Rise of a Football God

And like the rolling pages of a book, swiftly, the days passed and in no time, it was the D-day again, the last matchday of the Super 6 playoffs.

Rivers United went up against Lobi Stars, Sunshine Stars went up against Bendel Insurance, while Enyimba went up against Remo Stars again in the deciding game of the Super 6 playoffs.

Since losing Austin to injury, Coach Yemi Daniel already tweaked the formation of his team a bit from the normal balanced 4-3-3 formation and for this game against Remo Stars, he tweaked it again.

Incredibly, Olisema was not in the starting line-up, starting in the bench.

From the balanced 4-3-3 formation, for this game, Coach Yemi Daniel switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation where Farouk started alongside the back-up defensive midfielder of Enyimba FC in the defensive midfield positions.

Emeka was the sole striker at the front of the formation, while behind him were Chijioke, Sam, and Victor.

It was another balanced formation but one that enabled Coach Yemi to bring out the best in his available players since he no longer had an elite center midfielder like Austin to control and rotate possession in the middle of the park.

FWEEEE!

When the game started, Enyimba FC played their normal football but Remo Stars was extra aggressive today. Enyimba FC may not need the points today anymore, but they needed it.

The playoffs game was not just about the team that would lift the trophy, it was also about the top 3 teams that would compete in next season's continental competition, the CAF champions league.

With this motivation, Remo Stars played with great intensity.

For most of the first half, they ran after the ball as Enyimba FC controlled possession but they wore the Enyimba players out, mostly exhausting them physically with their high press till one of them misplaced a pass.

Pouncing on it in the 43rd minute of the game, the Remo Stars attacking striker unleashed a rocket shot from just outside the box.

Ojo dived but he could not do much as the ball snuck past him into the net.

Against the run of play, Remo Stars led in the last playoff game. The game went to half-time with Enyimba FC losing, but this champion team was not ready to give up so easily despite the fact that they already won the trophy.

In the second half, Coach Yemi made a change, taking out the backup defensive midfielder for Olisema, playing with a 2-man attacking midfield formation. It was radical but it bore fruit.

Just 5 minutes into the second half, Enyimba FC scored.

Who else but the African Zidane?

Receiving a pass from Olisema just outside the box, Sam wriggled past a few challenges. Though he already noticed it since, he could not help but appreciate how easier it was for him to dribble through players now.

The only thing affecting him was fatigue, but he dug through it.

Nutmegging a player and using a la croqueta to skip past the next, he took a glance at goal, raised his leg before hitting the ball with venom.

BAM!

The ball rushed through the green grass, tearing a few apart and into the air as it nestled into the bottom left corner of the post.

The Remo Stars goalkeeper dived but he didn't stand a chance.

For the remaining parts of the second half, Enyimba FC tried yet they could not breakthrough the Remo Stars defense a second time. In the 80th minute of the game, Coach Yemi subbed Sam out as he felt some discomfort.

And with that, Enyimba FC simply watched the game out, maintaining the 1-1 score line to make it 10 points from 5 games.

FWEEEE!

Immediately after the final whistle blew, Sam ran back into the pitch alongside his coach as he hugged his teammates, celebrating wildly.

The 2022/2023 NPFL season finally came to an end and with it, Enyimba FC were crowned champions.

They already won the double, lifting the league title and the CAF champions league trophy. And with the Nigerian FA cup still on the line, they still had the chance to make it a treble, truly capping off a historic season.

Immediately after the game, the players hit the road again as they returned to Abia State where the celebrations truly kicked off.

Due to the hype and circumstances surrounding their CAF champions league victory, a lot of publicity was already around Enyimba FC and their players and after returning to Abia State, they did an open-bus celebration through the city of Aba.

Of course, before then, Sam already communicated with his family through a video call as they celebrated his achievement with him.

Mr. Moses was extremely emotional, the man felt like a warrior who finally achieved his life's mission. "Now, I can finally die in peace". He said.

"Die and leave me a widow?!" His wife snapped. "You must be joking! Come here!"

"Come on, I didn't mean it".

Well, he had a lot of explanation to do.

Sam and his sister laughed at the bickering couple. In the end, after arriving at Abia State, he couldn't keep up the video call as he joined his teammates and their fans in celebrating their incredible victory.

Unfortunately, Austin couldn't join them yet as the hospital was yet to release him. He could only follow the proceedings through a video call.

Leading the fans on this time as they celebrated, Sam told them to chant their captain's name and they obeyed.

"Austin!"

"Austin!"

"Austin!"

The atmosphere was crazy throughout the city of Aba as tens of thousands of fans celebrated their team's victory excitedly.

It was almost as if they didn't even care about the FA cup anymore.

Well, they did had to care though as after hours of celebrating, Coach Yemi Daniel, the ever ready disciplinarian dragged his players off to rest.

"We still have a little football to play".

"After, you can celebrate all you want".

The players groaned but they respected their coach's wishes.

And coincidentally, their next matchup of the Nigerian FA cup was a blockbuster knock-out encounter against their bitter rivals, Plateau United.