2022-06-11, 06:27 AM - Word count:
PARIS, FRANCE
It’s the big day. The official SSL debut of AS Paris, and by extension the debut of rookie midfielder Sebastien Pelletier - aka myself. For me, and for everyone in the team, it’s a new start. Many of us were quite understandably nervous, being new to the league and all. I was no exception to that. I felt like the expectations for me were especially high - I mean, I’m the hometown boy. I’m the only French player on the team, I grew up an hour long train ride away from Paris, I wanted to, no, I needed to prove myself as being worthy of being in the SSL, representing my home country’s team. We really wanted to get off to a good start with a win in our first match, especially since we were at home for it, in a packed Stade des Reves. We were up against Montreal - a team we were expecting to be able to compete against, so a win was definitely on the cards. Personally, my hope was to just get through the match without fucking anything up too badly - though if I could do something more to contribute to the team effort, that would, naturally, be ideal.
And contribute I did.
It didn’t take long for us to get going on the offensive. It was only the 4th minute. GFuel had possession around the center line. I saw he was looking to send it far forward, and so I started running - and sure enough, he passed it all the way up to Leo, who was just on my left. He was being pressured hard by an enemy player, so he looked to me - and I realised “oh fuck, I’m gonna have to be the one to finish this aren’t I”. There was a Montreal defender next to me, we were both running toward the goal - I saw the opportunity and dropped back a little bit to get myself open for a pass. Leo got the pass past the guy that was pressuring him, it was coming straight towards me. The ball came in front of me.
I took the shot, sent it towards the bottom right corner. And that moment was just… a complete sensory overload. I closed my eyes, fearing that I’d sent it just wide or that I’d hit the post, that I’d potentially fucked up the chance my teammates had set up for me so well, my chance to leave a mark on the history of the league as the first ever AS Paris goalscorer. And let me tell you, that brief moment that my eyes were closed… it felt like a thousand years passed in that time. I’m not a religious person, at all, but I was praying to every fucking god and deity I knew of to let this one go in. It felt like I could hear my heart beating, the blood flowing through my veins and arteries, I could feel every fiber of my blue and red striped jersey, the slight breeze in my head, both coaches screaming their lungs out.
And then, I heard the loudest sound I had ever heard. The ROAR of 40 000 people, 40 000 hometown fans, in a filled-to-the-brim stadium. I opened my eyes, to see the ball in the net, the keeper laying on the ground, my teammates rushing towards me to celebrate. I had just scored the first ever SSL goal in the history of the club. The dream was coming true.
To be honest, I don’t remember much from the rest of the game. I remember that I had a nice assist on Leo’s goal just a couple minutes after mine, I remember Montreal almost made a comeback, I remember we won the match 4-3, I remember signing a lot of body parts, I remember going home afterwards, leaping into my bed and sleeping 14 hours. What a fucking night that was. One for the history books, for sure.
It’s the big day. The official SSL debut of AS Paris, and by extension the debut of rookie midfielder Sebastien Pelletier - aka myself. For me, and for everyone in the team, it’s a new start. Many of us were quite understandably nervous, being new to the league and all. I was no exception to that. I felt like the expectations for me were especially high - I mean, I’m the hometown boy. I’m the only French player on the team, I grew up an hour long train ride away from Paris, I wanted to, no, I needed to prove myself as being worthy of being in the SSL, representing my home country’s team. We really wanted to get off to a good start with a win in our first match, especially since we were at home for it, in a packed Stade des Reves. We were up against Montreal - a team we were expecting to be able to compete against, so a win was definitely on the cards. Personally, my hope was to just get through the match without fucking anything up too badly - though if I could do something more to contribute to the team effort, that would, naturally, be ideal.
And contribute I did.
It didn’t take long for us to get going on the offensive. It was only the 4th minute. GFuel had possession around the center line. I saw he was looking to send it far forward, and so I started running - and sure enough, he passed it all the way up to Leo, who was just on my left. He was being pressured hard by an enemy player, so he looked to me - and I realised “oh fuck, I’m gonna have to be the one to finish this aren’t I”. There was a Montreal defender next to me, we were both running toward the goal - I saw the opportunity and dropped back a little bit to get myself open for a pass. Leo got the pass past the guy that was pressuring him, it was coming straight towards me. The ball came in front of me.
I took the shot, sent it towards the bottom right corner. And that moment was just… a complete sensory overload. I closed my eyes, fearing that I’d sent it just wide or that I’d hit the post, that I’d potentially fucked up the chance my teammates had set up for me so well, my chance to leave a mark on the history of the league as the first ever AS Paris goalscorer. And let me tell you, that brief moment that my eyes were closed… it felt like a thousand years passed in that time. I’m not a religious person, at all, but I was praying to every fucking god and deity I knew of to let this one go in. It felt like I could hear my heart beating, the blood flowing through my veins and arteries, I could feel every fiber of my blue and red striped jersey, the slight breeze in my head, both coaches screaming their lungs out.
And then, I heard the loudest sound I had ever heard. The ROAR of 40 000 people, 40 000 hometown fans, in a filled-to-the-brim stadium. I opened my eyes, to see the ball in the net, the keeper laying on the ground, my teammates rushing towards me to celebrate. I had just scored the first ever SSL goal in the history of the club. The dream was coming true.
To be honest, I don’t remember much from the rest of the game. I remember that I had a nice assist on Leo’s goal just a couple minutes after mine, I remember Montreal almost made a comeback, I remember we won the match 4-3, I remember signing a lot of body parts, I remember going home afterwards, leaping into my bed and sleeping 14 hours. What a fucking night that was. One for the history books, for sure.
