The Last Match Poem
Aarav Bali
My intention in writing The Last Match was to show how hope can influence and give people strength in any circumstance and to never give up. I chose a football match because the situation creates a clear moment where the losing team had lost hope, but one player didn’t. I used rain, silence and the scoreboard to create a feeling of difficulty and disappointment. The change from silence to celebration represents how hope changes the way humans perceive situations.
The stadium was still. The scoreboard read three-two. Our team was losing, and there were only minutes left to play.
Rain was torrent, soaking our jerseys and filling our shoes with mud. The crowd had gone quiet, and even our loudest supporters had stopped shouting.
Our captain was sidelined, and our best player rotting on the bench. We were tired, frustrated, and starting to believe that the match was already over.
Our coach kept shouting from the side, “Come on! Keep going! Don’t stop!”
I glanced over at my teammates. No one made a sound.
Then I remembered something captain told us before the game:
“Believe in yourself, even when hope seems far away.”
The whistle blew.
We started running again.
My legs felt heavy, but I kept moving. I passed the ball to Arjun. He passed it back to me.
For a moment, everything seemed to slow to perfection.
The goal was right there…
I kicked the ball with everything I had.
It flew through the rain, past the goalkeeper, and into the net.
Three-three.
For a second, nobody moved.
Then the stadium exploded with noise.
My teammates ran towards me, shouting and laughing. We drew the match, but that didn't matter anymore.
What mattered was that we had refused to give up.
Walking home that evening, I thought about what had happened.
Hope isn't always about winning. It isn't about knowing that everything will work out.
Sometimes, hope is simply taking one leap when you don't know where the road will lead.
Sitting in my room, I understood something:
Even when the scoreboard says you're losing, the game isn't over until you decide to stop playing.