“This is MY game. I call this one…ownage.” The thought made its way through my head as I bore down with the ball into the 18 yard box. The defender is one of the best around and he seems to have made up his mind that no goals will pass through him on this day. I; however, have other ideas. One of us will go home to failure and one of us will taste glory today…I will be the one tasting glory.
I move the ball left but the defender continues to mark me without attempting to stab at the ball…damn he is good! I can see the goal keeper getting nervous now as I get closer to him, he is counting on his top defender to keep me away from him. This is going to get tricky.
I watch the defender’s eyes and see them spark as he decides I have advanced enough into his area. He is about to stab at the ball, but will he do it with his left or his right? The guys a righty so he will probably stab NOW…I put my foot on the ball and stop it right in its tracks. The defender takes a stab at it and I pull it back once and in the same motion fake the ball to the left and push it right through his legs…ha ha, a perfect “snake” move. I throw my body past the defender on his left and he tries to grab my arm as I go by, but I shake it loose. He is trying to recover now and gives chase…he is mad!
The defender is pressuring me hoping that I make a careless mistake, but I feel the goal now. My breathing slows and everything around me slows down with it. I can see things happening but it’s almost like I can anticipate what’s coming.
As I touch the ball with my left foot the keeper comes off his line, right into the path of the ball trying to cut off my angle. Only five feet between him and the ball as I bring my right foot forward for a touch and he drops…wow, he is quick!
The keeper’s feet are extended at the ball and his hands are up anticipating the chip over his body toward the open goal, but at the last possible second, the outside of my right foot lightly pushes the ball to the right and then putting my toes under the ball I lift lightly to propel the ball through the keeper’s outstretched hands. The keeper’s momentum keeps him sliding toward me, but I jump over his body and see the ball rolling slowly toward the open goal.
I feel the rush and the celebration building inside me. I can taste this one…Lord I can BREATHE this one. I give the ball a last touch to push it into the back of the net and EXPLODE with joy! Tears come to my eyes as I run out of the goal box cartwheeling and dancing back towards mid field. My team catches up with me and I feed off their excitement! My teammates hug me and lift me in triumph! This is the perfect moment. This is a perfect victory. The tears flow freely now. Oh God, I am happy!