The morning sun shone through William's curtains as he groaned in pain trying to pry his eyes open. His body felt weaker than ever after the night training with his great football idols Pele and Maradona. When William's father, Mr. Gill walked into the room. He gave a determined look as he pushed aside the curtains to reveal a clear sky outside. In the room the sun shone directly onto William's body. Mr. Gill had prepared breakfast for his son and the wonderful aroma wafted up to William's nostrils as he opened his eyes for the second time. William moaned as he opened his eyes again then hurried to the washroom. As he stood under the hot shower stream, his thoughts wandered to the Blackpool FC trial in four days. William's thoughts suddenly came to reality as if lightning had struck his body. He immediately dried himself off and hurried to the washroom. He ate his breakfast hurriedly as his dad watched over him with great concern. William finished and picked his bag to prepare to leave for school. He took a bus to school instead of walking down the road as he usually did. William had no strength to walk down the road after his night training. He gazed out at the beauty of the morning as the bus rattled through the road. William wished every morning could be like this one. William alighted from the bus as the school gates drew near. He had mixed emotions like never before as the school sports day commenced and everyone gathered to watch the games begin. Everyone in the school was bustling up and down the corridor in their colorful jerseys. William walked to his class to drop his books. William looked up as one of his teammates, Stone, walked into the class with a worried expression on his face. Stone was a Chelsea Football Club U-18 player like William.
"Hey William, are you okay? I haven't seen you at the training grounds for the past two days. Some players are starting to question what is happening," said Stone as he leaned against one of the lockers. William gave his friend a mysterious smile since he did not know that Stone knew about William's night training activities.
"Nothing is wrong, Stone. I am handling some personal matters, and my club is doing something different together with me for the next some days. It will all come out soon enough. You will see." William replied as he turned around and left his friend wondering what was happening.
William walked out of the class and hurried to the main field where all the action was. He walked to one of the corners where a huge crowd had gathered to watch a display by a footballer named Jamal. Jamal was a Brentford Football Club player with amazing skills that earned him a place in the club's U-21 team.
However, he had a huge ego and hated everyone below him in the football ladder. William watched Jamal toss the ball high above his head and perform an overhead kick to score a phenomenal goal before walking to the center of the circle and lifting the ball on his toe to perform the scorpion kick as the crowd exploded with excitement.
Jamal saw William at the edge of the circle and decided to challenge him. He tossed the ball high above his head and placed it on his toe. "Hey William! Why are you standing there like a fool? Don't you come and play a little bit with me? Are you afraid to embarrassed?" asked Jamal as he smirked
William shook his head and politely refused his friend's challenge. "I am sorry, Jamal, but I feel a little weak today. I think it would be wise to leave you alone." replied William.
Jamal laughed loudly as everyone in the crowd turned their attention to William. He walked to William with a sneering look on his face. "Weak? My friend, that is the weakest statement I have heard in my entire life. You are not weak; you are just afraid to fail because of the fear that you will be mocked, and no one will respect you as a footballer," said Jamal as he walked away. William felt as if someone had stuck a knife in his heart. He wanted to scream, curse, and cry, but the tears did not seem to flow out of his eyes. William walked away from the crowd disappointed and dejected as the morning sports session drew to an end. He returned to his classroom and sat quietly as the history teacher narrated the history of computers, but William's mind was still haunted by what Jamal had said. He thought he would never achieve in football like his football idol, Zinedine Zidane.
William's reverie was interrupted as the bell rang, and he walked away from the desk to get his gear bag and head to the football pitch. William arrived at the football pitch where his coach, Tuchel, waited for him. He walked to his coach and greeted him. Tuchel cleared his throat and looked at William with a questioning look on his face. "Your face looks as if you have lost your love, William. What happened to you?" asked Tuchel.
William told his coach what had happened at the sports day. The coach was not surprised by what Jamal had said. Instead, he stood and blew the whistle to get William's attention. "Come over to the pitch and start your warm-up," said Tuchel. William was surprised by the remark that his coach made but did not question it. He stood and walked to the middle of the pitch to start his warm-up session as directed. William did not perform any of the skills he had been practicing on the previous days. Instead, everything he did looked like a mess to his coach. Tuchel watched him for a while before deciding to stop the warm-up session. "You are absolutely right, William. We have to train your mind today rather than your body," said Tuchel as he stood behind his player. "No matter how harsh the insults of the opponents and the fans are, you have to understand that they want to discourage you from reaching the top. Your focus should be on proving them wrong, instead of thinking how bad the insults are. You have to train your mind to become like steel since only then will your game be powerful and your skills shine. Now, bring your attention back to the game and ignore all the insults you receive from anyone. Remember always that you are a winner, and you want to win at all costs. You are on your way to greatness, and you will soon become the Zinedine Zidane of the football world!" William stood amazed by the words of his coach as his mind wandered back to when the insults of his teammate, Jamal, had deeply hurt him. He did not know what had happened, but everything suddenly changed, and William thought it was the best thing that could have happened to him. He took a deep breath and pushed away the image of Jamal. William had regained his focus as his body automatically responded by doing a wonderful performance that caught the coach's attention and also managed to do some legendary moves he had learned the previous day, and Tuchel was left delighted by his young player's display. As the sun set on the football ground, the training became slow and William's body relaxed. He was tired, but the misery and depression had totally vanished from his body. "The Blackpool trial is in four days, and we still have a lot to do if you want to be successful," said Coach Tuchel as he concluded the day's session. "Go home and let your body rest, and I will see you tomorrow." William left the football ground with a smile on his face. He had learned an incredible lesson that would stay with him forever, and he had a clear vision of what he had to do in the days to come. The road to Blackpool FC was indeed lined with thorns, but he would get there using the power of his body and mind.