When I came to know that Wattpad provides platform for writers, I decided to publish this story. Hope you will enjoy the story. Will appreciate your comments and suggestions. :-)
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At the end of the season, we were declared the best. Our soccer team, Shadows had won the Eagles in a league match after almost a decade. Their downfall this season had been marked by an unexpected loss in the second leg, that too with the two teams that were ultimately relegated. In the first leg match, however they had thrashed us with score of 4-0, leaving us shamefaced in front of our home supporters. It was also humiliating because we were behind them by seven points before the match. We were losing our confidence and concentration, when the Coach introduced his new assistant at the mid-season camp. He encouraged and helped us regain fitness and form. With the help of his inspiration, we won the Shadows in the final match of the league to claim the title.
That evening, everyone was celebrating. The Coach had thrown a party to celebrate the first league title in his career of eight years with the Shadows. The party had gone wild. Champagnes and beers flowed. Everyone was talking, laughing singing and dancing. Before the beginning of the party, I, as the captain of the team had been made to make a victory speech. I was not prepared and was not sure what to say but went up the temporary dais, made out ofsome wooden boxes, and delivered a speech, "I'm pleased that we won the Eagles. It's a dream come true. I had always wanted this glory since I was made the captain. Ten years back, when we had defeated them, I was the goal scorer and my captain had praised me. Today, I'm the captain and I'm honored to thank Matthew. Matt, your goal was amazing," I pointed at Matthew, who grinned. I continued, "Thanks Shaun, for all the saves you made this season. The Eagles might have been the best for long but this year, we have proved that we are even better than the best."
I was lost in emotions but I noticed Ricardo, the Coach's Assistant, was nowhere in the party. After he had come to the team, not only we had felt determined, the league had started to become exciting. None of the matches was predictable. The Eagles were expected to win every match but they had lost two with the teams that were ultimately relegated. Some of their matches in second leg were drawn. In the end, our points leveled and then we got chance to beat them and we did it.
After my speech, Coach spent most of the time talking about Ricardo and praised him for the success he gave to the team. But the 'man of celebration' had not yet joined the party. "Where is he?" I asked Shaun in a wishper.
"Well, he never went to the ground during the match. He said he did not like the noise. He used to watch matches in the TV," Shaun replied.
"What do you mean to say?"
"I mean, when he saw that we had won the match, he called Coach and said that he was leaving."
I felt hurt. I was the captain, I had to know the affairs in my team before some random player. So, I said, "How do you know that?"
"I had seen Coach talking to someone on the phone. I asked him," he said. "He had told me to keep it a secret. But you know how bad I am in doing so."
I thought I had to talk to Coach on the matter, after the end of his speech. But he had announced the commencement of the party and everyone had gone wild. Sometime later, they made me join and I forgot to notice where Coach was. When I searched for him in a while, he had already left.
The night of celebration was over. I woke up in my home after a long sleep and hastily went in front of the TV. I wanted to see the news on victory of our team. I saw that the news was on our team but not the victory. I saw Ricardo being nagged. The crowd was going mad; people were throwing bottles and cans over Ricardo. He looked sad and lost. I didn't understand what to do. As I tried to ring the coach, I heard from the news reader:
The MOST WANTED match fixer; Ricardo has been arrested for fixing matches for the Shadows. He, who had been searched by the INTERPOL for five years, was arrested on the basis of suicide letter written by Danny, the captain of the Eagles. Hugh, the Shadow's coach has also been suspected to have played role in the fixings. He too had been arrested in his residence. If the charges are confirmed, the Shadows may be prohibited to play any match in any tournament for at least five years...
I couldn't listen anything else. The day before we had been named the best. And our players had been termed as better than the best. However, since that day, we had become the greatest losers of all time and the “hero of the celebration” had ended up our careers with a shame.
