The long-awaited Saturday finally came.
The atmosphere all across Brazil was different, it was strange.
The sheer amount of promotion for the game already shot all 22 of the players who made it to the finals to stardom. It attracted multiple new players to the game, and these new players checked the history of the final players.
Checking their history, a fandom was already formed for the top performers.
And of course, like in every era, the forwards were favored.
For the first time in the history of the Estadio do Arruna, this virtual 45,000 sitting capacity stadium was filled to the brim with players.
The excited spectators were loud.
"Team Enigma all the way, he's so handsome!" The girls screamed.
"Team Legion all the way!" Another girl screamed. "He's so silent and cool, he's exactly my spec, I hope his team wins the final".
"Yeee…!" Another girl shouted excitedly. "Team Drip-Lord all the way, he's a fashionista, I won't be ashamed walking the red carpet with him in the future!"
"Team Apeman all the way". A fandom of deep voiced men roared. "He's the perfect definition of a sigma footballer, hehe".
The 2 different dressing rooms in the Estadio do Arruna were already occupied at this moment, and the same mood filled both dressing rooms.
The dressing room of Team Yellow felt tense and suffocating.
It didn't seem like they were making their last preparations to go play a football match, it rather seemed like they were getting prepared for war.
Paschal007 rubbed his palms together. "I feel my blood running faster…"
He grinned. "I love this".
Not everyone could take the pressure as calmly as him though, there were some players in this room whose palm shook, Endrick was familiar with this.
'The phobia of the first broadcasted game'.
He sighed as he remembered when he made his debut in his previous life for his first big club, FC Barcelona. 'The feeling…, it's like walking through the valley of shadow of death'.
At this moment, the scenes in the Estadio do Arruna were being broadcasted at a certain channel all across Brazil, and it was also broadcasted here.
Watching the different fandoms go crazy eased their nerves a bit.
The feeling of fame felt strange to most of them.
Endrick's lips twitched though as more fan groups appeared. 'The hell! Are these guys so boring? There's no fan group for me?'
"Team Red-haired Jaguar all the way!"
Hearing that, Endrick perked up. On looking closer, he was right, it was a fandom supporting him. He grinned. 'I love that nickname, nice'.
They didn't just focus on this, a few minutes later, a familiar presenter appeared on the screen, the famous Jenkins Joana.
"Good morning everyone, it's finally Saturday, the day that a lot of us have been so curious and enthusiastic about, the day of the final of the elite team trials that was organized by Coach Luiz Vicente".
"For this first broadcasted game, I and a special football consultant of Unity, Emma Geeks will be the commentators of the game".
"Nice to meet you everyone, this game promises to be an exciting one". The middle-aged English man on glasses smiled at the camera.
"The starting lineup of both teams remains unchanged".
"They are currently being broadcasted on the screen".
{Team Black:}
{Goalkeeper: God-between-the-posts}
{Right Back: Flash204}
{Right Center Back: Ice-in-mah-veins}
{…}
****
{Team Yellow:}
{Goalkeeper: GravityMan}
{Right Back: Power-Truck}
{Right Center Back: Turtle909}
{…}
As the names of certain players were called, the noise from their fandom increased a crescendo, improving the overall mood in the stadium.
Unknowing to them, they piled more pressure on the players to perform.
After introducing both teams, Emma Geeks finally started giving an overview of the top performers of the 2nd phase of the trials and their best traits.
After this, the players would finally be invited into the pitch.
It was during this time that Endrick took advantage of to address his teammates. "I shouldn't be doing this since I'm not the Captain, but to achieve my goals, I'll be shameless enough to do it". He laughed.
"I don't know if you guys have forgotten, I just wanted to remind you that today is the day that we have been preparing towards for the past 1 week".
"All the sweat, all the grinding, it was towards today".
"I know the pressure is petrifying, it's normal in high stakes matches, all I want from you is to take a deep breath to eliminate all distractions from your minds and simply set your sights on your goal".
"Our collective goal which is winning".
"This is a must-win game!" He emphasized seriously.
"Let's go out there and play the game of our lives".
"Let's go out there and teach them football!" He raised his voice.
None of them responded but it worked, Endrick could feel their mood improve a beat and he was satisfied, that was simply what he wanted.
Joana Jenkin's voice reverberated through in the background again as after being invited, the players from both teams finally made their way to the pitch, causing the atmosphere in the stands to turn even more fiery.
Coming out, Endrick looked to the stands and he felt his heart pause.
He almost wanted to spread his hands to bask in it. 'The crowd, the fiery atmosphere, this feeling of exhilaration, it's exactly why I love football'.
'Football is more than a game…, it's an emotion'.
After casting the die, it fell in favor of Team Yellow, Endrick's team were the ones fated to kick the ball first.
For this important game, it was a human referee that was in charge.
As the game was about to start, the noise died down a bit.
All the emotions in this pitch converged as one.
FWEEE!
The referee finally blew the whistle.
Bam!
Paschal007 kicked the ball towards Endrick, he kept it trapped with his foot as his eyes instantly surveyed the stadium.
…
"Dad, welcome back!" Maria was excited as she jumped into her father's arms who indulged her by holding her in his embrace.
After the father and daughter thoroughly enjoyed each other's presence, Ana Gustavo took a step closer and finally kissed her husband passionately.
Maria blushed fiercely and closed her eyes.
"So, how was work?" Ana asked as she led her husband in.
"It was fine, just stressful as usual". He sighed.
As he walked into the sitting room, he glanced around like he was looking for something. "Am I missing something?" He paused. "Where's Endrick?"
The 2 pair of female eyes in this room simultaneously turned to face the television, suspicious, this man also looked at the television.
"What's that?" He saw a bunch of young men with one of them holding a round object like a ball.
After the sound of a whistle, one of them played the ball and another held it, this was when his eyes narrowed as he walked closer to the television.
"Is that…, Endrick?"
*****
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