Rise of a Football God

On the pitch, Austin was the teammate who was closest to Sam's position and he was the first to feel the change in his teammate.

He could not describe it with words, it was almost like, Sam's aura changed, becoming more menacing, chilling, and lethal, like a vampire.

The Manchester City midfielders also felt it but they didn't pay attention to it. Sam didn't celebrate his goal, eager to restart the game, and then…

FWEEEE!

From that moment on, everything changed.

To many, that goal was just a consolation for Enyimba FC but the players didn't feel that way at all. Afterall, Sam was still there, saying the words to rile them up and give their all for the final 17 minutes of this game.

As for Sam himself? Well, it was safe to say he exploded.

Immediately after that goal, Sam felt like a changed being. It was almost like there was a limit to his ability on the pitch before but with that goal, the limit was finally unlocked, pushing him into a superhuman state.

It showed on the pitch.

For the final 17 minutes of this game, with his incredible stamina pushing him on, Sam ran all over the pitch, pursuing the ball and intercepting passes.

And when he won back possession or received passes from his teammates, he became a threat, no longer held down by the Man City midfield's imperiousness as for a few minutes, he seemed to stand on the same level with the best midfielders in the world.

When the ball got to him, Sam skipped past challenges with ruthless efficiency, playing dangerous passes at a worrying frequency.

And occasionally, he went on that mazy dribble, going through multiple Man City players and the closest he came, he almost unleashed a shot until Ruben Dias shoved him aside with his imposing body.

Enyimba FC didn't create anything concrete yet for 10 minutes but in those minutes, Sam seemed to have entered God mood.

Anytime the ball touched his leg, Enyimba FC's threat increased by 100%!

He was a menace; the brilliance of the Manchester City team was the only thing that kept him at bay till now but even that was not enough.

The ability card that Sam triggered lasted only 10 minutes, but he had 3 uses of it. Just before the card usage duration could expire, he made use of another one, stacking it's use with the first card, still riding on the momentum of his first goal.

And finally, his efforts paid.

After 10 minutes of going at it non-stop, not giving an inch to his fatigue or the seemingly insurmountable score line, Sam decided to switch it up.

It was already the 83rd minute of the game.

'F*ck it!' Sam growled in his mind. 'It's now or never!'

Receiving a pass from Farouk again in the center of the pitch, from over 25 yards out, Sam took a look at goal, set himself up for a shot, and then…

"It's definitely too far for him to think about it".

"Sam has been otherworldly these past few minutes, but still, it's too much. Wait! He's doing it…, he did it!"

"He took the shot! Will it go in?"

"Will it? Will it? Ohhhhh… my God!"

"What a goalllll!"

"From over 25 yards out, what a rocket!"

"Samuel Moses has reduced the Man City lead by half! What are we seeing here? No one saw this coming, definitely no one!"

"Game on for Enyimba FC!"

Sam's incredible shot was nothing short of extraterrestrial. Ederson jumped but somehow, the ball still managed to escape his grasp.

The shot was just too fast, and too strong. Stay tuned for updates on empire

In the 83rd minute of the game, Enyimba FC against all odds managed to reduce the deficit by half and it sent alarm bells ringing through Man City.

Pep Guardiola made a few changes, putting in fresh legs and immediately, Man City asserted their authority over the game again for the final minutes.

They became the bigger threat again, testing the Enyimba FC goal time and time again, yet the score line remained 4-2.

Time passed…

84th minute…, nothing.

85th minute…, still nothing.

86th minute…, still nothing.

87th minute, and then, the miracle happened.

After impressive hold up play from Emeka, the center forward set up his attacking midfielder for a shot at goal but Sam never got the chance to take the shot because sky blue jerseys rushed to block his path.

He didn't risk the shot though, rather, Sam followed his instincts.

Still in the zone state, he moved like a hurricane into the 18-yard box, elusive like the wind and as terrible as a storm.

Nutmegging the closest player in sky blue that rushed in, Sam rushed into the 18-yard box towards the right, looking for a shooting angle even as his eyes were also on the look out to spot a perfect passing lane.

The whole Man City defense was put on its toes because of one player, him.

Displaying quick feet, shifting the ball, retaining possession in the 18-yard box, Sam skipped past a couple of challenges but the shooting angle he sought never came, nor did the perfect passing lane.

Manchester City was just too defensively disciplined.

At that moment was when Ruben Dias rushed close, colliding against him hard as the force of this player pushed him.

Sam didn't fall though, rather using the laws of simple physics to take advantage of that sudden momentum in his favor, he swirled like a roulette on top the ball. He took 2 touches.

First touch with the heel of his boot to stop the ball, and second touch to drag it and roll with it beyond Ruben Dias and all the players in sky blue blocking everywhere around him towards the right side of the box.

In that moment, under the tension of this stadium, with so many world-class players marking him and keeping him out, Sam executed the roulette skill!

And with it, space opened up, a tiny space but in the zone state, his brain picked it up immediately like a hungry machine.

BAM!

Sam hit the ball immediately with his right foot into the bottom right corner of the net as the ball snuck into the post.

Ederson didn't move, he never saw the ball coming.

In the 87th minute of the game, 3 minutes from time, Sam did the impossible, scoring his 3rd goal of the 2nd half to make it a hattrick in just 15 minutes!

"ZINEDINE SAM!" The commentator roared in a shrill voice.

"Zinedine Sam!"

"Zinedine Sam!"

"What a goal! What a moment!"

"They asked questions if he could do it against the best of the best, well now here it is, against the best team in the world!"

"What a player!"

"And now, just 1 more goal to equalize the game, can they do it?!"

Immediately after the ball entered the net, Sam jumped, pumping his fists excitedly as with wide eyes, pupils dilated, he roared. "COME ON!!!"

The game was on!

Could he actually do it?

Could Enyimba FC actually do it?!