Rise of a Football God

As soon as the final whistle reverberated, all the Enyimba FC players collapsed on the pitch, devastated and mourning their loss.

While the Manchester City players celebrated their victory, the Enyimba FC players were left devastated.

This was the reality of football, there was always the winners who celebrate at the end and the losers at the end of every football game.

This time, Sam ended up on the losing side in the most important game of his career so far and to his young heart, it was a heart wrenching experience.

Sam could not hold his emotions in, he collapsed in tears on the pitch.

As the Man City celebrations continued, the Enyimba FC players slowly picked themselves up one after the other and in tandem, they walked towards Sam, trying their best to console him.

Austin hugged him, patting him on the back. "Stop crying man," he held Sam's face, grinning. "You remember what you said in the dressing room?"

"Even if we go down in the end, let's go down fighting".

Austin smiled. "What do you think? We did go down fighting".

"We showed them hell Sam!"

Sam chuckled, wiping his tears. "Yes, we showed them hell".

It was embarrassing, crying in front of cameras that broadcasted the event to the whole world but Sam was just that overwhelmed. He was usually good at controlling his emotions but this time, he lost control completely.

What truly made him recover though was a gesture from an opposition player.

After celebrating with his teammates, Kevin De Bruyne walked up to Sam before removing his jersey and handing it over to him.

"…!"

For a few seconds, Sam was stunned, unsure of what the hell was happening till it finally clicked in his head.

His eyes widened; he was shocked. "Y-you want to swap jerseys?"

'F*ck! I'm sooo foolish! Why would I ask?'

Kevin De Bruyne smiled and responded politely though. "Yes". He nodded.

Sam hastily removed his own jersey before handing it over to the Manchester City legend even as he took the sky-blue jersey.

Holding the sky-blue jersey in his hands, Sam felt tears welling in his eyes again but this time, he didn't let them drop, wiping them off before they could.

He looked at the Manchester City midfielder, emotion welling in his eyes. "Thank you". He said.

Kevin De Bruyne smiled at him before patting him on the back. "You played incredibly man; you almost won the game for your team". He laughed.

Sam reciprocated, laughing. "Yeah, I almost won".

As soon as Kevin De Bruyne walked off, Austin's teammates swarmed him, enviously staring at the sky-blue jersey that was on his hand and that was when it clicked in their heads.

There were other world-class players still on this pitch with them!

Immediately, Austin started it, seeking the other Man City players out to swap jerseys. Austin managed to swap jerseys with Bernardo Silva, the timeless Manchester City center midfielder.

Farouk swapped jerseys with Rodri, while Emeka managed to swap jerseys with the incredible Erling Haaland.

The Enyimba FC players were having a field day. Exchanging jerseys with their idols made the bitterness of their damning loss lessen a bit.

And then, the time to award them for their performance came.

After Kevin De Bruyne's crazy performance in the final, the most important game of the tournament, he scooped home the golden ball award of the FIFA Club World Cup 2023.

As for the golden boot award, it had an unexpected winner.

Despite with the likes of Erling Haaland and Phil Foden competing in the FIFA Club World Cup 2023, after his haul of 1 goal in the second-round game against Al-Ittihad, his hattrick against Fluminense, and his 2nd consecutive hattrick against Manchester City, Sam scooped the golden boot award with his haul of 7 goals.

Erling Haaland came up second with 5 goals after his haul of 3 goals in the final and 2 goals in the semifinals.

Sam's chances may have been boosted by the fact that he played one more game than the Norwegian striker, but still, it was an impressive feat.

In Sam's young career, scooping the golden boot award of an important tournament like the FIFA Club World Cup was a turning point to him.

It truly set him off in the radar of European clubs.

After handing over the individual awards, the players finally lined up as a team to take their medals. Enyimba FC climbed the podium first, taking their silver medals as they entered a joint team photo.

After them, the players in sky-blue finally climbed the podium while subjected to a lot of noise by their fans as they received their gold medals.

After the medals were awarded, Ikaay Gundogan, the Manchester City captain who didn't start the game but entered in the second half finally lifted the trophy as the players celebrated excitedly.

For Manchester City, it was their 5th trophy of a truly legendary year.

Manchester City were the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup champions.

After the trophy lifting, the players finally made their way to the dressing room after acknowledging their fans who traveled the distance to support them.

A few thousand Enyimba FC away fans made the trip which truly excited the Enyimba FC players as they acknowledged their support.

While the other players made it back to the tunnel, one player went to the media where he was supposed to have an interview, Kevin De Bruyne.

The Belgian midfielder gave the interviews his full attention, answering all their questions with a straight face until he was asked a specific question.

As soon as he was asked, De Bruyne smiled, a rare thing before the media.

"The boy is good, but even better than his ability with the ball is his mentality. He's a winner, and I respect him for it".

He chuckled. "If we were not careful, he would have single-handedly orchestrated a comeback and maybe win his team the game".

"So, what do you think about him?"

The Belgian midfielder weighed his words carefully before answering. "He won't last long in the Nigerian league".

"He's Europe material, he's made for the top".

"I hope to compete against him in the future".

"Thank you for having us".

"The pleasure is mine".

With that, the interview finally came to an end, capping off an incredible day in the history of football.