JoblessQuill

[WSA 2025 Entry]

Growing up in poverty in the slums of Mushin, Nigeria, life was far from perfect for fourteen-year-old Jesse Jackson.

Through the dark times, however, football was his one and only solace, comfort, and happiness — even despite his mother's obvious aversion to his love of the beautiful game.

In spite of life's struggles, Jesse's dream was to join a football academy and to one day become a professional footballer.

But in his pursuit of a career in football, a whole new world opened up to him, leading him to meet new friends, experience love and adventure, and uncover certain mysteries...

It's Called Football Not Soccer!

So far, the red team's confidence had only grown as the game went on, and with the leery display from the blue team galvanizing them to searching for a second goal, something had to change. Else, they would go on to lose the match.

Reflecting on how the game had gone thus far, the blue team had two major problems:

Their abysmal finishing up front, and their shaky defending at the back.

Sure, once the red team had begun mounting pressure on the attack, the blue team eventually cracked. But that was just normal.

There was no defense that could consistently absorb pressure without making mistakes, not even professional teams at the highest level of football and with all the money and resources to get and train the best defenders available on the market.

If there was, there would be teams going the entire season without conceding goals, after all.

Chapter 21