Awesome / Eyeshield 21

While it's only natural that a shonen sports manga would have these, Eyeshield 21 has several surprisingly memorable moments on and off the football field.

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Pre-Tournament arc

• After the loss to Ojou, after being knocked out of the tournament, and enjoying his boring school life, Sena looks at the laid-out equipment, starts tearing up, and tears off his jacket in order to practice in the middle of the rain. This scene is constantly remembered by Sena.
• Hiruma has his personal list:
  • Creating the video that goads the Nasa Aliens into facing the Devil Bats.
  • Winning about $200,000 by card counting.
  • Blackmailing basketball team members into helping out the Devil Bats.
  • He had blackmail material for a random hotel in America. Think about that.
  • He also has enough blackmail material to ride in a JSDF tank and an American figher jet at will...
• The Huh Huh Bros. use the Delinquent Deathblow on the entire Taiyou Sphinx line. Deep breath in, and, "Huh? HUH? HUUUUUUUUH!?"
• Kurita pressuring the Pyramid Line by sheer strength, breaking Banba's stoic attitude when he felt himself pushed back.
• Musashi when he introduces as Deimon ace-kicker. Before then, he only seen as Cool Old Guy, who had wisdom about sports. Then he asked to join penalty kick game by Sena, who can't gather enough players against soccer club, for the right of the field. Then the situations become grim; if the old man (who became the last kicker) didn't win, they will lose the right to use the field. So he kick. And he kick so HARD, that send the keeper (Jerkass Muro Satoshi) stuck in the net. And then, when he getting asked about his name, he said: "Gen Takekura. Maybe you know my other name, Musashi."
• Sena blitzing Homer during the game with the Alien, the page shows him piercing the line in the first panel and suddenly he is right in front of him. Once you see Eyeshield 21 it's already too late.
• Panther of the NASA Aliens singlehandedly beating back Deimon in the last quarter of the game after finally being put in by his bitter, racist coach.
• A collective one when Agon throw a football to hurt Torakichi. Sakuraba being close get in the way to catch it, Monta rush to catch it too and when they turn around they see Sena has moved Torakichi out of the way by sprinting.
• Wen Sena accidentally auditioned for an NFL team and made the cut. It wasn't just any NFL team that Sena made the cut for, but the San Antonio Armadillos AKA the team that Morgan would have the MVP of the World Cup sign for.
• Hiruma's crowning moment at the end of the Death March. The whole rest of the team is elated but absolutely exhausted after 40 days of Training from Hell. Hiruma, on the other hand is still perky enough to scream and shoot at them almost as if running (and screaming and shooting) from Houston to Las Vegas had no impact on him at all. It's only when he's alone in his room that the reader (and no one else...okay Cerberus, but he's not talking) sees that not only is Hiruma just as physically wasted as the rest of the Devil Bats, he pretended he was perfectly fine and kept up that front of invincibility for the entire 40 days.
  • Also, all of the Devil Bats finishing the Death March. No one quit.

Tokyo Tournament

• Sena's entrance into the tournament. He's incredibly late, being delivered by motocycle and Habashira, the one bringing him, decides to just brake and throw him into the stadium. Sena SAILS ABOVE THE CROWDS and lands MAGNIFICENTLY, his Eyeshield shining as though the spotlight were all on him.
• Juumonji gets one during the game with Amino in the first game of the 2nd Fall Tournament. Back when they played Nasa, the sweep play they used had Juumonji telling Sena to find the small crack they would make and get through it, right? Well, the Amino game is post-Death March. And when Hiruma calls for the sweep this time, Juumonji has this to say; "Sena... I won't give you any crap about slipping through the cracks this time. We'll open a wide road for you to advance!" Which they do. And Sena calls it the widest road he's ever seen.
• Komusubi dodged the swim and counters with the rip. Which he learned on his own.
  • Or at the end of the Kyoshin game, when it looked like Mizumachi stopped Sena, Komosubi pushes them both into the endzone.
  Mizumachi: "Komu...subi!?"
• Tetsuma, though mostly made more awesome out of Funny Moment.
  • Although he lost in a catching fight with Monta, he was smart enough to hit the ground with the ball in his possession first to win the game.
    • And then he knee tackles Monta to make sure he doesn't tick the ref off and ruin their chances at the Christmas Bowl, which leads to Tetsuma getting put on the bench the next game and utterly losing to Ojou.
• Musashi left in the middle of a game right before a goal kick for the winning point, and said he would join the team again if his father got better. The father punches him (with a rock) to show he's better, and the entire construction team comes on in to tell him to go back. Musashi lives to his promise; even during the middle of a game, he would join as the kicker, and he did. By making the kick with the old kickstand from the game he abandoned. Which causes time to move again; Hiruma communicates to the entire team instead of acting on his own, and Kurita has no doubts in his strength. His presence even boost the huh huh brothers as Jumonji compares them to the original devilbats.
• Musashi gets one during the match against the Bando Spiders. Early in the game, Musashi calmly made a field goal despite Akaba (Bando's Ace) partially blocking it. After the made kick, Musashi calmly asks Akaba "Were you TRYING to do something?"
• Taki overcoming the spider-poison tackles of the Bando Spiders with his flexibility.
  • Particularly his response to Musashi's Get a Hold of Yourself, Man! speech, which could practically be the creed of the Devilbats:
  Taki: I'm not blessed by the gods. I'm just a normal person...then I'll use my own abilities to defeat those who are!

Kanto Tournament

Deimon vs Shinryuuji Nagas

• Benchwarmer Yukimitsu Manabu turned the tide against the Shinryuuji Nagas, overtaking evil gifted Jerk Jock Kongo Agon with sheer determination to score Deimon's first touchdown of the game in the first play of his high school football career.
  • It's better than that. Yukimitsu is sent onto the field for the first time in his career, proceeding to stumble over his own feet in his very first play. Ikkyu Hosokawa, the best cornerback in the series, immediately dismisses him as useless. He then makes the first touchdown of the game while being pursued by both Ikkyu and Agon, who were competing to see who could intercept the ball faster. AWESOME.
  • Also, his Internal Monologue. Seriously. It's both awesome and Manly Tears inducing, it's like telling all the weakling, geeky type in the world, "Dude, get up. Go outside. Try sports. You don't know what you're missing, and, who knows, maybe you'll be good at it?"
• After Monta beat Ikkyuu for the first time in the Shinryuuji game, a beefy girl in the crowd hurls the ball back onto the field with incredible force after Musashi kicks it into the stands. While facing down Ikkyuu in a tense verbal confrontation, Monta sticks his hand out and catches it without even knowing it's coming (it's even steaming from the speed of its flight). Even if it's purely for dramatic effect, it's incredible. It's even better if you reread the series and consider it foreshadowing for his special skill against Oujou.
  • Or when Monta sabotaged Ikkyuu's reception and Agon's tackle in the final moments of the game with Shinryuuji, forcing the clock to be set back after time had expired. And he did it by catching the field.
  Referee: Timekeeper, turn the clocks back!
• Sena downing Kongo Agon with a stiff arm.
  • Don't forget the moment before that: He tried to strike Agon. STRIKE HIM STRAIGHT. WITH MURDEROUS INTENT. What makes it so awesome that Sena never ever tried to strike anyone in his early games, and (probably) never ever think about punching someone in his lifetime.
  • Shin put it best when he talked about it. "What the structurally small Sena lacked before now...was a brutal will to fight."
• Juumonji recovering a fumble and dragging Agon all the way to the goddamn endzone.
  • "I don't have legs just like you, Sena, but if it about getting beaten and tackled, I got used to it since Middle School.... Even if I can't run like you, if it's just a final step... I can do this!!"
  • Don't forget the process of that touchdown. It started with Shinryuji on offense, putting a run from center. But it was an act that started the Dragonfly strategy, that relies on quick, short passes that up until now, is unbeatable. The ball was lateralled to Agon, and at the same time, Sena, who up until now focused on Agon but didn't manage to stop him, manages to intercept the ball solely because he keep focusing on Agon, his body knows where the ball going hiked. It gets better: Monta, who followed Sena, manages to chase the ball before everyone else (including all Shinryuji's player) solely because he had faith in Sena's ability. However, he got covered by Ikkyu, who is faster than him, but before he got covered completely, Kurita dives in and takes everyone with him. That causes a fumble, recovered by Juumonji, who uses Delinguent Deathblow to get free from a Shinryuji player, and then fights to the endzone after got Agon tackled him, who he got to drag along.
• The last play of the aforementioned game. Deimon beating Shinryuuji, proving to all doubters that they really have what it takes to make it to the Christmas Bowl, is a big moment for the entire team.
  • Kurita knocking back Agon in the final two-point conversion attempt to win the game. The same Agon who stole his athletic spot at Shinryuuji just because he's an asshole (Agon, not Kurita).
    • Oh no, it's not knocking back Agon that made this so awesome. It's knocking back Agon, centre Yamabushi, Ikkyu and Hakkai single-handedly, proving without a doubt that for raw power he has no rival.
• A villainous example for Agon. After stopping the Fake Spike, Hiruma notes that there's no way he should have noticed the trick even with his incredible reflexes. There's only one explanation; he knew. Agon knew Hiruma would try and trick him just by watching him smirk, which could have just as easily been a trap. Yes, Hiruma lost a battle of wits to Agon.
  • However, in the play where Hiruma uses the audience to disrupt the Nagas, he ends up with the ball to make the final run. Agon is running him down, confident that he'll catch Hiruma before he can score since he knows Hiruma's speed. But hiruma has increased his 40-yard dash speed by 0.1 seconds over the past year, and this small increase makes the difference and lets Hiruma score the touchdown. Yes, Agon beat Hiruma once in a battle of wits, but Hiruma also beat Agon once in a physical contest.
• Hiruma outrunning Agon because he improved his 40-yard dash by 0.1 seconds.
  • And, before that, purposely making fun of Agon abilities by having the team focused on sacking Unsui, and leaving no one to mark him. It succeeded.
• What would you do if you were trailing 32-0 against on of the best teams around, who have a player so gifted he can react near-instantaneously to any tricks you pull, and you notice that they've fallen back in preparation for your kicker's crazy powerful kicks? If you tell your team they should give up, hoping they get the hint to go for an onside kick, you're Youichi Hiruma.
  • But it get's better. everyone figures out the hidden meaning, but can't let the Nagas know of the change of plan. So every Bat is going for an onside kick, hoping he's not the only one. And without a single word being said (well, a single truthful word), the start of the second half of the Shinryuuji-Deimon game starts with a successful onside kick.

Deimon vs Ojo White Knights

• The quarter final against the White Knights. An epic Battle in the Rain against The Rival from start to finish. This was the biggest pay off of the manga to see both team that we saw progressing finally facing each other for the decisive match. Right after their Battle Cry the White Knights kick the ball on the side of Ishimaru, Sena still caught it and when all the players charged at him, looking like a thousands of knights blocking his way, the entirety of the Devil Bats, including the substitute players, went in front of him to block the knights.
• Monta and the Devil Bat Backfire. CATCH MAX!
• How about Yukimitsu pushing Shin across the goal line in the dying seconds of the Deimon v. Oujou game, making it possible for the Devilbats to have the final, game-winning play? Several other players, including Shin, acknowledged it as well. "Even though you're the opponent, it was splendid...!"
  • Possibly even better, what led to Yukimitsu being put in in the first place. He's lying on the bench, absolutely exhausted from all that he had already done during the match. But when Hiruma needed someone to come in while Sena dealt with a bloody nose, there was no one else who could coordinate with Deimon's defense. Yukimitsu realized this, and the sheer look of determination on his face could rival any Death Glare for intensity as he forced himself back to his feet for one last play. Bad. ASS.
• Shin. How about matching Sena in speed and stopping him with ONE FINGER!
  • How about lifting Kurita? It was noted that this, strength borne from both talent and hard work, is what seperates him from Agon.
• The moment when Shin and Sakuraba show how much they became Bash Brothers: Sagitarius.
• During Ikari's debut he ends up throwing Sena off-side and is about to punch him because he didn't hear the whistle. Juumonji blocks the punch with one arm which amaze his friends, he spends the rest of the match going toe-to-toe with Ikari to show which one is the strongest delinquent on the line.

Deimon vs Hakkushuu

• When Kurita is suffering from a severe Heroic BSoD after Gaoh breaks Hiruma's arm, Komusubi steps up to take on Gaou until he recovers, and despite sustaining several injuries in a confrontation he's severely outmatched in, Komusubi never broke. Gaoh himself acknowledges Komusubi's spirit.
• Kurita beating Gaoh in a straight-up confrontation during the game with the Hakushuu Dinosaurs.
  • Even before that—when Kurita realized that he had to stand up to Gaoh or Sena and Komusubi would be broken and unable to ever play again, we see realization and fury cross the normally GentleGiant's face, just before he throws himself straight at Gaoh. They deadlock, and it's revealed that Kurita is right in Gaoh's face and his expression reads, as Gaoh noted, that he was going to kill Gaoh before he let Sena or Komusubi be hurt. Kurita looked scarier than Gaoh in that panel.
• Sena temporarily replacing Hiruma during the match against Hakkushuu and doing just fine.
• Hiruma played the second half with a broken right arm. He's the quarterback, by the way. Being forced to operate solely on strategy and beating Marco at his own game is one of Hiruma's biggest achievements.
  • Even better, he managed to throw a long pass with his broken arm!
• In a villainous example, Marco getting back up after being tackled by Kurita, demonstrating that like Hiruma, he can put his money where his mouth is.
• Hiruma. Sena. Dragonfly. Heck, pretty much every time Hiruma or Sena copies another player's previously unbeatable move.

Christmas Bowl

• For much of the series, the Alexanders were hyped as the invincible team that crushed every opponent since the tournament was established, that is eleven years straight. The entire first part of the match shows that they do indeed live up to their hype. To give one example, they score the first touchdown three minutes in. And right after the Devil Bats had come surprisingly close to scoring one themselves.
  • During the first passage, Monta makes an incredible jump to grab the ball... And Taka not only beats him, he appears to walk in air.
  • When Karin throws the ball, the passage is always complete. No chance of interception, she's that good. No chance of her missing, she's that precise. No trouble catching the ball, her throws are that easy to catch. And good luck sacking her, she knows she can't take a hit and trained to dodge so much that anyone slower than Sena can't hope to even touch her.
  • What's more, they actually take the Devil Bats seriously, and rather than trying to humiliate them by scoring dozens of touchdowns like the Nagas had tried (something they actually took note of) they take the safe and steady approach of one or two touchdowns at every quarter, aiming to win 42-0. Because, after all, nobody has ever scored on them since the Christmas Bowl started. They're 35-0 before the Devil Bats do what nobody had managed before and actually score on them to start their comeback...
• Sena earning the title of Eyeshield 21 after beating Yamato Takeru. More specifically, Sena proving he can surpass Yamato when it comes to speed. And making Yamato feel chill in his spine when he realizes, no way he can "touch", let alone stopping Sena with that kind of speed.
• Komusubi forcing the Teikoku Alexanders' sideline ace out of bounds by leading him to the one place he couldn't see where the line was.
• Plain old Ishimaru, pulling off the Rodeo Drive.
• Hiruma Throwing a pass right before being sacked by Yamato, unable to see his receiver's position, and completing it to Yukimitsu for a touchdown because the guy stuck to his pass route.

• The Evil Cross Play. What do you do when your ace Running Back and Wide Receiver try a play and screw it up entirely? You turn the play into a complete Mind Screw later on, that's what!
  • "DEVILS DON'T ASK FAVORS FROM GOD!!!"
    • Doubles as a CMOF due the face of the Virgin Mary
• And of course, Gen "Musashi" Takekura living up to the lie/legend of the "60 Yard Magnum" in the very last second of the championship finale and crushing the supposedly invincible Teikou Alexanders with one near-impossible field goal, granting the Deimon Devilbats the series-sought Christmas Bowl at last.
  • Made even more awesome in the fact that Musashi wasn't alone in this moment; the original three Devil Bats, Kurita with the snap and ultimate defense, Hiruma with the devil's fingers and perfect ball handling, and Musashi with his 60-yard magnum, took part in it
    • The magnum's unleash is made even more awesome by the line that precede it;
  Musashi: "Three seconds. Please stop Yamato for three seconds. If you can do that, I will bust the emperor's guts."
• The Huh Huh Bros get one more during were Achilles and Hercules teamwork get countered by theirs, if it's about Bash Brothers they have no equal.
• Kurita taking a page from Gaou's book and making sure Deimon can constantly do 2 points conversion by sheer strength alone. Hiruma even says that there is no one in Japan who can stop Kurita now.
• Yamato is awesome indeed. "It's settled. It's my win!". Against fucking Mr. Don. If you say this is not awesome, I don't know what it is.
  • Especially since he did it with one hand. The Eyeshield equivalent of Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu? folks.

World Cup arc

• Shin blocking both Agon and Gaou at once, and let it be known that Agon for his size has been considered one of the physically strongest and most dangerous characters in the manga and Gaou is just a freaking monster who's pinky left a bruise on a quarterback's arm with just a touch and Shin blocks both with one arm each.
  • More than that, he gets between them. Between a guy who singlehandedly forced a north-south game in almost every match because only one person in Japan can stop him and a guy with enough strength to roll up a metal fork with one hand.
• During the lead up to the tournament, Panther tries to get Team America's coach Morgan to give Homer a second string spot on the team, to which Morgan answers by challenging him to a one-on-one duel. Then on the field Morgan promises that if Panther can win he'll give Homer the spot... And the next moment Panther is walking away with the ball he snatched from his hand. Note that Morgan was in full sports get up while Panther was in a suit.
• All the bench players of the World Cup playing against the assumed runner-up of the entire tournament, Russia. Bonus points for the fact that Agon purposely set them up to play so that he could replace them when they were losing and steal the spotlight, but failed because the bench players were THAT awesome.
• Chuubou kicks ass. Ask Rodchenko and Gaou.
• Hiruma schooling Clifford on "how to handle cards."
• Three words: Hiruma. Agon. Dragonfly.
• Sena, Agon and Shin when all three biltzed Clifford. What makes so awesome is: Sena suggested to blitz him alone, Agon blitzed because he couldn't accept "trash" to out do him, and Shin go because Hiruma knew how the scenario would go. So that also makes a crowning moment for Hiruma as well.
• "Twin Tower Arrow". Way to go, Takami. Way, to go.
• Chapter 330. The whole freaking thing.
  • To put an example Sena tackling Panther with the trident tackle (although it failed) and again with his head
• Chapter 331: After Hiruma forcing the game to tie, the commissioner decide to announce the game as tie, awarding both participant (USA and Japan) as winner. Since BOTH the team can't accept it, they decide to go overtime regardless.
  • Made even more awesome by the following exchange between Hiruma and Don:
  Hiruma: Kekekekeke!!It can't be that you're going to let it end like that, right? "The best award isn't prizes, but the glory of victory itself." That's the very soul of American Football, and it comes from the very America-sama itself,right?
  Don: Ooh...well said. That's right. It's sad...There is no one who can accept it ending that way.
• The previously monstrous Gaoh, battered and bruised as he struggles against the seemingly invincible Mr. Don, delivering the mantra of his team:
  Gaoh: When you find a path to the top, "Is it too abrupt?"..."Can you do it?"..."Is that possible?"...None of that matters! You just have to climb! At the very least...that's what the man who taught me American football...that's what the man called Marco did! If you're lacking in talent, then ask for the help of others without shame. Dirty your own hands, even if you have to bear the contempt of the ones you love, in order to get to the top...In order to quench this thirst that is burning in every man, getting to the top...!
  • Even before, what caused Gaou to face off alone against Mr. Don was the fact that Kurita got hammered while protecting Hiruma and had to leave the field to recover. As he left, he begged Gaou to protect the quarterbacks while he couldn't. Gaou remembers that Kurita has the strength to protect others but he does not, so he vows to protect everyone by killing Mr. Don.
  Once more, for the sake of his friends...the beast is baring his fangs.
• Kurita, back on the field at last, is guarding Hiruma and Agon as they perform the Dragonfly. At one point, Agon is caught by Mr. Don, and assumes it's over. He even says it himself—if he were Kurita, he'd let this happen for revenge after all that Agon has done. Then Kurita dives in and saves Agon without hesitation. Mr. Don himself notes that, impossible as it sounded, Kurita was stronger now that he had two quarterbacks to protect, strong enough that he stops Don alone. Not even Gaou can claim that.
• Rui Habishira. After looking like a complete loser the entire series and being one of the few teams the Devil Bats defeated with ease, he secretly joins the Japanese World Cup team as the only person to make it past the Deimon-side try-outs. He hid his identity because he didn't want his teammates to think he was playing around in what was basically an exhibition all-star tournament. As it turns out, as you can assume, being sent in to play actually motivated the team.
  • Even better, He was so outmatched, and so determined to stand his ground in spite of that, that he impressed Agon. Agon responds by removing his wig, making him look like his twin brother Unsui, silently demanding to know why his brother was not out there, struggling alongside them. Rui is precisely Agon's definition of trash and Agon doesn't say a single word to him. That is awesome by itself.
• Honjo Taka delivering something of a Shut Up Hannibal to Clifford, when Clifford fakes a run and launches a long pass, only to have Taka be all over the receiver and snap the ball over to Shin, who had just come back to the field. "I learned from Hiruma in the Christmas Bowl; whenever you seem to go for one play, I will defend as if it is the opposite!"
• Ok, let's give credit where credit's due. Every member of the Pentagram (aside from Panther) may be overwhelmingly smug, arrogant, and condescending, but they're considered the best in the world at their respective positions for a reason.
  • Clifford really earned his title of "the world's best quarterback."
    • He delivered an effortless curb stomp to both Agon and Ikyuu at the same time.
    • He destroyed the Agon-Hiruma Dragon Fly combination after a single play.
    • He managed to defeat Hiruma at poker.
    • He managed to keep up with and even occasionally outwit Hiruma over the course of the game.
    • It took nothing less than a combined blitz by Sena, Agon, and Shin to deliver him the first sacking of his career. Let me reiterate: Clifford managed to easily dodge Sena and Agon in quick succession, and after that, the only reason he went down was because Shin joined in the blitz as well, which made it an impossible fight by that point. Yes, he went down, but the fact that it took all three of Japan's top players to do so is massively impressive on Clifford's part. In other words, if Shin hadn't joined in, Clifford would have dodged Sena and Agon and easily completed his pass.
    • To recap, Clifford has the brains of Hiruma, the speed of Sena, the throws of Kid, and the dodges of Karin. Yeah, he's basically The Ace.
  • Also, in general, unlike literally every single other major opponent of the series, none of the members of the Pentagram were beaten in a one-on-one showdown. For example, Gaou didn't defeat Mr. Don alone; instead, he managed to take him down only with the help of Yamato. Similarly, neither Sena, Agon, nor Shin managed to defeat Clifford by themselves; instead, it took a combined blitz by all three of them to successfully sack Clifford. That being said, an argument could be made that Hiruma defeated Clifford in a battle of strategies, but there was no outright victory for either of them, and they mainly battled it out on equal terms when it came to brains.

Misc

• Actually, every time Sena manages to pass the ultimate defender (who gives him the hard time) during games, leaving the impression "It can't be...!". Oh yeah, it can. And it will be.
• Sena crossing Kantou's best defensive line with his hands and speed, he is stopped by Shin desperate attempt to catch he still took on people way stronger than him.
  • Another one for Komusubi, as Sena was about to be stopped by Ootawara if it wasn't from him tanking the giant so Sena can keep going.
• Every time the Deimon Devil Bats have a team huddle from about the middle point onwards, ending in the Badass Battle yell: "FUCKING KILL THEM!"
• Anime-only episode (filler). Hiruma promises the Zokugaku Chameleons that if they catch Eyeshield 21, they're free from slavery. Habashira being Habashira, he decides to take Mamori hostage to lure him out. When Sena shows up, he's outnumbered six to one, five on motorcycles. When Sena dodges the motorcycles, Habashira starts swinging at Sena, who dodges every punch like its a fighting anime. The same Sena who was terrified of the thought of Habashira. It shows how far Sena will go to protect his friends.
• The chapter 243 "A truly splendid monster" is one for Kid. Gaou perceives his lack of ambition and pessimist as weakness only to show something even more formidable than a monster that can go through a line and break a quarterback's bone in half a second: A monster that can complete a pass under that time with no line to slow the former. Gaou admits he misjudged Kid.
  Gaou: Tokyo's strongest quarterback, Kid. (Slasher Smile) This guy... is the most interesting beast so far...!!
• Kurita showing his true power come from his lower body strength. It's like what an elephant leaping would look like. Sena even thought that if it's just jumping he could mark Sakuraba's Everest pass.
• The ending has a low-key one as it introduces the Saikyoudai Wizards, considered the top Football university in Japan, and comprised of several captains or aces of the teams in the series. Only two Devil Bats are shown to be on the team: Hiruma, who should be expected, and Juumonji, solidifying himself as an an actual elite football player.

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