OBINNA THE SUCCESSFUL FOOTBALLER

SUCCESS IN EUROPE

Mr. Smith visited Obinna’s home and told his parent that he wants to take their son to Scotland to join Strattberg FC. Before Obinna’s departure, he went for prayers, both the pastor and his parent prayed and also gave him many piece of advice, he promised to make them proud. Mr. Smith gave Obinna’s parent the huge sum of Five hundred thousand naira for them to manage till Obinna will start sending them money from his salary and allowances. Obinna took some of the money and bought foodstuff in bulk for them, he open up a small retail provision shop for his mother in front of their house, and he also sent for his niece from the village to come and stay with his parent, he likewise placed his father on intensive care and medical treatment, he bought a mobile phone for his mother for them to be communicating while he was away. *****************************************************************************

In Scotland, Obinna and the other newly recruited players from Nigeria started to train with other Strattberg FC players, the club was newly promoted to Scottish 2nd Division league, yet to play in the much respected Scottish Premier League since its existence, Obinna was living within the Club’s living quarters, as he does not have enough money to rent a house outside the Club Arena. It really helped him in being more active in training.

The league started on high tense, as every team wants to be among the top three in the table to gain promotion to the top flight. Obinna started revealing his true nature and talent, he started firing from all angle. Strattberg FC was now in the 3rd position and the league remains three matches to end. Surprisingly, when the league ended, Strattberg FC was 2nd on the table; Obinna was the highest goal scorer in the league with 28 goals in 38 matches. Mr. Smith and the club manager Mr. Regan Glen were very happy with him.

Strattberg FC was now promoted to Scottish Premier League for the first time in their history. Obinna who won the Golden boot and the Club’s best player award, was the first African player in Scotland to do so, he was earning about One hundred thousand naira every week, his parent was also communicating with him, he always sends enough cash to them, he was very happy when he heard that his father’s health has improved and that he was now under rehabilitation.

The new season has started; Strattberg FC management has made all the necessary preparation to ensure that the club survive and performs well in the league. Strattberg FC was already at the top half of the Scottish table; The League was very hot and competitive because of many big and good teams in it. Obinna was performing superbly well in the league, he was among the top scorers. When the League came to an end, Strattberg FC successfully came 3rd position, and were automatically qualified to feature in next year’s UEFA Champions League competition; Obinna was voted the best player and also the best young player in the league, he won the Golden boot with a tally of 35 goals in 37 games.

The new season also started with much pressure, Champions League is involved, and Strattberg FC qualified from the group stages, smashing Watford 3-1, Cardiff 4-2, and West ham 3-0 in the first leg of the match and then 2-0, 1-0, 5-2 respectively in the returning leg. They go into the double headed Knock-out stage and beat Leeds United 2-1 and 3-2 to qualify to the quarter-final. Strattberg FC was also doing fine in the Scottish Premier League, as they were in the 2nd position with few matches remaining. Obinna has already bagged 30 goals in the League, and 10 goals in his 8 appearances in the Champions League. Strattberg FC successfully reached the UEFA Champions League final against FC Lyon of France, the final was hosted at Wembley Stadium, England. The match started, although, Obinna was on the bench with slight fever, but was included in the substitute.

FC Lyon was leading 2-0 in the first half; all the Strattberg FC fans were losing hope and were also unhappy about the pending defeat. The manager and the club owners were not happy, Obinna was also sad on the bench, his heart was beating very fast, but when he remembered what happened in the 1999 Champions League Final between Manchester United and Bayern Munich, and also the 2005 Champions League Final between Liverpool FC and AC Milan, he became strong-hearted, he was praying on the bench, begging God not to shame him, but to make him shine on the pitch. He was still praying when the coach told him to warm up and get ready to enter the game. As he was introduced into the game, he kissed the pitch, he was courageous and he believes that his presence will make a big difference in the game. FC Lyon defenders were very strong and aggressive. Obinna scored from the corner-kick with a header at exactly 70 minutes, the game was now 2-1, ten minutes later; Obinna won a penalty kick, as one of the defenders brought him down in the 18-yard box as he tried to nutmeg the defender. Obinna allowed the Club Captain, Josh Dean to convert the spot-kick, everywhere was lively, and the game is now 2-2. Strattberg FC fans and supporters were jubilating, Mr. Smith and Mr. Regan were very excited, and the player’s morale was now very high. The Referee signals a three minutes added time as the game ended 2-2 in the normal 90 minutes; but behold, a 35 meters yard long range strike from Obinna flew past Oviedo, the FC Lyon Goal-keeper into the unguided net, everywhere was transformed, jubilation that I can’t explain were going on, while half of the fans were crying.

The UEFA Champions League Trophy was presented to Strattberg FC, Obinna scored a total of 15 goals in his total of 11 appearances, and he was voted the best player in the competition, he was named among the FIFA PRO XI, he won the Golden Boot. Many journalists from Africa and particularly Nigeria came when he was voted the Best Player in the World; he was the first African to win such honour (apart from George Weah). Mr. Regan was also voted the Best Manager. Strattberg FC also won the Scottish Premier League; Obinna scored 40 goals in 38 league games, he won the Golden Boot and the League’s best player award, he also won the Football Writers Association Award (FWA), Best Player of Professional Football Association (PFA). After Obinna had won four Trophies, including The UEFA Champions League, The Scottish FA Cup, Carlin Cup and the League Cup, with two Golden Boots award, and five more individual awards, the world has no other option than to brand him a Legend.

Many big clubs across Europe started hunting for his signature, after much talk with Mr. Smith and Mr. Regan; they agreed to let him move to Liverpool FC, a very big and successful club in England for a record fee of $20 million.