Like usual, after his players changed into their training jersey and bibs, Coach Yemi Daniel led them to the pitch where they commenced training.
He took them through jogging, agility drills, passing drills, and even shooting drills mostly for the strikers and midfielders of his team.
As for the defenders, he also supervised their positioning so that all defenders in his team would stay in the same parallel line at all times in the game to maintain a perfect defensive shape and keep their offside trap intact.
After an hour and 30 minutes of going through these basic training drills, they finally retreated to a shade where their coach addressed them.
There was a whiteboard in this shade and after taking a marker, Coach Yemi Daniel wrote something on the whiteboard.
(Matchday 2:)
>Enyimba – Akwa United<
>Date: 18 Jan, 2023<
Coach Yemi Daniel looked at his players. "Our next game is a home game, which means that we'll be welcoming them to our territory".
"We'll be playing them here, in our turf". He pointed at the green field for emphasis. He looked at the empty stands. "Our fans will be here to support us, and it's our first home game of the season, so we better give them a spectacle".
"We need to play our best football to encourage them to come watch our next game".
"I already have a basic idea of the players that I want to start, but," this coach's eyes turned stern. "For the next 2 days, your performance in training will determine if you will start from the get go".
"I don't work on favorability or past glory, but current form so out there today, you better give me your best football".
"Ok," he clapped, rousing his players. "Stand up, you've rested enough. We'll be playing a training game between team A and team B".
"The slots have already been drawn, pick to know your team".
While their coach addressed them, sitting down, these players already drank water to wet their parched throats, also taking the opportunity to rest.
By his urging though, they stood up to pick their slots.
For today's training game, Sam's fate put him in team A. Unfortunately though, today, he was going to play against his captain, Austin on team B.
This didn't matter to Sam though, all he wanted and cared about was his performance today. He wanted to put on a clinical show for his coach.
FWEEEE!
Coach Yemi Daniel blew the whistle to commence the training game and immediately, the game was started by team B.
For the first few minutes of this game, the more powerful team B dominated possession, asserting their authority over the game but this didn't last too long.
8 minutes in, Sam's influence started showing in team A as with his incredible stamina which seemed slightly off the roof today, he ran everywhere, intercepting passes and blocking shots.
Team A managed to weather the relentless attacks of their opponents for 15 minutes, but at the 16th minute, they finally stung like a viper.
Again, it was Austin as after outmuscling 2 midfielders of team A in the midfield, maintaining possession due to his incredible physicality, even as Sam rushed in, this center midfielder looked slightly before playing a lobbed pass.
It was an incredible pass as it rose above the lineup of team A defenders. The defenders pursued, but Emeka, team B's striker was faster.
Like a hurricane, this center forward rushed, overtaking the defenders in no time before taking 2 touches.
The first touch to control the ball, and the second to poke it past the side of the onrushing team A goalkeeper.
In the 16th minute of the training game, team B got the first goal but team A was not to stay lying down though.
Just 2 minutes later, in the 18th minute, they responded.
Farouk Mohammed managed to win the ball back shortly after losing it to Olisema in team B, then after a swift glance through the pitch, he passed to his nearest teammate, Sam.
With his spatial awareness, Sam immediately scanned his surroundings, noting that his opponents gave him a lot of space.
Instantly, he pushed the ball forward before running after it.
A team B midfielder rushed in, trying to clear the ball but having timed it perfectly, Sam arrived before him.
He didn't dribble, he pushed the ball for only one reason, to utilize his power shot skill and shoot from midfield.
BAM!
His leg hit the ball with ramming force, sending it on a flying trajectory through the sky as it curved slightly before nestling into the top right corner.
The goalkeeper dived but he stood no chance.
"Yes!" Sam pumped his fists excitedly.
The game restarted as with Sam playing in an entirely different level, he managed to help his team keep possession as they won back control over the game.
For a few minutes, team A dominated but against the run of play, Emeka, team B's center forward managed to do it again, wriggling through a few defenders while holding them off with his physicality before slamming a point-blank shot into the roof of the net.
1-2 to team B in the 30th minute of the game.
11 minutes later, Sam did the incredible again, being the only one to react in the box as Farouk played a ball across goal.
He was the only one in the right place at the right time to poke the free ball into the net, making the score line 2-2 in the 41st minute.
In the 45th minute, Olisema managed to get his name on the scoresheet, sneaking a low ball into the net past team A's goalkeeper.
Team B led by half-time.
When the game restarted, led by Sam, again, team A led a relentless offensive against the opposition but unlike the first half, team B played even more defensive football now, shutting off most openings in their backline.
Team B put on a disciplined defensive performance for 45 minutes, maintaining the score line 2-3 in their favor until a moment of magic from Sam again in the dying minutes of this training game.
In the 90th plus 3 minutes, Sam pulled off an unreal trick from his magic box, dribbling through 3 team B defenders before still having the energy to round the goalkeeper and push the ball into an empty net.
"YES!" Sam screamed at the top of his lungs.
Sam managed to score a hat trick in this training game, stunning the full Enyimba team as the training game ended 3-3.
After the game, as the players rested, Coach Yemi Daniel finally dropped his starting lineup for their next game.
Goalkeeper: Olorunleke Ojo
Center Back: Timothy Danladi
Center Back: Adekunle Adeleke
Right Back: Sadiq Abubakar
Left Back: Ezekiel Bassey
Central Midfielder: Austin Oladapo
Attacking Midfielder: Cyril Olisema
Defensive Midfielder: Farouk Mohammed
Center Forward: Emeka Obioma
Left Winger: Chijioke Mbaoma
Right Winger: Victor Mbaoma
Staring at the starting line-up of his coach, Sam had only a single thought in his mind. 'F*ck!' He cursed.