Aftermath

The lights, the cheers and the green.

He could see and hear none of them.

Isaac just stood, transfixed by what has just occurred.

4 goals and an assist to overcome a 5 goal deficit. He thought he'd done it. He thought he had saved them but...

He had lost.

They had lost.

Isaac was broken out of his trance when something surprising happened.

The Barcelona players began to come to him, one by one. They shook his hand, and comforted him, while praising his performance.

Isaac simply nodded politely, and responded in kind.

After that, Isaac waved to the away fans, thanking them for coming all the way to Spain to watch the encounter.

They cheered, singing his name. He felt strange, as he witnessed the scenes.

Do you know what is love?

Love can be found in a lover's voice and expression, it is a drug that controls ones actions, words and emotions.

Isaac too, learned what live was.

The antwerp fans loved him.

He soon thereafter collected his matchball, before the coach steered him away into the tunnel, away from the journalists.

Isaac was glad at the coach's actions, he was not in the right state of mind, and he feared he would say something that would destroy his career before it even peaked.

Some of his teammates praised him for his performance, but truthfully, he did not believe he had done enough. In fact...

He was disappointed.

He felt embarrassed with himself, remembering how he celebrates after merely drawing with Barcelona. He thought it said a lot about his mindset.

'I was being punished. Just because we were up against Barcelona, a big club, I settled on only a draw. I felt satisfied with that only, and by doing that I set a limiter on myself. I stopped myself from achieving anything more then a draw. I can't be the best by thinking like this.'

Isaac understood now, what he had to do. He had to be hungry enough to settle with nothing less then a win. No matter the level of their opponent, and no matter the circumstances he would not give in.

He would win!

That was what he resolved to do.

They soon reached their hotel, and as soon as he was offered the opportunity, Isaac immediately sank into his bedsheets.

The next morning, he opened his phone when he began to see many things. Many amazing things.

Isaac Adams.

Isaac Adams.

Isaac Adams.

Every sports page, and every football critic said one name. It was the name of the boy who had scored a poker against FC Barcelona.

As Isaac scrolled, he saw countless photos of him celebrating, shooting or dribbling.

The reactions were somewhat mixed.

"The future of football.⭐"

"He's the best talent in the world!"

"One good game, and he's being overhyped."

"He might not be as good as he seems."

Isaac took most of what he saw with a grain of salt. He couldn't let the good things get to his head and the bad things couldn't distract him.

As he was about to switch off his cellphone, it began to vibrate violently.

Drrr! Drrr!

He swiped to answer the call, and placed the phone by his ear.

"hello?" He asked.

"How are you doing there, Isaac?" A very familiar choice rang out from the other side of the line.

"Ah, Mr Patrick Woods. I'm fine, I guess. What about your side?"

A light chuckle resounded from the phone.

"I'm as good as new! That was a nice performance you put up there. Wait, let me rephrase myself... That was an amazing performance you put up there."

"Thank you for your praise but at the end of the day we lost. It doesn't matter that I scored 4 goals."

Patrick Woods paused for a moment before he answered, his voice slow and thoughtful.

"Well... That is to some extent true but you have to consider the fact that you worked to your fullest to help your team, and that you can't always win.

It is nice to be humble, and it is nice to aim for wins but sometimes you have to acknowledge your achievements.

You're the first South African to score 4 in a champions league, all this in your debut.

Be proud! Hope to win next time, but hold your head high! You have outdone yourself."

Isaac absorbed every word like a sponge would with water. He slowly went over every word, considering its fallibility. In the end,it made sense to him.

"I see. I understand now. Thank you Mr Woods." Isaac briefly replied. Thereafter, the conversation shifted to other aspects, like Mr Patrick Woods who was at the moment acting as Isaac's agents new managerial job. They spoke about other things until finally, Isaac had to get up and get going.

They said their goodbyes, and went their separate ways.