circles around their opponents.

Everywhere he went, players were nutmegged, left scrambling for the ball on their butts.

Everywhere he appeared, players were left chasing shadows.

This aggravated some aggressive reaction from the Cameroonian players, but Sam was equally adept at avoiding trouble as he was at creating it with his dribbles.

And in the 77th minute, the frustration finally got to the Cameroonian players, one of them hitting Sam a fraction too hard, inviting a straight red card!

FWEEEE!

The referee didn't even hesitate.

Groans reverberated around the stadium from dissatisfied Cameroonian fans, but the referee was having none of it. His decision was final.

Suddenly down to 10 men, Cameroon was doomed.

Sam took the freekick. And despite being almost 30 yards away from the post, he hit a dangerous freekick that beat Andre Onana again only for the goalpost to come to the rescue, hitting it before bouncing off for a corner kick.

Sam grabbed his head. "F*ck! I missed".

"F*ck you!" A Cameroonian player growled in his ear before running off.

Chuckling, Sam continued his game.

Cameroon survived the corner kick. For a few minutes, they thought it was over but in the 83rd minute of the game, Sam piled on their misery.

In that moment, he turned into a prime Neymar.

After receiving a cross-field pass from Ola Aina with his chest, Sam controlled the ball perfectly and as the tackle flew in, he nutmegged the first player.

With a la croqueta, he cut through 2 more Cameroonian players taking him to the left side of the pitch. And before he could be sandwiched there, with a Cruyff turn, he smoothly turned away from trouble.

The Cameroonian players were left chasing his shadow.

Whoosh!

A sliding tackle flew in but Sam smoothly jumped over it.

And then facing his final challenger, Sam flicked the ball, rainbow-flicking the poor guy before quickly setting his sight on goal.

As the ball descended, Sam traced it with his eyes, and then…

POW!

He swung his leg again, hitting it with such force that it flew off with speed.

This time, Andre Onana saw the ball. This time, he dived after it and actually touched it, but again the force behind it was too much.

It snuck past Andre Onana's grasp, and into the net.

"GOALLLLLL!!!" The commentators screamed.

"A hattrick!"

"Samuel Moses scores a hattrick in the AFCON quarterfinals!"

"Holy cheeks! The boy is on God mode!"

"He is unstoppable!"

"Unplayable!"

"Unbeatable!"

Charging towards the corner flag passionately, Sam jumped high into the air and when he landed, he did the suiii celebration.

"SUIIII…!!!"

Millions of Nigerian fans around the world did the celebration with him.

With Sam's hattrick, Cameroon was doomed. They later scored a goal in additional time, making it 2-4 but it changed nothing.

Nigeria won the game and Sam won another man of the match award with his haul of 3 goals and 1 assist. Crazy!