Rise of a Football God

Like usual, Coach Marco Silva sent the fixture to his players.

(EFL Cup!)

(Semifinal- Leg 2 of 2)

(Fulham – Liverpool)

(Date: 24th January, 2024)

…

(Current Aggregate: 1-2)

After the Chelsea game, due to having more than enough time to prepare for the next game, the Fulham manager, Marco Silva gave his players 2 days of rest to properly recover before training started again.

When the D-day for training eventually game, just like before, Sam was the first player to report to Craven Cottage for training, even earlier than ever before.

And eventually, when training started, once again, Sam put out an eye-catching performance.

As his confidence grew since coming to England, so did his performances in training as he played at a level heads and shoulders above some of his teammates.

Coming to England, at first, Sam was intimidated but after his breakthrough to 80 overall rating, his feeling of inferiority reduced but when he finally decided to use his snooping tool on all his teammates, his confidence fully returned.

The Fulham FC team was full of players with a lot of experience in the highest stage, playing in the big 5 European leagues but that was all that they had more than Sam. Sam beat them in almost every other way.

The day he decided to use his snooping tool on his teammates, to his shock, Sam discovered that in terms of overall rating, there were only 2 players in the whole Fulham FC team that were better than him.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Only Raul Jimenez, the Fulham striker and Bernd Leno, the Fulham goalkeeper were higher rated than him at 81 overall rating each.

There was only 1 more 80 overall rated player in the Fulham team in Joao Palhinha, the Fulham defensive midfielder, followed by the likes of Alex Iwobi and Willian at an overall rating of 79 each.

All the other Fulham players were rated 77 and below.

The day that Sam learned this, his confidence rose to the moon and alongside it his performance in training. He didn\'t play like a new player at all, rather like a veteran with a lot of playing experience.

Despite his eye-catching displays in training for the next few days though, including his incredible work rate and diligence, always being the first to come to training, he was still at the periphery of Coach Marco Silva\'s starting XI formation for the blockbuster encounter against Liverpool FC.

The lack of recognition bothered Sam. He didn\'t let it kill his enthusiasm, but it was like torture.

He felt like a metal placed on an anvil and despite proving his tenacity time and time again, Marco Silva kept on hitting him on the anvil with disappointments.

It was hard, but with the help of his family, Sam was able to stay believing.

At some point, in one of the video calls, Mrs. Moses snapped, raining insults on the stupid coach who was too dense to recognize the gold at hand in the form of her son who was going to become the best player in the world.

"Don\'t mind him my son, you\'re the best player in that team".

"Don\'t worry, I\'ll put that foolish coach of yours in prayers. Trust me and trust God, in a few days, when the fires of heaven burn that ass of his, he\'ll put your name in that starting book of his".

"Starting lineup". Mr. Moses corrected his wife.

"Whatever!"

It was just typical mom, but listening to her rant eased Sam\'s pain.

But this time though, on the 21st of January, 3 days to the game, Sam finally got fed up. He finally decided to take the drastic action that he thought of about a week ago.

The next day, on the 21st, he was the first Fulham player to report to training like usual and when the coach arrived and training eventually started at 8:00am, Sam ingested one of the energy elixirs that he stored in the inventory.

With the help of the energy elixir, in today\'s training session, Sam was able to play at a truly extraterrestrial level, dwarfing the performance of all his teammates as he showed his talent.

By the end of it all, his unbiased teammates were left heaping praise on him for his performance today, yet he stayed at the periphery of his coach\'s starting XI.

That day, after the training session, as other players got set to start going home, Sam set his eyes on his coach.

His eyes gleamed. \'Fortune favors the bold\'.

\'It\'s now or never!\'

Sam walked up to Coach Marco Silva when he was isolated with only one of his assistant coaches. "Coach, I need to speak to you".

Inclining his head and noticing him, Marco Silva smiled. "Hey Sam, how are you doing?"

"I\'m good coach".

"That\'s great," Marco Silva grinned. "Your performance in training today was really great, you\'ve really attracted my attention. Keep it up and you\'ll be rewarded".

Sam took a deep breath. "Actually, coach, that is why I came today".

"Oh". Marco Silva said, paying more attention to him now.

Sam looked his coach in the eye. "Coach, I know it\'s not my place but please, I want to play in the next game against Liverpool".

"We can\'t afford to lose it, and I believe I can help us win".

"You\'ve seen my performance in training, you\'ve seen my diligence, you\'ve seen my ability, just give me this chance and I promise you won\'t regret it".

Silently, Marco Silva just stared at Sam for a few seconds and then he picked up his bag. "I heard you Sam".

He turned to leave with his assistant. "This should be the first and last time that you try that with me".

"As for your answer. I am the coach, I make the decisions, that is my job. You stick to your job, got it?"

"Yes boss".

Coach Marco Silva walked away with his assistant.

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Sam hesitated as he stared at this middle-aged man leave, but then he gritted his teeth. \'Fortune favors the bold\'. He chanted in his mind, then…

"If you want to win tomorrow\'s game, I am your only chance".

It took all of Sam\'s courage to say that.

Hearing that, Marco Silva paused a bit but without saying a word, he left.

Sam returned home feeling like a huge burden already left his chest. He already said his mind, so he no longer paid attention to it.

For the next few days in all the remaining training sessions, he kept on giving his best even as he stayed at the periphery of the coach\'s starting XI, only making the bench.

And then, like the flipping pages of a book, the D-day approached, tomorrow, and with it the final starting XI was nailed in.

Raul Jimenez was to lead the line as the striker with Willian, Pereira, and De-Cordova-Reid behind him as the attacking playmakers.

Palhinha and Ciarney started in the defensive midfield positions, while the defense comprised of Castagne, Adarabioyo, Diop, and Robinson.

Bernd Leno started in between the posts.

As for the opposition side, Liverpool FC fielded a strong line up led by an attack of Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez, and Luis Diaz.

Their midfield comprised of the trio of Harvey Elliot, Alexis Mac Allister, and Ryan Gravenberch. While their 4-man defense comprised Conor Bradley, Jarel Quansah, Virgil Van Dijk, and Joe Gomez.

Kelleher started in between the posts again with Allison on the bench.

The game was poised to be a blockbuster encounter.