Soccer/Football Imagines (Part 2)

Sergio Agüero [~] Pressure

Sergio Agüero

For _CTE_Rayan_CTE:

Being the daughter of one the greats of the history of football was hard. Being a footballer yourself, having lived in and having to continue to live in the shadow of your famous father, was hard. Dealing with the incessant criticism of just about every asshole out there that had to input their opinion on your performance into the papers or online was hard. Loving Sergio Agüero, however, was not hard in the slightest for you.

Your father, the famous Maradona, wasn't necessarily fully supportive of your relationship with Sergio, not that you really cared what your father said about him. Argentina's past issues with winning trophies and such played a varying degree of importance in your husband's relationship with your father. You knew your father was partially just over protective over you after you became his pride and joy by following in his footsteps and taking the world by storm in the world of football.

While you tried to get the Argentina women's team off the ground, your husband was busy trying to get the Argentina men's team to the absolute top. The two of you worked well together, given the similarities of your situations and your love of Argentina, and everyone referred to you two as the power couple of the world of football. Your son Benjamin was also following in your, Sergio's, his godfather's, and your father's footsteps as he started to play for several youth teams.

You worried that the pressure would get to him and affect his relationship with anyone in your combined families that had any prowess in the world of football. You knew what it felt like to grow up with everyone always comparing you to your father but you couldn't imagine how much criticism your little Benjamin would receive for his bloodline and associations. You voiced these concerns to Sergio and your father but both brushed them off, saying that Ben was a tough kid and wouldn't crack under such pressures. You weren't convinced and always reaffirmed to Ben that he didn't need to live up to anyone's standards, only his own.

Your fears were fully realized by the time your son had turned seventeen. He was a teenager now, and had made his way to the top of the Manchester City Youth Academy ranks. To no one's surprise, Ben's skills on the ball were superb compared to what other kids his age were able to accomplish and he was given a few chances at the senior level at his young age as well. He was quick, patient, and observant on the field and the Manchester City coaches felt that he deserved a chance at the senior level for a few games. You and Sergio attended the two matches he was set to play in as a sub, the both of you excited for his debut.

During his first match, he only entered the pitch with ten minutes remaining and walked off having only touched the ball a few times. His second match, however, he entered the pitch at half time and was involved in the plays. You cheered as your son made his way down the field, the ball at his feet. He passed to one of his teammates, who quickly gave the ball back as defenders swarmed.

Ben tapped the ball through the legs of one of the centerbacks before sprinting towards the goal. Chipping the ball over the keeper's head, you cheered as Ben scored his first goal at a senior level. The Manchester City guys piled on him as they celebrated. You and Sergio stood up and cheered loudly as your son ran by you. Your son quickly caught the attention of other top clubs and offers immediately came flying in from clubs big and small for long term or loan deals.

Ben seemed a little taken aback at such hype that surrounded him now at first but maintained that he wanted to stay at Manchester City for another year. Of course, such a statement caused criticism to rain down on your son and you immediately protected him from the media as best you could but you knew the comments dished out at him were starting to get under Ben's skin.

One day, after he returned from practice, you could sense something was off with him. Sergio was setting up the dining room as you prepared dinner. Seeing your son, you smiled at him until you saw the scowl on his face. "What's wrong, Ben?" you asked.

"I'm so tired of everyone comparing me to Papa and Abuelo!" he shouted, causing his father to enter the room.

"Ben, you know you don't have to--"

"—Live up to their statistics, I know," Ben sighed. Sergio placed a hand on Ben's shoulder. The two were about the same height but Ben was around two inches taller.

"Ben, what's all of this about?" he questioned.

"You should know, you're the one that keeps pushing these standards on me! Oh Ben, you should have taken that shot. Oh Ben, you should have passed the ball to this teammate instead of that teammate. Oh Ben, you should have been just like me!" Ben shouted at his father, shocking both you and Sergio.

"Ben," you said softly. "Your father means well." Ben ignored you.

"I'm never good enough for you, aren't I?" Ben snarled at his father. "Let's all face it, I'm not as good as you were or Abuelo was and I'll never be that either! I get that now!" Turning towards the stairs, Ben walked away before turning back to your husband. "Don't bother ever coming to another match. I HATE YOU!" Ben shouted before running upstairs.

"Ben!" you shouted, seeing Sergio's broken expression. The door slamming was your only response. Turning to your husband, you saw his sad expression and mirrored it. "Sergio, he's just mad."

"Do I really put that much pressure on him?" Sergio asked. "I never wanted to do that to him, I just wanted him to get better than I was," he sighed.

"We just need to talk this out, as a family," you stated firmly, dragging your husband to your son's room. Opening the door, you pulled Sergio into the room with you. "Look, the both of you, I love you, but you're both idiots. Sergio, you need to stop comparing what you did to what Ben's doing, you're just adding additional pressure to him that he doesn't need. And you, Ben, you don't go around shouting when you're mad. No matter what you do, your father and I will be proud of you. We don't care how you play because you're still our little boy and we'll love you for who you are no matter what," you told the two most important boys in your life.

Silence settled in until Ben sighed. "I'm sorry I said I hated you, Papa, I was just mad."

"No, I understand. I'm sorry I put pressure on you. I just wanted you to achieve all I couldn't in my career," Sergio sighed. Seeing as neither your husband nor your son would make the first move, you dragged the both of them to yourself and pulled them into a hug. Enjoying in the group hug, your family relationships were repaired and life was looking better by the second. Especially when your Benjamin beat all the records of his father, grandfather, and even some of his godfather's, and effectively shutting up the critics that had annoyed him before.