Chapter 5

The week had gone by and the mood had shifted, every player was preparing themself for the new season.

Akin could not hide his excitement, showing an energetic performance in practice, much to the coaches' approval.

So it was no surprise that when the players picked for the pre-season derby against Barnet, Akin saw his name was listed.

Akin smiled and was congratulated by Henry, Pires and Bergkamp, his smile showing his obvious youth.

Pat found him later as well congratulating him, "There will be a chance for you to play in this pre-season match if you perform as well as you have in the pre-season training, then you may earn a permanent place on the squad."

Akin was excited as he heard the news, he had spent twelve years preparing for this one moment, and if he could perform well then he would have the opportunity to appear in the new season.

However, he knew he had a very uphill battle, he will have to show something truly out of this world if he wants to earn a spot in the squad, after all, Arsenal is a strong team with the best scorers in the premier league.

As he worried Bergkamp approached him from behind, as one of the old guards he grew closest to the veteran striker looked at him with a calm smile, "You have had a good performance in training, don't overthink things and just play like you usually do then you will be fine."

Akin nodded then took a deep breath and headed to the gym determined to be at his best for his first pre-season appearance.

[16 July 2005, Arsenal v Barnet, Underhill Stadium]

Akin was mildly shocked by the intensity of the atmosphere, the screams of Gooners had turned the Underhill stadium into Highbury, as they shouted "Score one more!"

Barnet fell behind early in the game after the Belarusian midfielder, Alexander Hleb scored an immediate goal in the second minute from the first-half kickoff, taking an assist from Henry at the corner of the six-yard box and then slotting in a low shot to the near post.

This was followed by a penalty goal from the french super striker, Thierry Henry, who scored after a foul was made on Reyes in the box.

What came next was another classic goal from the Dutch Legend Bergkamp, who arced the Barnet keeper, Flintley which popped in off the crossbar at thirty minutes in too the game.

Five minutes later the french magician, Robert Pires squared away Hoyte who poked in the fourth goal in the first half.

The first half was a brilliant start for Arsenal and the bench was thoroughly enjoying the show as everyone cheered.

Akin watched it all with relish as he saw Arsenal's performance so far Barnet had only made two chances at goal.

But soon the whistle was blown and Arsenal returned to the locker room the whole team was confident as they entered.

Arsene Wenger entered with the assistant coaches, his face was composed as his hawkish stare looked at the players who were laughing and joking, and a small smile flickered across his lips, that came and went unnoticed.

A shrill whistle and a clap silenced the locker room, "Alright lads, great start we have shown exactly the level we are supposed to be playing, everyone is in good form, and everyone should keep playing like this."

There was a cheer among the players, but they were silenced as Arsene spoke, "We will be making some changes now, let's give the young men a chance to show their state, I will call your name out to go out and get warmed up for the second half."

When Akin heard his name called he could not hide his excitement much to the amusement of the others, he left the locker room with Irish striker Anthony Stokes, Italian striker Arturo Lapoli deployed on the right wing, English Wing David Bentley deployed in Midfield alongside Cote d'Ivoire Abou Diaby and Centre Back Phillipe Senderos.

Wenger wanted to experiment with a three-top formation.

Akin was stretching as he lined up in the formation on the left wing, as an ambidextrous shooter he was comfortable on either side.

On the opposite side on the left wing was Lapoli, and Van Persie took the role of the striker.

Akin took in every aspect of this moment, the jeers from the Barnet fans, the cheers of the Arsenal fans, the glares from the opposite side and the reassuring feeling of his teammates behind him.

Akin felt like he was finally back, he remembered the feeling of being on the opposite side, a low-level team, up against a giant, feeling like a cornered beast, but now he is on the side of giants.

He was not going to let himself get toppled, and with that in mind he focused himself 100 per cent on the game as Barnet kick-offed.

The game continued with Arsenal still in control, Lupoli was making several bad moves towards shots at the goal.

Akin at this time was a ghost using appearing and disappearing controlling the wing with a few hidden passes.

The game lulled with neither side scoring for some time until Akin made a sudden insert from the left wing, he received a superb cross from David Bentley and caught the keeper unprepared as he reacted by lifting off and angling himself, in the air and kicking out with a scissor kick.

The Fans let out a roar as the ball went in, increasing the lead to 5-0.

"COME ON!!!"

The roar rang loud and Akin didn't realise straight away it was him, the sound of his heart drumming drowned out everything else as he felt a surge of excitement.

He was greeted by an excited David Bentley who all but pounced on him.

The Arsenal Fans in the stand began to chant,

"Forty-nine, forty-nine undefeated

Forty-nine, forty nine i say

Forty-nine, forty-nine undefeated

Playing football the Arsenal way!"

The pride in the voice of the fans could be heard clear as day as they sang in Underhill stadium.

The Barnet fans were sighing and booing as the Arsenal fans were treating their stadium as though it was Highbury.

Akin was not content as he cut off a pass to Dean Sinclair with 16 minutes left and played a one-two pass with Diaby, he charged forward, and cut off in the midfield but he quickly cleared passing through the defence with an impeccably timed la croqueta.

The marker was left staggering after him as he strode like a meteor towards the box.

There was no one between him and the keeper and Akin felt a familiar excitement, his blood boiling and he felt as though time was crawling, he was almost detached from time and space as he focused on the keeper who was rushing out of goal.

The closer the keeper came the less angle he had to complete his shot and so he made a bold choice as he chose to push the ball forward with a subtle flick the ball passed between the keeper's legs as he failed to react in time and the ball rolled into the goal.

"YEAAAAAH!!!"

Akin was screaming as he ran to the Arsenal Fans were shouting again,

"Good old Arsenal, we're proud to say that name And while we sing this song we'll win the game..."

At this moment it didn't matter that it was a Pre-season, it didn't matter that the team was in one of the divisions in the English football league.

For these fans, nothing mattered other than Arsenal had won and played a beautiful game, they were treated to a complete massacre.

One fan in the crowd turned to his friend, "Oi this kid ain't bad you know, number 25 was playing really well, what was it Leki?"

His friend laughed, "Nah that don't sound right, maybe Deleeki?"

The other shook his head, "Well whatever it is, he is fast did you see him run?"

Another fan laughed and said, "Aye if he gets one more that's a hatrick, he should score again!"

A roar of approval sounded around him and a chant was heard on the pitch as the Arsenal fans began screaming, "ONE MORE! ONE MORE!"

However, Barnet was not going to allow it, suddenly Akin began to be targeted by heavy-handed tackles from the yellow-wearing team.

Akin was treated to a gallery of fouls as he was thrown to the ground several times, the movement from Barnet wider and more reckless.

After another 14 minutes of this abuse, Akin vowed to step up his training as he disgruntledly moved his shoulder, his body feeling sore all over.

Mercifully enough for him however the final whistle rang signalling the game's end.

Arsenal 6, Barnet 0.

The game was officially over and Barnet fans already exited, the Arsenal Fans were still clapping and cheering as the Arsenal Players walked back to the tunnels.

Akin was happy as he returned to the locker room, he received a slight nod from Wenger and a smile from Pat as he passed in, the locker room was lively and everyone was in high spirits.

Suddenly there was an ear-splitting whistle which silenced everyone.

Pat looked around sternly as he waited to ensure everyone was paying attention before stepping aside.

Wenger stepped forward, his hawkish gaze surveying the locker room,

"You are all excited, Why? This is not a championship, you have not won a prize? This was not an important game. We are the strongest team in the world today, winning this game was nothing but a formality. You did well controlling the pace of the game and taking advantage of opportunities."

His eyes landed on Akin as he said this causing him to sit up a little bit straighter.

"You have set a standard for yourself, remember that you should be able to play this level more in the future."

The team all nodded solemnly accepting his words.

However his solemn face soon smiled, "Still you all did well, I'm proud of how well you performed well done."

Akin followed the squad out of the locker room onto the bus as they left Underhill Stadium in high spirits.

The sound of Arsenal fans shouting a victory song trailed behind.

"Ooh to,

Ooh to be,

Ooh to be a,

Gooner!"