Harbinger Of Glory

That even got the crowd rowdy, but they knew they needed to focus their energy elsewhere.

Leo knew it too, and so when Tiehi got the ball, he stepped past Fletcher, who was close to the centre half and called for the ball.

Immediately, like instinct, Tiehi let the ball fly.

He was immediately swarmed, but Leo chested the ball before doing enough to flick it past the crowd.

”He’s away now, is it Wigan’s?” the commentary roared as Leo kept the ball under his feet before glancing down and in the next second, he could see it.

Space!

Almost like he had a ruler attached to his feet, Leo lined the ball on his right before sending it through the air despite the pain.

The Swansea players crashed into him as the ball moved.

For a heartbeat, it looked destined to drift towards the feet of the centre back, but then it bent back in, falling right into his teammate’s stride as if the air itself had been persuaded to change course.

”Oh, lovely ball from Leo hes-” the commentary tried to describe, but it was futile because Swansea’s Wood slid in like a harpoon, causing Ezra, who was all smiles, to suddenly jump out of the way because it might have been his shin snapping should he have stayed there.

It looked like the referee might blow his whistle any moment, but then Leo stepped out of the hands, grabbed onto him and met the loose ball before flicking it ahead.

”Space,” he muttered like a dazed astronaut before taking off on the grass.

”Leo’s gone past one now,” the commentary rose, as Leo slipped the ball through the legs of a hastily done tackle.

He could see it, the final third!

He kept on, but it was only him now.

Harry Darling, who had stayed with him, tried to ship his hands across Leo, but the latter flicked the ball to his right before cutting it back through his own legs with his right leg and then taking the space on the inside.

He could see the light now; it was bright, it was glorious, it was the net, but then it turned green!

FWEEEEEEEEEEEE!

”Heeeey! What the f**!”*

”Ref! Ref! Ref! That’s a pen! Are you blind?!”

A wave of fans threw their arms up, palms open, pointing furiously at the pitch while others clutch their heads, mouths wide open in disbelief and rocking back in their seats, too stunned to speak.

The sound shifted from the rising cheer of a goal about to happen into a guttural roar of outrage, boos, whistles, and chants crashing together.

”Oooh, that’s cynical. Harry Darling might have just ruined a season and made himself the enemy of a very passionate fanbase!”

Leo stayed on the ground, a tear almost forming in his eyes, while Harry Darling, immediately after rising to his feet, began to turn towards the touchlines because he was off and he knew it.

”Come on, mate,” Ezra said while stepping over Leo before extending his arm, but from the ground, Leo could see the tears that had already begun falling from the eyes of his friend.

”Wigan have a freekick, but it’s not the same as a goal, is it?” the commentator said wryly because the situation, which was looking up, had now turned grim!

Leo finally got to his feet while the referee arranged the wall for the opposing team.

It was now 10 men for both teams, but with stoppage time already over and some still counting, it was done.

All Swansea needed to do was clear this, which was most likely, and they would be done.

”Here,” Fletcher said with a sigh as he handed the ball over to Leo.

”It’s still not over,” he said, but his voice suggested that even he found it difficult to believe.

”So, it’s Leo over the free kick now. Wigan haven’t scored a free kick since the start of the season, but maybe that’s not what they will be aiming for, as the clock trickles towards their demise!”

Leo set the ball down before taking a step back, but even after a couple more, he still couldn’t see the net.

The Swansea wall was massive!

But he couldn’t stop now!

He was almost destroying his leg for this, so he couldn’t stop now.

”PASS IT!” he suddenly heard someone calling from the touchline.

When he glanced over, he saw Thompson, the now U21 coach who had handled just Leo when the kid appeared at the academy!

”PASS IT INTO THE NET,” Thompson said again, causing Leo to smile as he wondered when he had gotten there.

”Okay, coach,” Leo muttered while giving the okay sign to Thompson.

”Leo is smiling,” the commentary noted as the referee stepped away from the wall and in the next second, his whistle sounded.

PIIIIIIIIIII!

Leo stepped forward after that, almost like he was walking, but then on his third step, he sped it up, and loomed over the ball, before whipping it on the valve.

”HE’S GONE FOR ITTT!!!!”

The commentary thundered, but it was slow!

The ball was slow, acted slow and moved slow!

Fisher knew, felt and thought he could get to it, but after lunging, he realised that the more he tried to get to the ball, the farther it went away from him, and in the next second, the ball homed into the back of the net, snapping it sharply!

”GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!”

The commentator lost himself completely, voice breaking through the roar on the broadcast!

”LEEOOOOOOOOOOOOO CALDERÓN!!!! HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS?!”

”I HAVE,” the co-commentator answered, ”BUT NOT LIKE THIS!!!”

The sound inside the stadium wasn’t noise anymore.

It was a collapse of emotion.

People were jumping, falling into each other, strangers grabbing shoulders, shirts, faces, just anything they could hold onto just to stay upright as the moment hit them all at once.

On the pitch, Leo didn’t move at first.

Like he wasn’t sure it had actually happened.

Then it hit him.

And he turned.

He ran.

And ran!

Toward the corner.

Toward the noise.

Toward the sea of people who had just poured everything they had into that one strike.

Behind him, his teammates came crashing in.

Fletcher reached him first, grabbing him around the shoulders and almost dragging him to the ground as the rest piled in.

Ezra flew in next, shouting something no one could hear, his voice swallowed by the storm around them.

”THIS IS WHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF!” the commentator roared, words barely keeping pace with the moment. ”LAST DAY OF THE SEASON, LAST KICK OF THE GAME, AND WIGAN HAVE THEIR HERO! FEAST YOUR EYES, WIGAN, THIS IS THE BOY YOU CALLED ONTO. AND HE HAS DELIVERED LIKE THE MAN HE IS!”

”OOOHHHH, They needed something impossible,” the co-commentator added, almost laughing in disbelief, ”and somehow... somehow, they’ve found it!”

In the stands, Sofia had both hands over her mouth.

Mia was screaming, shaking her arm, half crying, half laughing, while beside them, Vittoria just stared at the pitch, eyes wide, and she didn’t even know until a tear fell on her forearm!

”I am happy,” she muttered before looking down and letting the tears flow.

Down on the touchline, Dawson didn’t even realise he had left his area.

He was already running.

Nolan caught him halfway, both of them crashing into each other in a messy, breathless embrace before turning back toward the pitch where their players had disappeared into a white-and-blue swarm.

”THEY’VE DONE IT!” the commentator shouted. ”WIGAN ATHLETIC, WRITTEN OFF, WORN DOWN, STRETCHED TO THEIR LIMITS—AND STILL THEY FIND A WAY! THIS IS FOOTBALL AND FOOTBALL IS THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING!”

Leo finally surfaced from the pile, dragged upright by teammates who refused to let go of him.

His chest was rising and falling like he’d run a marathon.

His leg hurt, but he didn’t care.

On the flip side, the Swansea players lay on the ground, heaving like they had run 10 miles in just those few seconds!

They didn’t know why, but suddenly, they felt like they had lost a final.

Their Coach, Russell Martin, stood on the touchline, licking his lips while watching the celebrations.

After a while, he turned back and walked towards the bench!

”Well, we can say, we tried our best,” he muttered with a small smirk, which evolved into laughter a moment later!

”It’s party here at the DW because the season, for some, might be over, but for Wigan it’s a chance. A way and a path towards the Premier League. It’s beginning to feel like promotion for the Latics, and they deserve it!”

----

Leo didn’t know when he had gotten there, but now, he had microphones posed across the space in front of him, while reporters scrambled to get their questions answered.

”Take your time,” Nolan insisted, but that only got them rowdier.

Finally, after a while, Leo nodded towards one reporter, which got the rest to calm down, giving way for that reporter to ask his question!

”Leo, you might have just done or scored a goal that could be seen, a few years from now, as the goal that got Wigan back to the playoffs and gave them a chance to go back to the Premier League. How are you feeling and what were you thinking in the moment?”

Leo stared at the reporters before smiling slightly.

”We made the playoffs, that’s how I am feeling.”

”As for my thoughts in that moment,” Leo said, pausing a bit as he seemed to stand in thought, ”I was thinking that it couldn’t end like this.”