Chapter 92: Sunday Buzz Across the Netherlands and Beyond
By late morning, the buzz around Amani’s debut had grown from a local whisper into a nationwide conversation, and it was even echoing far beyond Dutch borders. As Amani pulled on a sweatshirt and made a quick breakfast in the kitchenette, his phone continued to light up on the counter with updates.
He sipped his tea and scrolled cautiously through social media, both excited and a little overwhelmed by what he saw. The #Hamadi hashtag was still trending in the Netherlands, flooded with fans and pundits dissecting his 20-minute cameo that produced a goal and an assist. Every refresh brought new posts.
He paused on a few tweets, cheeks warming at the praise:
"Remember the name: Amani Hamadi. 15 years old (!!) and already bossing midfields for @FCUtrecht." one read, the incredulity obvious in the tone.
"Hamadi – de tovenaar van Galgenwaard! (The wizard of Galgenwaard!) What a debut, what vision on that assist," cheered another, accompanied by a short clip of his through-ball to Duplan. In the video, Amani saw himself split the defense with that pass once more, and he felt his heart skip all over again.
"A goal and assist on debut at 15? This kid’s come out of nowhere (Kenya, actually) to light up the Eredivisie. Unreal," said a popular Dutch football forum post, already stacked with comments debating how good he could become.
Amani shook his head in wonder, hardly tasting the buttered toast in his hand. Strangers were arguing about him on the internet! Some were proclaiming him the next big thing, others advising caution, saying he was just a kid who had one good game.
And there it was, the inevitable question he hadn’t even considered: his nationality. A few commenters were marveling that he was Kenyan, a country not exactly famed for its football exports.
One particularly enthusiastic tweet from a user in Nairobi read, "A Kenyan just scored in the Dutch top flight and not enough people are talking about this!!! 🇰🇪🔥". Amani felt a swell of pride at that, realizing that back in his birthplace, people were celebrating him as one of their own.
He switched to a Dutch sports news site and nearly dropped his phone when he saw his own face beaming back at him from a headline. Voetbal International had wasted no time – they’d published an online column about the match.
The title made his breath catch: "Hamadi’s Light Over Galgenwaard". It was written by Kristen Stein. Kristen was there? Amani recalled, with a start, glimpsing her in the VIP box last night – an old family friend, practically. He swallowed and clicked the link, eyes racing over the article.