My legs were heavy and unable to move but I forced them to move. It was the final minute of the match and I had the ball. The referee had given 3 minutes of extra time and now they were almost finished. We were losing 2-1.
Thirty seconds till the referee blew the whistle. I took a quick glance to see the field and who was open to pass to. A bulky defender stood in my way. He was sweating so heavily that I could see his muscles through his drenched white shirt. Behind were the three other defenders.
I knew that they were last line of defence. If only I could get through them then I would have a one on one with the keeper and I could take a shot but I knew my skills were lacking.
I had terrible ball control skills so I knew that dribbling through them would be a terrible idea. I didn't have the speed to outrun them in any way nor did have any tricks or skills. The only two things I had confidence in was my stamina and my vision. Beyond those two everything else could be considered trash.
My shooting was mediocre, my crossing terrible, my passing average at best and my physicality was the worst thing of all of them.
I was outside the penalty box, I could force my way in and dive when I was barged but that was a chance I am not willing to take.
"CEASER!" I heard a shout and I looked forward to see who it was, it was Jamie. He was our striker. He was also the reason it was not 2-0 but 2-1.
I quickly used the inside of my foot to pass the ball into an open area for Jamie. The bulky defender saw me about to pass the ball and blocked the balls path. I was expecting this. I quickly caught the ball with the outside part of my foot.
Just as expected!
This fool had fallen for my fake pass!
Jamie was off side anyway. Passing to him would have been the dumbest thing that I could do in the entirety of this game.
I quickly aimed for the top right corner of the goal. I took my shot and the ball whizzed through the air.
I watched as the ball rose of the ground rocketing towards the top right corner. It was a certain goal and no one was going to stop that ball.
Except for my terrible shot! The ball kept rising in the air until it was 30 meters of target.
I missed! Oh no! My one chance to prove myself! My one chance to get of the bench! And I had just wasted it!
I took a quick look at my coach and my eyes met with his. He turned away from me. I knew he was disappointed but not as much as I was with myself.
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ON EARTH WAS THAT?" Jamie shouted at me.
"I'm sorry man, I need to work on my shooting." I apologised.
"YOUR SORRY! ARE YOU TRYING TO HIT THE BIRDS IN THE SKY? BECAUSE THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE YOU WERE DOING?" Jamie was now shouting in my face.
"Listen, I said I'm sorry, I took a shot and I missed, I'm not Lee Harvey Oswald! What were you expecting?" I said.
This guy, I hated him, why was he shouting at me like that. Who does he think he is? He isn't even the team captain!
"I WAS EXPECTING YOU TO PASS THE FUCKING BALL, NOT TO SHOOT!"
"Well next time that you want me to pass the ball then make sure that you get the fuck out of offside. This is your eighth time in the match you were caught offside. Don't blame me for your incompetence to not be able to stay on side." I said.
I wasn't having this. It took me a lot of confidence to take that shot. Had I passed the ball then I would have been in the wrong for passing it to him and there was no one else to to pass the ball to.
I had been working on my shots four hours a day just so that I could be better. I put hardwork into this unlike this idiot who was was naturally talented and did not care how hard someone worked. He was practically the definition of the mean boss's arrogant child who thought he could boss his fathers employees around.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP RICH BOY, WHETHER I STAY ON SIDE OR OFFSIDE IT DOESN'T MATTER. PASS THE FUCKING BALL OR ELSE!"
He was pushing me as if he wanted a reaction out of me. Jamie was a tall, dark, muscular guy with a fade cut. No one wanted any problems with him.
"Or else what? What are you gonna do? You can call me rich boy however many times you want but that still won't change that fact that your parents are lazy! Your parents didn't care enough about you to work hard to provide you with everything. My parents worked for years making lots of sacrifices just so that I can be happy so just remember this next time you call me ri-" Before I could finish my sentence I felt Jamie's fist connect with my cheeks. I fell down on the floor and ate grass. I could taste the dirt in my mouth.
It hurt! It hurt! I have never felt pain like this! The only thing that came close to this was when I slipped down some stairs. It ached and hurt like crazy! I never want to feel this pain again.
Jamie tried throwing another punch but Sam and Richard grabbed him. They pushed him back and tried to subdue him. Sam and Richard were our left and right wingers respectively.
"YOU ASKED ME OR ELSE WHAT? I'LL SHOW YOU ELSE THEN! LET GO OF ME RICHARD BEFORE I BANG YOU IN YOUR JAW." Jamie was shouting at the top of his lungs. It was a good thing that se were playing in a park with no crowds.
I felt an arm around me picking me up. I looked up to see who it was. It was Rahul. He was a centre back and our teams captain.
Everyone liked him. he was fair and easy to get along with but he was also passionate about football. He had the qualities of a leader that everyone loved and respected.
Rahul's strong arms pulled me to my feet.
"It's alright man, not even Ronaldo can hit all his shots. What's important is that you took a shot. Even if you missed it's still better than not taking a shot." Rahul gave me a small smile.
If I was a woman I would definitely marry this guy, he was understanding and caring and mos-
Wait!
WHY AM I THINKING OF STUFF LIKE THIS?
_______
We were in the locker rooms changing our clothes. I had taken of my boots and sock but my shingaurds were still on.
Jamie was glaring daggers at me. If looks had power then he would torture me for several days and then kill me after alleviating his anger.
Gardener our goalkeeper was sitting right next to me. He was just like me, it was his first match and he had lost. Our other keeper Reynolds left because he wanted to focus more on his studies. That was pretty smart of him. I mean besides having mediocre football skills I had terrible grades. If I had a functioning brain then it would tell me to focus on studying more and getting into a good university and then find a very nice stable job.
But sadly my brain was not that advanced.
Our coach burst into the locker room and walking behind him was the assistant coach David. We just called him American Dave because it was much easier and our left back was also called Dave. English Dave!
"Jamie your suspended for the next three matches-"
Before the coach could even continue talking Jamie interrupted.
"Why am I suspended because this idiot over there couldn't hit the target?" He slapped his hands together for what I am guessing dramatic effect.
"5 matches now, I warned you Jamie, it doesn't matter how talented you are, unless you manage to keep that anger in check then all that talent is wasted." Coach Alex continued as if he was not interrupted.
I let out a small chuckle and I knew Jamie heard it because he glared at even more intensely than before. "Haha, the season hasn't even started and you already got suspended." I said knowing that I was pouring gas on a fire.
Jamie managed to control himself but I could see the veins in his neck bulge out.
"And you Ceaser your back on the bench mwate." Coach Alex said to me.
"Ha! Dickhead!" Jamie shouted.
"6 matches Jamie now." Jamie went to the shower mumbling under his breath.
"Because I missed a shot that's not fair, not even Ronaldo hits all of his shot,"
Coach Alex looked up from the clipboard that he was holding in his hands. "..."
"Are you seriously telling me that you do not know why I am placing you back on the bench?"
I shook my head. To be honest I did pretty good job of intercepting passes and tackling. It was unfair of him to put me back on the bench just because I missed a shot. Although I'm pretty sure even if I played well I still wouldn't be in the starting eleven.
"Ceaser, how should I say this, Maradona is the pinnacle of talent when it comes to football-"
"I think Messi is better than Maradona, you know he has more Ballon D'ors, goal and assist's, statistically speaking- I'm sorry please continue" I shut my mouth quickly when I saw Coach Alex's murderous face.
"As I was saying, MARADONNA IS THE PINNACLE OF TALENT WHEN IT COMES TO FOOTBALL, but you, you are the opposite of all of that. You have terrible ball retention, you lost the ball 18 times and recovered it 19 times two of them leading to goals against us. Your passing is terrible, of the 28 passes you made 16 were intercepted, you took 10 shots and missed them all. You barely dribbled through two defenders. You missed three open goals and a sitter header. There were five chances where you could have passed and it could have lead to a goal. In simple terms Ceaser you are the Yamcha of this team."
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