5 Match Day

The club representative escorted Vinod and his father Mahesh towards the dugout where they met the manager first. Sir Alex was indeed excited to see Vinod. They exchanged a couple of pleasantries and he asked Vinod with a brute Scottish accent

"So young man.. Everything OK?? You enjoying your time here??"

"Yes sir.. To the maximum extent!" enthusiastically replied Vinod.

"Sorry young man could you repeat your name once again?"

"Sir, my name is Vinod Gaekwad."

"So Vinod( which was now pronounced by him as We-nod ) do you play football?"

"Yes, I do!! I love football!"

"So can you tell me in which position do you play?"

"I play as the striker but my favourite position to play is as a left winger sir."

"Oh.. That's great!" as soon as he was about to say something, he saw that the players had finished warming up. Just to enjoy this fun moment, he called all the players and introduced them one by one to Vinod and in between he whispered something to his assistant.

Even though Vinod had thought that this might happen, when it actually did he was speechless. He knew that meeting legends like players of the Class of 92, the captain Roy Keane, the Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan, their star striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy was just a one time chance. So he engraved this moment in his heart to use it to encourage himself back if he would have to in the future. But he kept looking around restlessly as he was not able to find Ronaldo. By then nearly twenty thousand odd people came to the stadium. Suddenly the stadium announcer announced

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen how have come now. Today is indeed a special day for a person who has come all the way from India to meet his idol. Please give a round of applause to the young 5 year old Vinod Gaekwad!!! He is a very big Cristiano Ronaldo fan and we have arranged a small game for this young lad with his idol Cristiano as they are now going to play againstthe remaining squad of Manchester United!"

At that moment, everyone in the stands started cheering for Vinod. By looking at the crowd even the players and the support staff started cheering. Then came Cristiano Ronaldo. It was to be noted that in the beginning when Ronaldo came to Manchester United the other players did not give him that much respect as they used to think that he was showing off. The reason was that when he used to come for training sessions, he used to wear branded outfits and tight jeans which was odd for the otherws players at that time. But they did not show it in front of Vinod which was admirable. Even Vinod knew of this fact as it was stated by the players themselves in an interview in his previous life. This made Vinod respect and admire them more. All of a sudden Cristiano passed the ball slowly to Vinod and asked

"Are you Vinod? I am pleased to meet you. I am Cristiano Ronaldo. So shall we get started?"

Vinod nodded his head and both of them started walking towards the half line. When Cristiano was about to pass him the ball, Vinod quickly said

"Did you warm up? I can wait because I know that you have a match in just about an hour."

Now if this question was asked by someone old enough, it would have been normal. But here the same question was asked by a five year old kid. So obviously he was a bit startled but then immediately complied in order not to break his heart. After a few spot jogs and a few juggles he spoke

"I have completed my warm-ups. Now, you go near that man. I will give you a long pass. You take that ball past those defenders and try to score OK?" spoke Cristiano as he pointed out Eric Djemba-Djemba who was 30 yards away from the goal.

Vinod nodded his head and went near the Cameroonian who was smiling at him. Then Cristiano hit a high lob which landed just infront of Vinod. Him seizing the situation took a step back as the ball hit his chest. He perfectly controlled the ball and stopped the ball and by then Cristiano was coming near him. Djemba-Djemba acted as if he was trying to steal it from him as he extended his left leg towards the ball slowly. Seeing that, Vinod pulled the ball back and completed a perfect Roulette spin.

Seeing this trick executed perfectly by a five year old, everyone on the pitch were a bit taken aback. But for the ones on the stands, it was a treat to watch. As soon as he did that everyone who were watching him cheered and applauded him greatly. But little did they know that he not only did not listen to the cheers but was seriously thinking something. Vinod then immediately looked at Ronaldo and pointed the left side of the penalty area as he was slowly dribbling towards the goal.

Ronaldo then sprinted towards that area and when he was about to reach the spot told to him by Vinod, he saw a ball coming towards his right legs at a pretty decent speed. A perfect assist from a long distance! The players who were playing with him were now convinced that if this young man was groomed properly, he would be a star. Ronaldo simply passed his time by performing some trick shots and as Vinod came running to the middle of the penalty area, he passed the ball back to Vinod. The goalkeeper Tim Howard, in order to continue came running and then knelt down in front of him. Tim expected that as Vinod would get the ball, he would stop for a bit, then go to one side of him and then shoot the ball. But the reality proved him otherwise. That was because when Vinod saw Cristiano passing to him, he had already made up his mind. As the ball came in front of him, after seeing the kneeling Howard, he chipped the ball above the keeper.

Never did anyone expect to see such a goal from a five year old. A one touch goal! That too a lob above the goalkeepers head! Everyone of the squad congratulated him and asked him to continue playing soccer. They then asked him to quickly change his dress and wear a United jersey as he was supposed to walk with Ronaldo at the start of the match. As he was about to go change Sir Alex called him and asked

"What do you want to become in the future young man?"

Everytime whenever a question was asked to him he would try to reply to it in an obedient way but this time with an excited face and looking at Sir Alex with eyes full of vigor and ambition he said

"Sir, isn't it obvious? I want to be a professional footballer."

After listening to his way of speaking, Sir Alex laughed loudly and told him to get changed up quickly.

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The match was over. United won the match three goals to one (3-1). After walking to the pitch with Ronaldo, he and his father were seated in the VIP Lounge. Then after the match, they visited the Theatre of Dreams and went back to the hotel. Their flight was scheduled two days later. Vinod slept peacefully as he was tired after all that happened. But little did he know that his entire life would be changed thanks to his goal before the match.