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The final whistle was blown, and I felt like a thousand of my high school mates ran jubilating into the field, and they raised me up. They held me horizontally in their hands, as they threw me up in the air, and caught me - continuously. They screamed aloud, "Sheddy! Sheddy! Sheddy!" I felt like I'd just won the world cup!
When I was finally put down. My girlfriend Patience hugged me tightly, "Your last goal was a bomb!" She said smiling - her dimples looking like the artwork of Leonardo Da Vincii. I felt compelled to drop a soft kiss on her cheek. And I shouted, "We won!"
Myself, Patience, my best friend Goke, and Goke's younger brother Yemi - lived in the same area; hence, we all trekked together home. On the way, Goke said, "We've just won the Semifinal game. Come next week, winning that final game, will make us the best team in this local government." And I replied, "Yeah bro... We'll be the very best side!"
Time moved fast. Next week came, and we won the final game in grand style - crowning us as the best High School Soccer Team, in the local government. We had just one last match to play. And that was the match between the graduating students and the rest of the school. The rest of the school would form a team, that will play against the graduating student's team. I was among the graduating students.
It was more like a friendly game, between us school mates. But over the years, it had become a very competitive game, as the younger students always wanted to prove a point, by defeating the outgoing students. Sadly, it had never happened in the history of my school - it had always been the case of the graduating students defeating the team of the other students shamefully.
But this time around, Yemi was the captain of the junior team. And I was the captain of the outgoing team. Yemi and his team mate promised me saying, "We'll defeat you guys, even if we all die on the pitch." I laughed at them, and said, "Other outgoing teams weren't half as good as us, and yet they won." I continued, "You guys will lose that match, even if it means that all of you will literally die on the pitch."
Yemi was much younger, but he was dark, tall, muscular and huge in size. He was bigger than me and his elder brother Goke. As captain of the junior side, Yemi chose students with macho look like himself, to form his team.
The match day finally came. The whole students, teachers, principal and owner of my High school were all present in the stadium. Our Physical Health Education teacher Mr. Adams, was the referee of the match; he had a body built like a demo god - with 6 packs that looked like brick wall. The fierce look of Yemi's team, drove shivers down my spine. They were all looking angry - like warriors on a life or death battle.
Mr. Adams blew the whistle, and the game began. 10 minutes into the game, an aerial ball was coming my way - I jumped up to head it, when Yemi came from nowhere, and jumped up with his elbow striking my neck. For a moment, it felt like an earthquake happened on my neck. I fell to the ground, the pain was unearthly.
The first aid rushed in to attend to me. I managed to get back on my feet. I was surprised to see the weird smile that these beastly junior students had on their faces. Yemi was given a yellow card, but I knew that I was their target - based on how their eyes all daggered at me. They knew that if they injured me out of the game, they'll stand a better chance.
I got battered with dangerous tackles, all through the game. While they were given yellow cards, they managed to inflict enormous pain on me. I wasn't myself anymore. And since I was the powerhouse of my team, my team was playing awfully. The game continued in a goalless draw, until the 79th minute when Yemi struck a powerful shot, and it went into the net.
The jubilation from the stadium was deafening, as all the other students shouted, "Goal!!!!" They all wanted Yemi's side to win. I had never seen such camaraderie in my life. They were about to break history by defeating us the graduating students. I got angry after that goal. And while they were celebrating, I called together all my teammates and motivated them, "We are the best team in this local government. These little junior students are nothing compared to us. Let's go out there. And teach them a life lesson they'll never forget!"
The match continued, and we started to attack them with all the strength that we got. It became indeed a battle. They had like 3 players marking me at all times. But I managed to dribble one, then two and three of them. I was about to take a shot from outside the box, when I got tackled from behind. It was Yemi. Mr. Adams gave him a straight red card. It was 95 minutes, he smiled off the field looking me straight in my eyes, like he had crushed my soul.
A free kick was given. This would be the last kick of the game, as 5 minutes extra time was what was announced, but we were in the 96th minute. There was tension in the air. Goke came close to me, and said, "Sheddy, you can do this!" I nodded and replied, "Yes I can!" I took in a deep breath.
Mr. Adams blew the whistle. I ran like a gladiator, and struck the ball with great energy. The stadium was deafening silent, as the ball spined through the air, and hit the goal post, and bounced off. Immediately, Mr. Adams blew the final whistle and we lost. The stadium was in topsy turvy as almost everyone was celebrating, except the graduating students. I fell down on my knees, and I cried. Patience ran into the field, knelt down on the field with me, and comforted me.
