The locker room buzzed with low voices and the thrum of anticipation. Randal Kolo Muani sat quietly at his spot, tying his boots with methodical precision. Across from him, a teammate muttered, “Big match tonight. Pressure’s on.”

Kolo Muani looked up, calm and steady. “Pressure’s what makes it fun.”

Out on the pitch, he read the game like a script only he understood—finding spaces others missed, slipping through lines with ghostlike ease. A quick give-and-go, a defender wrong-footed, and suddenly the goal was in sight.

He didn’t hesitate. One touch, bottom corner.

As the stadium erupted, he turned to the bench with a knowing smile and said under his breath, “That’s how you flip the script.”