From Streets to Stages

CHAPTER TWO

Several weeks had gone in Theo’s stellar debut season at Liverpool. He had bagged the full support of the Liverpool faithful, who often chanted his name from all angles of Anfield whenever he played at home; a feat which had never been never achieved by any teenage football star. This was no surprise though, as he often had the crowd standing with his unpredictable acceleration and electrifying pace. Theo’s amazing statistics in the game, drove, many pundits wild: Many had already begun comparing him with renowned legends of the game. Tite who was regarded as the world’s most successful soccer player on the planet often said of Theo, ‘I’ve never seen anyone like this...this kid’. A quote which struck many with amazement. Many wondered why the greatest footballer of all time had so much interest in a seventeen year old who still had much to learn in the game.

Liverpool would go on to end the football season on a high - emerging victorious in the English Premiership, Footabll Association Cup, League Cup and most importantly the UEFA Champions League; which was regarded as the highest football club honour in Europe and one of the best prizes as far as club football was concerned. Theophilus Ochenze was the most notable contributor to Liverpool’s ‘quadruple’. The winger who had turned 18 by the end of the season notched up 47 goals with a commensurate 23 assists in only 41 appearances for his team. Theo smashed numerous records with his astonishing performances in his debut campaign. He emerged as the youngest player to ever lift a Champions League trophy; A record only bettered by Leandro Tite - the most successful footballer of all time. More importantly Theo scored two decisive goals to grant his team their first Champions League trophy in more than a decade that year.

The UEFA Champions League final was an eagerly awaited fixture that was contested by two teams whom as at the time had bitter rivalry between them. FC Barcelona; Liverpool’s Spanish opponents in the final, had stopped Liverpool from progressing in the tournament a record - equaling seven times; No club had ever come in the way of another in the tournament more times. Meaning a victory for the Spanish club would make FC Barcelona hold the record for the highest UEFA Champions League knockouts against a single club as well as granting them their 10th UCL crown. Indeed, the history books were not in favour of Theo’s Liverpool before that game. The press had analyzed these statistics with Theo; whom they were always eager to hear from at each press conference, and each journalist suggested that victory for Liverpool was close to impossible. Theo had just three simple words for the press. ’Impossible is Nothing’, he smiled and said before leaving his seat in the conference room to return to training.

Theo, who knew the magnitude of the task ahead put extra hours into training. He would be the first to arrive at Liverpool’s Melwood training centre and would still be the last to leave by the end of the day. He was determined to make an impact in the Champions League final and his doggedness and determination paid off in the end. Many onlookers marveled at the zeal and hunger of a player of Theo’s age. They all understood that as a young player, it was normal to be overly energetic and hungry for success, but even at the age of 18, Theo wasn’t just hungry for success, he was ready to leave indelible footprints on the sands of soccer history even as a teenager.

The UEFA Champions League final, as earlier planned, took place in Kosovo. A country which had relatively small population when compared with its small land mass. The Kosovar football fans were eagerly anticipating the arrival of Theophilus. As the Liverpool team arrived to play at the 64,700 capacity Kosovo Community Stadium, chants of ‘All Hail the Black Eagle’ could be heard from different angles. The chants became even louder as the starting eleven; which did not include Theo, made their way onto the evergreen football pitch. The Liverpool players were somewhat dumb-founded as they realized that the Kosovarians were in support of Liverpool rewriting the history books on this occasion. The stage was set and both teams had completed their warm-up routines and the referee signaled for kick-off.

On the stroke of half-time, Arijnaet Lemar, a Kosovar native, who was an FC Barcelona player gave his side a narrow one goal lead to the amazement and uproar of the enthusiastic fans and supporters. The Liverpool hierarchy who came to witness a potential night of glory for their side were fuming from the stands. Suprisingly, Jose Sepp the Liverpool manager did not look as tense as expected. As the half-time whistle was blown, he only smiled at Theo who was warming up on the sidelines. Theo returned the smile to his manager with the wink of an eye. The few who saw these exchange of signs between the Liverpool manager and Theo, regarded that as the moment the Champions League title was won for Liverpool.

The second half began five minutes behind schedule as officials struggled to maintain crowd control. Theo was part of a double substitution made by manager Jose Sepp for the second half. He marched up to the pitch with a form of conviction that he had some decisive impact to make in less than 45 minutes. The second period began amidst tense Liverpool nerves; but the Liverpool supporters were ever relentless in cheering their team to success, giving little explanation as to why the Reds hadn’t lost but on two occasions all season; Theo injured on both occasions. With his magical feet and sensational runs down the flanks, Theo equalized in less than 51 seconds on the pitch, prompting violent reactions from the football-crazy Kosovarian onlookers. Hope seemed to have been lost again when reigning player of the year- Christian Bernardo, converted a penalty to swing his side back into the lead after some unruly defending in Liverpool territory.

In a bizzare encounter, Theo made use of some fancy footwork to set up his teammate who restored parity for the Liverpool fans. A large part of the game had been played and both sides decided to sit back and defend their goalies, understanding that any little mistake would mean European glory for their opponents. However, Theo defied his manager’s instructions; deciding to step forward and attack against his manager’s will. As a matter of fact, Theo infuriated his captain who responded by giving him a gentle tap on his neck asking;

“What do you think you are doing?”.

Theo smiled at him and said, “Leave this to me captain”.

With the scores tied at 2-2, Theo won a free-kick in FC Barcelona territory around 35 yards from the opposition’s goalpost. The Liverpool captain, who already had the ball in his hands was ready to take the set-piece, but young Theophilus took the ball out of his arms raising one finger up to his captain. The Liverpool captain looked disgusted at Theo's overzealousness but in accordance with club ethics he wasn't to display his irritation. Theo stood over the ball with his trademark posture in which he spread his feet out wide and had his two hands far from his body. He struck the ball with a speed of a hundred and nine kilometers per hour and it found the roof of the net, effectively killing any chances of a save being made by the goalkeeper.

The Kosovo Community Stadium erupted and the loud chants of the fans could be heard from over a hundred miles away. Theo had done it yet again as he started and ended the season with spectacular performances. Liverpool lifted the Champions League trophy and were yet again the best in all of Europe. After the trophy had been lifted to the witnessing of all those who had come to watch such a block-buster final, the Liverpool manager - Jose Sepp approached Theophilus and said

“Son, you shouldn’t ignore your manager's instructions like that, you had me up on my feet all the time”.

“I’m sorry coach, but I saw that as the only way we could win the game”, Theo replied softly.

“Who cares?”, Jose Sepp said, ”We’ve won the title and that’s what’s most important. Let’s celebrate”.

The pair gave each other a warm embrace and the latter put his hands up to collect their participation medals. Indeed, Jose became a father figure for Theophilus throughout his stay in Merseyside.

As expected, Theo and his 'invincible' Liverpool teammates were all over the papers, making headlines all around the globe. Theo had earned himself a place in nominee lists for three awards - The best player of the year award, the young player of the year award and the goal of the year award by virtue of his excellent 35-yard effort in the Champions League final against FC Barcelona. Theo would go on to emerge as the favorite in two of those awards; only failing to emerge as the best player of the year, with many of football pundits insisting it was too early for Theo to be named the best in the world. In addition, Theo was also listed as a member of the best soccer lineup for the year. It was indeed a defining year for Theophilus Ochenze.

Theo’s outstanding performances far away in Europe also prompted good reactions in his native Western Africa. The young lad had both Ghanian and Nigerian citizenships which left many bookmakers with questions as to which national side Theo would declare his allegiance. Regardless of this, Theo earned National honours from both countries. At such a tender age, Theo had opened several charity organizations which he ran effectively. These included a ‘Charity for the homeless programme’, Theo’s Orphanage Home: a house for children whose parents were dead and also a skills acquisition center for natives of both countries. These philanthropic gestures by Theo earned him positive remarks not just in Africa but in some major parts of Europe. What was even more surprising was that he was only just rounding up his debut year as a first team proffesional football player.

The transfer window had finally arrived and as expected several big-money clubs had made moves on signing the world most valuable prospect - Theophilus Ochenze. The transfer window was a definite period set out for clubs to exercise their financial muscle by purchasing new players or letting go of old ones. Most transfer windows usually took place between June and August as well as the winter transfer window holding out for January.

Liverpool had now slapped a price tag of £126 million, ultimately attempted to beat out any attempted purchase from any club, as most clubs saw spilling out big bags of cash on signing just a single player as waste. The reason for this was that in most cases such players would start to under perform ultimately defeating the purpose of their signing.

Nevertheless, some clubs saw were not drawn back by Theo’s expensive asking price. Clubs such as FC Barcelona and Manchester City, which were also dominant forces in European football had reportedly submitted bids worth up to £600 million in attempts to lure Theo away from Merseyside. These bids would triple Theo’s current wages at Liverpool. The Liverpool management who were initially reluctant at releasing Theo from their squad were bought away with money. The final decisions were left for Theo to make. Would he leave a team where he had just found his feet to restart his promising career somewhere else?

The press, the fans and the entire Liverpool management were among people eagerly waiting for Theo’s choice to be made. Knowing that he had initially turned down even better offers from much bigger clubs in the previous summer, Theo refused to let down on his legacy of refusing to play the game of football for the money. Theo gave his answer on his official i********: account, in which the parties to be affected by his decision were all notified. For Theo, the use of i********: had become his best means of keeping in touch with his fans as well as the ever enthusiastic press. He made the announcement in his native Ashanti dialect which was translated to English as,

“I have always been a person who stands on a singular legacy, and on this note, I would like to announce to the Liverpool management as well as the boards of both bidding clubs that I would remain a Liverpool player until further notice. Thank You”.

Theo was again in the papers for his decision, only this time he received numerous commendations rather than criticisms which he faced heavily in the summer of the previous season. Many pundits regarded him as a noble African who unlike many other players didn’t allow money drive him crazy while in his pursuit for football glory.

It was confirmed that Theophilus Ochenze would remain a Liverpool player for yet another season, but there was still an important decision to be made. National team coaches had begun to select their teams for the FIFA World Cup tournament which was just around the corner. Both Nigeria and Ghana would consider Theo as a valuable addition to their squad. However, in cases like this, the final decision rested on the shoulders of Theo who in any case, would join the team of his choice. Although the tournament was over a year away, the world football governing body considered it imperative that the final squads for the tournament be announced really early so as to ensure preparations for the tournament were at the highest level of perfection. Theo insisted he needed more time to make up his mind in order to avoid any wrong decisions. He promised to deliver his decision on the commencement of the new league season. Football lovers from both countries that would be affected by Theo’s decision had their fingers crossed, knowing that whatever his decision was could swing the entire balance of footballing history for either nation.

Also, knowing that Theo would be turning 19 before the end of the year, his West African counterparts had already begun to put pressure on Theo as to when the Liverpool striker would be settling down. Though, it seemed very early to major cultures and traditions of the world, it was seen as a norm for most Ghanaian traditions especially due to the fact that his father was no more. One thing was for sure and this was the fact that Theophilus would never make a decision in a hurry.