It all came down to this, the last penalty of the Tournament. A standoff between the goalkeeper and the shooter. The crowd gets quiet as if they cease to exist; they focus on the image of the ball and the tall keeper and try to hypothesize the outcome. The lights made a loud shutter sound as they scoped in on the Shooter and the Keeper. Walking to his line, the keeper breathed in and out slowly trying to stay calm. What lay before him was the ball almost staring him down, the ball that could decide if he achieves his dreams or not.

     There is a small intermission before the final kick, and the players stay in their exact spots. Both teams are aligned side by side panting like a dog to see what is going to happen. The keeper grasps his gloves strapping them on at a slow pace, feeling like he was energized enough for this penalty. He got in position on his line; Knees bent, arms raised feeling more ready than ever but nervous at the same time.
    The shooter on the other hand is shaking his hands and doesn’t look to be feeling alright.  Even with his worn out attitude he ties his shoes and takes four steps backwards and two steps to the left. His team is staring him down looking at his foot to make sure he’s shooting right. He runs up from the side of the ball and hits it hard with the inside of his foot. The ball curves like a 3D globe. At the same time the keeper spreads his hand out like an octopus arm and dives to the ball. Both teams close their eyes refusing to look at the outcome.
    “Smack” the stadium hears as the keeper makes contact with the ball and knocks it out. The stadium uproars in a fury of joy waving their flags and clapping their hands. The team whose eyes were closed suddenly open as they all scatter to that keeper including the ball boy, coach, and the other team to congratulate him. They nearly crush him from tackling him so roughly. The referee presents the trophy to the team and hand it to the goalkeeper to raise it up as a token of their victory. The crowd cheers and starts to clear out of the stadium.
    A few months later the keeper gets a letter in his mailbox from a top of the line soccer club. Asking him to join them for their next practice. Feeling very intrigued he accepts the offer and hopes to become more than he ever was.