The roar of the crowd was deafening. It wasn't the usual stadium buzz, it was a primal scream, a collective gasp of disbelief. On the pitch, a figure lay crumpled, his face contorted in pain. It was Thiago Silva, the Brazilian rock, his knee twisted at an unnatural angle. The world held its breath, and in that silent pause, a single thought resonated within the mind of Leo Andrade, the boy who dreamt of being the GOAT midfielder: "If only I could be there, I would save him."
Bernardo awoke with a gasp, his chest heaving, the familiar smell of sweat and grass filling his nostrils. He blinked, confused, his vision blurring as he took in the unfamiliar sight before him. He wasn't in his bedroom, nor the hospital room where he'd lain for weeks, battling the effects of a rare blood disease. This was… a pitch? And he was… young?
He was 16, with the lean frame of a budding athlete. A flash of memory, a vibrant tapestry of his former life, surfaced: the boy who spent his days kicking a ball, dreaming of playing for Brazil, for Real Madrid, for glory. He'd been denied that dream by fate, but now, he was given a second chance.