Winning the Dream Goal !

My heart was pounding as if it were a lion forcing its way free out from my chest. It was at the peak of the afternoon but I was shivering. The crowd was at its feet as I walk to my post, they were cheering at the top of their lungs but I couldn’t hear them. All I hear was the sound of my own heartbeat and respiration and my knees were shaking as I try to stand my ground against the present adversary. I looked into my opponent’s eyes estimating my chances of success, the odds were against me, but that didn’t matter soon. I took a few deep breaths to release tension that was flooding me, it didn’t work. My opponent gave me a sharp glare as I positioned myself in the middle of the goalpost. I bent my knees and lifted my arms in attempt to cover as much area as possible. He took a few steps away from the ball to gather enough momentum and I prayed to my God for favor. We were both waiting for the whistle, for Him to kick the winning goal, or for me to defend the goalpost, defeat the champions and become a hero.

Championship match of the invitational soccer tournament and it was our school versus the long time defending champs. The match was a close an even one; we were playing at par with the champs even though it was the first time ever that our team reached the finals. Regular period was over and the scores were tied at zero. And to break off the tie, the teams must face in a 5 man kick-off to determine the champs. In a kick-off both teams will select 4 of their best strikers plus the goal keeper. It will be a one on one match versus a team’s striker versus the opponent’s goal keeper and the striker has only one chance of kicking the ball, if it goes in, it’s a score and of course if the goal keeper was able to block the ball then there will be no score.

The scores were tied a 4-4 and it was the champion’s last striker versus me, the goal keeper. If they manage to score, then it will be all over for us, but if I manage to block the ball then there might be a small chance for us to defeat the champs.

The whistle was blown but he still hasn’t moved an inch, he was still deciding score. Everything I was taught was useless now, when the striker kicks the ball all I have is as much as 0.02 seconds to decide where the ball is going. You can’t even call it anticipation when you only have this much time. It was his luck versus mine as he started to dash towards the ball. Is the ball going left? Right? Upper left? Upper right? Lower left? Lower right? Or straight towards me? If there’s a time to guess the perfect time would be NOW!

The moment the ball flew, I can remember it as clear as HD, everything was on slow-motion. The ball flew directly where I guessed it but the ball was moving faster than my body is. I decided a few milliseconds late. I stretched my hand as far as I can in attempt to block the ball, but I doubted I could make it. I closed my eyes and desperately trying to extend my whole body towards the ball that was traveling faster than I expected. It was all down to luck.

BLAG! BLAG! BLAG! BLAG! ARBY!!!! OPEN THE DOOR! WAKE UP! YOU’LL BE LATE FOR SCHOOL! –mom

True Story.