Football singularity

Chapter 786 Can’t Be Coached

If you’re enjoying the story, consider voting to show your support. Feel free to join me on Discord to chat and share your thoughts: https://discord.gg/hTQJtj2K9U.

#More than 10 Chapters ahead on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TrikoRex. If you have a moment, leaving a review would mean a lot to me and help me see who’s interested in the story’s future.

~~~

[2021-05-29 | Estádio do Dragão, Porto | 23:30 WEST]

[FT (AET): Manchester City 1-2 Bayer 04 Leverkusen]

(Fweet Fweet FWEEEEEEEE!)

The loud cry of the whistle pierced the Porto night as Tah’s Clarence crossed the halfway line. Referee Lahoz had given the city side five whole added minutes following the restart. Despite being annoyed by this, the Germans couldn’t argue as they had taken their liberty in celebrating taking the late lead.

"Well, there you have it, ladies and gentlemen—IT’S OVER! Leverkusen are the kings of Europe!" Drury’s voice rang out, carrying a message that resonated with every Leverkusen fan watching. "After 117 years of waiting, after coming so close so many times, Bayer Leverkusen have climbed the highest mountain in club football!"

"They have collected all the infinity stones and the treble is complete!" Tyldesley added, his own voice thick with emotion. "DFB-Pokal, Bundesliga, and now the Champions League! Two seventeen-year-olds have just written themselves into footballing immortality!"

"It came down to the wire, but they will take it," Drury added as the camera panned downward. "City and Guardiola were once again denied the coveted trophy."

"You gotta feel for them," Tyldesley continued, his voice measured. "Guardiola and City threw everything at this match. But sometimes, football writes its own script, and tonight, it was written in red and black."

Down on the pitch, pandemonium had ensued on the German side. Despite being absolutely knackered, they found a second wind to celebrate the monumental achievement. Water bottles were thrown into the air, breaking off into groups to revel in the moment.

Lars could be seen shedding a tear as he draped a German flag around his shoulders and waved to the excited fans. To him, this year felt like a dream that he never wanted to wake up from. He had been content with winning the DFB Cup last year, but this year, he had achieved things he only dreamed of as a kid.

Diaby, Baily, Wendell, and Grey could be seen dancing to music blasting from a Beats Pill they had gotten their hands on. The city side looked like it had been through a war, which in a sense it had. Most of them looked shell-shocked, wishing they could wake up from this nightmare or fight whoever wrote the script.

Players had collapsed on the turf with vacant eyes, watching the Germans get a hold of something their entire team had been built around to achieve. De Bruyne, Sterling, Gündogan, and Walker, the team’s captains, held back their emotions and began walking to their teammates, picking up the pieces of the Champions League hopes. While they moved between the players, Guardiola stood in his technical area, hands in his pockets, expression unreadable.

He knew he’d have to go back to the drawing board after coming so close again in his coaching career. To think the cause of this was a 17-year-old teenager wasn’t something he had thought possible. After all, they had studied him and planned out how to contain him, and it worked for the most part. He had managed to score twice, displaying an absurdly high instinct for goals, reminding him of a handful of players.

~~~

"First off, congratulations on what is a monumental achievement for anyone, especially as young as you." Peter Schmeichel, the UCL Today show’s on-pitch reporter for the final, said as Rakim could be seen taking deep breaths, trying to steady himself. "Tell me your first thoughts, is it anything like what you imagined it to be?"

Wiping sweat from his forehead with a Leverkusen towel, he tried to gather his thoughts, his chest still heaving from exertion and emotion. "Honestly, Peter, I’m still processing," he said, his voice hoarse. "Like, at some point it felt like the game wouldn’t ever end... And then we actually did it."

"You scored two spectacular goals," Schmeichel pressed, his own legendary goalkeeper instincts clearly impressed. "What were you thinking in both instances?"

Rakim exhaled slowly, running a hand through his damp hair. "The first one, honestly, I just reacted. It was all on Demirbay, who played it perfectly, where I needed to be. Facing a keeper of Ederson calibre, you are reacting more on instinct rather than with a plan."

He paused, shaking his head slightly as if still processing it himself. "The second one, though—things just snapped into place, and I believed I could score."

"And what a strike that was," Schmeichel said with genuine admiration. "Thirty yards out, top bins. That’s the kind of strike people will be replaying for decades."

Rakim smiled despite his exhaustion. "I’ll probably watch it a few times myself once I actually get a chance to breathe and enjoy the view."

Peter continued asking him questions, trying to get an in-depth look at how Rakim saw the match. He made sure to keep things professional, not asking sensitive questions like his prospects next season that would shatter the winning side’s parade. The conversation gave Rakim a chance to calm down and actually relive the moments of the match he had just played through.

The London studio, consisting of Kate, Mich, Henry and Carragher, asked their own question, which the retired keeper relayed. They mainly focused on the German side’s game plan coming into the match, and whether he thought it was effective. Of course, a big part of the discussion was his denied penalty, which Rakim could only give a non-committal answer to.

Even if he was reluctant to speak about it yet, that same courtesy did not extend to the footballing fans watching from around the world. The CBS Sports producers were even kind enough to run a replay of the tackle so they could get another look. For the Germans, it felt like a conspiracy meant to squash their hopes, and they would have been ready to launch a crusade if they hadn’t won in such dramatic fashion.

"Last question," Schmeichel said, gesturing to the chaos of celebration around them. "You’ve just won the treble at seventeen years old. You’ve scored in a Champions League final, what is next for Rakim?"

Rakim shrugged his shoulder, seemingly not having thought that far. "That’s for the future me to worry about. For now, I’ve got some jewellery to add to the collection. "

"Congratulations again, Rakim," Schmeichel said, extending his hand. "Enjoy every second of this. Now back to you guys in the studio."

~~~

[UCL Today show London studio]

"Well, there you have Rakim’s thoughts on his performance," Jamie stated as the broadcast cut back to the studio. "I doubt he realises just how seismic his performance tonight was on the footballing world."

"I mean, we keep talking about his numbers this season, but I don’t think people truly understand what that means." Thierry Henry said, shaking his head slowly. "Most players that age are still in academies, maybe getting the occasional cup appearance."

"You have all played with and against some of the greatest players in your time. Well, Micha also had a good view of them on the bench." Kate Abdo asked, smiling slightly. "Where does the current Rakim rank?"

"Hey, I’ll let you know I won a Premier League title twice," Micah Richards protested with mock indignation, pointing at Kate. "But to answer your question seriously—at seventeen? I’ve never seen anything like this."

"Not even close," Henry agreed, leaning forward. "The game is different from when I was seventeen in Monaco, trying to step onto the stage. There is just more opertunity wth social media, and these upcoming player get to research their idols and measure where they need to be heading."

"The thing that stands out to me," Carragher interjected, "is not just the goals, but the mentality. That second goal, 120th minute, extra time, legs gone, everyone expecting penalties, and he has the audacity to strike from thirty yards out."

"Audacity is the right word," Henry said, nodding. "Because at that moment, most players are conserving energy, thinking about the shootout. He saw the opportunity and believed he would score no matter what. That’s not something that can be coached; you either have it, or you hope to develop it one day."

"And it wasn’t even a speculative effort," Micah added, rewinding the replay on the touchscreen in front of them. "Look at this, he caught Ederson completely off his line, and the execution is... I mean, that’s a Goal of the Season contender in any competition, let alone a Champions League final."

Kate turned to the camera. "We’re seeing some remarkable scenes in Porto right now. Let’s go back to Peter on the pitch."

.

.

.

.

TO BE CONTINUED...