Chapter 9 : Display

Everyone watched with bated breath as the ball sailed through the air, curling away towards the top 90. Players and parents alike started, wondering if someone was so completely and technically gifted at such a young age.

However, just as the ball was about to pass through the hole, a gust of wind blew. Shifting it ever so slightly. Making the ball go just wide, striking the bar and bouncing back into play.

There was a brief silence, except for the sound of Peter cursing under his breath as he had missed the chance to get a perfect score. Which shocked everyone present, both players and coaches.

'This kid only missed because of the wind that blew, yet he's still upset with himself.' Was the thought that was running through Kaiser's mind, and probably the minds of others too.

After finally regaining his composure, Coach Idris finally spoke. "Peter Omonobi, you have completed your drill. You may return to the resting area." He said, bringing everyone back to reality.

Peter walked back under the tree, not as triumphantly as you would expect from someone who had just done what he had. He was a perfectionist.

"You see that? Those are the people you're competing against. So you better do your best or else you won't be here for much longer." Coach Eze said.

"Now who is next in line? There's no time to waste!" Coach Eze barked once again.

At first, nobody wanted to go first as they didn't want to be a scapegoat. But now, nobody wanted to go first as they couldn't outdo what Peter had just done.

'Well the sooner the better. I have to be the one to outdo him.' Kaiser thought within himself. And he did. The system's quest required him to finish overall first in the trials. To do that he needed to at least equal if not outdo Peter in this trial.

However, as he got to the front of the line and was about to pick up his ball, he felt someone push him from the side. "Out of my way, I'm going first." The voice said.

Irritated, Kaiser turned around to see who it was and standing now in front of him was Joshua. After all his talk of Peter finishing first in the race being a fluke, Peter had once again proven that he was one of, if not the most talented player there.

Joshua couldn't let that stand, for his pride at least he had to take the initiative and be better than everyone else.

He took in a deep breath, placed the ball on the ground and began to dribble. His technique was underwhelming after what everyone had just seen, but it was clean and precise. He avoided the cones with relative ease, and his agility was impressive.

He changed direction without much difficulty, when it came to the wall where Peter had previously done his rainbow flick, he didn't need a fortune teller to know he wouldn't be able to replicate it.

But for the extra wow factor, he used his left leg to cut the ball behind him and change direction. Now he was approaching the goalpost where he would have to shoot.

He took the left route, meaning he was righ-footed. He paused before rolling the ball a bit in front of him, preparing to shoot. He probably decided what part of the goal to aim for. He let his shot lose and it went low and hard into the bottom corner.

He had chosen to be safe in the end. Overall his performance was satisfactory, in fact for someone his age it was exceptional. The only issue was that Peter had set the bar high before he came on.

Coach Eze nodded and wrote something on his notepad. "Next." He said with his arms folded.

Suddenly, a long queue of boys pushed themselves to move towards the front making Kaiser closer to the back of the line.

Everyone had the same thought, 'I should get it done before someone over-performs just before me.' Then that way they wouldn't have to worry about their performance being lacklustre when compared to others.

***

Time passed and the boys ran the drills, during this time Kaiser watched the boys from the other group and among them of course Gift performed exceptionally well. Second only to Peter.

In his group, the shy Malik had been in front of him and although his dribbling was good, his shooting ability was where he stood out. He aimed for the bottom right corner, however he was as daring as Peter and used a Trivela shot.

Except his shot actually went in. Oohs and aahs filled the air as the ball swerved into the bottom corner effortlessly.

Once again, the line reshuffled and Kaiser somehow found himself in the front again, nobody wanted to go first after Malik's dazzling performance.

Kaiser simply sighed, it was beginning to irritate him. He once again stood in front of the line, placed the ball down and took a deep breath.

Suddenly the sound of rumbling came from above and tiny droplets of water began to fal. It was raining, and slowly the pitch became wet with puddles of water forming.

Some boys wanted to leave but the voice of coach Eze cut through the windy storm. "Where are you going? A little rain and you want to sit down? Professional footballers play in the harshest conditions! If you're leaving this queue don't bother coming back!" He said and everyone stood back in line.

Kaiser didn't need to hear any more, he rolled the ball with his right foot. His dribbling style was similar to that of Peter's, but not as refined. It was understandable though, as he was 2 years younger than him.

He glided around the cones on the ground, the wet floor not deterring his movements even in the slightest. When it had gotten to the obstacle that they could either go over or go around, Kaiser expertly did a kick-up, then balancing the ball on his foot as he jumped over the short wall.

He looked like something out of a movie, or better yet, the blacked out man on the bundesliga logo. His level of control and balance was unbelievable.

The parents under the canopy and the other participants stood up in amazement, even Peter who seemed uninterested in everything was paying attention to Kaiser now.

All that was left was the goal post. Kaiser had been practicing with both his right and left legs since he was ambidextrous, one benefit he was born with. He then decided to go through the right path.

The puddles were now bigger so he had to use more force to push the ball forward. Eventually it was time to shoot and he placed the ball to the left of him and in one motion curled the ball towards the top 90.

Everyone had held their breath as this was just the second time someone was attempting to score there. Time seemed to stop as the ball curled and swerved out then in, before eventually passing through the hole without so much as brushing the outer part of the hole.

There was no chance he wasn't finishing first now!