From home to school and vice versa was my routine as a student. I do not find pleasure in staying behind or hanging out with my classmates after school because I still have to go assist my mom at her shop, do assignments, and prepare for school the next day.
I was leaving my classroom immediately after closing one faithful day when a close friend in a junior class met me at the stairs.
"Oh, senior George. Are you leaving already? You barely join us for other school activities."
"Other school activities?" I stuttered, pretending to be unaware of the class football competition going on.
"There is actually a football competition going on, aren't you aware?" She asked, taking a step towards me.
"Oh, football competition. I am aware, but my class doesn't need me. They have better players than me in every position," I replied.
"It doesn't mean, at least you can cheer them. That's what many of us do there," she replied.
"I have other things to do and must prepare for tomorrow's class." I tried ending the conversation immediately.
"But, tomorrow is Saturday, or do you attend weekend coaching?" She replied, and I just couldn't continue with Temitope interrogating me since I know how persuasive she can be.
"Okay, I will head to the field but won't be staying for long," I replied.
"Let me get my bag so we can just walk together," she replied, and we left the school some minutes later.
Upon arriving at the field, my classmates were surprised to see me. We exchanged pleasantries, and a few of them teased about my coming only because of Temitope.
I didn't know the right response to give and just smiled at everything they said because even Temitope wasn't helping matters. She can be very clingy, but that wasn't an issue until other students started having the wrong idea about our friendship.
I looked around for a nice spot to sit and found one close to where the players were. We settled there, and somehow I started picking interest in the football game between my class and Ss3.
My class has one of the best teams in the school, but the majority of the players had small stature, which was a disadvantage when playing against the seniors. I kept following the player style, and it was easy for me to know why the score line was still goalless.
"Samuel, stop running on that left flank. You can't get past Moses easily," I rushed to tell my class left winger, who was struggling to get past the opponent's defenders.
Samuel nodded before taking the throw on the touch line, and I was eager to see him change his style of play as they passed the ball around again.
"I haven't seen you play football before," Temitope called my attention away from the game.
"Me?" I stuttered.
Yes! She replied.
"I play football, but all these guys are better than me," I replied.
"That's not true. All I see is someone who is not ready to commit himself, or am I wrong?" She asked.
"No, that's not true." I replied, but she was right. I hate to disappoint, so I try as much as possible not to commit myself to things.
A loud scream from the players called my attention back to the match, and I saw Ayodeji, our goalkeeper, lying on the floor.
He was definitely in pain, and other players rushed towards him.
"What happened to him?" Temitope asked, looking so concerned.
"I wasn't looking as well," I replied, paying attention to players.
The expression on their faces wasn't a good one, and it seems Ayodeji won't continue the match as he held his shoulder immediately he stood from the ground.
"He must be injured," I stuttered.
"It looks he fell on that shoulder," Tope replied.
I watched as the team discussed about who was going to replace Ayodeji, and the refree blew his whistle, hurrying them to decide quickly.
I waved at Muyiwa, the class captain, from my seat, and he approached the sidelines immediately.
"Should I stand in goal for you guys?" I asked.
"Can you keep? It doesn't even matter, please just join us because nobody wants to replace Ayodeji," he replied.
I understand that goal keepers aren't that appreciated, and since everyone wants to be the class hero, staying in goal was the last thing they would do. I removed my school uniform immediately and changed my class jersey immediately.
As I walked towards the goalpost, I heard the other students cheering. I always played as a striker, but taking other positions wasn't a problem when there was no option left.
The match started again, and I told the defenders to cover me because I wasn't good at saving close range shots. I saved most of the opponent's attempts with my leg instead of punching with my hands just because of my height.
Watching the team lose chances didn't make me feel good in the goalpost and for a moment, I wish I was attacking for the team.
As the match approached the end, I started becoming worried because the scoreline was still goalless. Going into penalty would be a wrong idea since I was terrible with close-range shots.
Five minutes to the end of the match, we got a corner kick, and I took the risk of joining the players in the opponent box.
"This is risky, what if they get a counter?" the captain snapped at me.
"Don't worry," I replied, and I just focused on the ball.
The ball swung in from the corner poorly and yet, I was able to recover it.
I pushed the ball forward a bit to get more space and kicked the ball really hard towards the box just in case it doesn't go into the net. It would at least go out of play and the opponent wouldn't start a counterattack.
I focused on the ball as it went past everyone and landed in the net despite the goalkeeper stretching to stop the shot.
There was a loud noise from my teammate, and we went running around the field screaming with excitement.
The match soon kicked off, and we all focused again since conceding at that point will put us at a huge risk.
The final whistle was blown some minutes later, and that was when I felt relieved. The team gathered and showered so much praise on me as we celebrated the victory.
"That finishing wasn't that of an amateur," Muyiwa, the team captain said to me while changing back to my school uniform.
"It was probably just luck but I am glad we won," I replied.
I joined Temitope later, and she didn't stop describing the goal over and over again. I thought of joining the team fully, but my fear of not being committed kept interfering.
Instead of playing full-time, I played as a substitute on days when they struggled with injuries or probably a player was absent.
I'm particularly happy you joined and won your team the game. I don't think it's a memory you'll ever forget. Thanks to Temitope.
I changed school a few times due to some issues and despite being a fair player, I never forced myself into the school's football team.
I stepped up at a big moment and they usually end up knowing what I was capable of doing.
All thanks to Temitope, who dragged you to the field; if not, the team would have been stranded without a goalkeeper.
That's true and I still want to believe it was just a coincidence plus if I wasn't there, one of the players on the bench would have agreed to do the job.
Superhero!
That kind kind of 'magical' goal at the end of the match by a goal keeper. If it were a tournament, you suppose to be awarded the best player😂
Lolz, it would have been in the record forever but it wasn't a final and we ended up losing the final to a junior class because our goal keeper couldn't play and I couldn't spare the time.
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Wow... Goalkeeper becoming the the one winning and scoring the lone goal. You had take the risk and it really made a difference.
I felt great about it even though it wasn't special. I played as a striker and scoring goals is what I love doing a lot so winning the match for my class didn't come as a surprise.