The match was over; Jude and I were walking towards the interview area, carrying the weight of the defeat on the field. This defeat had left deep wounds not only in the score but also in our relationship. We had argued about some disagreements on the field, and this argument still hung over both of us in the interview area.

When the interviewer asked his question, Jude immediately jumped in. “We didn’t perform as well as we wanted on the field today. There should have been better communication within the team, especially at some moments,” he said, his voice serious and his eyes focused on the camera, but his words were directed directly at me. “We need stronger unity at key moments of the match.”

At that moment, I felt Jude was blaming me. The weight of the words felt like a deep burden on my shoulders. I wanted to answer him, but I knew that there was no point in exacerbating this tension in front of the cameras. The interviewer, noticing the harshness between us, asked another question.

“So how do you plan to recover from this defeat?” he asked.

Jude finally turned his gaze to me and replied. “We obviously need to work harder as a team,” he said, but the coldness in his gaze was accusing me as much as it was. “Sometimes on the field, everyone has to do their job perfectly, especially at critical moments.”

His words stabbed into my heart like a knife, but I tried to remain calm. I turned to the interviewer, gave him a forced smile, nodded, and remained silent without saying anything else. When Jude finished, he turned to the interviewer and thanked him briefly. “That’s enough for today,” he said, then turned away silently without even looking at me.

As I watched Jude walk away, I felt something inside me break. This wasn’t just a defeat; it was a deep rift between Jude and me. As much as the losses we had on the field, our friendship had also reached a point of no return. At that moment, I wanted to follow him, but I knew that there was no filling this gap between us anymore.