Become A Football Legend

The ball flew, almost in slow motion, as Philipp backtracked before turning around to sprint towards his goal.

"EKITIKEEE— No! Unlucky for Frankfurt. They should have sealed the win right there."

The ball hit the crossbar and bounced back into play, where Philipp caught it and lay on the ground.

Ekitike gave a bitter smile as he knew that was his chance to settle the game, and they might not get such a clear-cut opportunity again.

Philipp turned around and launched the ball straight down the right for Kramaric. The ball bypassed most of the defenders as it landed between Kramaric and Theate.

A couple of shoulder-to-shoulder challenges later, and Kramaric was able to find Hlozek in the box.

"Kramaric wins the challenge. He has options in the box: Hlozek on the near side and Moerstadt on the far post. He sneaks the ball past Theate to Hlozek. Hlozek in space but not for long as Koch closes in. There is a chance! HLOZEKKKK! Goal for Hoffenheim! Hlozek has beaten Trapp at the near post. And we are back where we started. One quick ball over the top from Philipp, and the whole Eintracht defense is caught off guard."

The home supporters exploded as Hlozek celebrated behind the goalpost with his teammates joining him.

Lukas watched the goal and immediately started clapping while urging his teammates to stay in the game.

"There's still time to win this!" he screamed, urging them not to give up hope.

"The youngest player on the squad is the one keeping the morale high. This is a leader in the making," one of the commentators said.

Lukas looked at the board in the stadium.

TSG 1899 HOFFENHEIM 2 - 2 EINTRACHT FRANKFURT

86:43

With barely three minutes and extra time to go, he knew they had to come up with something good, fast, if they wanted to leave Sinsheim with all three points.

The match was restarted after the referee threatened to show a yellow card to Hlozek and Jurasek for trying to draw out the celebrations.

"FWEEE!" The referee's whistle blew as Ekitike took a short kick-off to Lukas, who was standing directly behind him.

Moerstadt and Hlozek rushed in before Lukas had time to think of his next move and tried to nick the ball off him. Instinctively, Lukas flicked the ball a little off the ground and over Moerstadt's outstretched legs. Then, with a quick step-over and a La Croqueta, he got past Hlozek too and took off. They both gave chase, trying to grab onto his jersey. But he didn't hold onto the ball for long, releasing a through pass for Chaibi down the left flank.

Chaibi tried to beat Gendrey but ultimately passed it backwards to Knauff when he couldn't find a way through.

Lukas, who had snuck to the right flank after that pass, raised his hands high for Knauff to see as he signaled for the ball.

"Lovely switch of play from one side to the other by Knauff. Beautiful first touch by Brandt. It's marvelous how he cushions the ball with his touch. He has Stach and Jurasek for company."

Lukas looked at the two players closing in from both sides and pointed to the goal line with his right hand — encouraging Kristensen to make the run into the space Jurasek had just vacated. Kristensen obliged.

Lukas could easily have laid the ball off for Kristensen to send a cross into the danger zone. But when he saw Jurasek hesitating between going with Kristensen or staying with him, he decided to take advantage of that indecisiveness.

With his left foot, Lukas pushed the ball outwards with the outside of the foot, and then cut it back inside in one swift motion — an elastico that went through Stach's legs.

Instantly, he burst through the space between Stach and Jurasek as they turned to grab him but couldn't touch anything — he was already off with the ball.

As he got to the edge of the penalty box, it was crowded by both teams' players. He looked at the post and thought about a shot into the top corner from there.

He positioned himself for the shot, saw Becker and Akpoguma trying to block it, and changed his mind as he cut the ball to the right and ran to cross it in for Ekitike.

Becker was already up from the attempted block, but Akpoguma was still scrambling to get up. Once Lukas saw only one player trying to block the cross, he decided to just go past him.

Instead of a cross, Lukas used his studs to roll the ball through the legs of a cross-expecting Becker and brushed past him to get the ball.

Kaderabek, who had come on for Gendrey a few minutes before Hlozek's equalizer, was there and ready to dispossess Lukas. He had to be careful, though, as any rash challenge could see him give away a penalty in the dying minutes of the match.

As Kaderabek planted his weight, Lukas feinted a drive to his right, dropping his shoulder and shifting his stride as if he would cut inside. The defender bit, leaning with him. In that instant, he slid the ball quickly to the left with a sharp side step, just enough to open a pocket of space.

Without hesitation, he struck the ball cleanly — catching it with his laces. The shot was venomous as the ball cut through the air towards the far post. There was almost no dip or curl like his previous goals had, just raw power.

Philipp tried to stop it, but the ball had already fizzed past him straight into the top corner before he could get his hands up.

"GOALLLL! The 16-year-old wonderkid has won it for Eintracht Frankfurt! And he beat five players in the process! Beautiful! He beat Stach, Jurasek, Becker, Akpoguma, and Kaderabek before beating Philipp in goal! You don't see players like these all the time!"

"Definitely a goal of the season contender, this one, Dan. Two goals for Lukas Brandt as a sub, and three for Eintracht Frankfurt in this thrilling match."

The players ran towards Lukas, who was already at the corner flag with a smile, nodding his head at the home fans as they looked at him in bewilderment. Koch had his hands on his head as he ran towards Lukas.

There were still some boos and whistles from the crowd, but they had mostly been silenced by his brilliance.

The match resumed soon after the 90-minute mark, with the fans cheering when they heard the announcement of seven extra minutes.

Hoffenheim, in a last-ditch effort to salvage something out of the game, launched several attacks on the Eintracht Frankfurt goal, but the defense stood strong.

Well, they had to — they were defending with nine outfield players. It was supposed to be all ten, but Lukas had told Ekitike to stay up the pitch, close to the center line, to stop the Hoffenheim defense from completely joining in on the attack.

Ekitike's presence was a constant threat to that very high backline, as the possibility of a single long ball putting him one-on-one with Philipp was very high.

"Five of the seven minutes of added time are gone already. Hoffenheim has to find a way to get the ball in the back of Eintracht's net in the next two minutes if they want to get anything from what has been a thrilling performance from them so far."

"Yes, Dan. They looked like the better team going forward — at least until that young man stepped on the pitch."

"It's crazy how he changed the game since coming on, isn't it? For someone his age to already be having such an impact in otherwise tight games — that is impressive."

"Speaking of impressive from Brandt, he wins the ball from Hlozek with an excellent tackle right at the edge of the penalty box. If he had gotten that wrong, it might have been a penalty.

He can launch it for Ekitike to chase, or clear it out of the danger area. Nope! He's decided to sprint down the pitch with the ball. Look at him go! Ekitike is dragging Chaves with him. Matanovic also providing an option down the left.

The acceleration on this kid is crazy, he's past the halfway line already. Look at the way the ball always stays in his control. There is almost no break in stride as he skips past Akpoguma.

Kaderabek goes to ground for the tackle— NOPE, he skips past him too. Hoffenheim is stretched! Hoffenheim is scrambling! He is already into Hoffenheim's final third. Ekitike stays onside but he has Chaves on his tail — can Lukas find him with the pass?... Oh my word! He has slipped it through Chaves's legs for Ekitike. One-on-one with the goalkeeper... Can he make it count?... OF COURSE HE CAN! Hugo Ekitike makes it 4 for Eintracht Frankfurt. This game is over!

Lukas Brandt and Eintracht Frankfurt have put on a master class in the art of defensive counterattack!"