Intergalactic Youth Cup – Qualifier Match 3
Atletico Solar Academy vs. Lunar Titans
Venue: Titan Core Stadium (Neutral Ground)
They beat us last time. Badly.
Even before kickoff, you could taste the memory of that friendly — the weight of it soaked into our shirts, stitched into our boots.
Navarro didn't talk tactics in the locker room. He talked fire.
> "We've never beaten them? Good. Let today be the day we stop flinching at shadows."
I tied my laces tight. This was personal.
---
The Lunar Titans walked in with their usual swagger. Clean white kits, smug glances, and a striker who'd scored five in two games. Their captain, Drex, winked at Kenji like we were a warm-up.
We didn't respond. We didn't need to.
---
Kickoff.
The Titans pressed hard and early. Riku got body-checked in the second minute. Kenji returned the favor in the fifth. The referee let it flow.
By the tenth minute, we found our rhythm. I dropped deeper, baited pressure, played Musa in behind — he clipped the post.
The Titans responded with two quick counters, one requiring a flying save from Martez.
Then, in the 19th minute, it happened.
I drifted between their lines, received from Soren on the half-turn, and spotted Kai slicing in off the wing. One step. One pass.
Kai didn't need to think. He buried it.
1–0.
The stadium fell into stunned silence, except for the traveling Solar fans erupting behind the corner flag.
For the first time against the Titans… we led.
---
But Drex… he wasn't rattled.
Right before halftime, he powered through a crowded box, shook off Kenji, and curled one into the far post.
1–1.
Halftime.
"You're not done," Navarro told me. "You've got one more spark in you."
I nodded. But I felt something in my left ankle — a tightness, a whisper of something not right.
Still, I went out.
And in the 56th minute, I exploded.
Soren broke their press with a brilliant ball. I ran off the shoulder, took it in stride, feinted the keeper, and slotted it.
2–1.
But when I landed…
The pain screamed and I collapsed.
Navarro was on the pitch before the whistle. Elira ran beside him, tablet clutched, already checking replay data.
They carried me off and from the bench...
I watched the rest of the game.
---
Without me, we dropped deeper. Held strong. But in the 82nd minute, Drex got one more moment. A looping header that glanced off Olawale's shoulder and floated past Martez.
2–2.
We didn't win.
But we didn't lose.
And for the first time ever… we didn't lose to them.
---
Final whistle.
We limped off the pitch. Navarro pulled me aside.
"You scored. You assisted. You made them bleed."
I clenched my jaw. "But we didn't win."
> "No. But history changed."
Elira sat beside me as they iced my ankle.
"You were brilliant," she said.
I didn't reply.
But I watched the Titans walk away — less smug. Less sure.
Yeah… we broke the pattern.
---
Group B – Final Standings
1st — Lunar Titans
2nd — Atletico Solar
3rd Mars — United Youth
4th Vix — Asteroid Academy
Top Two Teams Qualify for the Intergalactic Youth Cup Main Tournament.
This was more than qualification — the IYC was where futures were made. Where scouts watched, contracts were signed, and dreams turned pro.
For me, this was the moment...
Everything could change.
---
To be continued...