The air outside is excruciatingly humid, and the ground is muddy from the rain. The boy shuffles the ball between his two feet as he dashes through the soggy grass, but he is unable to escape from the grasp of those in opposition. They have him surrounded but as he makes another attempt to bypass them, his foot gets caught deep in the mud and they close in, showing no mercy. His last futile attempt leaves him screaming in pain, clutching his now dislocated knee.

Soon he finds himself being wheeled away into an ambulance. After he completes X-rays, he finds out he has dislocated his knee and has a torn ACL.

“I didn’t want to be discouraged just because times are hard,” senior Angel Santana said. “I knew I had to get through somehow and eventually I did. I came back, I think, a little bit better.”

After his injury, not only did Santana come back a “little bit better,” but he came back with the opportunity to have a trial with a professional soccer team in Southampton, England. He also traveled to Paris and practiced with Paris Saint-Germain, another professional soccer team.

“Before [the injury], I hadn’t gone to Paris, I hadn’t gone to any trials or anything,” Santana said. “Because I was able to overcome that, I think that I can overcome anything that comes my way.”

Nothing was going to hold him back from his dreams of becoming a professional soccer player.

“He’s honest, carefree and outgoing,” senior Jayson Flores said. “He can make it. He’s a really good player, really physical in the game. He doesn’t give up.”

Santana was first introduced to soccer around the age of 12, when he moved from Brownsville, Texas to Lewisville.

“I always noticed that [Jayson and other friends] would always play soccer during recess so I just kinda joined in and started playing from there,” Santana said. “And I started getting more serious towards the end of sixth grade.”

From there, Santana joined the soccer team at Durham Middle School and proceeded to become more involved in the sport.

“I won state around eighth grade year and that’s when I was offered to play with the junior Olympic team and I realized ‘Oh I must have at least some talent,’ because you know I’ve been getting invitations and I’ve been winning trophies,” Santana said.

Santana’s injury occurred during the spring of junior year and his recovery was lengthy, but despite this, his natural talent and character took him a long way.

“His reaction time is really good,” varsity head coach Brandon McCallum said. “His understanding of the game, because he played for so long and because he played as a field player, allows him to go back as a goalkeeper and use his soccer sense and see everything going on in front of him so it helps with organization. He can organize defenders. All of those factors are positive.”

Despite relinquishing his previous position as a field player due to his past injuries, his decision to be a goalkeeper proved to benefit the team and helped contribute toward the path to playoffs.

“Angel Santana in goal has been a real surprise,” McCallum said. “He’s only given up seven goals in district and leads the district in shutouts with six.”