Rise of a Football God

The atmosphere in the Fulham dressing room was dampening after the loss against Chelsea FC in Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea was one of the best and most renowned teams in England but this season, they were in a period of transition. This was why the Fulham players felt like they missed an opportunity to run away with a point in the premier league.

None of them said anything though, including the coach.

Once they were ready, they packed their things and left the stadium to join their bus. As they left was when Sam whispered to his Nigerian counterpart.

"We could have done better".

Alex looked at him, and only patted him on the back in response.

The whole team took a flight back to Fulham City and as soon as they arrived, separating from their other teammates, Sam looked at Alex Iwobi. "Are you free today? I want to visit your place".

"Today? You don't want to rest after the game?"

"I didn't play".

"Oh," Alex nodded in understanding before looking at his time. "Yeah, you can, I think I'm free this night".

"Thank you".

Returning to his hotel room, Mr. Moses tried to speak with his son but Sam was not in the mood. After greeting his father, he informed him.

"Please dad, I want to go visit Alex Iwobi and spend the night there, maybe play a game with him on his pitch".

"Is it not too late?"

"No".

Mr. Moses looked at his son, a complicated look in his eyes. "When will you return?"

"Tomorrow morning". Explore more adventures at empire

As Sam quickly got ready to leave, his dad stopped him. "Son, you're doing great, don't put too much pressure on yourself".

"When the time comes, you'll enter the Fulham starting XI, just be patient".

Hearing that, Sam flashed a smile at his father. "Thanks dad".

With that, he left the hotel, taking the car as he drove through the streets of Fulham towards Alex Iwobi's apartment.

On arriving, the gateman let him in having been informed of his arrival already. Inside, Sam was treated to a delicious African dish that Alex's wife already prepared in anticipation of his arrival.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

During today's dinner though, she was not as vibrant as the last dinner since she could read the atmosphere, telling that Sam and her husband were not in the best mood since their club lost a game today.

After eating, Alex Iwobi led Sam towards the green field of his little football pitch as they conversed. "I know how you feel man, sorry".

He stole a glance at Sam. "But Sam, I think you should work on your expectations. I know it may be hard to understand the distinction now, but this is no longer the NPFL, this is the premier league".

"You're not guaranteed a spot in the starting line up anymore like you are still playing for Enyimba FC. As you can see, even I am fighting for starting spots".

Sam sighed, looking ahead at the green field. "I just feel that I'm good enough to make the starting XI already".

"You're good enough doesn't mean you'll automatically make it, you know that right?"

Sam looked at him. "Then am I not working enough? Be truthful, every day, I'm the first to report to training and in every training session, I'm one of the better performers every day and I have no niggling injury issue, so why?"

Alex chuckled. "You know, I ask that sometimes too, every player does, but we have no choice. We just have to deal with it".

Originally, Sam had no qualms with being patient.

He had gone through this phase with Coach Yemi Daniel sometime before so he understood the need to prove himself. His only frustration was that he was not even getting the chance to do so like he wanted yet.

In normal circumstances, he would have stayed patient still but about a week ago, this stopped being a normal situation.

This was because his system finally updated his season system quest.

~----~

[Congratulations! You have played your first game for Fulham FC as a substitute; you are now eligible for the season system quest!]

[Considering that you entered the premier league half-way through the season, only 1 season system quest is available.]

[Season Quest: Trophy Quest- Break the mold!]

>Fulham FC has gone trophy less through multiple seasons for a long time. In your debut season in the premier league, break this mold and help Fulham FC win its first trophy in years<

[Season Mission: Win a trophy!]

[Mission Reward: Random reward!]

…

[Penalty for mission failure: -3 decrease to 5 random football attributes!]

~----~

As soon as Sam saw this new system mission, he felt like coals of fire were lit in his butt and this was why he became desperate.

For this season, Fulham FC were competing in 3 different competitions, the EFL Cup, the FA Cup, and the premier league title.

Of the 3 competitions, Sam eliminated the premier league first. There was a reason it was the hardest league in the world, Sam had no delusion that somehow, he could push a mid-table team like Fulham to winning the league in his first season.

The same went for the FA Cup. As the oldest cup competition in the world, the FA Cup had a lot of prestige and clubs in the premier league attached a lot of importance to it.

Among the 3 tournaments, the EFL Cup was the weaker one.

Most strong teams in the premier league never field their strongest lineups in the EFL Cup. They rest their main players during the EFL games, giving bench and young players opportunities to prove themselves.

Liverpool more or less did the same thing in their last game despite the fact that they won in Anfield.

This was why Sam set his focus on the EFL Cup. In his books, it was the only slightly realistic way for him to break Fulham FC's trophy drought.

Another reason why he was so desperate was the fact that after the Chelsea game, their next game was in the EFL Cup again against Liverpool FC, the second leg to determine one of the finalist of the EFL Cup.

One game to take him a step closer to completing the system mission.

This was the main reason why Sam was so desperate to play.

If the normal Fulham played against Liverpool, despite the fact that they were playing at home, Sam was still not confident in his team winning.

This was why he was so frustrated and wanted to change this status quo by all means.

Thinking about the last word that Alex said to him, Sam suddenly stopped, forcing the Nigerian international to stop too.

As Alex looked at him, he asked. "Fortune favors the bold right?"

Alex Iwobi narrowed his eyes. "What do you want to do?"

Alex shrugged. "Since the manager is so dead-set in his old-school way and fails to recognize the talent that is on his hand, I'll just have to take the Ronaldo approach, be bold and tell him of my worth to his face till he sees it".

Alex shook his head. "Sam, I don't advise that, it can easily backfire".

"I already made my decision," Sam chuckled. "There's no other way".