Rise of a Football God

Sam touched down in Nigeria when it was already late, and the first thing that welcomed him on the airport was not his family, but a system notification.

~----~

[You have received a new system mission: An International!]

[Mission Description: In football, there is a certain pride that comes with representing your country on the international stage; it is the greatest pride of a professional football player. Prove to your coach that selecting you for the Nigerian squad was the right decision and force him into playing you.]

[Mission Objective: Show that you are a worthy Nigerian international!]

[Mission Reward: +3 increase to a random football attribute!]

~----~

This was the best news that any player going on a mission to represent his country in the footballing landscape could receive.

Sam never expected it, and it made him even happier.

It made him even more determined to perform.

After the system notifications did he finally meet his family who were waiting for him right there in the Abuja airport. Mr. Moses drove his full family on his car to welcome their son back home from England.

After the game on the 31st against Ipswich Town, the next day Kayla came to London to meet Sam, and the next day he completed all his dealings in Fulham.

Today was 2nd of June, a Sunday.

Sam received his call-up to the Nigerian national team on 1st of June, and on that same day, the Nigerian coach sent him the upcoming AFCON qualifying fixtures for the national team.

AFCON was the African version of the Euros and Copa America tournaments in Europe and America, the African Cup of Nations.

(African Cup of Nations qualification- Group stage!)

(Matchday 1 of 6:)

(Nigeria – Benin)

(Date: 7th September, 2024)

…

(Matchday 2 of 6:)

(Rwanda – Nigeria)

(Date: 10th September, 2024)

Sam and his new international teammates would play only 2 games before being released to focus back on club football.

Since the Nigeria squad's home stadium was right here in Abuja, the Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium, Sam stayed in his family mansion in Abuja. That night, he spent time with his family, catching up before sleeping early.

It may not show on his face but Sam was incredibly excited about the opportunity of finally representing his country on the international stage.

He was not just excited at the prospect of representing his country, another reason why he was so excited was because for the first time in his life, he was going to be playing for a side that was not always seen as the underdog.

Yes, in international football, Nigeria was not always the underdog as they had a fairly high rank in the FIFA rankings.

And according to the media, the current Nigerian squad was the most talented in years with some truly big names of football playing for the country.

By representing Nigeria, Sam would get to play with big names like Victor Boniface and Victor Osimhen, 2 of the biggest strikers currently in the world, also the likes of Ademola Lookman and Samuel Chukwueze.

Just thinking about them left Sam more excited than usual.

This was why he slept even earlier than normal today.

Sam wanted to bring his habit from Fulham to the Nigerian national team of being the first player to report to training, and he wanted to start it the next day.

Just like he hoped, sleeping early enabled him to wake up early. The first thing that he did was to complete his daily system quest, after which he drove his father's car to the national stadium in Abuja.

Training was supposed to start by 8 but Sam arrived 45 minutes early, but unlike what he expected, he was not the first player to report to training.

2 players arrived before him.

Ola Aina, the Nigerian wingback and William Troost-Ekong, the Nigerian national team captain reported for training earlier than him.

Sam was surprised, this was his first-time meeting both players.

Seeing him, William paused and smiled. "You're Sam right? The new addition to the squad".

"Yes, nice to meet you sir". Sam went closer and took his hand for a handshake.

"Welcome to the squad".

"Thank you sir".

"No need to call me sir, you can just call me William. We're teammates now".

This was not Sam's first-time hearing this from older teammates but like usual, he declined politely. His mom would kill him if she learned that he was calling a man more than a decade older than him by his first name.

"So, I heard you play for Fulham…"

Engaging in small talk, the 3 players soon got ready before entering the pitch to start warming up.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

And just like that, Sam easily got over the dread of his new environment.

A few minutes later, one after the other, new faces started showing up to the stadium and in no time, the coach finally arrived, Finidi George.

Seeing the third coach of his still short professional football career, Sam's eyes lit up with fire since by now, from experience, he already knew what coaches wanted from new players, they wanted to be impressed.

Having impressed coach Yemi Daniel and then coach Marco Silva in Fulham before getting to play regularly, this time again, despite his reputation in Fulham, he had no doubt that he had to go through the same circle again.

But this time, Sam was ready.

Some big names may be with him on the pitch today, but Sam was not deterred or starstruck by them. Having played against countless big names in the premier league already, he was able to stay calm.

All he wanted at this moment was to outperform them. 'I respect you guys, but I must outperform you all!'

'That is the only way to impress the coach!'

And once training started, Sam did what he did best, impress.

With familiar faces like Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey in the squad, Sam was able to quickly settle into his mojo, displaying his talent effortlessly.

His confidence oozed anytime he touched the ball.

In just his first training session, his teammates and his coach got to know more about his skills and ability on a football pitch.

For the next few days, Sam continued impressing in training and then, like the rolling pages of a book, days passed and in no time, it was 7th September.

The D-day was here.

The Benin Republic national team arrived in Nigeria for the AFCON qualifying game. For the Nigerian side, Finidi George already released his starting XI long ago.

Just like Sam expected, he was not in the lineup.

He watched from the bench as the international football game started.