Craven Cottage was again silenced, then the comntator raved.
"What a brilliant goal!" The comntator scread loudly. "Damn, to execute that when the ga is already over for your team".
"Damn! This boy is brilliant!"
"Mamba ntality at its finest!"
"Sam is the Kobe Bryant of football, go argue with your keyboard!"
"Fulham may definitely lose this ga but Sam did not lose, he can end this ga with his head held high in pride, what a player!"
Craven Cottage was silenced not because of the goal, not because of the fact that it didn't an much to the overall goal of Fulham as a team since they were still losing 2-3, but simply because of the ntality of their player to execute it.
At 90 plus 4 minutes, they could tell that all their players already gave up in getting a result from this ga since they still trailed 1-3 to Aston Villa.
Heck, even the fans themselves already gave up.
But even in this adversity, to still have the presence of mind, willingness, and drive to go for a goal, the fans were astonished at Sam's ntality.
And then the chants broke out again.
"Sam!" "Sam!" "Sam!"
This was supposed to be a heartbreaking loss for Fulham, having broken their unbeaten streak finally but Sam's performance today felt like a win to the fans.
Sam didn't celebrate his goal, simply pumping a fist to briefly acknowledge the fans before going back upfield to continue the ga.
When the referee's whistle sounded, the ga only continued for 2 more minutes that were pretty uneventful as Aston Villa resorted to ti-wasting till the referee's whistle eventually sounded again for fullti.
Fulham lost 2-3 to Aston Villa.
Officially, they recorded their first defeat of the 2024/2025 season.
And incredibly, despite being on the losing side this ga, Sam won another consecutive man of the match award due to his heroics this ga, not only his sheer work rate but his tangible result with a goal and an assist.
When Sam faced the reporters for the post-match interview and he was asked questions, he had only a simple reply for the reporters.
"We will bounce back".
He didn't say more than that, walking out on them for the first ti in his career since he didn't feel in a mood to answer questions.
After the ga, Coach Marco Silva could not even bring himself to criticize his players, especially Sam. The coach simply patted him on the back, acknowledging his effort in the ga.
Before leaving, he looked at his players. "This is a wakeup call for us. We already lost once; do you feel good about it?"
"No coach".
"Do you want to feel this way again?"
"No coach".
"Then work!" This coach's eyes narrowed. "Work your asses off, work like your life depends on it, train! That is the only way to bounce back".
"That is the only way to start winning and keep on winning".
When Sam got back ho to his apartnt, as soon as he had his bath and laid down on his bed, he got a voice call from a familiar contact.
(Incoming voice call from My Heartbeat…)
Looking at the call contact, he smiled instinctively, already feeling his stress and frustration of today's ga partially gone.
He picked up his phone with a big smile. "Hey…"
…
Fulham's next ga was another premier league ga and it was in 6 days against Everton.
(Premier league:)
(Everton – Fulham)
(Date: 26th October, 2024)
Their defeat in the ga against Aston Villa affected the full team, but Sam's defiant performance till the last minute affected them even more.
The team was in a state of uncertainty and sensing it, Cairney, the Fulham captain finally decided to do sothing since he felt partly responsible for it as the captain. Cairney decided to invite all his teammates for a small dinner party.
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Sam was not used to going to dinner parties, but this ti, for the team, he decided to go with his friend, Emile Smith Rowe.
Both of them got dressed in a neat black suit.
In the dinner party, apart from feasting on the delicious al that Cairney's chefs prepared, the players also got themselves entertained by engaging in a few gas, question and answer sessions, and truth or dare sessions.
Of course, even in the gas, Sam remained the center of attention.
"Who is the most dedicated player in the club?"
"Sam!" His teammates roared, leaving Sam chuckling as he enjoyed himself.
"Who is the most punctual?"
"Sam!!!" They roared in an incredibly loud voice.
"Who is the most aggressive on the pitch?"
"Bassey, that bastard!"
They laughed.
"Who is the best defender?"
"Bassey!"
"Diop!"
"Castagne!"
"Ok, let's do a poll and see who wins".
After the poll, Diop won over Calvin Bassey by a very tiny margin.
"Who is the best midfielder?"
"Sammmm!!!" They roared again.
"The best striker?"
"Ahem," Cairney coughed, stealing a glance at the 2 main strikers of the team. "I think, let's do a poll".
If it was up to him, he wanted them to skip this phase of the question and answer ga session entirely but his teammates would clearly not buy that.
In the end, after a quick poll, despite the fact that Muniz was the more regular starter this season, Raul Jinez won the poll by a tiny margin.
"Who is the strongest player?"
"Bassey!" They echoed.
"Who is the fastest player?"
"Traore, that monster!" They laughed.
"Who always does too much in training?"
"Sam!"
Sam had to protest this one. "Co on guys, really? Do I do too much in training?"
"Yes!" They laughed. "You bastard, you always play like it's a real ga in training, humiliating n grown enough to be your father, you insolent bastard!"
Sam laughed. "Well, it's not my fault if my father is not as good as ".
They all burst into laughter, pointing fingers at Cairney.
In the end, it was a good ti out between teammates of a club currently hot in England.
After the defeat against Aston Villa, Fulham was out of the top of the premier league table but they didn't pay attention to it as feeling even more motivated and united, they focused on the Everton ga.
"Let's show them hell!"
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