Rise of a Football God

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(Benfica – Fulham)

(Date: 2nd August, 2024)

Benfica was the first warm-up ahead of the new season for Fulham.

But ahead of the trip to Portugal to visit Benfica at home, while the Fulham squad was yet to be complete, Coach Marco Silva presided over behind closed doors' games against QPR and Watford.

QPR and Watford were not really opponents to gauge the level of his team, but they served as the perfect foils to see the fitness levels of his players.

And it was safe to say that ahead of the trip to Portugal, Marco Silva was highly impressed by the fitness levels of a number of his players, most especially his favorite in recent times, Samuel Moses.

Fulham recorded a 4-0 trashing of QPR before drubbing Watford 6-1.

In both games, Sam impressed in the less than 60 minutes that he played as he chipped in with his fair share of goals and assists.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Sam was not just happy with his performance, he was also glad with the level of his teammates. 'My strategy worked'.

'Most of them are already close to full fitness'.

'The 3 scheduled pre-season games should do it'.

Against Benfica, Coach Marco Silva started with a strong lineup. The Portuguese giants were not scared of the English club though as they played their best football in this friendly game.

For large swaths of the game, it was even as Benfica played amazing football in the presence of their home fans, but they just could not get the end product.

And in what they failed in; Fulham excelled in after second half started.

Sam dominated this game as the stand-out player, torturing the Benfica defense again and again. Despite the departure of big names like Palhinha and De Cordova-Reid, the impact was not being felt.

With Sam in the lineup, it felt like the team never changed.

After trying hard for the first 45 minutes to no avail, in the second half, Sam finally opened Benfica up with a defense-splitting pass for Muniz to run at and poke behind the goalkeeper into the net.

In the 72nd minute, Fulham got the first goal.

And 8 minutes later, in the 80th minute of this game, Sam did it again, this time playing Alex Iwobi in to score the second goal of this game, sealing Benfica's defeat. It was a good warm-up game.

At the end of the game, Sam approached a certain player with a shy look of excitement on his face, asking for his jersey.

He approached the Argentine winger now plying his trade for Benfica, the legendary Angel Di Maria.

Sam felt a bit bad as Di Maria did not recognize him, but his feelings were abated when the Argentine winger obliged to swap jerseys with him. Di Maria also expressed his feelings that he played a great game.

Well, that was enough to bring out Sam's fanboy side.

Afterall, this was a legend of football that he had admired for a long time. The 2022 World Cup final performance alone was enough to turn him into the biggest fanboy, but beyond that, Di Maria was a legend of the game.

Sam's face turned as red as a potato. 'H-h-he complimented me?!'

In the end, Di Maria patted him on the back before leaving.

Sam clutched this jersey tightly. 'Another legendary piece to my collection'.

His eyes gleamed excitedly. 'It's became really big now. Kevin De Bruyne, Cole Palmer, now Angel Di Maria,' he grinned. 'Hehe, now all I need is Messi'.

After Sam's performance against Benfica, excited Fulham fans flooded social media, speculating about the likely midfield partnership that would be struck between Emile Smith Rowe and Sam.

"The premier league is not ready for this partnership yet!" They boasted.

Well, in Fulham's next pre-season game against Sevilla on 5th August, excited Fulham fans finally got to see the partnership that they yearned for.

In this game, the new signing got to showcase his talent as he combined with Sam to perfection, scoring a neat goal from an even neater pass from Sam.

Later in the game, Smith Rowe returned the favor, setting Sam up to score an absolute rocket, finally opening his scoring account in the pre-season friendlies.

The game ended in a 2-2 draw between Fulham and Sevilla.

One thing that became apparent from these 2 games was the level of this squad. For some reason, Fulham seemed even more dangerous than last season, this was despite the long list of sales and departures.

This brought up a question on social media; what could they do this season?

No one could tell until after the season started.

To most neutral and rival fans though, Fulham was just flattering to deceive. To them, their EFL Cup run and eventual win was just a fluke against Liverpool and Chelsea sides that underestimated the opposition.

According to these neutral fans, after knowing their threat now, big teams would know to neutralize them better.

Besides, they labelled Sam a one-season wonder.

Sam did not let all this negative news get to him though. 'Like dad would say, it's normal. Afterall, even Erling Haaland was criticized when he first made the switch to the premier league till he shut them up with his record-breaking goalscoring performances'.

'I'll just shut them up with my performances once the season start'.

In Fulham's last game of pre-season, they took on Hoffenheim on 10th August and this time, they simply blew their inferior opponents out of the window.

Fulham won 3-0 after a totally one-sided performance.

In this game, Sam did not get a goal contribution but his influence was heavily felt in the middle of the pitch as he orchestrated play, playing a part in all 3 goals that downed Hoffenheim.

By now, it was clear that this team was already like a well-oiled machine churning with ruthless efficiency.

Fulham post-Sam era was truly a different beast on the pitch.

But then, after pre-season, the real test was finally about to begin.

All across England and the world, you could feel palpable excitement in the air among the male gender. Afterall, the premier league was starting.

After months of being deprived, matchday 1 was finally here.

(Premier league:)

(Matchday 1:) Your journey continues with empire

(Manchester United – Fulham)

(Date: 16th August, 2024)

The Fulham squad went on a trip to Old Trafford.

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