Jake Rivers is an England International Midfielder and Manchester United Youth product. He's the life and soul of the party, with buckets of talent. But he's hiding a secret to the rest of the World.
One he thought he was comfortable hiding, until h...
Jake sat nervously in the changing rooms. It was 2 hours til kick off but he already had his boots on, just sat there with his headphones in. He knew his family were sat out in the Polish evening, waiting to watch the biggest night of his career so far. And he desperately didn't want to let them down. He desperately didn't want to let his father down. The clock slowly ticked down til it was time to warm up. Once his studs hit the grass, he was in the zone.
May 26th - Porto, Portugal
Mase paced the room he was sharing with Chilly.
"Mate, you have to chill out. All this nervous energy is wasted energy and we have to be at our peak in 3 days time." Ben pointed out.
"Thanks for the reminder, chilly. I just want him to smash it, then I'm 110% focused on us."
"This is going to be a totally unenjoyable 90 minutes." Ben sighed, as Mason threw a pillow at him.
May 26th - Gdańsk, Poland
The teams were in the tunnel, and Jake's nerves were gone. It was showtime and he was determined to get his team over the line, come hell or high water. There was no other option.
The whistle went and the action was immediate with Jake threading the ball through to Marcus, who hit the bar. Villarreal came straight back at the Reds, eventually scoring in the 29th minute. Ole had rallied them at half time and out they went in search of an equaliser. And it wasn't long before they found one. Edison Cavani connecting with a cross from Luke Shaw, and suddenly it was 1-1.
The rest of the game ebbed and flowed, Jake had controlled the middle of the park but United had struggled connecting in the final third. It felt like before they knew it, extra time was gone and Ole was asking for penalty takers. Marcus was in the first 5, along with Cavani, Juan Mata, Fernandes and Dan James. All converted them and it was 5-5. Sudden death. Jake knew he was penalty 9. He'd ran further than any other player on the night and his legs were screaming, so he'd taken a slot down the order. Surely it wouldn't come to him. Villarreal were taking penalties first, so each time they converted, the pressure was really on the United taker. Penalties 6,7 and 8 were taken and scored and the tally was at 8-8. It was Jake's turn. But first Villarreal's Pau Torres had to take his spot kick. It hit the bar! Suddenly, Jake scoring would win them the game. His heart was out of his chest. "Stick to the plan, top right." he repeated to himself, on the walk to the spot. Time slowed down in his mind and he put the ball down, walked back and ran towards the ball. As it left his foot, he could see the keeper was going the right way. But nothing was stopping the bullet of a shot, as it bulged out the net in the top corner. They'd done it. Jake had done it.
May 26th - Porto, Portugal
"YEEEEAAAAAHHHHHHH, get in" Mase screamed.
"If people only knew you were cheering this hard for Man United..." Chilly smirked.
"Shut up Chilly, you know I'm just cheering for him" Ben just smiled back.
Mason turned back towards the TV, watching scenes of the guy he loved having the time of his life. Replays flashed back to his winning penalty, how he ran to the corner flag, eyes and hands aloft to the sky, before being swamped by red shirts. A lump formed in Mase's throat. "The boy did good" he thought to himself.
May 26th - Gdańsk, Poland
Jake found his mum, brother and sisters in the crowd. He hopped over the advertising boards and joined them in the crowd. George jumped on him immediately, "We fucking did it!" Niamh was beaming and congratulated him. It was clear Molly had been crying, so she just wrapped her arms around her brother, as he pulled her tight.
Then he got to his Mum, who's smile was the widest. She threw her arms around Jake. "I'm just so proud, love." Jake shoved his face into her shoulder as he let all his emotions out. Jane just held him as he did. "He's totally here tonight, I can feel him." Jane said, in a whisper to him. "We all know he wouldn't miss it for the world. So don't cry because he's not here, because we both know he's bursting with pride right now." Jake wiped his tears and kissed his mum on the cheek. "I love you, mum."
As he rejoined the pitch, the celebrations were still in full swing. Marcus grabbed him by the waist, as Dean tackled them both from the front. "We fucking did it, boys" Dean shouted.
"Love you both." Marcus smiled.
"Three musketeers always." Jake grinned.
Dean added, "Three Europa League winning musketeers."
***
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deanhenderson: what. a. night. I love you, Gdańsk liked by jakerivers6, fikayotomori and tammyabraham
manchesterunited: 🔴🔴🔴 england: congratulations Dean! madders: yes the boysssss
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marcusrashford: europa league champions 🏆 liked by niamhriversss, deanhenderson and solanke
jakerivers6: we areeeee the champiiiiions my friend england: congratulations marcus! stormzy: 👊🏿👊🏿👊🏿
