Professional debut

Isaac jogged into his position before waiting for the play to begin. Even as he moved, his feet seemed to be made out of less. He could feel his heart beat rapidly within his chest, and his breathing grew heavy with anxiety.

He absorbed everything, the fan's cheers, the cool breeze on his skin, the smell grass and finally, the referee's whistle.

The game restarted with Antwerp leading 6-0 Against Kortrijk. Despite conceding 6,Kortrijk tried to get a consolation goal. The ball was lost in the midfield, and Antwerp had possession of the ball.

A ball was played to the left wing, where none other than Isaac lurked. Isaac received the pass, and began darting toward the Kortrijk goal.

He felt his chest lift and fall as he breathed. His muscles were warm from exertion, and Isaac savored the feeling. As he pushed the ball forward, he felt jy every time he touched the ball, bringing him closer to the defender. Finally, he reached the defender.

The right back came out to meet him, and Isaac prepared to meet him.

From a small snippet of a thesis written by Karou Mitoma, Isaac's brighton teammate, Mitoma had said that he conducted a test to identify the differences between good and bad dribblers. He made individuals wear a head camera, and asked them to dribble past opponents.

He had reached a conclusion after the experiment.

The good dribbles were the ones who dribbled with their head high. Why?

Because these dribblers did not just perform random tricks. No, they reacted.

It seems unlikely since dribblers seemed to do all the actions but it was true. Isaac had watched dribblers like Leonel Messi had that was exactly how they dribbled. Messi would try to fool the defender into moving in one direction through feints, before going in the other direction.

In short, in order to be a good dribbler, one had to know how to use the opponents body position and momentum against them.

With that in mind, Isaac whipped his right foot over the ball while watching the defender. Isaac was surprised to see the defender react easily.

The moment the defender moved, Isaac had already pushed the ball past him and sped down the wing.

"There's a left back overlapping, but I should send this to the far post..." With that in mind, Isaac took the chance and used his left foot to whip in a cross. The ball travelled to the far post, were Anthony Valencia, the team's substitute right winger was. Antony hit the ball first time, sending it at the goal.

Isaac watched with bates breath, as the ball shot toward goal.

It looked like it was going in until...

The keeper who seemed frustrated after conceding 6 goals made an amazing save, pushing the ball out for a corner.

"Oof!" Isaac punched through air in disappointment. That could have been an assist. He couldn't do much about the missed chance so he just ran into the box for the corner.

The ball was sent in, but nothing came out of the corner. The game continued and very soon Antwerp were building up, waiting for an opening.

Antwerp tended to build up with 3 at the back, so the left fullback would join the attack and the right fullback would invert and tuck in. The midfielder would drop deep to form a diamond, and that's how they built up.

The two midfielders tended to drop deep to help with the buildup, and this would drag the opposition players out of position, opening up space in front of the defense. It was than, the forwards could make use of the spaces.

That is what happened, and the keeper saw Isaac make a run into the space. The keeper not wasting time sent a long ball to Isaac.

Isaac spun his head around. The defender was dragged out of position, opening a space for the left back Gaston Avilla to utilize.

Isaac chose not to stop the ball, slowing down play. Instead, with control that seemed inhumane, he used the inside of his boot to flick the ball behind him with one touch.

The ball was sent past the defender and into space.

Gaston immediately made the run, acquiring the ball. He began to dart at the goal, and when he was close enough, he shot.

Isaac watched with bated breath as he jogged toward the goal, but he was disappointed when a defender blocked the shot.

"Wait,chance!" He realized the loose ball had bounced back into space, and he didn't want to waste the chance.

Isaac sped towards the ball, and swung his leg, hitting it first time. It was a shot from outside the box. The ball lifted upward, before curving abnormally midair.

The goalkeeper did not even react, and he stood there, stunned into place.

"Please go on..." Isaac anxiously watched the ball with a silent prayer in his heart.

CLONK!

The ball struck the post.

Isaac turned away in despair, but quickly recovered. The ball was cleared however, and before Isaac could prey for another chance, he heard the referee blow his whistle.