BUDI BERHENTI BERMAIN BOLA

Once upon a time there lived a great kid named Budi. He was born with only one lung working. It was a genetic problem for the reason that his mother was a heavy smoker and drank a quite amount of alcohol during her pregnancy. Budi loved soccer pretty much since his second birthday. By the age of five he was already good at kicking with both of his leg. Unfortunately his lung never let him play more than fifteen minutes. Any extended time would cause fatal effect and could even bring him to death.



When Budi entered junior high school, he immediately signed himself to the soccer club. Not long after he made it into the school team. Coach Andrew put him in the attacking post. Budi told Coach Andrew about his lung and how sorry he was for not being able to play full time. Coach Andrew knew really well that Budi could become a big player one day but what a shame it was for him. Anyway Coach Andrew didn’t dump Budi out of the team. Instead, he cheered Budi by telling him to give out all his capacity in his every fifteen minutes chance.

Budi was really happy with his status in the soccer team. At first, he was always included in the first line up. However, in turned out that Budi’s presence didn’t give much impact to the team since he was always being substituted in the fifteenth minute. From twenty matches that had been played by the team, Budi only scored twice. Budi got really frustrated and told Coach Andrew if he could have more time in the field. Of course Coach Andrew didn’t want to take any risk for Budi’s lung problem. He told Budi to be patient and see if he could find some other way to maximize Budi’s fifteen minutes performances.

One day the team was invited to the province yearly soccer cup. It was the first time Budi’s school got invited. Budi was still in the team but this time he wasn’t one of those who experienced the first kick off. Coach Andrew decided to save Budi in the bench. So the first game was played and Budi, for the first time since his junior high career begun, sat quietly as the opening ceremony started. He watched his team played gravely and awaited the Coach to call him for a substitution. Budi waited and waited but he wasn’t being called until the full time whistle. The team won and he understood clearly that he was no longer a precious player in the team.

The next ten games went the same for Budi. He sat calmly watching his team mates play until the end of the game. Budi was getting worried as he was put more in the bench than in the field. He asked Coach Andrew a few times if he could have a chance again in the main team. But the answer was never close from satisfying. Coach Andrew would explain that the team was in its balanced form and any substitution would cause a doubtful result for the game. He also told Budi that the competition was very important for their school since they have never been invited before. Coach Andrew only promised Budi that he will have his chance back someday.

Budi hates the word someday for the fact that ten games had been passed. He had this thought of giving up his soccer career. He told his mother about his problems. He came to the point where desperation had blown his dreams away. Fortunately Budi’s mother was as encouraging as an angel. Never was she to let her son cry in sadness. She told Budi to simply obey what Coach Andrew had told him and wait patiently for that chance to come.

So as people had said about keeping a dream and how hard should we struggle to earn it, Budi finally found his answer. On the semi final, Coach Budi finally called him for substitution in the 80th minute, giving only ten minutes for Budi to show his stuffs. Budi didn’t waste that moment and scored an equalizing goal. Alas, the opponent scored a dramatic goal in the final minute which knocked Budi’s team out the final. Even so their job was not yet finished since they have one last match to come that is the battle for the third place. Coach Andrew thanked Budi for his patience and also his equalizing goal. He promised him that he would play on their last match.

The third place game was played and once again Budi sat on the bench as the first kick off started. This time he was ordered by Coach Andrew to observe the opponent very briefly. The game went really tight with the score still level in the 70th minute. Frustration was shown from Coach Andrew’s face. He approached to Budi and told him that he couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to lose this match. He was really expecting Budi to become the change maker of the game when he’s in the field.

There he was entering the field in the 80th minute. Coach Andrew placed him in the right wing forward position. He played so well, ripping off the defense line by his quick dribble. It was not until the 89th minute when Budi finally scored. Then right afterwards the final whistle was blown. Coach Andrew jumped out of his bench to congratulate the team. Budi was lifted by everyone as an honor for his winning goal. That day became the day when Budi’s school finally achieve something in soccer.

As the team celebrated, suddenly Budi plunged to the ground. His breath was heavy and he fell unconscious. Everyone panicked and rescued him to the hospital immediately. Budi was then taken cared for a few weeks before he finally went back home. The doctor had told Budi that his lung was no longer able to play heavy sports such as soccer. From that day on, Budi stopped playing and decided to renounce his withdrawal from the team.