[Football] The Little Dreamer

Blurb dated 2024-04-18: What does victory taste like? Andy isn't really sure. He's a young player who hasn't had much luck. Compared with the other kids his age at the academy, he always seems to have a little less of the good fortune that gets you noticed. Nervously waiting for the first professional contract of his life, he is told by the youth team manager: You're too skinny and too short to be a goalkeeper right now. You can either stay with the youth team and wait to be promoted, or leave professional football while you still can. That's nonsense. I'm still going to grow! he thought. These are golden times. People confuse heroes with idols, and glory and sweat are often reserved for those blessed with both talent and luck. So Andy decides to take one more gamble on luck. Surely there's somewhere that will take me! Manchester: Sorry, we can't. Andy: Life is like facing a ball machine with the intensity turned up by the coach. You think you're here to play, but actually you're here to get pelted with balls, and you're not allowed to dodge. But can someone tell me how long it's going to keep beating me up? What does victory taste like? Marco might remember the taste of grass juice mingling with sweat, and even blood, as his teammates huddled around him after one goal after another. He might remember the endless TIFOs rising above the South Stand and the waves of roaring voices, or the scorching heat of summer mingling with the heat of running, searing his back, or the crunch of studs in the snow that never seems to melt, in the depths of winter... It was an irreplaceable fairy tale called the storm of youth. But football isn't a child's Lego set. It's a cruel game where only champions count as winners. Countless victories don't necessarily make you a winner, and boys and young men all grow up... By Phoenix Lake one morning, a blue-eyed boy from another country stood with a foot on the ball and told him stubbornly: I refuse to believe we can keep losing forever. Even if this is a claw machine, after all these years, God should have given me a guaranteed prize by now! If the claw machine game has a guaranteed prize, does the cycle last about ten years? In his first season as a starter, Andy wins the championship and faces the microphones with complete sincerity: “Failure? I never think about that. Until the final whistle, I believe in my teammates without reservation... Victory? I want to dedicate this victory to Marco. When I was so close to hating football, he said to me, ‘Why not try again? Maybe you'll get the chance to be a hero!’” Eight years ago, the moment he put on his gloves and leaped behind his temporary teammates to stop an almost certain long-range goal; the moment every student in the stands, whether they knew him or not, rose to their feet and cheered; the moment sunlight glinted dazzlingly off the beads of sweat dripping onto the uneven grass: Andy realized he would always remember and chase after that afternoon when he became a hero to the sound of cheers. Theme: Youth gives you endless chances to get things wrong. Give it another try!