26 the miracle maker

Somehow he had scored a hattrick, and gotten assist. Quite single-handedly, he had turned the entire game around. It was not Barcelona vs Antwerp for the last 20 minutes or so... No, it was Isaac Adams vs Barcelona.

Despite that, he felt empty. It was like sonething extremely empty was missing from it. Despite his dream debut, it wouldn't be complete without the cherry on top. No, they couldn't lose.

Isaac had already placed the ball on the halfway line as he waited for the game to begin. The next 2 minutes, it would decide whether the Antwerp could complete their comeback.

Barcelona began the play. They began to utilise their superior technical ability to pass around the field, while Antwerp finally took the risk of pressing high up the pitch as they searched for an opportunity.

Isaac was tireless as he pressed the defence. He tried to the best of his ability to disrupt Barcelona's buildup, thereby forcing them to make a mistake.

He pushed himself beyond his limits. He was tireless as he moved. Barcelona were the better team however, and they easily slid through Antwerps entire team, to set up a goalscoring chance.

Lewandowski, the Barcelona striker made a run behind the defence, and he sprinted toward the goal.

Romeu released a through pass, setting up the Poland captain on goal.

Antwerps prestigious captain tried to stop the player, along with his partner in defence. Lewandowski didn't stop.

He held them off and continued his run, undisturbed by the efforts of the defenders. he drew closer and closer, until the keeper started to come out.

Lewandowski drew back his leg, then he dug his foot under the ball, and lifted it above the keeper. The ball rose into the air, leaving the keeper helpless.

The ball was heading into the goal. The game was over. All Antwerp fans felt themselves sigh, as they reassured themselves that it was impossible to beat Barcelona anyway.

However, not all accepted this fate.

Not Isaac.

He had begun running from the time he saw Lewandowski make his run, from before Romeu had even passed.

He ignored the player's fighting for the ball and focused on reaching his goalpost. This was because he trusted Lewandowski to surpass the entire team.

The ball seemed to be going on. It was... Until he stood in its way. He kicked it away, clearing the danger. It landed by the teams right winger, who sent a pass to Abnor Muja, their team's midfielder. Abnor Muja immediately released a through pass to Vincent Jaanssem

The striker dropped to the ground, the ball rolling out of bounds. Christensen stood over him like a knight over a dragons corpse. The instant Janssen fell, all of his teammates including Isaac ran up to him. They surrounded Christensen as they attempted to go at him for dropping their teammate.

The barcelona players joined, pushing the Antwerp players away. Isaac was wise not to get too involved, but he threw in a few smart jeers to try to rile up the opponent a little.

"You can only stop us with fouls, huh?" He questioned, amongst the chaos.

"80 minutes, Zero goals! Zero!" Kounde called.

"20 minutes, 4 goals!" Isaac replied, with a smirk. He didn't even understand why he was reacting in this way. He was just captured by the goal's competitive spirit, he guessed. The words left his mouth without him even realizing.

After the referee stopped the ruckus, he awarded a freekick to Antwerp. It was nearly 40 yards away, and it was somewhere around the edge of the box. Antwerp players heard their coach shout.

"Isaac! Give it to Isaac!" He called, pointing to the south african youngster. Isaac looked surprised, but he recieved the ball from the captain. He looked at the coach, who stood with his hands in his pockets, watching him. Coach Van Bommel gave him a reassuring nod.

The coach was trusting him, the players were trusting him... even the fans. The reality of the situation weighed down on his shoulder's.

"Try to cross it! It's a difficult shot!" Toby Aldeiwereld called to him, as he jogged away.

'Cross it?' Isaac thought.

It was true. The angle, the pressure, and the distance. All of these were against him. Right now he could avoid all of this by sending in a cross. This had a higher chance of success. Logically it was the best choice.

But...

It did not have a higher chance of goal. He could cross the ball in, and trust his teammates to sscore... or he could trsut his own ability. If he crossed, in reality he was running away from all of those visicittudes. Isaac didn't want to run away. After all, the larger the difficulties, the better the results.

Imagine he score this?

Isaac Adams on every paper, every page, every post. Isaac, Isaac, Isaac. In the process, he may not be doing the best choice for the team... but it was not about the process, it was about the results. The resluts would be a goal. That goal would help the team.

Isaac felt the cold surface of the ball in his hands.

His ball.

Isaac bent to place the ball down, allowing it to rest on the soft grass.

His goal.

Isaac took one step back. He felt his boots sink into the grass.

His oppurtunity.

Another step. Another step. And, another step.

'Be confident.'

It may not be the most logical choice, but that was fine. Isaac had already decided: He would be a player that defied logic.

Isaac felt the sounds of thousands of fans sink into his ears. Be it the cacophonous jeers of the opposition fans, or the drowned cheers of his fans. He felt his eyes observe and take in every little detail. The wall, the keeper, and the goalpost. Then, he felt the air fill his lungs as he took a deep breath in.

FWEE!

Isaac jogged forward. Then he pulled back his leg. He swung it.

Despite the loudness of the fans, all he heard was his foot against the ball.

Thuk!

The ball lifted into the air, like a swan. It was as beautiful, and as graceful. It formed a beautiful curve, as it lifted above the defence. Despite it's elegance, it possesed an insurmountable amount of power. It was a perfect shot.

The keeper bounced on his toes, before diving high, to the left. He was determined, he was ready.

However, determination and readiness did not win you games, at least not in this case. Skill did, and Isaac had an endless amount of it.

The ball sailed past the keeper.

Isaac felt himself explode with joy.

"Goaaal!"

Exhiliration! Excitement! Joy!