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The Final Shot
I step up to take the penalty kick, millions gaze upon me. World cup finals with one last shot. The situation is quite simple, I score, we win. That's all I have to do. “No pressure”, I am told by my teammate. All my life i've waited for this moment, this exact moment. But now that it's really here I'm terrified down to my bones. As confidence washes over my consciousness, I start my approach on the ball. Big step, big step, stutter step, stutter step, I plant my left foot and whamm! I hear the most satisfying noise on the planet as my foot hits the ball.
“A flawless strike from the youngster!”, I hear the announcer say over the loudspeaker. The crowd is on their feet, cheering. Then, as I turn around to face my team, I hear another noise. But this time, it is an unpleasant noise. The loud clang of the ball against the goalpost fills the air. I cringe as I fall to the turf.
I wake up very late the next morning. I'm a little dazed and quite frankly confused for I had the strangest nightmare the night before. I eat my toast and orange juice in silence. I hear a knock on the door but I already know who it is. It's the paperboy, who is always on time.
“Here you go Mr Garry”, says little Timothy. I thank him and return to the house. As I set the paper on the table, my heart skips a beat. I stand there reading the headline over and over again for at least ten minutes. “Garry Let's Entire U.S. Soccer Down”. My head starts to spin and I remember everything now. Everything I thought was a dream, is actually real life and my worst nightmare has been confirmed. The pressure finally caught up with me.
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I am an avid soccer player from Colorado. I play at an extremely competetive level, and lots of times I feel a heavy burden on my back because of this. I constantly have to perform at my highest ability and often times that pressure is too much for me. My inspiration for this story is I just want people to get a small taste of what it is like to have tons of pressure on you because it certainlt isnt easy. Hope you enjoy :)