Rise of a Football God-Chapter 423: The flow state [1]
The flow state… what does it mean?
The flow state, also known as being in the zone is a mental state of deep absorption and focus in an activity.
It's an experience where time seems to disappear, self-consciousness fades, and you are completely engaged in what you're doing.
It is characterized by intense focus, loss of self-consciousness, altered time perception, intrinsic motivation, balance of challenge and skill, and a pervading feeling of control, domination.
Sam's blood was already boiling since, he was filled with adrenaline since, well, since the start of this game.
And yet, he didn't enter the flow state till he witnessed it.
BOOM!
The Spotify Camp Nou erupted.
"KEVIN DE BRUYNEEEEE!!!" The commentator screamed shrilly.
"THE BELGIAN MAESTRO!"
"THE MANCHESTER KING HAS STRUCK!"
"The best players show up in the biggest stages, and peel your eyes gentlemen, because Kevin De Bruyne has arrived!"
Witnessing Kevin De Bruyne carry the ball on that run, watching him score the goal, watching his home stadium erupt like a coliseum of madness, hearing the commentators wax lyrical about the goal, that became the catalyst that pushed Sam into a realm of altered time perception.
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And unlike before, it was not off and on, it lingered.
Kevin De Bruyne scored in the 44th minute of the game, making it 1-1 in this game and 2-3 in aggregate score, giving Man City the lead again.
There was no more time to do anything.
The referee added just 2 minutes of additional time and it was over in a jiffy.
In no time, they players were walking to the tunnel, exhausted due to the sheer intensity of this first half.
And yet, even as he was sweating like a Bull for labor, his heart beating fast, his lungs burning, Sam was still in the zone state.
Throughout Hansi Flick's halftime speech, he didn't listen.
Heck, he didn't even hear anything that the coach said.
Sam was absentminded; all his focus and attention was left back on the pitch, analyzing the team, both his team and the opposition team, analyzing the movements of the players in the first half, their preferences, their positioning.
At this moment, Sam's brain moved like a supercomputer.
And in no time, they were going back to the pitch again.
FWEEEE!
The referee's whistle sounded, the signal to continue the game.
Bam!
Manchester City started kickoff.
It took some time for Barca to win back possession and once they did, high up in the field, Sam called for the ball.
It was an irrational move.
The 2 Man City defenders shadowed him for every move he made, everywhere he went. He was sandwiched but despite all that, Sam called for the ball, and Pedri didn't keep him waiting.
Bam!
As soon as Pedri passed the ball, Sam moved, shoving the hefty Ruben Dias aside with strength that Sam never knew he had inside of him.
With the tip of his boot, he executed a delicate touch of the ball and as John Stones charged in, he nutmegged the Englishman.
Manuel Akanji was already rushing in and with a la croqueta, Sam deleted him too before setting himself up and unleashing an accurate shot at goal.
He didn't even have to look at goal, but the shot was ruthlessly accurate, directed towards the bottom left corner.
Ederson Moraes was on top of his game though.
The Manchester City goalkeeper dived, saving the lethal shot at the right moment.
And that… was just the prelude.
From the first minute of the second half, Sam became a menace, an extraterrestrial being with limitless potential.
Every move he made, every touch he took bordered on perfection.
He was shadowed for every move he made, and yet, they could not take the ball off him. The ball seemed to be glued to his feet.
He dribbled like a wizard, weaved in and out like a slippery eel, cut like a knife, hit like a truck.
Sam was everywhere.
And yet, the defiant Man City defenders stubbornly held, playing at an elite level to keep the machine-made striker at bay.
They were struggling, barely hanging on, even bleeding as Ruben Dias hit his nose against the ground at some point after being dribbled past by the electric Sam.
And yet, by blood and sweat, they were handing on, defending like their lives depended on it.
But even as they did all that, they were not perfect.
After a dozen minutes and some more minutes since the second half started, they finally made a mistake, Manuel Akanji tripping Sam just outside the Manchester City 18-yard box.
FWEEEE!
The referee pointed to the spot; it was a freekick.
With grim determination, Ruben Dias coordinated with his goalkeeper, barking orders to set a perfect wall of players to defend the freekick.
And once again, it was an almost perfect wall.
But when Sam looked at the wall of players, and then the goal, he didn't see players at all. All he saw were digits and numbers.
His brain was now a computer, operating in 0s and 1s.
The angle of elevation, the angle of depression, mass times acceleration equals force, the air resistance, wind resistance…, all the calculations filled Sam's head in an instant as the wall was being arranged.
An average human being would have collapsed due to the surge of information, but in the flow state, Sam took it all calmly, and then…
FWEEEE!
Receiving the signal, he took a deep breath, leaned backward slightly, and jogged towards the ball.
1 step, 2 step, 3 step, 4 step, then…
BAM!
As soon as the ball was hit, all eyes followed it, time seemingly slowing down.
Ederson reacted, diving after the ball as it managed to curl beyond the reach of the almost perfect wall of players, rushing towards the net with speed.
The Brazilian goalkeeper dived, putting his all in the jump and yet, it was not enough.
The power behind the shot was too much, the curve was too much, the angle was too acute.
Whoosh!
The ball flew past, and then the net shook.
Silence.
Then…
BOOM!
All hell broke loose!
