Rise of a Football God

A freekick.

A shot, a goal.

BOOM!

The Spotify Camp Nou exploded.

"ZINEDINE SAM!!!"

"ZINEDINE SAM!!!"

"ZINEDINE SAM!!!"

The commentators screamed in a shrill voice.

"My God! What a goal! What a freekick!"

"We mortals live in our world while Sam is another thing entirely, an alien, a god among mortals. He lives in a different plane entirely".

"He's immortal!"

"He's unstoppable!"

"He can't be stopped!"

While the stadium exploded and the commentators went haywire with their commentary, like a demon possessed, Sam ran, evading his teammates as with dilated pupils, he pumped his fists excitedly with raw passion, celebrating his goal like a literal mad man.

Arriving at the corner flag, directly in front of the camera, he jumped and when he landed, his hands pumped like active machine guns, and…

"COME ON!!!" He roared.

58 minutes, 2-1…

And again, on aggregate, both big clubs were tied 3-3.

Sam was in the flow state.

He could not explain how he felt, but at this moment, he felt like he was capable of doing anything. And he felt that anything he did would be dangerous.

Conceding again after that Kevin De Bruyne goal left a bitter taste in the mouth of the Manchester City defenders, but there was nothing they could do about it. The goal was already scored, the most they could do was focus on the future.

Afterall, they were elite defenders, some of the best in the world.

And so, the quadruple of Josko Gvardiol, Manuel Akanji, John Stones, and Ruben Dias returned to focusing on their job, keeping Barcelona's attack at bay on the night, most especially the boy, no, the man called Samuel Moses.

He was 20, but Ruben Dias dared not refer to the Nigerian as a boy anymore.

If what Sam was doing in this game was what boys were capable of doing, Ruben Dias wanted to be a boy again!

But no, apart from Sam, you can't see another 20-year-old doing what he did in the highest stage of club football, the UEFA Champions League.

He was a singular existence sitting at a pedestal of his own.

But despite playing against this singular existence, the Manchester City defenders didn't allow themselves to fall into despair.

They were determined not to let Sam score a single goal at the beginning of this game, and yet he already scored a brace.

That… could shatter any ego and yet, the defenders didn't fall to despair yet.

"Come on!" Ruben Dias roared, organizing his players.

Yes, they still had a chance.

A chance to win.

They may be losing on this game, but on aggregate, it was still 3-3, a draw.

The game was still tied. And if they believed in their attacking players and defended perfectly for the rest of this game, there was still a chance of winning.

And also, there was the option of going to penalties.

Against this young and mostly inexperienced FC Barcelona side, Ruben Dias was willing to bet that his team would win if they went to penalties.

And so it started, the unenviable job of defending Samuel Moses.

BZZZ!

He buzzed like a bird, floated like a butterfly, and stung like a bee.

Manchester City's defense may have made their conviction, but none of that conviction had anything to do with Sam.

Just as they had their convictions, Sam also had his own conviction.

And his conviction was to score another goal, complete his hattrick and complete the comeback for his team.

The game continued.

It was not all Barcelona though despite Sam's form this game.

Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush kept on worrying. With Kevin De Bruyne in midfield feeding the 2 center forwards, Barca's defense was always at tenterhooks for majority of this game.

But by now, fatigue was already wearing in.

And as fatigue settled in, individual brilliance shone more.

That was when a certain youngster shone. As Gvardiol gave in to fatigue, Lamine Yamal seemed to finally wake up from his slumber.

The young Spaniard turned into an electric spark, a deadly electric spark.

BZZZ!

He moved and floated like a slippery eel.

Whenever the ball touched his leg, he was definitely torching an opposition player with his silky dribbling.

For the next 10 minutes after Sam's goal, Lamine Yamal was the best player and yet, Manchester City's defense refused to budge, until the 72nd minute...

Lamine Yamal left Josko Gvardiol for dead again, drifting inside, trying to create space to unleash a curled shot at goal.

That was when suddenly, Ruben Dias charged out of center defense, clattering against the floating right winger, taking him out in a mighty collision.

FWEEEE!

The referee blew his whistle immediately for a freekick but adamant that he got the ball first, Ruben Dias lost his head, throwing swear words at the referee.

The referee brandished a yellow card for the Portuguese defender but still, the big man was incensed as his teammates tried to calm him down.

Ruben Dias losing his cool? It was a rarity in football, and it showed the intensity and emotion of this game.

FC Barcelona got another freekick and once again, Sam stood before the ball.

After hugging Lamine Yamal and kissing him on the forehead, Sam stood before the ball, then he took a look at goal.

The Spotify Camp Nou was eerily quiet…

FWEEE!

The referee's whistle cut through the stadium like a blade, and then Sam moved, counting his steps towards the ball.

1…, 2…, 3…, 4…, and then…

Bam!

This time, he didn't hit it with much power.

Sam simply curled his right leg around the ball, sending it on a rotating trajectory as it once again evaded the wall of players, and then…

Thud!

Ederson dived, touching the ball, pushing it slightly and yet, it was not enough.

The ball awkwardly rolled into the net after Ederson's touch.

"…"

For a few seconds, Manchester City fans stared in agony, hoping for a different result but their delusion was broken by the Catalan roars.

BOOM!

The Spotify Camp Nou exploded again, turning into a cauldron of noise.