Rise of a Football God

Sam replaced Adama Traore in the Fulham lineup.

Thud! Thud!

As he jogged into the pitch, there was a light-hearted smile on his face but inside his head was a completely different scenario.

'Win!' 'Win!' 'Win!'

The mamba spirit was already rearing its head.

These days, he didn't even need to do anything special to channel it, the desire to win was already ingrained into him. It was part and parcel of him.

It was just 1 month that he spent in the sideline but to Sam, it felt like a lifetime ago since he entered a football pitch to play a professional football game.

Watching his team drop points from winning positions, most recently the loss against Manchester United left him incredibly frustrated.

He could not wait to get back on the pitch and do what he does best.

And now that he finally got the opportunity, all the hormones inside his body worked in tandem, triggering such dopamine in his head and igniting such strong adrenaline in his veins that made him feel like a warrior stepping into a battlefield.

He felt like an ice mutant stepping into coals of fire, the contrasting temperature triggering an explosive reaction inside of him.

FWEEEE!

As soon as the referee's whistle sounded to continue this game, Sam erupted, doing what he never got tired of doing, chasing after the ball!

He abused his stamina, showing that despite the fact that he had been out for a month, his stamina was not too affected.

Besides, he didn't start this game from the beginning. He had just 18 minutes to play which gave him just enough time to cause havoc while not tiring himself out in the process.

Noting his threat despite the fact that he was recovering from an injury, the in-form Bruno Guimaraes took it on himself to partially man-mark this player as soon as he got on the pitch.

The Newcastle United coach did the liberty of giving this instruction to his star player, giving Bruno Guimaraes an unenviable task but the Brazilian didn't complain, embracing his new rule with gusto.

When out of possession, Sam ran around for the ball and when he did get it, he was not allowed to do anything tangible with it as Guimaraes shadowed him.

In the few minutes that Sam spent in this game, incredulously, Bruno Guimaraes was his shadow, keeping him in check.

For 10 minutes after Sam entered this game, he could not do anything of note as the Brazilian isolated and kept him out of the bigger picture of this game.

He was completely anonymous and in no time, all the excitement from his return to the pitch faded away.

Sam felt frustrated but he did not let it show.

As he ran around the pitch and with every touch of the ball that he had, he knew his body best, he could tell that he was not in his best state physically.

His instincts were not just firing at that level that it was used to.

It frustrated the hell out of him but Sam did not let it show on his face. Showing an unnatural kind of composure and calm, he kept on chasing after the ball diligently, trying to do his best.

In the end, Newcastle United still dominated, coming close to tripling their lead a few times through a still rampant Aleksandr Isak.

By the 85th minute, the score remained unchanged and Fulham did not show any convincing signs of intending to get back into the game.

Fulham already seemed to have folded in this game, admitting defeat as they succumbed to another corner kick.

After the corner kick was taken, Bruno Guimaraes rose highest, planting a firm header towards goal as this midfielder forced another impressive save from Bernd Leno, just about keeping his team in the game.
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Diop quickly cleared the ball up field as Emile Smith Rowe got to it first, taking it in his strides even as he got a player to beat.

Unwilling to take the risk of beating the defender one-on-one, Smith Rowe teased the ball up the field, evading a direct path towards goal due to being wary of Danny Burn's ability.

This way, he gave his teammates time to catch up with him to provide support.

Muniz who was already substituted into the game at some point arrived in the box, including Alex Iwobi but Smith Rowe refrained from crossing the ball in to them, it was too predictable.

Instead, he bid his time, waiting for a certain player's late run and once he arrived, he floated a pass in.

Having had a pretty bad game by his standards this evening, Smith Rowe finally managed to play a perfect pass into Sam's path.

The reason why Smile Rowe didn't pass to the others was because it was a bit more predictable, but the true reason was simply because he trusted Sam more.

The Englishman was used to Sam scoring clutch goals.

Bruno Guimaraes still somehow marked Sam as the ball floated in despite him almost just scoring at the other end of the pitch but defiant, Sam pushed ahead, outmuscling the Brazilian and throwing himself at the ball.

And then, executing a diving header, he hit the ball towards goal.

Bam!

…time seemed to freeze around St. James' Park as Martin Dubravka dived, sprawling his hands towards the ball.

…his hand did touch it, but it still snuck in.

"GOALLLL…!" The away stands in St. James' Park exploded in cheers.

In the 86th minute, Fulham reduced Newcastle's lead by 1.

The commentator was speechless as for about a second or so, he could not say a word. "Wow!" He eventually said.

"Just when you thought finally, the Nigerian beast was put on a leash".

"What a way to announce his return, but Fulham are still losing".

The commentator made that comment a bit too early because after scoring, Sam did not even care about celebrating as he charged into the net, picked the ball and ran all the way back to the half-way line.

He was eager to continue the game.

FWEEE!

When Newcastle kicked off the game again, Sam chased after the ball.

That goal…, it ignited something inside of Sam, a familiar feeling that he always chased during every game.

The zone, he was back in it.

As soon as the game restarted, Sam continued chasing after the ball but this time, there was a subtle smirk in his lips and a familiar fire burning in his eyes.

And then, 3 minutes later in the 89th minute of this game, it happened.

Bam!

After receiving a pass just outside the Newcastle 18-yard box, a loose touch made the ball escape from Sam as Bruno Guimaraes who was side by side him pounced, about to clear the ball but the Brazilian could not clear the ball perfectly.

This was because having expected that tackle from him, Sam shoved him with his shoulder in another physicality contest.

Suddenly off-balance, the Brazilian mistimed his clearance as instead of the ball flying away, it only flew up slightly above Sam.

"…!"

Sam stared at the ball levitating above his head.

Again, time seemed to freeze in St. James' Park.

Guimaraes staggered, Sam stood, multiple players, both opposition players and his teammates swarmed the Newcastle 18-yard box.

There were multiple pass options but having tried passing since to no avail, Sam decided to go for it again.

'It's now or never!'

Danny Burn was already charging out to close him down as the defender noted the threat first, but he was a bit just too late.

Before the defender could close him down, as Guimaraes staggered, falling down, Sam jumped and then in an incredible show of his acrobatic ability, he twisted his body in mid-air, his right leg rising to become level with his head as he executed an incredible scissor kick at goal.

BAM!

"…!" Martin Dubravka was rooted to the spot, stunned as the ball nestled into the top left corner of the net.

Even before the fans could react, the commentator already reacted.

"ZINEDINE SAM…!"

"ZINEDINE SAM…!"

"ZINEDINE SAM…!!!"

"My God! What a goal!"

"The King… is back!"