From Streets to Stages

CHAPTER SIX

Having narrowly missed out on the Premier League title the previous season to eventual winners Manchester City Football Club. They had now shown every other team that they had eyes on returning this year’s trophy to Anfield. Another cause for worry for Liverpool was their UEFA Champions League performance. Having won the tournament nearly two years ago, all eyes were on the Reds to transfer their early season from into Europe’s elite football competition. All that was seen in José Depp's men was the hunger to succeed.

There was a slight twist in UEFA Champions League proceedings however as Liverpool would have to go through one qualification round to seal a spot in the group stages of the competition. Group Stages were a format adopted by most soccer tournaments where teams would be chosen in groups of four; The teams would then play against each other and just two of the four would qualify for the next round of games.

This was inevitable however as Liverpool’s poor performance towards the end of the previous season meant they finished in fourth place - slightly out of the guaranteed positions for Europe’s Elite Football competition. Jose Sepp wasn’t doubting his squad in any strata as he continuously defended his teams depth and stated that they could put forth the same heroics which earned them a Champions League crown in Kosovo two years earlier. The Reds had to shape up and bounce back from their previous season’s performances in such short notice.

Meanwhile, Liverpool FC’s board was dissolved and new appointments and structures were set to follow. No specific reasons were given out to the press who frequently made interviews to find out reasons . A problem of worry at Anfield was the rising rate of dormant players at the club - The number of players which regularly get contract renewals without actually rendering any services to the club. On getting advice from influential members of the board, Jose Sepp spent about £100 million buying off numerous players of their contracts as well as loaning out some products of the Liverpool Football Academy to neighbouring clubs to help cover-up for lost funds. Mr. Sepp was among a minor fraction of the working force at Anfield that retained its positions. Regardless, there was still a lot to be done if Liverpool would return to global dominance.

Anfield’s oldest and longest serving player, Leo Bartomeu was among the players whose contracts with the club had been axed. He had spent 15 years in Merseyside - eight of those were as Liverpool captain. He felt the Liverpool board were unfair to him after his multiple years of service and loyalty to the club.

A new captain was to be selected from the pack. After a vote was cast in the dressing room, Theo was unanimously selected to the surprise of many. Despite the fact that Theo handles captainship duty with the Ghanaian football team. Many continuously stated in fact that Theo was still a young player who still needed to build his career. Albeit, he was handed the captain’s arm-band publicly in front of a full-capacity, Anfield stadium. With a microphone held firmly in his hands, Theo made lots of huge promises to the Liverpool faithful - The most controversial of those promises being his bid to return the trophy for Europe’s most Elite club competition to Anfield where he said it belongs.

The first step in fufilling his long list of promises stood around the corner. Liverpool faced a daunting task as they prepared for a two-legged qualifying round against an inform Ajax Amsterdam FC. Under normal circumstances, the clash between the two sides would have been considered ordinary, but the showdown was set to be a blockbuster owing to some reasons. One of these was the central defensive pairing of the same duo of Nigerian defenders that prevented Theo from making his debut World Cup appearance. Memories of the match against his country of birth usually brought tears. He soliloquized a lot on how the Ghanaian team would have gone to the global stage with greater momentum and firepower if he had been fit for the tournament.

Far away in the West Coast, Theophilus Ochenze was the latest player to be shortlisted in the Black Stars Under-21 squad ahead of the FIFA Under-21 World Cup tournament to be hosted in the glamorous city of Lagos, Nigeria. The tournament would last three weeks, coinciding with a run of decisive fixtures for Liverpool. Of course, the Ghana International would be available for Liverpool’s first two qualifying rounds for the UEFA Champions League, but not for their first two group stage fixture at Europe’s Elite Club Competition and that pair of matches would be guaranteed only if the Merseysiders got through the first qualifying round. Theo was yet to make any official response to his call-up to the Ghanaian U-21 squad as he weighed up playing for Liverpool against going to play in front of football fans who dislike him as much as ‘cats disliked dogs’. He made several jokes about the first professional game he played on his country of birth where he sustained a career-threatning injury.

The first leg of the qualififcation tie was played and Theo’s Liverpool obtained a credible draw in Amsterdam; the geographical location of Ajax FC. However, levelling the scores in Dutch territory came at a cost for the Merseysiders as a notable member of the Reds squad sustained an injury as he stuck in a foot amidst a scramble of Ajax defenders to grab a late equalizer. The injury sustained was greatly similar to Theo’s but it would rule him out for only six weeks. Theo played no role in the clash at Amsterdam. Jose Sepp refused to dish out any reasons to the press. Many believed that Theophilus was so frightened at playing at Ajax that he withdrew from the squad at the last minute by making up ridiculous excuses. Viral photos emerged later on on social media which displayed Theo and Tasha visiting a popular Merseyside resort with their newly-born child; Theophilius Jr and the photos started to circulate a few hours after the game in Netherlands had concluded.

Liverpool FC had gone unbeaten in a long string of matches in the Premier League which was their primary objective as a club that season. They faced serious criticism from Anfield legends such as Ian Rush and Steven Gerrard; both with who had made history during their time at the club, about their laxity towards European competitions. Of course, Theo was the subject of their latest rain of fire. The pair who had openly criticized the modern Liverpool team had three Champions League titles between them - The most won by any pair of players in Anfield history. As a result, the pair demanded Theo; being the captain, should show up for a pre-match analysis show ahead of the return leg against Ajax at Anfield. Theo controversially boycotted the invitation as he sensed it was a plot to humiliate him on national television.

The Ajax squad had touched down in Merseyside on a sunny Wednesday afternoon while the Liverpool squad were still holding warm-up routines at their Melwood training base. Jose Sepp spoke with Theo privately and told him to put his emotions aside ahead of the game against Netherlands’ most prestigious club. Theo continuously said he wasn’t scared. Regardless, there was obviously going to be some phobia since Theophilus would try to avoid getting injuries from the Ajax central-pair in defense. Jose Sepp took his side through intense fitness tests which were really difficult given the weather conditions at the point in time.

The rest of the team had left Melwood to go and refresh ahead of the big game later that night, but not Theo. He sat alone on one of the benches at the sidelines fearing that these may be the last few moments of his career, concluding that sustaining a career-ending injury was inevitable. A circumstance which further heightened his speculations occurred when he pulled out his phone and saw photos from the official Ajax Amsterdam FC account of the two Nigerian center backs with the caption "The only two who can quench Theo at the moment". A few moments later, Tasha showed up and she didn't come alone, she came with Theophilus Ochenze Jr. She sat beside Theo and stared at him for a while before sparking up a conversation.

"Theo what's eating you up?" she said with a smile.

"I don't know I'm just scared Tasha. I'm scared" He said refusing to look his wife in the face.

"Scared of what?"

Theo then looked straight at her and said;

"Everytime I remember what happened against Nigeria, i get the fear that my career is gonna end tonight"

Tasha laughed for a while without uttering any words. She then said

"Pos nom, I've never known a frightened Theo". Tasha gave Theo a peck after which she dropped a photo of Theo lifting the Champions League trophy in Kosovo over two years ago. She walked towards the exit door far away from where Theo was seated and shouted

"Whether you remain a footballer or not, I'll still love you". Theo also shouted at the top of his voice,

"I love you Tasha"

Kick off was soon to begin and as players wore their kits in the dressing room, Theo took a look at the photo which Tasha had given him earlier before dropping it inside his locker. He led his teammates to the tunnel where he met some familiar foes as well. One of the Super Eagles' centre backs also led his team out for the clash against the Merseysiders. He gave a sinister look to Theo after which he said

"I wonder how you survived that Theo. We'll see how you'll wriggle outta tonight". Theo smiled and responded

"We'll See. We definitely will"

They both walked out to the pitch knowing that a bad result for either side would mean forfeiting a slot in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. As Theo and his teammates paused while the UEFA theme song was played, the only thing that kept replaying in Theo's mind was the injury he got in the very first stadium he played in as a child a couple is months back, but then he looked in the crowd and saw Tasha and his son and he found another reason to believe.

The match began without further ado and it didn't take much time for the visitors to spark up a comeback. Ajax scored twice inside the opening twenty-five minutes giving them a lot of confidence going into the half-time period. A funny fact was that both goals were scored as headers from set pieces by the two Ajax centre backs. The Liverpool players were still stale and lukewarm in attack. Theo wasted a couple of good chances and Liverpool fell two goals down at Anfield. Theo and his teammates walked back into the dressing room for the half time period in disappointment. Jose Sepp had never been so frustrated at Theo's performance as he picked out the Ghana-International and lambasted him for his team's poor first half display. Theo looked down in disappointment and most of his teammates started losing hope already. José Sepp momentarily left the dressing room to address some tactical issues with his technical staff and Theo seized the opportunity to motivate his players before the start of the second half.

"Yes we're two goals down at the end of the first half, it's my fault, it's the coach's fault, it's your fault, We're all at fault, but who cares? We are Liverpool and we never walk alone so if there's one time we need to display zeal and passion towards making those fans happy, then that time is now!" said the captain.

Theo's dressing room speech created a frenzy as the Liverpool players enthusiastically ran up the walk way and into the pitch with some conviction that they could turn around the first half's result.

Just before Theo left, he picked up the artifact which was given to him in the summer by the Benin Chief priest. He wore the bracelet on his left wrist and the jewels in the bracelet strangely began to glow. Theo then ran to catch-up with his teammates for the start of the second half. The Liverpool supporters ever so faithful in cheering their team to glory had already started jeering their support to set up an intense atmosphere for the second half. Not surprisingly, Ian Rush and Steven Gerrard were seated at Anfield to watch the clash versus Ajax. The second half began at the sound of the referee's whistle. The Liverpool players suddenly switched on but their intensity in attack hadn't started to translate into goals and time was not on their side any longer.

Deep into opposition territory, Theo won a free kick which he insisted he took on his own. Only 15 minutes were left to play and Theo knew that they needed to pull off their comeback really quick. The 19-year old stepped up and delightfully took the free kick and he found the top corner of the net with rather too much ease. The comeback was on. A few minutes later, Theo had the entire Anfield crowd; visiting fans inclusive, up on their feet as he sent a sensational pass above the Ajax defense which found his teammate; Chris Wood, who only had the simple task of tapping-in to get Liverpool's second of the night and third in aggregate. A tense finish to game followed since the scores were now level on aggregate.

All eyes were then on Theo as he completed a spectacular 30-yard run all on his own which ended with him tapping the ball into an empty net after he had rounded the Ajax goalie; not even one of the hefty and muscular Ajax defenders could stop Theo's pace. That goal put Liverpool ahead and surely sent them to the United European Football Association's most prestigious tournament.

Theo's winning goal had some emotional effect on Anfield yet again that night. As he tucked the ball firmly into the back of the net, his team ran out and jumped over the ducks and straight into the crowd. Many of the fans seated at that part of the stadium made efforts to get a feel of Theo's clothes, while many others held up the red Merseyside mufflers with tears in their eyes. After he had fully lived the moment, Theo ran to meet Tasha. She gave him a warm embrace and then looked into his eyes for a few seconds. Theo smiled and quickly returned to the pitch for play to resume. Not long after the full time whistle went and Liverpool's European status became as sure as sunrise once again.