The Football Match
by Torres Sung Yui Him 6H
This story was written over 5 weeks as the final project for the first-year Creative Writing students. It’s their first attempt at writing a short story on their own, combining all the skills they’ve learned through the year.
Will Arsenal beat Manchester City despite Manchester City winning every single time?
David Hopps, a footballer, wept in the Etihad Stadium, crying endlessly in the usual training. People were trying to cheer him up and tried to clear his disappointment away.
”Don’t be sad, David. These things will just haunt you forever, just try to forget that and train earnestly.” However, he was even more remorseful, and heartbroken that no one could ever cheer him up.
The UEFA Champion League took place in the Emirates Stadium. The stadium features an elliptical bowl design. Its exterior is a striking mix of glass and steel that glows at night. There are more than sixty thousand fans in the humongous stadium!
Only Arsenal and Manchester City were in the finals. This was a very apprehensive match to the players and coaches. Therefore, they started training everyday before the big day came.
In Arsenal training, Despite their weaknesses in shooting and dribbling, they trained tirelessly. They embraced a strict "no sugar, no salt" diet and focused on personal growth. Their coach shifted the pressure away, teaching them to value the experience and learn from their opponents rather than just focusing on winning.
Their coach also encouraged them, “The most important thing was to enjoy the finals, not winning it. If we lose, we don’t need to be fully disconsolate. Instead, we need to find the opponent's nice things to improve. If we win, we don’t need to celebrate!” Teammates nodded and continued training. The players trained from a weak team to a stronger team.
During the Manchester City training, the players put in minimal effort, believing they were already the best.
They treated training like a game, skipping all the healthy habits. The people who watched them training were all disappointed with them.
Some passers-by convinced the players to put more effort into their training so that they could win with ease. However, the captain ignored them and asked them to leave.
David then said arrogantly, “Haha, why would we listen to you guys, huh? We are the best team in the world. We never lose!”
The passerby left and said, ”Arsenal must win. You guys. You are too cocky!”
Time travelled really rapidly. It was already the UEFA final’s day.
Three hours before the match, there were numerous people outside the Emirates Stadium. The people were packed like sardines. They were cramming into the stadium. The atmosphere was already extremely buzzling and boisterous noises everywhere.
They started warming up. David’s face had an overconfident look and was like already won the final and was ready to hold the weightful trophy.
“Beepppppppp!” The final match whistle blew. The match started.
David went to kick-off. He passed the ball to Kevin De Bruyne and he sprinted forward immediately. The Arsenal striker, Viktor Gyokeres, tackled the ball.
Kevin dribbled through his tackle with his skill, the Rainbow Flick. However, Odeggard was already there and stole Kevin’s ball. He told Tossard and Martenilli to go up.
Seconds after, he crossed a fabulous ball directed to Gyokeres. He used his head to hit the ball and the ball went inside the net!
”1:0 for Arsenal!” the commentator shouted.
David started arguing with Kevin that he didn’t pass the ball to him. David kicked off the ball again, but this time the ball went in front of Haaland. He started using his body to protect the ball while dribbling. He then passed a really far ball to David. David shot it with one-touch but it hit the post!
”Bang!” The commentator said, ”What a shame.” Five minutes have already passed. Manchester City is still hurrying to get a goal.”
Two minutes later, David Raya made a humongous mistake.
Saliba passed the ball back to Raya and he accidentally scored an own-goal. He lied on the grass, crying… “1-1. That’s really an exciting final!” The commentator yelled.
Ten minutes later, Arsenal’s players kept passing short passes and countering the Manchester City’s players.
At last, they scored a fascinating goal. The powerful shot by Declan Rice has broken the net!
“2:1 for Arsenal!” David yelled and his face raddened. He was really outraged.
“Beeeeeeppppp!” The first half of the match was finished. Arsenal had a slight advantage compared to Manchester City. There were sad faces on Manchester City’s players. They knew they needed to score two more goals to win. The break ended and the referee blew the whistle. The second half of the match started.
The whistle blew, ”Beeeeppppppp!”
Gyokeres went to kick-off for Arsenal. He passed the ball to Odeggard and he started to organise the ball possession with the defenders.
David dashed to steal Saliba’s ball. Saliba lost control and David stole it!
He immediately shot the ball but it was off-target.
What a shame! He lost such golden chances! Ball organised by Arsenal again.
This time, the defenders controlled the ball carefully and didn’t make chances for David to steal. Gabriel passed the ball to Eze and he started dribbling smoothly.
Eze crossed the ball to Gyokeres but Gvardiol stole the ball from the head! He crossed a lengthy ball to David. He got the ball but got tackled by Saliba. Penalty was confirmed. David shouted to his teammates to let him take the penalty. He grabbed the ball and went to the penalty spot.
“Beeepppp!”
David slowly rushed in and shot a right bottom corner, but it hit the post! The ball bounced out and it was a great chance for Cherki to rebounce. He shot an upper right corner and David Raya couldn’t touch the ball.
“Goal! 2-2! That’s a draw now.”
Three minutes left and the second half ended. If it ended with a draw, there would be an additional thirty minutes extra time! In this situation, it was likely to be a draw so far because Manchester city couldn't make attacks to goals.
‘Beeeepppppp!” The second half ended. It needed thirty minutes more extra time. The players looked very anxious.
The referee blew the whistle again. The first fifteen minutes extra time but no extraordinary chances happened. However, many great chances happened in front of the supporter's eyes in the second half of the extra time. In the fifth minute, David dribbled inside the penalty box and kicked a powerful shot. However, Raya caught it and lied down. No rebound was given.
Two minutes later, Donnarumma lost a good position and Martenili shot from the half line. Unfortunately, it hit the post but the stadium was full of applause. If it was a goal, it would have become the world-class goal in football history. The second half of the extra time ended. It needed to have a penalty shootout.
The players rushed to drink their water bottles. They gasped for air, their mouths feeling like sandpaper. They were absolutely parched after the 120-minute sprint.
The break dwindled and the players became more tired. Only superb players could pass the last conundrum.
The break ended. It was time for the penalty kick. Both coaches have already arranged the order of taking the penalty.
David was the fifth penalty taker, which was the most important one. The penalty takers were all under pressure from the bustling atmosphere., Haaland was the first penalty taker. He was holding the ball, thinking about what strength and what direction he should shoot. However, he knew he had no time for thinking. He put the ball down and shot immediately. Raya saved!
After a bunch of fascinating penalty taking, it was time for David to shoot.
If he scores, Manchester City wins.
If he misses, Manchester City loses.
The win was on David’s head. He was highly under pressure. He took a big breath and tried to shoot a chip, which was slowly shot from a mysterious angle.
However, Raya was one of the world-class goalkeepers and he was well-known for knowing what trick the takers did. He saw David’s preparation was a chip so he already knew it. He saved the ball.
David cried and lied on the grass field. Everyone in the Emirates Stadium cheered for Arsenal. All their hard work paid off and they were celebrating by walking around to the field to give autographs to the fans who supported them.
On the contrary, Manchester City’s players felt depressed and shouted at David for his chip. Hearing lots of cheering sounds for Arsenal. No one cheered for Manchester City’s players. Manchester City's players really regretted their sloppy effort in the training before the match.
It was time for both teams to shake their hands after the Final. Manchester City’s players just fell in front of the champion road. Trophies were them if they performed and trained better in their training.
10 minutes before the trophy ceremony, Guordiola called the players to get back to their room for a word. Once when the players all arrived, his coach was determined to teach them how to train usefully like how Arsenal trained.
The trophy-handing ceremony started.
The second-runner up, Real Madrid also came to get their medals for beating Barcelona in the bronze medal match. It was such a shame for Barcelona that they couldn't join them. Real Madrid’s players happily got their medals and took a cheerful photo, because they have worked hard already and nothing could be regretted.
It was time for Manchester’s players to go on the stage to get their heavy silver medals. No one was happy in their team because they didn’t get their trophies. David looked the saddest among all the saddies. Unlike Real Madrid, they all looked heartbroken in the photo.
Arsenal then came onto the stage, showing their biggest smile in front of everyone seeing them ready to get the golden trophies. The trophy gladdened every player in Arsenal which made them forget how hard they have suffered in their training. They were holding the trophies, celebrating and screaming with happiness. Many fans appreciated them.