THE MAN I AM(Jason Otieno) The kick off whistle was blown to mark the beginning of the much awaited match… Fission of excitement filled us all as we steadily took our positions. We braced ourselves for what promised to be the most ferocious and thrilling tournament of the season. It was finals and the winners were to walk away with clean one million Kenyan shillings. The thought of this elated us and made us perform to our perfection. The stadium was full to its capacity with expectant spectators who wanted nothing but scores. I had never played under such tense atmosphere. The Superstars Football Club (SFC) was feared for its high class skills in football. Any team clashing with it would hardly win. It was our second match after conflicting with it in the preliminaries where they beat us one nil. However, this never deterred us for we had already mastered their skills and was keen to win the most coveted cup.

My hawk-eyes dashed about to get the location of the ball. I came to a sudden surprise when I saw my opponent expertly dribbling it a few yards from our goal post. I quickly ran towards him and counter attacked but he dodged me skillfully, went past Odhiambo aka Barrier and let out a strong accurate shot that left the net shaking in appreciation. The goalkeeper got confused and fell on the other side of the goal. It was barely ten seconds in the game. The stadium went wild with electric excitement as they shouted happily and unhappily. Others were cheering their winning team while others jeering at us. We had already disappointed our spectators who had traveled a long way to give us support. “The Superstars Football Club one, Gor Mahia Football Club, nil.” Went the loudspeaker acknowledging the score. We heaved shuddery breaths and settled to our positions determined to make even the early goal.

Odhiambo the blackberry started the ball, passed it to Ogolla to Mulama who got my position at the left wing. Wow! What a display! I surveyed the field like a fugitive for his life, dribbled the ball proficiently past Pele our opponent leaving him sprawling and kissing the innocent pitch. Catching sight of the defense, I maneuvered past the defender, moved right into the penalty box and gave a banana kick that sent the ball straight into the goal. We ran towards the right wing to applaud for we had got the equalizer at the right time. The noise that took care of the stadium could awaken the dead. It was just in a few minutes, but the match had already reached its pinnacle. Our coach, Zico clapped in acknowledgement as he gave us further instructions.

The pot kept boiling and soon the half-time whistle was blown. We went for the break already 1-1. Our coach gave us directions and even told us to change formations. He also made up his mind to introduce some deadly players who were on the bench. In the second half we went into the playing field with hopes soaring high. It proved to be a bit tougher from what we had expected but then we held the most ball possession. Two minutes to go, no team had scored, for each had put up a strong defense. We desperately needed a score. Few seconds to the full-time whistle, there was total coordination among my teammates. The ball was at my feet. I looked up across the field and saw Oliech the menace who in turn hailed at me, as he ran forward careful not to be caught offside.

I dribbled the ball past Kauka, the defender and accurately passed the ball to Oliech the menace. He neatly trapped and cooled the ball on his chest, dropped to his right thigh and down to his left foot. He gave a brutal strike and the next thing we saw was a shaking net. Lo! That was a strong demonstration of skill. The excited crowd chanted praise songs as they jumped up and down. We couldn’t believe our eyes for we won within a whisker. The final whistle was blown and before I knew it, I was airborne carried shoulder high by the teammates and the fans. There was no doubt we had won the money. We gave a sigh of relief as our hearts burst with spasms of joy. We were building castles on the air as we waited for the big moments to receive our big prize.

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