《Greatest Of All Legends》


 Chapter 1: A Painful Past

    <h4>Chapter 1: A Painful Past</h4>

    Thursday, 9th January 2020,

    6:05 am.

    *Crunch* *Crunch* *Crunch*

    The repeated sounds of feet crushing gravel as I ran, made its way through the voice of 2pac dissing Biggie on one of the most iconic diss tracks of the century that was ring in my ear from the headset hanging on my head.

    "First off, fuck your bi**h and the clique you im, westside when we ride,e equipped with game..."

    I rapped along with the voice of 2pac, ignoring everything but what stood before me as I ran, not yet huffing and puffing as I had just begun my morning jog.

    There weren''t many people on the walkway I chose for my jogging endeavors.

    It was one of the reasons why I chose this path in the first ce despite how exposed it was to the especially cold January weather in Los Angeles.

    As I ran, I sang along to 2pac''s song, yet my mind was elsewhere, which was the fact that it had already been twelve years since I woke up in this new reality.

    Yes... new reality, this wasn''t my first shot at life.

    My name is Jason Bolu, and I aspired to be one of the greatest footballers of all time, but like everything else in life, it all went terribly wrong.

    It had started with my parents and baby sister dying in a car crash while in a rush to make it to the kids'' league match, I was ying.

    When I found out about it, I couldn''t help but think that I was the cause of their deaths because if it wasn''t for my love of football, it wouldn''t have happened.

    I was a kid back then, but I wasn''t stupid either.

    I had stopped football for a long time because of the trauma from that event, but eventually, my trauma was no match for my love of football and my passion resurfaced.

    By then a lot of years had passed and the best time to create a foundation for myself as a professional footballer had passed me by, but even in the face of that I remained undaunted and began to strive for my dreams once again.

    I trained and trained and went for football trials, hoping to get noticed by a scout.

    Unfortunately, my barely average skills made it difficult for any major football team to scout me and I was ignored by all but a scout from a less-than-3rd tier team in Europe.

    Since I didn''t have much of a choice, I agreed while thinking that I could improve my skills and move to a top-flight teamter...

    It didn''t happen...

    I trained so hard I could barely be a training partner of Cristiano Ronaldo and I constantly did my best to get better, but anytime I improved and changed my skill set to work best with the advantages I had over other yers, the injuries came, and I had to change my y style all over again to a different style to avoid a recurring injury.

    Finally, my perseverance paid out and I got a lot better and moved to higher-tiered leagues, all while slowly getting better, but before I could achieve anything substantial, I had run out of time.

    I was approaching retirement age, and my body could no longer keep up with my experienced mind.

    I had the skills and the technical mindset, but my body was no longer capable of following through.

    It was ironic and painful that I couldn''t reach my goals, so I yed for a few more years while doing my best to find a new ying style that wouldn''t require straining my body too much so I could at least achieve something, but it was already toote.

    In the end, I had to retire and just when I was thinking of enjoying a retired life, I woke up here...

    I say here because while I am still myself and the world is still the same as my previous world, there was a teeny bitty difference.

    Originally, I was born in the year 1980 and I retired in the year 2020 at the age of 40, but in this new reality that I woke up in, I was born in the year 2001, making me twenty-one years younger than I originally was.

    It was strange how that worked as I was still the same person, and almost everything about me was the same, but the whole world had moved past me and ced me in a different timeline.

    When I woke up to this reality, it was at the age of 7 and on a football field where a match was ongoing.

    It didn''t take me long to remember where the ce was as the ce held the most traumatic memory of my lifetime.

    Still, due to the circumstances I was in, I was quite disoriented and ended up with a ball in my face and went down while clutching my face in surprise and pain.

    Soon enough people came to tend to me, but I was still dazed and was looking around in confusion, my brain unable to ept the reality of what I was experiencing, but the thought of a particr possibility snapped me back to reality and I reeled in shock and stood up at record speed before dashing towards the coach I didn''t recognize to ask for his phone.

    Even though I couldn''t make heads or tails of what was going on, the slight hope that this was real and that I could save my parents and sister from the tragedy that was about to befall them in their rush to reach the stadium on time made me move.

    I ran and ran, making my way towards the coach in a bid to borrow his phone and tell them not toe, but immediately I saw the coach on the phone with someone and looking at me with a pitiful look on his face, I knew I had failed.

    Even though I was somehow back in the past, I still couldn''t do anything about their deaths.

    ''Why wasn''t I sent back just a bit earlier?''

    ''Just a few hours... no, even a few minutes earlier would have been good enough,'' I had thought with pain in my heart, but I received no answer.

    The situation I was experiencing was already beyond any reason and whatever was responsible for this strange phenomenon had no obligation to do what I wanted.

    It had taken me a few days toe to terms with this new reality and to get over the pain from losing my parents and sister... again.

    Funnily enough, losing them again provided the realization that there was nothing I could do to save them as a seven-year-old child, and that gave me the closure that I was never able to get in my previous life.

    While it was kind of my fault that they were rushing toe to meet me at the stadium, everything else that happened was beyond my control.

    I also realized that they probably loved me way too much for them to want to see me me myself for their deaths and with that I came to terms with the situation while praying for their souls that were definitely watching me from above.

    After getting the closure that I so desperately needed, I was back to having to deal with this new reality that was so alike, yet so different from my previous life.

    It took a little while, but I finally concluded that it was only me and my family who had a different timeline and age from the previous reality, while everything else was the same as it should have been at that point in time.

    What this meant was that while I was born at a different time in history, everything else was the same as it should be in 2010.

    Spain still won the World Cup in 2010, and 9/11 had still happened in 2001, though in this reality I was just a baby when it happened.

    While this didn''t affect me all that much, it still meant that the amount of future knowledge I had differed from my previous reality.

    ''Well, it didn''t matter much to me how much future knowledge I had anyway after all the world wasn''ting to an end anytime soon or anything of that matter,'' I concluded in my mind.

    After all, my goal was to be a football legend, so there was nothing much future knowledge had to do with helping me achieve that.

    I would still have to train like my life depended on it, y and prove my worth in matches, and attain legendary status with my ys.

    Future knowledge wasn''t going to help with any of that as I was a variable in the possible future already.

    With these thoughts, I had dropped out of the youth academy I was in since I had already be a footballer in my previous life, so I knew better ways to train myself.

    I already knew my talents and what I needed to do to be able to utilize them.

 Chapter 2: Early Morning in LA

    <h4>Chapter 2: Early Morning in LA</h4>

    *Huff* *Huff*

    The sound of hard breathing came from Jason''s mouth as he sat on a bench after realizing that he had run a fair bit farther than he usually did every morning due to being deep in thought.

    Usually, he woke up every morning to run ten miles as a morning exercise to warm up, but this morning, it seemed he had unconsciously run farther than seven miles instead of stopping at five miles and running five miles back, so now he would have to run more than seven miles back to his house.

    He had only realized that he had gone further than he used to after snapping out of his thoughts and seeing unfamiliar surroundings and had quickly found a bench to sit and rest to avoid straining himself as today was a very important day and he wanted to avoid any slip-ups.

    Today was the day when football trials would begin at the Jesse Owens stadium and there would be scouts from some football teams that would be present.

    Since this was the first step in the direction of his dream, he had to be there on time, and he could not afford to have any problems with his physical condition.

    As for why he had to participate in a football trial when he could just as easily join a football academy, it all had to do with why he was not in a football academy in the first ce.

    Despite his Nigerian nationality, Jason was born and lived in the USA and thus he had a dual citizenship.

    While the Major League Ser was not one of the best leagues in the world, they had good youth development programs and cutting-edge technology to help, train young yers, yet Jason never joined any.

    It wasn''t because he wascking in talent, or that he looked down on them, but rather because he didn''t want to be hindered in how he trained himself till he joined a professional team.

    Since he was a footballer in his previous reality, he already had more than the basics at hand.

    He had the knowledge of a footballer and what he first had to do was to get his body used to the knowledge he had in his mind, otherwise, there would be disorientation and a certain feeling of alienation whenever he tried to perform movements with the ball that were possible in his mind but had never actually practiced with his body.

    After getting used to his previous life''s movements, he had many other training ideas in mind like learning how to use both feet at almost the same level, training his deadball uracy, enhancing his speed, and other such technical training.

    His major talent was his very high eleration and above-average speed, so he needed to work on these aspects as well and make them exceptional enough to be able to use them on a field with professionals.

    Yet, even though all of these could be done at an academy, no professional academy would allow such specific training of one particr football trainee, not to mention that if he disyed a more than above-average talent, they would try to tie him down with shady contracts... but it was mostly because he felt that apart from the technology that they had, there wasn''t anything else they could offer him that he couldn''t get anyway.

    Also being with a bunch of annoying kids did not appeal to him so he never joined a football academy and instead spent most of his time doing solo training.

    He also participated inpetitive matches whenever he could to check how much he had improved as well as to keep himself sharp.

    Since then, it had been eleven years and finally, he couldn''t hold in the urge to not y on a big field with a crowd.

    He desired professional football and he felt that he was ready to step on a field and strive for his goal.

    The football trials came up at the right time and he had been preparing and it was finally the day.

    As soon as he caught his breath, he stood up and quickly began his run back to his house, his desire for a cold shower to cool off his body almost palpable.

    So, in the early morning of Los Angeles, he made his way back to his house at a constant pace, doing his best to keep his breathing at a constant pace.

    It took him forty-five minutes before he got back on the driveway to his house, just in time to see a ck 2014 Mercedes S63 AMG ambling out of the garage.

    The car stopped as the driver had noticed him in the driveway and Jason slowed his jog to a walk as he approached the passenger''s side of the car.

    "Good morning, Aunt Daphne," he greeted as the window of the passenger''s side slid down.

    "Good morning," came a reply from the beautiful woman seated in the driver''s seat.

    Daphne was a young African woman with milk chocte-like skin, dark brown eyes shielded by a pair of sses, and long curly ck hair. She was dressed formally in a ck skirt-suit and was on her way to work.

    "What''s with the Men in ck look?" Jason asked with a raised eyebrow and a slight smirk.

    "I look cool, right?" Daphne responded with a smile of her own and a little pose.

    "Well, you don''t look too ugly today," Jason replied with an even wider smirk as there was no way in hell that he would admit that she actually looked beautiful.

    "...!" Daphne looked at him, stunned, with a mock pained look on her face, and a little pout.

    "... It''s today right, your trials?" she said again with a little nce at the digital clock on the dashboard.

    "Yeah, it''s today," Jason had caught her ncing at the clock and realized that she had to go soon as she was already runningte for her job.

    "Sorry, I won''t be able toe along, I have to...!" she began to exin, but Jason quickly cut her off.

    "I know, I know, and besides, I''m not a little kid that needs my aunt toe and cheer for me at some kiddies league," Jason quickly cut her off before she went into an apologetic speech that told tales of woe.

    "... Ok, good luck, I really have to go," Daphne answered after a slight pause and another nce at the digital clock.

    "Yeah, have a good day," Jason said as he stepped back to allow Daphne to drive off.

    "Yeah!" Daphne did a little shout and wave as she stepped on the elerator and drove out into the road.

    Jason watched the car until it disappeared around the corner and began to walk into the house with a slight smile on his face.

    Due to a certain mental condition that had arisen because of the trauma from his parents death, he had had a problem disying and recognizing certain emotions in his past reality, thus he hadn''t had a good rtionship with this aunt of his or with anybody for that matter, but thanks to being able to ovee the trauma in this reality, he had been able to change that... at least a little bit.

    Daphne was his father''s younger sister who also lived along with them in the United States at the time of the ident and she had taken him in when she was just twenty.

    Taking care of him as a child while going to college and ounting school, all while trying to make ends meet, she had done it all, while still not stopping him from pursuing his dream of football and still showering him with love and not ming him for anything.

    In his past reality, he had been too emotionally apathetic to realize all that, so they had a strained rtionship, but this time he had realized all that he had missed previously and had also done his best to get along with her while not troubling her as much as possible and being an adult internally had done its wonders on helping to build a good rtionship with her.

    Now that she had finally finished school and had gotten a good job and was too busy to spend too much time with him, he was not going to get in the way of her building a career, after all, he wasn''t some idiotic and ungrateful kid.

    After Daphne''s ck Mercedes disappeared from view, Jason quickly turned towards the garage door and entered it, shutting it behind him and entering the house from the garage door that led inside the house.

    The door led him to a passageway behind the stairs, and upon entering the house, he made his way up the stairs and to his room at the end of the hallway, removing his shirt on the way, the wetness from his sweat greatly irritating him.

    Without wasting any time, he made it to his room, removed his clothes, and wrapped a towel around himself at record speed before making his way to the bathroom to have a cold shower and wash away his sweat and exhaustion.

 Chapter 3: Arrival At Jesse Owens Stadium

    <h4>Chapter 3: Arrival At Jesse Owens Stadium</h4>

    After having a bath and freshening up, Jason made his way back to his room, and the first thing he did after getting to his room was to check the time.

    ''8:33 am''

    The football trials were to begin at 11 o''clock sharp and taking into consideration that he would have to get ready and still reach the stadium before eleven, he was pretty much alreadyte.

    "Hopefully, there isn''t much traffic today," he murmured hopefully, but he doubted it, the traffic in LA was always a bitch.

    ''All the more reason I have to hurry up,'' he thought to himself and hurried up his dressing.

    He didn''t put much thought into dressing up as he would change to a jersey at the stadium anyway, so he simply threw on a white t-shirt and paired it with a pair of baggy denim jeans before topping it off with white New Bnce sports shoes.

    Immediately he finished dressing up, he took up a sports bag thaty beside his bed and opened it to check if his kit wasplete.

    "Jersey, Check,"

    "Ser boots, check,"

    "Shin guards, check"

    "Socks, check,"

    "Ankle tapes and wrist tapes, check,"

    "Bandage, check"

    "Water bottle, check" he counted to himself to make sure that he wasn''t missing anything that he would need, but it was obvious after checking that he waspletely prepared.

    He quickly zipped up the sports bag and threw it onto his shoulder and charged out of the room, not forgetting to grab his phone and keys as he ran down the stairs and back into the garage.

    Parked at the right side of the garage was a blue 2016 BMW i8 and Jason walked up to it before opening it with the remote key in his hand and throwing his sports bag into the passenger seat before running across to the driver''s side of the car and jumping in and pushing the button to start the hybrid vehicle.

    The car came to life with a low hum and Jason quickly took up his phone and unlocked it to open the remote garage app to open the door of the garage remotely from inside the car.

    The garage door responded and slowly slid open to reveal the driveway.

    As soon as the garage door opened fully, Jason put the car into gear and drove out of the garage slowly.

    When the car fully came out of the garage, he shut the door of the garage remotely before connecting his phone to his car''s sound system via Bluetooth and opening the music app to y music before throwing the phone onto the passenger seat.

    As the rhythmic beat of Afropop began to y softly from the car''s speakers, Jason stepped on the elerator and drove down the driveway before turning into the road and increasing the pace of the car even more as soon as he reached the road.

    He maintained a speed of less than 40 mph while he was still in the residential area, but as soon as he got out onto more wider roads, the car picked up the pace, its humming growing louder the harder Jason pressed on the elerator.

    It wasn''t until 10:23 am that the Jesse Owens Stadium into view and Jason quickly increased his speed a bit more and drove into the stadium''s car park by 10:30 am on the dot.

    He quickly turned off the engine and threw his chair back to make space for himself to change inside the car. Luckily paying almost a hundred grand for a car always guaranteed that the car came with tinted ss windshields, so nobody could see what he was doing inside the car.

    Ten minutester, he came down from the car in a hurry with his sports bag that now contained the clothes he had worn previously and quickly began to walk towards the entrance of the stadium, almost forgetting to lock the doors of the car in a rush.

    Dressed in a white number 7 Real Madrid jersey that matched well with his light brown skin, Jason walked briskly into the stadium, his huge amount of hair bobbing on his head due to his hurried movement and his 6ft frame made for a slightly imposing but hurried look.

    As he walked into the stadium his blue eyes darted around looking for the direction to the football pitch and soon enough, he was on his way to the pitch as it wasn''t his first time here.

    Soon he was on the pitch with a crowd of teenagers, some of whom seemed to be familiar with each other and were discussing among themselves and others not talking with anyone.

    Jason was of course part of thetter group, and he simply went to stand at the edge of the crowd to wait for the coaches and scouts to arrive.

    His eyes swept across the imposing interior of the stadium that was surrounded by a track and he could see various training equipment already set up and waiting for use, as well as a group of people who were sitting on the spectators'' seats with cameras and binocrs and looking slightly interested as they seemed to survey the crowd of teenagers teeming with excitement.

    "So, some of the scouts have already arrived," he murmured to himself as he saw more people arrive and join the group of spectators.

    "Yeah, mate, I reckon some of them are from European teams," anky blonde-haired boy with an Aussie ent seemed to have heard his murmur and responded.

    "Oh," Jason replied with a little smile, but inwardly he already suspected that, so he didn''t care what this dude had to say unless he had confirmed facts.

    He was merely being polite by smiling and responding as if he was surprised and enlightened, while in reality, he couldn''t give a flying fuck about anybody''s suspicions.

    He was here for the football trials to prove himself to the scouts and get signed to a good European team and kickstart his football career and nothing else mattered to him.

 Chapter 4: Trials Begin...

    <h4>Chapter 4: Trials Begin...</h4>

    A group of men dressed in sportswear stepped on the pitch where the crowd of teenagers eagerly awaited the beginning of the trials.

    They were being led by a middle-aged man with a wide body frame and a body that looked well maintained, except for his slightly bulging abdomen that showed signs that depicted the beginning of a pot belly.

    "Can I have your attention please?" he said in a loud voice when he arrived before the crowd with his entourage, but it seemed like he did not need to ask as the crowd of teenagers was already silent and looking at him attentively.

    It was quite strange considering how teenagers usually were, but they seemed to recognize his position and knew that standing out in a bad way during an asion like this would be bad for them so they acted like model citizens and stayed quiet.

    "Good," the middle-aged man nodded to himself as he understood what was going on.

    He liked this feeling of power as it would make things easier for him and he wouldn''t have to hold up a microphone and scream into it just to get his words across.

    "My name is Edward Newgate, but you can call me Coach," Coach Edward began while stroking his almost nonexistent beard.

    ''Interesting name,'' Jason thought with his trademark slight smiling face not disying his inner thoughts.

    "For today, my job is to lead this ser trials, while it is your job to impress me and those well-dressed gentlemen over there," he continued and motioned towards the group of spectators that were watching them very closely.

    Whispers began to sound among the crowd, but Coach Edward paid it no mind and continued speaking,

    "The trials will be held for two days, that is today and tomorrow,"

    "For today, you shall be going through various training drills to check your physical ability and tomorrow, you will partake in trial matches to show off your skills," he exined the context of the football trials to the crowd of teenagers.

    "Due to yourrge number, we shall be splitting you into groups and each group will partake in the avable drills and you will switch with groups that have finished their drills until you all have participated in every drill," he paused after saying this as if wanting his words to sink in and let them know that he would not ept any form of disorder.

    "My friend Luke here will be calling out your names in the groups you have been allocated," he continued after the pause while also gesturing to another middle-aged man who had stepped up and was now standing beside him.

    Without wasting any time or bothering to introduce himself, Luke held a notepad in front of him and immediately began calling names,

    "Leon Cromwell, Marshall D. Teach, Yagami Light, Sung Jin Woo..." he let out a long string of names, and as he did, the recipient of those names stepped out of the crowd and stood on one side without needing to be told.

    "... James Bond, Bruce Wayne, and Jason Bolu," After calling eleven names, Luke finally stopped calling names.

    "All the people called will be in Group A, you are starting with speed drills, James will lead you," Coach Edward took over from Luke and allocated the groups all while gesturing towards another of the sportswear-wearing instructors behind him who had stepped forward after being appointed as the instructor of the first group.

    "Follow me," he said with a nce at the group and began to walk towards the tracks outside of the green pitch.

    Jason was among the first group that trudged behind the allocated instructor, James.

    He didn''t bother trying to talk to any of his fellow group members as he was trying to guess what types of drills he would be subjected to today.

    Since Coach Edward had said that they were starting with speed drills, that probably meant that they would be doing a sprint race, probably individual 100m dashes while the instructor measured the time.

    ''Seems like fun,'' he thought, his body primed and ready for anything that could be thrown at him.

    He had been preparing for this day for years, so there was no way he was not ready to take on mere drills.

    The only thing that could prove a slight problem for him was the match that they would have the next day, though he doubted if there was anybody among the kids here that could outy him, one could never know.

    ''Hopefully, I don''t get terrible teammates,'' he sighed as they arrived at the tracks.

    James took out a stopwatch with his right hand and held a notepad in his other hand, then began giving instructions, and just like Jason had thought they would be doing individual hundred-meter dashes.

    Each one of them would have a chance to run a hundred meters and they had to do it as fast as possible as the time they used to do it would be measured to determine an approximate speed and eleration range.

    "Leon Cromwell will be starting," James called out after exining the objective of the speed drill.

    A teenager who stood at a height of 5ft9 and had blonde hair stepped out in response to his name being called and went to the track and got into the starting position, and so the speed drills started.

    When his turn came, Jason managed toplete the run in 11.3 seconds which was the top speed in his group.

    After speed drills, they had stamina drills next in which they had to run 5km on the tracks.

    This time they all did it together and as he expected, he came first this time as well.

    This already managed to earn him some raised eyebrows from the scouts and different types of gazes from his various group members, but he stayed quiet with a smile and paid no attention to the gazes he was getting from his teammates that were gradually turning negative.

    After all, the football trials were more akin to a war than a joint training session and anyone who stood out too much would easily get noticed and garner some negative feelings from the people he was outperforming.

    It could even lead to alienation during trial matches because they wouldn''t want him to outperform them on the pitch as well.

    ''Hopefully, it doesn''te to that, otherwise, the situation could be a little troublesome,'' Jason thought hopefully.

 Chapter 5: A Hard to Impress Scout

    <h4>Chapter 5: A Hard to Impress Scout</h4>

    The drills that everyone was subjected to included speed drills where they had to run individual hundred-meter dashes, stamina drills where they had to run five kilometers, and agility drills where they had to make their way through arranged cones and obstacles with the ball.

    They also did shooting drills where the yers that weren''t goalkeepers shot long and short-distance balls at the yers that were goalkeepers, as well as a two-touch and one-touch rondo as passing and defending drills.

    At the end of the exhausting drills, a few things could be determined and there were already some teenagers that had caught the eyes of the scouts.

    Jason of course, exceeded everybody else''s performance on the pitch by a fair bit and a lot of the scouts already had their eyes on him.

    They had begun sending messages and making calls to get his information to be able to check his background to facilitate negotiations as soon as possible.

    Despite being a source of interest for the scouts, Jason was already walking off the field after it was determined that the drills were over and that they shoulde back the next day for the trial matches.

    He was raring to go, but even for him, the high-intensity drills were slightly exhausting, especially as he had done his best and not held back the slightest, after all, this wasn''t some fantasy book where he was a protagonist ying pig to eat a tiger.

    This was real life and if he failed to impress the scouts, he wouldn''t be able to be scouted into a good team and be able to kickstart the kind of career he wanted, thus he had put in his best during the drills.

    All that was left was for him to perform well at the trial match on theing day, impress the scouts even further and hopefully get signed by a good team so he could begin ying football in Europe.

    ''I wonder which team scouts those guys are,'' he wondered while ncing at the spectators of their drills, but he couldn''t garner any information from looking at them as they didn''t exactly have billboards above their heads that had the name of the teams they worked for on them.

    Heughed at the funny image that thought had appeared in his mind and turned away as he continued into the stadium''s inner areas.

    There were over fifty people that had participated in the trials and they would soon be looking for somewhere to shower and freshen up.

    Jason doubted that the Jesse Owens stadium had that many showers and since he wasn''t nning to share a bathroom with any other human being that had a p*nis between their legs.

    So he wanted to quickly wash up before the other guys started rushing towards the showers.

    With his sports bag that held his things, he quickly found a shower room and got in to quickly wash up.

    **********

    Meanwhile, back on the field among the stands, a fifty-something-year-old-looking man scrolled and swiped on his iPad, his eyes slightly squinted as he looked at the information that he had requested.

    The man''s name was Rafael Fernandez, and he was a well-known football scout for FC Porto, a top-flight Portuguese team.

    He had been sent on a scouting mission to various countries around the world, but among those countries, he didn''t have any hopes for the USA, as the country was not among any of the countries that produced top talents.

    One only had to look at their national team to know that the USA was among the lowest-producing countries of football talents in the football world. Their football talent pool was so shallow that it was on par with unknown European countries like Lichtenstein, Malta, and others.

    Due to this thinking, he had taken the period that he was supposed to be in the country as a holiday period and would not have evene for the football trial if not because he hadn''t yet decided on what he would do during this self-decided holiday.

    But now, his interest had been slightly aroused by the young African-American boy with a full head of curly hair.

    Rafael remembered noticing him earlier as he was thest one to arrive and he had been wondering if he had mistaken this ce for an audition as his face didn''t lose out to that of an entertainment star''s, but Rafael''s wanton thoughts had dissipated as soon as he had seen him move.

    He watched with rapt attention as Jasonpleted the drills with pinpoint uracy and ease of movement at paces that were only possible to be recreated by professional footballers.

    Even though Rafael had not seen Jason in an actual match, he already had high hopes for him and had quickly requested for Jason''s file, but now that he had gotten it, he couldn''t exactly believe what he was seeing.

    ''He''s a little older than I expected,'' he first thought as he saw Jason''s age of eighteen that made him eligible to y for a professional senior team already.

    "Dropped out of Lion Ser Academy at age seven... No further records of being in a football academy," Rafael read aloud in a low voice, but he couldn''t believe what he was reading.

    ''That kid wasn''t in a football academy?'' he wondered to himself.

    ''... then how did he learn to move like that?''

    ''What kind of training has he been doing to keep himself in tip-top shape for football?'' the questions kept popping up in Rafael''s head, but no answers were forting.

    ''No... in the first ce, how was he allowed to drop off an academy with this level of talent?'' another question popped up in his head, reinforcing his bias toward the football system in this country.

    ''If the talent pool wasn''t very deep in the first ce, yet the few talents that popped up weren''t being trained, how was the football industry supposed to develop in the first ce,'' Rafael wondered stupendously as he put his iPad to the side, no longer looking at the information that had been sent to him concerning Jason.

    ''The kid probably has low game intelligence due to non-systematic training,'' he concurred, not giving up hope on Jason and now eager to see him y in the trial match that was to be held the next day, having already decided that as long as Jason didn''t y too badly, he would scout him.

    Game intelligence could be developed over time, but the main issue was whether a yer had talent or not.

 Chapter 6: Sapphire Blue Eyes

    <h4>Chapter 6: Sapphire Blue Eyes</h4>

    *AACHOOOOO*

    Jason sneezed loudly as he came out of the shower leaving him wondering if he had a cold, ''Maybe I should have showered with warm water instead,'' he thought to himself as he stared at his reflection in the ss door of the shower room.

    Staring back at him was a young African American male with milk-chocte-like skin who looked to be in histe teenage years.

    He had a well-defined upper body, withpact muscr curves in all the right ces, not appearing bulky, and looked quite lean.

    His long curly ck hair that was previously tied in a bun on his head was now loosely hanging from his head, almost reaching mid-back and dripping with water.

    A face without the presence of a beard or mustache and well-defined features that wouldn''t have a problem supporting him to the top if he was in the media entertainment business sat beneath his lush hair, yet the most discerning feature of his face was his sapphire blue eyes that weren''t usually seen in people with his skin color.

    His father was a Nigerian man but had a rare condition of heterochromia in which the eye color of one''s eyes was different from each other, and in his father''s case, he had a brown left eye and a blue right eye.

    This coupled with the fact that his mother was a white American woman with blue eyes somehow made him end up with his distinctive eye color.

    While this was a rare case, it wasn''t an impossibility and there were other people with strange body features like his, or even stranger body features.

    His distinctive eye color always caused people to give him a second nce, and when he was younger, he was a target of bullying, but in both this reality and his previous reality, he had found ways to deal with the issue.

    In his past reality, he had beaten down the bullies that bothered him, but in this reality, he had found more subtle ways to show the kids that he wasn''t to be messed with.

    Thinking back to how he made those kids tap out in submission ande to beg him to leave them alone brought a smile to his face and he chuckled slightly as he turned away from the door and grabbed his sports bag that he had left just outside the shower room and began putting on his clothes.

    The loud noises of conversation andughter from the locker room that was just adjacent to the shower room enlightened him with the fact that the locker room now had people in it and that they would being his way soon caused him to hurry up his dressing.

    The shower room was located next to the locker room to ease ess and it could only be essed through the locker room so as soon as Jason was done dressing up, he hung his sports bag over his shoulder and began walking to the door, while trying to tie his wet hair into a bun.

    Jason swung open the door to the locker and walked in, immediately attracting everyone''s attention as all conversations ceased and they stared at him as he walked into the room.

    "I don''t look like a ghost, do I?" he asked in a joking tone with a smile when he noticed them pausing everything, they were doing to stare at him.

    "Well... I mean, uh... interesting eye color," one of the guys in the room tried to reply but didn''t know what to say so he just stammered out whatever came to mind.

    "I know right, cool passes out there by the way," Jason quickly changed the awkward topic before the atmosphere in the room froze over from the awkward silence.

    "You too bro, how are you good at everything," the guy replied, scratching the back of his head with a dumb smile.

    "I''m not good at everything, my defense skills are not that good," Jasonughed wryly, and it was true.

    He never fancied himself as a defender of any sort so he never did more than the required when it came to defensive training, but he had enough spatial awareness to monitor his environments well enough to intercept a lot of passes so his below average defensive ability never showed unless he was in a defensive one on one situation which didn''t happen very often.

    "Haha, that''s true, we never got to see your defending," another of the guys in the room chimed in.

    "Hey, what position do you y?" yet another guy asked, the room getting livelier as soon as they got over the awkwardness.

    "That depends..." Jason said with a sneaky smile.

    "On what?" the other guys quickly asked curiously, their curiosity set aze by Jason''s half-answer and sneaky smile.

    "It depends on how hot the girls in the stands are," he said with a cultural smile.

    "My man!" the guy who asked the question said immediately while stretching his hand out which Jason immediately replied with a hand swing of his own and they shook and sped each other''s hands whileughing.

    "I''m Jason," Jason introduced himself.

    "Trevor Phillips," the guy replied and let go of Jason''s hands.

    "I''m Nico," another guy introduced himself, and from then on, they all introduced themselves to Jason andughed and joked about a few other things before they started going into the showers one by one to wash up.

    After a few more minutes of conversation, Jason said his goodbyes, left the locker room and began making his way to the parking lot of the stadium, a bit drained by the over-friendliness of the guys in the locker room.

    Normally, he wasn''t an overly friendly person with people, but he figured that he should have a good rtionship with at least a few of those guys as it would only end up beneficial for him if they ended up on the same team theing day.

    Also, Coach Edward hadn''t directly said that they would be allocated into teams by the management, so in case of any surprises, it was better if he was acquainted with a few people.

    With these thoughts in mind, he entered his car, pressed the ignition button, and drove out of the stadium grounds while humming a song, his spirits high.

 Chapter 7: Day 2 of Trials

    <h4>Chapter 7: Day 2 of Trials</h4>

    ***Thursday, 10th January, 2020,***

    "You all will be split into four teams from A to D,"

    "The teams will be matched up against each other randomly and the winners from each matchup will y against each other in a final match,"

    Coach Edwards was exining how the trial matches for the day would be held to the teenagers who were almost boiling over with excitement at the uing matches.

    It was the second day of the football trials, and it was the day when they would be ying the trial matches so that they could show their skills and hopefully catch the eye of one of the scouts.

    The excitement in the air was almost palpable, but the tension was even more so.

    Hidden beneath the excited eyes of the young aspiring footballers was a fear greater than their excitement... a fear of failure.

    A fear that they wouldn''t perform up to par and would be the ones to be rejected by the scouts because the truth of the situation was that, not everyone participating in these trials would be scouted.

    Among these teenagers, there was only one who didn''t have this fear.

    Rather it wasn''t that he didn''t have this fear, but rather that he refused to let this fear show up and affect him in the slightest.

    This person was, of course, Jason.

    It was a big day for him too.

    If he seeded today and got signed to even a mid-tier team in any of the top ten European leagues, then he would have already surpassed the apex of his previous life.

    He had been a pitiful low-ss footballer who had only yed in mostly unknown leagues and the peak of his career was yed in the Japanese J1 league, but even though the Japanese J1 league was the top in its country and arguably one of the top leagues in Asia, it was still far from anywhere near the top European leagues in arguably every aspect.

    But he had put all that behind him and was more focused on the football trials as he already knew that he had done everything he could to prepare and there was nothing else left to do but to get on the pitch and impress and that was what he was nning to do.

    The teams had already been set by the management before that moment so Coach Edward took out a sheet of paper on which the names were written and began calling everyone and allocating them to their various teams as well as handing the teams to each one of his colleagues who would be acting as the coaches of the teams.

    Jason was allocated to Team C, and he walked towards where his team members were gathering around their temporary coach as soon as his name was called while Coach Edward continued calling names.

    As fate would have it, as soon as he caught up with his teammates, he recognized a few faces from the day before.

    "Yo, Nico and Trevor," he called out to the two of them as he made his way in their direction.

    "Looks like we are on the same team," Trevor said with a grin and took Jason''s outstretched hand in a trendy handshake.

    "I already feel pity for the guy that will be marking you," Nico said with a cheeky smile as he swung his arm around Jason''s neck in a half hug.

    "Haha," Jason merely chuckled as they engaged themselves in discussion while waiting for all their teammates to arrive.

    After a few more minutes, their temporary coach who was waiting suddenly pped his hands to get their attention, indicating that everybody had gathered.

    As his only duty for the day was to make substitutions to ensure that every yer had a chance to perform and influence the scouts, he didn''t bother giving a pep talk and simply began to arrange the team ording to the positions of the yers.

    "There are sixteen of you guys so eleven of you will be starting and five of you will being off the bench," he began.

    "Those that will be on the bench shouldn''t lose heart as you will all get to y while those of you in the starting lineup shouldn''t lose your heads and begin to y like headless chickens otherwise you will be substituted," he added before he began toy out the game n and the starting lineup.

    Team C would be ying in the 4-3-3 attacking formation and the starting lineup was,

    GK: Ben Aarons, LB: Trevor Phillips, RB: George Floyd, CBs: Kevin Omar, Carlos Miller, CMs: Rico Pena, Kurt Williams, CAM: Jason Bolu, RW: Jordan Fusch, LW: Nico, ST: Daniel Forsberg.

    Jason was appointed as the captain of the team, and they were given orange bibs which they wore over their jerseys before they marched off to the stands to clear the field for Team A and Team D who would be ying first.

    Before they even got to the stands, teams A and D were already arranging themselves on the pitch, and before even getting to sit, they had already heard the sound of the whistle signaling the match''s start.

    As the team''s captain, Jason felt like it was up to him to lead the team in theing games especially as there was no coach to tell them a game n that they should use, so he quickly started by introducing himself to his teammates and asking about their strengths on the pitch as well as their ying styles so he could connect them properly ande up with a game n.

    After speaking within themselves for a few minutes while watching the ongoing match, Jason was able toe up with a simple n.

    ording to their discussions, the two center backs, Kevin and Carlos had no problems being full-on stoppers and while Trevor was a left back whose speed wasn''t that high enough to outrun wingers, he was reasonably good at throwing long passes, unlike the right back whose asset was his speed.

    The center midfielders, Kurt and Rico imed that they had no problem ying anywhere in the midfield so they could swap positions easily should the need arise, and they could give passes to the wingers as long as they could free themselves from their markers.

    The bigd Daniel was a finisher who had good uracy with both his head and foot.

    With all this information, Jason pondered if they could adopt a game n that was both a mix of a possession and a quick-counter game n where they kept the ball moving around deep while making the opponentse for the ball and as soon as there was a space created, they attacked fast with all the forwards making forward runs into the created space.

    He brought this up with his teammates who didn''t have anything against the n and after a few tweaks, they settled on the n, after which they settled down and watched the match that was going on while waiting anxiously for the time to run out.

 Chapter 8: First Trial Match; Team B vs Team C

    <h4>Chapter 8: First Trial Match; Team B vs Team C</h4>

    *FWEEEEEE!!!*

    The final whistle on the match between teams A and D was blown. The match ended with a score of 5:3 in the favor of Team A and their happiness could be seen on their tired faces as they trudged off the field while unhappiness and even the slightest hint of despair could be seen on the face of the losers.

    They knew that they had lost any further chances of impressing the scouts, unlike their opponents who would still be ying another match.

    Now they could only hope that they had yed well enough in the match to catch the eyes of some of the scouts.

    These were the thoughts and feelings of the losers.

    They were thoughts Jason could see on their faces, but thoughts he never nned to have, and to make sure of this he would y to the best of his abilities while hoping that his teammates did the same and that the game n that they had made before the match worked.

    With a determined face, he walked onto the field with his teammates, and they started arranging themselves on the field ording to their formation while their opponents did the same, less than a minuteter, they were in their positions while waiting for the match to start.

    The matches were to be yed with a thirty-minute per half format with a ten-minute break in between halves.

    The referee for the match put his whistle to his mouth while waiting for the striker of team B to stand over the ball since they had won the coin toss for who was to pass first.

    The striker quickly went to stand over the ball when he saw the referee looking at him and as soon as he did that, he heard the referee blow the whistle indicating the beginning of the match, so he quickly passed back into their half.

    With the match beginning, the three forwards of team C charged into the opponent''s half, chasing after the ball while Jason followed after them with a jog all while watching as they positioned themselves so he could determine the formation in which they were ying.

    Jason could see three yers lining themselves up at the back and while the yers in the midfield were running around and passing the ball to avoid losing the ball, he could still see that there were only four of them in the midfield.

    ''So, a 3-4-3 formation, huh?'' he wondered as he determined the initial shape of the opponent''s team while roaming around in front of the team'' B''s central striker to be able to intercept the ball should ite his way.

    He could see his fellow team midfielders doing the same around the wingers from team B while the defenders stayed backward as ast line of defense should the midfield be broken through.

    The ball kept going around in the opponent''s half for more than a full minute, yet team C''s forwards hadn''t gotten a touch on the ball, so they nced back at Jason and receiving his approval in his gaze, they began to stealthily drop back as discussed, making it seem like they couldn''t get a touch on the ball.

    Team B''s midfielders seemingly realized this and began to be more daring with the ball.

    They started to move forward slowly into the opponent''s half and even began doing some skill moves and going around team C''s forwards, but even after a few more minutes team C still hadn''t opened any space as they patiently waited for team A to attack.

    Finally, the yers of team B couldn''t take the stalemate anymore and their forwards quickly made forward runs while one of the center midfielders did a chip pass over the midfielders toward his team''s forwards.

    The target of the pass was the central striker that Jason was marking.

    Jason couldn''t do anything about the ball that flew over his head and watched as the ball flew towards the central striker who was charging toward team C''s goalpost, but he wasn''t rmed as this was all ounted for in the game n.

    The team B center forward managed to trap the ball and began charging toward the goalpost with the ball at his feet but quickly had to stop as he saw the two center backs in his way.

    He quickly nced at the wings hoping to find someone to get the ball across to, but his wingers were all being kept in check by team C''s fullbacks,

    Before he could decide on where to pass to, Jason had already closed in on him causing him to panic slightly and attempt a dribble past the center backs of team C, but unfortunately, he lost the ball to Kevin who quickly passed the ball to the Carlos who was behind him.

    The team B forwards quickly charged at Carlos, hoping to recover the lost ball, but Carlos passed the ball further back to the goalkeeper, Aarons who didn''t pick up the ball but rather did a chip pass over the right winger of team B to a now free Trevor while all the other members of team C began charging up field towards the into the opponent''s half.

    Trevor did a quick scan of the field and sent the ball flying in the direction of Jordan Fuchs, his team''s right winger who was currently unmarked on the right side of the opponent''s half of the field.

    Jordan noticed the balling his way and trapped it deftly before charging down the field, but before long, he noticed that his pathway was blocked by one of team B''s three center backs.

    Without even trying to dribble past him, he passed the ball back into the central parts of the pitch to a waiting Jason''s feet who had been charging from behind.

    Not wasting any time either, Jason sent the ball rolling behind one of the center backs towards the left wing where a charging Nico was running at full speed to catch the pass.

    Unfortunately, Nico did not control the ball well and the ball almost ended up going out of bounds, but as soon as the ball was under control he changed his direction and moved the ball infield, but the few seconds he had wasted due to his poor control had allowed a defender to catch up and the defender was now blocking his path towards the goal.

    The center back in Nico''s way was trying to slow him down and buy enough time for his teammates to get back on defense, but Nico quickly realized this and passed the ball back in-field towards an arriving Jason.

    Jason approached the ball with his eyes on Daniel Forsberg who was making a run into the box with one of the three center backs hot on his heels while one of the others wasing for Jason himself, so he couldn''t afford to waste time on a second touch as he knew that the defender wouldn''t mind fouling him to prevent a goal, especially since he was only at the edge of the penalty area and not inside the penalty area yet.

    Luckily, Jason had trained hard enough and had enough experience to make sure that he wasn''t out of ideas in a situation like this.

    He calmly approached the ball, swung his right leg behind his left leg, and sent a curling rabona pass into the box at the charging Daniel who flew at the ball with his head in a diving header and sent the ball past the stunned goalkeeper who despite having dived for the ball couldn''t reach it in time due to his slightly dyed response at the sudden attack.

    GOAAALLLL!!!

 Chapter 9: Second Goal Quickfire

    <h4>Chapter 9: Second Goal Quickfire</h4>

    "Oh, my days!" a stunned Rafael Hernandez almost screamed in shock as he saw the ball flying from the diving header of the kid named Daniel Forsberg into the back of the.

    ''What is that kid... that level ofposure...?'' he thought his eyes almost popping out at the sight he hadn''t expected to see.

    Rafael had been watching the match with keen eyes right from the moment that the first whistle was blown and had watched how the team that he had higher hopes for was being yed with and the yer that he thought to be the most talented hadn''t even gotten a touch on the ball almost five minutes into the match.

    But that sudden counter threw all the bias he hading into the match out the window.

    It was quick and simple but efficient.

    There was none of that fancy showboating that filled the previous match where all the yers were doing all sorts of tricks and wasting goal-scoring opportunities.

    It was a simple pass, pass, shoot and score moment, and right in the center of that counter and pulling the strings was the kid he had his eyes on.

    The kid had managed to find someone on each of his two one-touch passes and one of those passes was a rabona pass that ended up as an assist.

    That was something that even professionals who had been ying for a few years on the big stage would have a hard time doing, not to mention his quick thinking and theposure to actually pull it off in that situation.

    "Cut out that clip and send it to the head scout immediately," Rafael quickly said in Portuguese to his assistant who was holding up a camera and recording the match.

    "Quickly! Before the match continues," he urged even further as he wanted to show his observation to the head scout and receive permission to pull out all stops and make sure to sign Jason and he knew that the head scout would agree with his idea as soon as he saw that video.

    "Yes sir," his assistant quickly replied, not bothering to ask any questions as he knew what his boss was thinking.

    ***On the pitch***

    Daniel and Jason shared a high five each other while the other teammates wereing from behind towards them.

    "Broooo, that pass man," Trevor said with a smile as he hugged Jason from behind.

    "Yeah man, mad pass," Nico said arriving as well and doing a high five with Jason as well.

    "Haha,e on guys, let''s go back," Jason chuckled, but his eyes were smiling happily.

    "Alright, alright, just send me a couple of passes like that bro, I also need to impress the scouts," Jordan said with a hopeful smile as they began to return to their half.

    "You got it pal, just make sure you''re open," Jason said with a thumbs up.

    "Hey, me too," Nico chimed in.

    "Let''s gooo, you guys are holding up y," Trevor quickly put an end to the conversation and began to drag Nico back into their half.

    Both teams arranged themselves back in their halves and the whistle was blown again signifying the continuation of the match.

    *FWEEEEEE*

    The center forward of team B quickly sent the ball back into his half before making a run forward into team C''s half, hoping for a quick attack and his team also had the same desire.

    The center midfielder who received the ball sent the ball towards the right winger who quickly charged past Rico before he could be closed down, but Rico didn''t give up and quickly gave chase, hoping to take the ball back.

    The team B''s right winger could hear Rico on his heels, but he didn''t pay any attention to that as he had to deal with Trevor who was in his way.

    Instead of trying to dribble past Trevor, he sent the ball infield to the center forward while not stopping his run and making it past Trevor and receiving the ball back from the center forward who had sent the ball behind Trevor, seamlessly executing a one-two.

    After getting past Trevor, the right winger began cutting infield and entered the penalty area before facing off against Carlos who stood in his way.

    He did a couple of stepovers and tried to get past Carlos, but Carlos wasn''t buying into his tricks and stayed unmoving, shielding his path to the goal.

    Running out of options because he could hear Trevor closing in, he did a few more stepovers to create space and sent a grounded cross at the arriving left winger, but before the ball could reach the kicking foot of the left winger, George, the right back of team C slide-kicked the ball out of y for a corner.

    The yers quickly arranged themselves into the box for a corner while Jason quickly ran to Jordan and whispered in his ear,

    "If they don''t kick the ball out of y, then this would end up being a good counter chance,"

    "If that happens, just make sure you''re free and running towards their goal, we should be able to get the ball to you."

    Jordan nodded his head at Jason''s suggestion and went to stand outside the penalty area hoping for a goal-scoring chance while Jason headed into the box along with the other team members.

    *Fweeeeee*

    The referee blew the whistle, and the ball was sent into the box.

    The center forward of team B jumped for the ball and tried to send the ball into the goalpost, but Carlos managed to reach the ball instead and sent the ball back towards the open field towards Jordan who happened to be in that direction.

    Jordan quickly trapped the ball with his chest before bringing it to his feet deftly before turning towards the goal of team B and charging forward, his teammates and opponents on his heels.

    There were still three yers that he had to get through before he could be through to the goal post though, so he didn''t run straight at them and headed down the open space on the right of the field, but the yers quickly gave chase and changed their directions to try and cut him off and soon enough, the path down the right side of the pitch was blocked.

    Wasting no time, Jordan quickly nced and saw that support had arrived from his team and quickly sent the ball infield toward Jason and kept running.

    Jason approached the ball rolling in his direction at a quick pace with the aim of sending the ball back at Jordan, but due to Jordan''s over-eagerness, he had run past everybody and was now offside, so Jason looked for another person to pass to and quickly saw Kurt who wasing from behind him and Nico who was running towards the left wing but still a bit far away and made a quick decision.

    With a meaningful nce at Kurt, he still approached the rolling ball and made as if to kick ball, but stepped over it instead, leaving the ball rolling in Kurt''s direction, who quickly sent the ball flying past the midfield and at the left wing at Nico who was still onside.

    Nico controlled and sent the ball forward with his first touch, not wasting any time bearing down on the goal from the left side of the pitch.

    At this moment, it was a three-on-one against team B''s goalkeeper. Nicoing with the ball from the left wing as well as Jason and Jordaning from the middle and right respectively.

    With every push of the ball, Nico approached the goal and as soon as he entered the box he sent a grounded pass across the box with Jason rapidly approaching the iing cross.

    The keeper quickly came out of his goal and ran at the ball trying to make himself look big and cause Jason to fire the ball off target, but Jason merely feinted to shoot and stepped over the ball again.

    The ball went further across and ended up at Jordan''s feet and he wasted no time in slotting the ball into the open post.

    GOALLLLLL!!!

 Chapter 10: Halftime Argument

    <h4>Chapter 10: Halftime Argument</h4>

    Jordan ran and did a sliding jubtion after his goal, while the team members of team C followed after him.

    After a quick exchange of hugs and high-fives, Jason quickly dragged them back to their half of the pitch so that the match could continue.

    Team A quickly kicked off once again, now even more desperate for goals, but not losing their cool anymore as they were now two goals behind in less than ten minutes since the match started.

    They slowed down the pace of their attacks and tried ying a more possessive gamey, but Team C''s carefully arranged defense and previously nned defense measures stood strong and while they got some shots away, they weren''t any closer to scoring a goal.

    Meanwhile, team C stayed with their possession cum quick counter gamey and almost punished Team B with two more goals, but due to the heroics of the goalkeeper andck of focus from the Team C forwards the score remained 2:0 until the twenty-eight minute when George had failed to control a pass from Kurt and the left winger of Team B snatched the ball from him and began to head for the goal while cutting in from the wing.

    Aarons, the goalkeeper quickly saw the approaching left winger and came out to throw him off, but the left winger instead waited until the goalkeeper was close enough and tried to curve the ball around him instead.

    The ball went past Aarons and headed toward the goal but ended up hitting the goal post anding back out, but the center forward of team B was there to catch the rebound and send it to the back of the, bringing the score to 2:1 just before halftime.

    After finally getting a goal, team B tried to use their momentum to get another goal and sent shots flying at the goal, but Team C held on till the referee blew the whistle signifying halftime.

    *FWEEEEEE*

    The yers stopped y and trudged off the field after hearing the whistle with each team going to different locations to rest for their ten-minute break.

    On team C''s side, some of the yers wereforting George as he was the one who had made the mistake that had led to team B scoring while the rest of them were drinking water and debating with the five substitutes about the yers that woulde off the team.

    Jason wasn''t even counted among those with the potential to be substituted as he was obviously the best yer on the team despite having not scored a goal in the match yet, not to mention that he was the captain of the team, so no one on the team even brought his name up when they were debating the matter.

    Unfortunately, due to the nature of this team and match, there were almost none of the people on the team who wanted to be subbed off the team and this caused the back and forth to develop until the point where it almost became a fight.

    Daniel and Jordan had decided to give up their spots as they had already scored and felt that they had disyed enough on the field to get offers from some of the scouts, plus if they ended up winning the game, which seemed highly possible with the way that they were ying, they would get to y another match and be able to disy themselves even further.

    Unfortunately, the other yers who hadn''t scored didn''t have that kind of emotional security and were not keen on giving up their ying time and neither did the substitutes who hadn''t even stepped on the pitch, after all, no one knew if they would end up winning the game.

    Jason saw what was happening but did not interfere as none of them mentioned his name.

    He was also here for a reason and that was not to y babysitter for the kids who were on his team.

    The only reason why he had even bothered setting up a game n before the match began was so that his team could have a fighting chance and could y better which in turn would allow for his talents to shine through.

    This team was temporary and there was no point in building any emotional attachments with anybody here, not that it was easy for him to do that anyway, after all, due to his strange mental state, he was always a scarily rational person... most of the time.

    In the end, after a long debate that took up most of their ten-minute break, it was decided that Daniel, Jordan, George, Carlos, and Kurt would be substituted, and the five substitutes woulde on into the match and this ended up bringing up a different problem.

    The five substitutes didn''t y the same positions as the positions that had been freed up so it was inevitable that the formation would have to be revised and there would have to be changes in the game n, but there was almost no time left, so Jason quickly interjected and made the necessary changes to the formation before they erupted in another useless battle of words and rights.

    The five yersing in were Ond(ST), Jerry(CM), Daniel(CDM), Terrence(CB), and Jayden(RB), which didn''t exactly match up with the positions that were opened up, so Jason decided to y on the right wing instead while having one of the midfielders take over his position.

    That was all he had time to do before they ran out of time and had to get back on the pitch, so he just told them to focus more on defense and hold out so that they could win the game, but he could tell from the looks in some of his teammates that they wouldn''t be listening to his advice.

    ''Their loss,'' he thought to himself as he walked back on the field and moved to his new position.

    He had been watching every one of the yers who were here for the trial and had determined that there didn''t seem to be any yer that was better than he was, so he was going to let loose in theing second half of the match without caring if they won or not.

    The only reason why he had merely stuck to just making passes and nothing else was because he knew that the youths here were very anxious about their chances... desperate even.

    He wasn''t willing to take his chances and annoy them by ying them in circles, thus incurring their wrath and causing them to send some very dangerous tackles his way.

    This was why he had stayed simple and not even done a simple step over and had simply passed the ball as soon as he saw a yering towards him.

    It was all to make them lose their guard around him and he was nning to reap the rewards of his actions in the second half, especially since his original style of y was more devastating on the wings.

 Chapter 11: A Wasteful Striker and a Turn of Events

    <h4>Chapter 11: A Wasteful Striker and a Turn of Events</h4>

    *FWEEEEE*

    The new striker, Ond who was standing over the ball kicked off by passing the ball back to Rico who then passed the ball to the right wing where Jason was.

    Jason saw the left winger rushing towards him and waited patiently before slotting the ball coolly through his legs when he was close enough, before stepping past him to recover the ball and kicking it deftly to the left side of the field where Nico who had made a run into the open space was.

    Nico quickly trapped the ball with his left leg before feeding it forward with his right leg past the midfielder who hade to block him, freeing himself from his man and making a run into the central parts of the field as that was where he had seen space, but before long, he saw the center backs of team B closing in on him.

    He didn''t want to pass back to Ond as he was sure that he would be blocked by the center midfielders, but when he was thinking that he would have to try dribbling past the defenders, he saw Jason running into the open right wing towards the edge of the opponent''s penalty box and he quickly sent the ball high and across into his path.

    Jason who was making the run saw the balling his way as well as one of the three center backs who was close by, but he kept running after the ball while taking note of the defender who wasing from behind.

    As soon as the ball came into range, he didn''t try to trap the ball, but waited until the ball was almost on the floor before using a Ronaldo-style back chop to send the ball about a meter behind him, surprising and sending the defender flying forward and freeing himself from the defender for a few seconds

    ...or at least till he got back up.

    With the defender out of the way, Jason cut into the box and sent a pass at the approaching Ond who was free enough to take a shot at goal.

    Ond put power behind his right foot and swung heavily at the ball aiming for a corner of the ball, but he somehow mis-kicked and sent the ball flying over and away from the goal stunning everybody from both teams as well as everyone in the stands.

    "What a terrible end to a very good attack," Rafael murmured in the stands, and everyone around him who could hear his voice agreed with him with some of the more biased scouts instantly crossing out Ond''s name from the list of yers to approach.

    On the field, Ond, with his hands sped together looked apologetically at Jason who was finding it hard to keep an annoyed expression from showing up on his face.

    He just shook his head, turned back, and jogged back out of the penalty box while grumbling inwardly to himself,

    ''There goes my assist stat.''

    He had revealed himself for nothing and would now be watched especially by the opposing team.

    Not that it meant muching for yers at their level, but it was still going to be annoying having to deal with more aggressive defensive tactics than normal.

    "Well, no matter," he sighed as he watched the goalkeeper fetch the ball for a goal kick.

    The goalkeeper took the goal kick and sent the ball over everyone''s heads into the midfield, prompting a challenge for the ball between both team''s yers.

    Team B was the one that ended up with the ball after and they kept the ball among themselves with well-ced passes.

    From then on it was a back-and-forth between both teams until the seventh minute of the second half when Jason received a pass from Daniel and he immediately took off down the wings, shaking off his man and creating the space for an attack.

    His teammates didn''t need to think much and quickly went after him to support him, quickly freeing themselves up to be able to receive a pass, but Jason wasn''t paying attention to them and was now facing off the same defender who had been after him in the previous attack.

    Seeing the look on the defender''s face that said that he wouldn''t hesitate to go after his legs if he tried any fancy moves, Jason simply fed the ball past him as if he were making a pass and circled around the yer with his high eleration and getting behind the yer to receive his own pass.

    Upon receiving his own pass, he charged down the now-open right wing, but the defender that he had just passed wasn''t giving up on retrieving the ball and quickly gave chase while making sure he stayed on Jason''s left so that he could block any attempt of Jason cutting in-field with the ball.

    Jason didn''t pay any attention to him until he got to the edge of the penalty box where his body suddenly twisted as if he was going to do another back chop.

    The defender seeing his motions and not wanting to fall prey twice to the same trick, quickly did his best toe to a stop and while he was almost sent stumbling, he managed to control himself to the point where he was still within tackleable range of Jason.

    But instead of Jason doing the back chop that he was expecting, all Jason ended up doing was using his right heel to slow down the ball before doing a body feint and charging back down the right wing and into the right side of the box.

    The defender wasn''t able to keep up with Jason''s tricky movement and was sent to the floor again by Jason who didn''t even bother watching him stumble and was already in the box before he sent a grounded ball across the wing, intending for the ball to go across to Nico.

    Nico saw the iing ball and approached the ball while already correcting his body position so he could hit it first time, but just before he could reach the ball Ond rushed past him and hurled himself at the ball in a sliding kick, sending it past the goalkeeper and towards the goal.

    *CLANG!*

    Unfortunately, the ball hit the bottom left goal post before rolling out of y surprising everyone and sending out groans of annoyance from his teammates, but there was no one on the team on the team more infuriated on the team than Jason who had had his almost surefire assist wasted again by someone he didn''t even intend the ball for.

    A disgusted look appeared in his eyes, and he didn''t even pay attention to Ond''s attempts at looking apologetic as he just jogged out of the box for the goal kick.

    This time the goalkeeper took the goal kick by passing directly to one of the defenders from his team and that yer quickly sent the ball forward trying to begin an attack.

    Team B had already been shaken by the two attacks that almost ended up as goals if not for the striker who didn''t seem to have his shooting boots at the moment, so they attacked with higher intensity and a renewed vigor, hoping to prate and get an equalizing goal before team C could score first and their efforts paid forth in the twelfth minute.

    Team B was on an attack from the right wing and was slowly building up with precise passes until the right back of team Cmitted to a tackle and ended up leaving open space behind him which was quickly taken advantage of, and an inside pass was made into the open space which was met by a first-time cross from the left winger of team B into the penalty box of team C.

    The striker of team A as well as Terrence, the CB from team C both jumped for the ball, but the striker luckily ended up reaching the ball first and headed the ball towards the upper corner of the goal.

    Even though Aaron managed to dive for the ball and even touched it with the tip of his fingers, the ball still ended up at the back of the.

    GOALLLL!!!

    2 : 2

    Team B had equalized despite being two goals down previously and their attitude after Team C kicked off was very attack-intensive as they were currently the ones with the momentum and most of the team members of team C had lost theirposure.

    Before long disaster struck again for team C just three minutester when Terrence brought down a yer from team B down in the penalty box with the whistle going off for a penalty.

 Chapter 12: End of First Trial Match

    <h4>Chapter 12: End of First Trial Match</h4>

    "Fucking hell," Jason murmured after seeing Terrence give away a penalty because of a terrible tackle that definitely didn''t have the aim of retrieving the ball from the opponent.

    The yers of team C quickly went up to the referee to try to argue that it wasn''t a penalty, but the referee didn''t pay them any attention as he had seen the tackle very clearly and knew that it was a penalty.

    He was even quite annoyed by the shamelessness of the yers who tried to make him change his decision when they had also seen that it was clearly a penalty.

    No matter the words the yers tried to use to evade the penalty, the referee stuck with his decision, and the ball was ced on the penalty spot for the penalty kick.

    It was the right winger of team B who was also the yer that was tackled that stood over the penalty.

    He did a slow run-up to the ball before kicking the ball powerfully toward the bottom left side of the goal.

    The ball flew powerfully before clipping the goalpost slightly and flying into the back of the while Aarons stood rooted to the spot.

    GOALLLL!!!

    The score was now 3 : 2 with Team B in the lead and things weren''t looking good for Team C at all as it looked like they were going to lose a match that they were previously leading.

    In this kind of time, the captain of the team was supposed to step up and try to motivate his teammates, but Jason wasn''t going to do it.

    He wasn''t anyone''s babysitter and was already hard-carrying this team enough as it was so he didn''t feel the need to over-stress himself any further to motivate the team especially when he had warned them beforeing into the second half to focus more on defense, but they had ignored him.

    But even though he wasn''t going to step up and be a motivational speaker, he also wasn''t ready to give up on the match, and to do that, he needed there to be at least someone on the team who hadn''t given up on the match as well.

    His eyes quickly surveyed all of his teammates'' faces before managing to find three faces with a fire to win still present in their eyes.

    Those three yers were Nico, Jerry, and Daniel.

    With support from those yers at least, this match wasn''t over yet, Jason thought to himself as he took the ball to the middle of the field for the kick-off to resume y.

    The match resumed with team C kicking off and ying a possessive game among themselves and trying not to lose the ball, but team B which was now in the lead wasn''t nning on giving them that chance and they pressed hard with at least three yers running for the ball at almost every moment.

    Even though they ended up losing possession, team C still did their best to stay tight at the back and not concede any goals but at the same time, most of their attack attemptscked luster.

    Team B managed to get some shots away, but the score remained 3 : 2 until the twenty-sixth minute of the second half when Team B was on the attack, and due to a miscalcted pass, the ball ended up with Daniel from Team C who quickly passed to Jerry.

    Jerry didn''t hesitate to look for Jason who was the person who led most of the attack attempts of the team as he knew that with Jason on the team, there was still a chance.

    Just as he had thought, Jason was already making a run forward while looking in his direction and calling for a pass.

    Jerry quickly sent a high through pass over the backline into Jason''s path while Jason skipped past thest man to run after the pass.

    He quickly trapped the ball and started running towards the goalkeeper as there was no yer in his way since the defenders had been ying a highline so the only person he would have to contend with was the goalkeeper.

    The goalkeeper of team B quickly approached, not waiting in his goal for Jason to reach the most ideal ce to take a shot, but unknown to him, Jason wasn''t nning to take the shot in the first ce.

    After receiving the pass from Jerry, Jason had noticed that he wasn''t the only person who had gotten past all the defenders.

    Nico had also escaped his marker and was approaching from the left side of the field as well, so Jason pushed the ball till he was close enough to the goalkeeper before faking a shot sending the goalkeeper flying the wrong way before circling around the goalkeeper who was on the floor and passing the ball into Nico''s path for him to slot into the.

    Nico didn''t fail and smoothly passed the ball into the back of the before going over to hug Jason to thank him for the assist.

    GOALLLL!!!

    3 : 3

    Team C erupted in cheers after seeing that they had managed to equalize just four minutes to the end of the match while Team B members were disappointed that they had lost their lead, but Jason wasn''t interested in wasting time as they had only merely equalized and were not leading the game so he dodged the hug and went to grab the ball out of the before jogging back to the midfield and cing the ball there for team B to kick off.

    The match resumed again and this time it was the turn of Team C to attack while Team B was doing their best to stay solid at the back.

    Team C members had finally understood that Jason was the orchestrator of all their attacks, so they made sure to give him the ball whenever they were in possession while he tried to send the ball forward to create a scoring chance but was having a hard time doing that as all the forwards of team C were being double marked, except for Ond.

    Jason didn''t trust Ond enough with the ball to believe that Ond could escape his marker and then score a goal, so he would end up passing back to the midfield before his two markers became too aggressive.

    This went on till the twenty-ninth minute and once again Jason was with the ball just outside the right corner of the penalty area with his path into the penalty box being blocked by two yers, but this time Jason wasn''t looking for an open pass, but rather looking to create a path to the goal as he knew that it was now or never.

    He already saw the goalkeeper standing towards the left side of the goal post and he intended to punish him for that, so he waited patiently outside the ball while flicking the ball from foot to foot before suddenly darting to his left as if he was going infield, surprising his markers and managing to create a little space.

    With the little space he had managed to create, he quickly swung his foot powerfully and sent a curved shot with his left foot towards the top right corner of the post.

    The keeper who had been standing towards the left of the goalpost tried to dive for the ball, but the ball flew past his outstretched palms before nestling into the top corner of the.

    GOALLL!!!

    3 : 4

    Team C had taken the lead just before the final whistle.

    Jason looked at the ball that was in the with happiness and a bit of awkwardness.

    He was happy that he had scored and potentially won the game for his team and he wanted to jubte, but this was a trial match he was doing with people he mostly didn''t know and there were no fans in the stands so it felt kind of awkward to jubte, but before he could think any further, he was swept off his feet by his teammates who had jumped on him and were now almost squashing him like a pancake under their collective weight.

 Chapter 13: Second Trial Match; Team A vs Team C

    <h4>Chapter 13: Second Trial Match; Team A vs Team C</h4>

    *FWEEEEEE*

    The final whistle had been blown almost immediately after Team B had kicked off and the match hade to an end with Team C having won the game with four goals as opposed to Team B''s three goals.

    Both teams trudged off the field with one side distraught while the other side joyous and they both went to the stands.

    Jason went to sit in the stands with his team and picked up a water bottle from his bag before chugging down more than half the content as though the match he had just yed wasn''t as intense as some of the professional games he had yed in his previous reality, it was more nerve-wracking than ever, but now that the match was over, he was relieved.

    With 2 assists and a goal as well as his level of involvement in the game, he knew that even if he didn''t y the next game, he was still going to be guaranteed some scouting options unless the scouts watching didn''t like his face, but he didn''t think something like that would happen.

    One of the coaches came to where Jason and his teammates were and told them that they had an hour to rest before their match against team A which would be the finale of the football trials.

    One hourter, team C and A were back on the field and ready to go at each other.

    Team C''s starting yers were all the same as the yers who started thest match except for one exception.

    Jason was on the bench this time and starting in his ce was Jerry. Jason picked this guy to rece him as he suddenly didn''t feel like starting the match against Team A.

    He knew that those guys from team A would put more focus on him if he yed and he wouldn''t be as free to y as he wanted if that was the case, so he''d rathere in as a substitute in the second half when the yers that would be marking him would be exhausted.

    The match started with team C being the one to kick off.

    They passed the ball among themselves while looking for an opening to get in behind the defenders, but Team A stood strong and did not leave any open space, and before long, team C lost the ball.

    This became a back-and-forth between both teams with passes moving around and the asional shot, but a goal didn''te until the 13th minute.

    Team C was on the attack once again while passing the ball smoothly and concisely among themselves in the opponent''s half of the field when Jerry suddenly noticed Nico shaking off his marker and making a cutting run inside while sending a meaningful nce his way.

    Jerry didn''t disappoint and sent a swift grounded pass into the space between the defenders while Nico appeared behind them to receive the pass while cutting into the box with a smooth flick of his foot not wasting time trapping the ball.

    The defenders from team A quickly gave chase, but they weren''t able to do much as Nico was already approaching the goalkeeper.

    With a curling shot around the goalkeeper, the ball ended in the back of the and the score was now 1 nil in favor of team C.

    After that goal, it was like the floodgates had been opened and goals started flying in from both sides.

    Team A first equalized from a corner that was headed in by one of their CB''s in the 16th minute, then Team C scored another goal from a pass that had found Daniel in the box.

    He had made a turn while holding off his marker and then firing the ball into the back of the making the score 2 : 1 and putting his team back in the lead in the 18th minute, but team A wasn''t giving up on the game and put another ball in from a cross to the striker who headed the ball past the goalkeeper and into the back of the in the 21st minute.

    Team C''s third goal came from George who had fired in a powerful grounded ball into the goal from outside the penalty area in the 25th minute.

    Team A''s right winger had escaped from Trevor in the 29th minute before cutting into the box and using a couple of stepovers to escape from Kevin before firing the ball past Aarons and equalizing for his team just before halftime.

    Jason was watching all this with a stunned look in the stands as he hadn''t expected his team to be able to keep up with this barrage of goals from team A and even the one taking the lead first, but more importantly, he could see that both teams had given up on defense and were only looking to outscore the opponents which was why there was way too much space for both teams to get into and score against the opponent.

    Whichever team lost its attacking touch first would lose with the way the match was going and he was hoping that it wouldn''t be his team, but while he was thinking the referee blew the whistle signifying halftime and the yers walked off the field to rest before the match continued.

    This time there wasn''t any argument on how the substitutions would go as they had already settled the matter before the match even started.

    Ond would being in for Daniel, Trevor would being off for Jayden, Terrence would being on for Carlos, and Nico would being off for Jason, and all the substitutions except for Jasoning on for Nico would be done at halftime.

    Jason didn''t want to be subbed in yet, so he had told Nico to hold on till the 10th minute in the second half and Nico wasn''t going to reject more ying time, so he didn''t mind.

    Soon ten minutes were over, and the yers went back on the field for the second half with team A kicking off in the second half.

 Chapter 14: Second Half Substitute

    <h4>Chapter 14: Second Half Substitute</h4>

    Immediately after the second half started, the Team A yers charged into Team C''s half of the field and oppressed them heavily with the ball while trying to find a goal-scoring chance.

    It seemed that the ten minutes of break didn''t cool off their attacking momentum and by the third minute they took the lead for the first time.

    The yers passed the ball cleverly among each other until they somehow passed the ball past the defenders and the striker ended up in front of Aarons with enough space to take a shot and he didn''t disappoint.

    He scored and put Team A in the lead for the first time since the match started, but Team A wasn''t satisfied and immediately pressed heavily on Team C after they had kicked off until they snatched the ball back from them and began their attack.

    Soon enough, the ball was passed to the right winger of team A who dribbled past Jayden on the wings before sending a grounded cross into the penalty area towards the striker who shot it first time and sent the ball smashing into the back of the, scoring an hattrick and putting his team two goals ahead in the 7th minute of the second half.

    Jason in the stands watched the ball smash into the back of the and sighed before standing up and beginning to warm up as he would soon being on for his team.

    By the 10th minute, Jason was standing on the sidelines while waiting for the ball to go out of y so he coulde on while intently watching his team as they were currently the ones with the ball and attacking in team A''s half.

    Kurt found Ond with a cross into the box from the right side of the field and Ond jumped up high to get his head on the ball.

    Luckily, he was able to get his head on the ball and direct the ball towards the goal.

    The keeper dived for the ball but wasn''t able to get a touch and the ball flew past him only to clip the crossbar and bounce back into y stunning everybody, but before anybody could react, Ond was back on the ball and quickly shot the rebound into the open goal with great power as if he feared that he would lose yet another goal-scoring chance

    With his goal, he brought his team one goal closer to an equalizer.

    5 : 4 was the current score.

    Ond quickly took the ball from the and began jogging back to the midfield as he recognized that this was no time to be jubting while Nico headed to the sidelines.

    Jason and Nico exchanged a high five before Jason ran onto the field and took position on the left wing while waiting for kickoff.

    The match kicked off again after a few seconds but this time instead of attacking, team A seemed to be content with passing the ball around to each other in their half, no longer taking the initiative to attack, but team C didn''t think much of this and began pressing heavily to get the ball.

    Their heavy pressing paid off less than a minuteter and they were soon back with the ball, but team A was now ying with all yers behind the ball.

    They had literally "parked the bus" and were willing to wait it out for the remaining 18 minutes or so that remained of the match since they were already winning.

    Team C tried and tried again to break through but there were just too many yers doing their best to get in their way and after wasting ten minutes trying unsessfully to break through, they were now trying to shoot from outside the box as soon as there was space.

    Unfortunately, even with that, there was still no sess until the 24th minute of the second half when Jason had just received the ball, but instead of passing, he charged down the left wing.

    One of the midfielders tried doing a standing tackle to retrieve the ball but as soon he stretched his leg, Jason flicked the ball forward a little with the outside of his right foot before flicking it with even more strength with the inside of his right foot through the legs of the yer.

    stico!

    After getting past the first yer cleverly, two yers approached speedily, seeing him as a threat while the yer he had just got past quickly recovered and gave chase, but Jason didn''t give up after seeing a space between the two approaching yers.

    As soon as the yers were close enough, he rolled the ball towards his left with his right leg going over the ball before flicking the ball with the outside of his right foot past the two defenders and jumping between them after the ball.

    Reverse stico!

    The two yers were stunned by the sudden move but quickly tried kicking and grabbing at Jason who had just gotten past them.

    They weren''t able to grab his clothes because he shook them off, but one of the yers managed to kick him and sent him stumbling, but while almost falling, he used his hands to try to stabilize himself enough to get a pass away infield before finally falling.

    The ball he''d passed ended up in front of Rico who was just outside the penalty area and Rico wasted no time in pulling the trigger and sending the ball toward the goal.

    yers from team A lunged for the ball and one of them managed to get his leg to it and deflected it but luckily the deflection helped send the ball past the goalkeeper and into the back of the.

    Jason pumped his fist even while on the floor as he saw the ball fall into the back of the beforeying down on the floor to catch his breath, but his teammates weren''t nning on letting him rest as Rico jumped onto him before the others followed suit while he was still on the floor squashing him like a pancake yet again.

    ''Bruh, I wasn''t even the one that scored,'' he thought almost tearfully as he felt their sweat-filled bodies pressed against him.

    "Stop guys, I''m dying here," he almost screamed feeling very ufortable with the sensation of humans with poles between their legs pressed against him.

    Finally, after almost suffocating him to death, they stood up and began to make their way back for the kick.

    Team A quickly kicked off looking to get a leading goal and they began to attack once again, but it was team C who had the momentum right now and they pressed heavily and won the ball back and were soon on the attack once again.

    With the aid of his team, the ball quickly found Jason''s legs once again, and he didn''t waste any time charging toward his opponent''s goal as soon as he had the ball, but he was once again faced with three yers in his way.

    Still on a high from sessfully dribbling past yers just about a minute ago, Jason didn''t hesitate to dribble past the yers. He did a couple of stepovers and got past the first yer, nutmegged the second, and tried to feed the ball past the third yer, but the third yer wasn''t having it.

    He quickly grabbed hold of Jason''s shirt and pulled him to the ground. Jason tried to escape his grip and shake him off, but the yer didn''t let go even after both of them fell to the ground, in fact, his grip became even stronger till he was even choking Jason with the jersey''s cor.

    Jason hit the guy''s hand off fiercely at that point and stood up angrily to face the bastard.

    "What''s your deal man?" his tone didn''t sound happy at all.

    It was one thing to be fouled because he attempted dribbling and it was an entirely different thing for someone to make an attempt on his life just because he got past him, but the yer wasn''t being apologetic at all and even shoved Jason away, annoying him even more, but before he could react, the referee had gotten in-between them and was doing his best to prevent a fight from breaking out.

 Chapter 15: Top Brass’s Decision

    <h4>Chapter 15: Top Brass''s Decision</h4>

    With the referee getting in between them, Jason held himself back from acting up any further and stepped back while trying to exin his grievances to the referee but it seemed that the referee saw everything that happened and brought out a yellow card while calling for a free kick.

    ''Bastard should have gotten red,'' Jason thought angrily as he went to get the ball for the free kick since he intended to be the one to take it.

    He had fallen just a few yards away from the penalty box and it was close enough for him to attempt a direct free kick, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

    A free-kick routine had been part of his training for years and though he hadn''t tested his free-kick skills against professional goalkeepers, he knew he was urate enough to get the ball over the wall and into the... probably.

    ''Let''s just pray this works,'' he thought while hoping that the goalkeeper wouldn''t get a hand on the ball if he managed to shoot the free kick on target.

    He set the ball down while waiting for the yers of team A to arrange the wall.

    While he waited, Jordan and Jerry approached him, "Are you okay?" Jerry asked.

    "Yeah, it was nothing much, that dude was just trying to choke me out," Jason answered with a shrug despite his annoyance over the matter.

    Seeing that there weren''t any issues, they left to take position at the sides of the box while Jason took a deep breath to arrange his mindset and took four steps back his eye on the goal trying to analyze the distance, position of the keeper, the wall and how much power and spin he should put behind the ball.

    *FWEEEEEEE*

    The whistle to take the free kick was blown by the referee.

    Jason took a nce at the wall onest time as he approached the ball before he swung his right foot in a smooth arc and hit the ball, sending a curling ball just over the head of the shortest person in the wall, past the goalkeeper who was rooted to the spot and into the back of the.

    GOALLLL!!!

    Watching the ball fly over the wall and nestle itself in the top left corner, Jason couldn''t resist making a shooting gesture with two fingers before bringing the fingers to his mouth and blowing off the smoke from the imaginary gun with a big smile on his face.

    His teammates rushed to him in jubtion and this time he didn''t mind because of the exhration he was feeling, he even sent a taunting sneer at the yer who had brought him down and caused the free kick.

    The only thing missing was the thunderous sound of fans screaming in excitement, but unfortunately, this was only a trial match and there were no fans present.

    After the jubtion, they went back into their half and the match resumed, but this time as if they had a collective agreement, they all stayed behind the ball.

    It was Team C''s turn to park the bus and they held on till the match ended with their win and they walked off the field jubntly after the referee blew the final whistle.

    Before they could head inside to freshen up, all the participants of the trials were told to gather around and were congratted forpleting the trials and told that those who would be scouted would be gotten across toter as the scouts could get the contact details of the participants of the trials from the staff that organized the trials.

    After the divulgence of information, they were released and the yers slowly dispersed with Jason heading to the shower room immediately in a bid to clean up after saying his goodbyes, escaping before any of his teammates asked him to exchange contacts.

    Thirty minutester he was already opening the doors of his car and throwing his sports bag into the passenger''s seat before getting into the car himself, starting it up, and driving out of the parking lot while wondering how long it would take before he was contacted by a scout and which kind of team he would be contacted by.

    Meanwhile, back inside the stadium, Rafael Hernandez''s phone rang suddenly while he was going over the clips of Jason''s ys, prompting him to pull it out of his pocket and answer the call,

    **Head Scout Andre**

    The name of the current acting head scout and head of the youth department popped up as the caller ID.

    Immediately Rafael saw the caller ID, he didn''t waste any time swiping across the phone to answer the call and putting the phone to his ear, "Hello, Sir," his voice as he began speaking sounded like he was getting down to business.

    "Rafa... what''s the deal with the video clip you sent me?" the head scout''s voice came through the phone, sounding a bit confused.

    "That is the video clip of a talent I discovered for the club," Rafael quickly began exining.

    "Well, while I can see that he seems to have talent, I can''t tell you my thoughts with only one clip that only has a few seconds in it," Andre answered back, the root of his confusion finally revealed, after all, it wasn''t unusual to receive a video clip of a yer, but they were usually much longer and consisted of enough scenes for a decision to be made concerning them so they were usually at least a few minutes long,

    ''But what was the deal with the TikTok-length video that one of his scouts just sent him?'' Andre the head scout was wondering.

    "Oh..." Rafael finally realized that he hadn''t sent the rest of the clips that his assistant had been recording about Jason.

    "I''ll send the rest of the video clips soon, but I guarantee you that he is a talent worth developing," Rafael began arguing for Jason''s matter while gesturing to his assistant to send the rest of the videos to Andre''s email.

    "I''ll be able to tell when I see the clips, so send the clips, I''ll review them and then get back to you," Andre answered, not losing his cool over mere words from a scout.

    "The videos should have arrived in your mail by now, but I guarantee that you''ll agree with me that he has talent especially when he hasn''t received any formal training since he was young," Rafael continued trying to convince his head scout.

    ''Not received formal training but considered a good yer in a ce like USA, I doubt it,'' Andre''s biased thoughts about American yers stood vehemently in the way of his belief in his scout''s words, but since the videos began to appear on his email which was opened on the desktop''s screen in front of him, he decided to open up one of the videos.

    It was the video of Team C''s second goal in the first match, but it didn''t even involve Jason touching the ball as all he had done in that clip were body feints and jumping over the ball while confusing other yers.

    Andre wasn''t impressed, but he still opened the next video which had every attack that Jason was involved in in the second half, and midway through the video, his eyes were already glowing, as seeing just the well-timed dribbles and how he managed to make them effective even if they wereplicated already intrigued but by the time he watched the assist and goal that Jason scored, his mouth was opened slightly and he had forgotten that he was still on the call with someone.

    His hands quickly moved the mouse to click on thest video which consisted of Jason''s dribbles, assist, and goal in the second match.

    Watching Jason score the freekick sealed the deal in Andre''s mind as he quickly spoke into the phone, his tone containing a hint of excitement despite his attempts at hiding it,

    "Rafa, are you still there?"

    "Yes, sir," Rafael didn''t waste any time answering as if he had known and had been waiting for him to speak.

    ''Shrewd bastard,'' Andre thought, but that didn''t change his decision or the words that were going toe out of his mouth.

    "Bring him in, at any cost," Andre''s affirmative voice came through the phone.

    "Yes sir," Rafael replied and immediately heard the beeping tone that signified that the call had ended.

    "Pack up and follow me, we have a yer to catch," Rafael said in Portuguese to his assistant as he stood up and began heading out of the stands while dialing in Jason''s contact details into his phone and saving it, with ns to call in a more silent location and after gathering more information.

 Chapter 16: Prelude to a True Beginning

    <h4>Chapter 16: Prelude to a True Beginning</h4>

    Jason headed out of a McDonald''s building with a pack containing some burgers and a soda and headed for where he had parked his car.

    Normally, he didn''t eat much fast food or junk food since he had to regte his body''s condition, but he was exhausted after the matches he had yed and wouldn''t have the energy to cook anything untilter in the day.

    He also hadn''t eaten anything since he woke up, so, for now, he wasn''t going to eat whatever was avable, after all, eating junk food once in a while couldn''t do much to affect him anyway, all those lies about sticking rigorously to a cholesterol-free diet and all that shit like was just lies made up by entrepreneurs who needed to sell their products.

    How did Jason know they were lying?

    Well, it could simply be chalked up to a matter ofmon sense.

    The warriors of hundreds of years ago; the Spartans, Vikings, Romans, and the rest had no such thing as a diet, yet they were fitter and more physically able than anybody in current times could ever hope to be since their muscles were built for actual battle and not merely ornamental muscles like the gym rats of nowadays.

    There iny the twist, he had never seen nor heard of any document that dated back to those times that recorded any such thing as specific eating to preserve their life, those warriors simply ate whatever was avable and most of that was meat.

    All kinds of meat.

    Yet some idiot 200-pound researcher who sat in aboratory with a half-eaten burger, barely surviving on junk food without not having slept or bathed for days told people that eating various types of food was bad for their health.

    Jason didn''t know about other people, but he could smell bullshit, a heavy stink of bullshit, after all, if so many foods were dangerous for people''s health, then humanity as well as probably every other life on earth would have been extinct by now.

    Yet there has been no news of such a thing since the beginning of time... whenever that was.

    "Yeah, it does sound like a whole lot of bullshit," he murmured to himself with a chuckle.

    The only problem was when one ate too much, or too little of some specific foods thus having too much of a specific nutrient or too little of it.

    If there was one thing being reincarnated had taught him, it was that the supernatural existed, so whenever he saw some people who spoke about not believing in anything supernatural and that everything that humans could see and have was a result of their hard work as most scientists thought, Jason always looked at them as if they were idiots, yet he never bothered to argue with anyone.

    After all, was there a point in arguing with an idiot on something you know yourself to be correct about?

    Nope, at most you could give them some advice and other times you could purposely annoy them just for the joy of seeing them raving around like mad people.

    "Ah, good times," he thought to himself with augh while opening the door to his car only to hear his phone''s ringing tone.

    He had not taken his phone with him when he had gone to get his food because he wasn''t exactly expecting calls from anyone... I mean, he was, but he wasn''t expecting them so soon.

    He sat in the car and closed the door before picking up the phone from the passenger''s seat and looking at the caller ID, but it was an unknown number.

    Jason first started the car and his phone''s Bluetooth immediately connected with the car before picking up the call.

    "Yes?" he spoke first after picking up the call.

    "Hello, Mr. Bolu, my name is Rafael Hernandez," a slightly aged voice that mispronounced Jason''sst name came out of the phone, but Jason didn''t bother correcting him as he didn''t expect a non-African person to be able to pronounce it correctly and was already used to it.

    "I am a scout with the Portuguese football team FC Porto, do you happen to have time tomorrow for a meeting," the man who called himself a scout for FC Porto continued.

    "Uh, yeah, I''m quite free... time and ce?" Jason replied and asked, trying to keep his excitement out of his voice.

    "I''ll text you the details, thank you for your time," Rafael answered back and hung up, his tone sounding polite, but his actions a bit impolite, but Jason didn''t care as he was too happy right now.

    "Fuck yeah," he shouted out in happiness.

    Luckily, he had already shut the door of his car so no one outside the car could see or hear him.

    He knew that despite the impolite actions of the scout who called himself Rafael Hernandez, the mere fact that he was called directly by the scout meant that he was already being considered to be scouted and his chances were probably quite high, not to mention that it wasn''t just any team, but FC Porto.

    Despite the Portuguese top-flight league not being one of the top five leagues in the world, FC Porto itself was a top-flight team that could rank quite highly among the top 50 clubs in the world.

    It was even a team that yed the UEFA Champions League or the UEFA Europa League every season, and such a ce was considering scouting him as a yer for their team.

    How could he not be happy?

    If he was sessfully scouted, then he would have already surpassed his past life''s peak, not to mention that it was probably one of the best ces he could hope to start his career.

    Jason just let his body copsepletely into his seat andpletely rxed his nerves that he didn''t even realize were strung tight before this moment and startedughing silently while a few tears came out from his eyes.

    His hard work wasn''t in vain.

    Everything he had subjected himself in the name of training was finally paying off and he had finally gotten the chance at the first step at his dream after failing a lifetime ago.

    After a few more minutes of just sitting there while his memories yed one after the other inside his head, his eyes regained their focus, and he sat up with a determined look on his face.

    This was the real beginning of what he hoped would be called a legend after he finished his race.

 Chapter 17: A Day to Laze Around

    <h4>Chapter 17: A Day to Laze Around</h4>

    A gleaming blue 2016 BMW i8 drove onto the driveway of a modest house in a quiet-looking neighborhood and came to a stop in front of a slowly opening garage door.

    After the door fully opened, the car ambled into the garage and the door started closing slowly as it stopped inside the garage.

    Jason carried out his sports bag, came out of the car, and walked into the house, before heading directly to his room, not forgetting to dump the McDonald''s food pack into the bin, the food safely in his stomach.

    After entering his room, he threw his sports bag onto the side of the bed and took off his clothes until he was left in his underwear and then he took out a yoga mat.

    Doing yoga after a match was one of the ways to help deal with the exhaustion and that was what he did.

    He did a few different yoga poses for about 15 minutes before going to shower again, the quick wash-up at the stadium was not satisfactory enough for him.

    After having a longer and more satisfactory shower with all sorts of shampoo, soaps, and body wash involved, he left the bathroom, dried himself up, and dressed in new clothes before going to the living room and turning on the TV with his n for the rest of the day being toze off on the sofa.

    The TV came on and the first image that came into Jason''s view was a handsome dark-haired man and a beautiful blonde woman having a tussle of lips before they took their battle to the kitchen table with buttons being removed in a rush and their clothes flying everywhere.

    Jason quickly changed the channel before any more blood rushed between his legs while murmuring to himself, "Why does Aunt Daphne watch such blood-exciting movies."

    He found the sports channel and clicked on it, the TV going dark for a second before opening up to reveal a green football pitch and a match about to start.

    Jason looked to the top right side of the screen but couldn''t see the ''live'' watermark, so this match was probably a rey of one of the matches that took ce the previous weekend.

    Soon the yers appearing out of their tunnel were shown on the screen and Jason could see the Arsenal yers in their red and white jerseys as well as Manchester United yers in their dark blue jerseys.

    ''Oh? This looks like it''ll be an interesting match,'' Jason thought and settled his body more rxedly into the sofa.

    Usually, whenever Jason watched football matches, he wondered when he could y on such a field, but today''s urrences had helped him conclude that that day wasn''t far off any longer, so he could now watch the game rxedly and not always have a look of longing as he watched the game.

    ''I wonder who will win?'' he wondered as he watched the match kick off.

    He wasn''t a major fan of Manchester United or Arsenal, so he wasn''t rooting for either of them and since both teams were around the same level, he couldn''t even predict who would win.

    Right from the start of the match, Arsenal was the one with the upper hand while United struggled to get going, and before long Arsenal already got a goal just twelve minutes since the match started.

    From then on, the match was a back-and-forth until the 69th minute of the second half when Manchester United conceded a penalty and Arsenal did not waste the chance, slotting in their second goal.

    Jason watched the match till it ended before he stood up from the sofa feeling hungry once again, so he got into the kitchen and quickly disyed the experience of someone who had learned how to cook food in various countries for all the twenty-one years of his career.

    Since he was never a member of a well-paying team until hister years, he had learned how to cook the foods in the area of wherever he was as he wasn''t being paid enough to not get his ass in the kitchen.

    If he didn''t learn to cook, he''d starve, so he''d learned, exceptionally well even.

    At a point, it had be a hobby for him as there was only so much an emotionally apathetic man without friends could do.

    He quickly pulled out chicken that he had already marinated previously from inside the refrigerator and started frying it while also pulling out already prepared colew from the refrigerator for a side dish.

    Less than twenty minutester, Jason was back in front of the TV with fried chicken and extra creamy colew as he watched TV.

    He didn''t leave the front of the TV until the house''s main door was flung open and his aunt came in.

    It was only then he realized how much time had gone.

    "Good evening, how was work?" he asked after her day while still lying down.

    "The usual... filled with numbers and more numbers, but I''ll get to rest tomorrow since it''s the weekend," Daphne answered tiredly while her eyesnded on the te that Jason hadn''t even bothered to pack up after eating.

    "Please tell me you did mine as well," she looked pleadingly at him as she knew how good he was at cooking all sorts of things which was kind of strange if she thought more deeply about it, but delicious food had always been good at clouding people''s minds.

    In the kitchen, you can throw it in the microwave to warm it up," Jason replied, his eyes turning back to the TV.

    "This is why you''re my favorite nephew!" she shouted as she half ran into the kitchen.

    "I''m your only nephew!" Jason shouted after her.

    "Doesn''t matter," she shouted back.

    A few minutester, she was back in the living room with Jason while biting on Karaage chicken that Jason had left for her with her legs stretched out on Jason''sp as there was only one sofa while the other chairs weren''tfortable enough for her.

    "Issh shoo guhd," she said, savoring the taste with her mouth full.

    "I know... I made it," Jason replied with a confident scoff.

    They sat watching TV until Daphne remembered to ask, "Uh, how were the trials?"

    "It was okay, I think I did well enough," Jason answered ambiguously looking a little down.

    "... So, when will we get the results," she asked cautiously, seeing his mood that didn''t seem to be on the positive side.

    "I already did, I have a meeting with a scout tomorrow," he answered with a smirk as his face brightened up so fast that it was obvious that he had been faking his sad mood.

    "You...!" Daphne almost threw her chicken at him after realizing that he was teasing her.

    "I''m not throwing my chicken at you" she half whispered bringing back the Karaage chicken to her mouth with a pout.

 Chapter 18: Meeting at the Coffee Bar

    <h4>Chapter 18: Meeting at the Coffee Bar</h4>

    ***Saturday, 11th January, 2020***

    Jason''s car came to a stop in one of the avable parking spaces outside the Tilt Coffee Bar where he was supposed to meet with the FC Porto scout.

    His mind went back to yesterday when he had told Daphne about the scout that called as well as about the team FC Porto and he recalled what happened after.

    She had been very happy for him and had congratted him and she had said she would being with him to meet the scout since it was a weekend.

    "Why are you staring at me like that, let''s get down," Daphne called out to him as he seemed to be lost in thought.

    "Alright, alright," he answered with an eye roll and pushed open his door before getting out and going over to open the door for Daphne who seemed to be having a problem opening her door since, unlike her Mercedes, this one had a button that needed to be pressed rather than a handle that needed to be pulled.

    He quickly opened the door from the outside before she could get any confused and pulled it open for her.

    "You see, this is why I don''t like BMW cars, why must everything be so overlyplicated," she grumbled as he pulled her out of the car.

    "All you had to do was read the manual, or look it up on YouTube," Jason shot back with a smirk that showed that he was enjoying this situation.

    Daphne looked at him long and hard with a slightly annoyed expression on her face before replying,

    "All that for a car I''m not even going to drive?"

    "... Good point," Jason couldn''t find aeback for her question and pushed the door closed.

    "I wonder what a scout would look like?" he murmured as they began to walk towards the doors of the coffee bar.

    "You didn''t ask?" Daphne questioned as they walked through the doors, she pulled her shawl tighter around her body as the Los Angeles January weather was a little too cold for her liking.

    "Why would I ask something like that?" Jason shot back as he pulled out his phone and dialed Rafael''s number.

    "Hello Mr. Hernandez, I just arrived at the meeting ce and was wondering where you are," Jason fired off as soon as he felt the vibration that indicated that the call had been picked up.

    "I''m in the lounge beside the garden, I''ll raise my hand up so you can see me," Rafael''s voice came through the phone.

    "He says he''s at the lounge," Jason covered the mic and whispered to Daphne before responding to Rafael,

    "Okay thanks," he said into the phone and then both he and Daphne headed for the lounge.

    Before long they could see a fifty-something-looking man in a suit and overcoat seated at one of the tables in the lounge with his hand raised.

    "I see you," Jason said and hung up as they walked to the table to meet him.

    Rafael saw Jason who he recognized walking towards him with a woman he didn''t recognize, and he stood up to shake hands and wee them.

    "I already introduced myself on the phone, but I''m Rafael Hernandez, you can call me "Rafa," Rafael as he stretched his hand out to Jason for a handshake.

    "Jason," Jason replied with his name and sped Rafael''s hand in a handshake.

    "And the beautifuldy is?" Rafael asked, his eyes turning to Daphne who stood beside Jason.

    "My aunt, Daphne Bolu," Jason introduced Daphne and she and Rafael shared a handshake before Rafael gestured for both Jason and Daphne to sit down.

    ''It says in his files that he''s an orphan that lives with a guardian, I guess she''s the guardian,'' Rafael his eyes lingering on Daphne for a while as she sat down before his eyes swung back on Jason, the cause for this meeting.

    "You can order something while we discuss, it''s on me," Rafael stated first before bringing out his phone and wallet.

    He then opened his wallet and brought two cards, one a business card with his contact details on it, while the second one was an employee ID that showed his face and name on it as well as the fact that he was a staff of FC Porto.

    "Like I previously mentioned, I am a scout who works for the Portuguese team FC Porto, and these should be enough to prove my identity,"

    "You can search my name online for any further verification," he made sure to first confirm his identity as it was a requirement when dealing with young yers.

    It was a way of easing the hearts of young yers and helping to build trust, and he could see from the slightly easier expressions on Jason and Daphne''s faces as they looked at the cards that could serve as an identification that his actions had the desired effect, but the only reason Jason''s expression eased up a bit was because he realized that this person was experienced and should be easier to work with.

    As for the matter of identity verification, he had already done it the previous day and confirmed that Rafael was indeed a scout of FC Porto.

    "I don''t know if you saw me thest two days, but I was at the trials and was impressed by the way you yed, and after a meeting with the top brass, we would like to sign you to the FC Porto youth team and hopefully to the senior team in due time," Rafael continued, seeing that he had their attention.

    "What this entails is that we will have you sign a youth contract first and you will be joining the youth team first and if you can prove yourself in the youth team that you have what it takes to y in the senior team, you''ll have a chance of being promoted to the senior team sooner than you think," Rafael further exined but Jason interrupted,

    "So, if I sign with FC Porto right now, I have a chance to join the senior team and y as long as I can prove myself to the senior team''s manager, correct?" Jason asked with an eyebrow raised, but the excitement was visible in his eyes.

    "Potentially, yes, as due to your age that wouldn''t be breaking any FIFA regtions, so if you can perform at a level that is appealing enough to the senior team''s manager, then yes, you can join the senior team as early as sometime this season," Rafael answered and then added,

    "I have to say though, joining the senior does not automatically guarantee you ytime and if you want to be chosen in the team lineup, you will have to show that to the team''s manager, but I trust you''ll be able to do that."

 Chapter 19: An Agreement

    <h4>Chapter 19: An Agreement</h4>

    Jason didn''t immediately answer Rafael''s statement that was meant to take his head out of the clouds because it was information he already knew and something he had experienced, but that did not cause a ripple in his mindset at all.

    He already knew that he would have to work very hard if he was going to be aiming for his dream.

    He had known that since he had realized that he didn''t have anything like a cheat or a system like the main characters in those books that told stories simr to his situation.

    He had only been given another chance at his goal and if he wasn''t going to work extra hard then his second chance was as good as nothing.

    "... I know, I know I''ll have to work extra hard in training and learn... and when the coach finally gives me a chance, I must do my best to impress," he finally answered after a long pause.

    "Good mindset!"

    "I hope to see you wearing the FC Porto colors and ying for the senior team soon," Rafael answered, seemingly impressed and forgetting that Jason hadn''t even signed for the team yet.

    Rafael then went on to exin further the details of the scouting offer and both sides discussed until they came to a final conclusion.

    The basic outline of their agreement was that Jason would sign a youth contract and begin ying with the FC Porto Juniors, the U-19 FC Porto squad.

    This contract would entail that they would take care of all his basic needs which included boarding, feeding, and training.

    He''d also sign a pre-contract agreement with the FC Porto side that he wouldn''t join another team for at least a year after he joined the Porto Youth team should they try poaching him before he signed for the senior team on a professional contract.

    Jason wasn''t really happy with this part of the agreement because it made sure that he was tied to the FC Porto side, but he let it go when he heard that the pre-contract agreement had an additional use that would ensure that he would be promoted to the senior team unconditionally if he could score 15 goals or give fifteen assists in any match for the youth team before the end of the 2019/20 football season.

    This was quite an annoying use as while it had the potential to get him added to the FC Porto senior team, it could also be quite difficult to achieve if things didn''t work out well, but Jason still weed the chance.

    He wasn''t one to kick a gift horse in the mouth anyway and he would take any chance that he got.

    Finally, both sides would sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement in which they couldn''t disclose the details of the pre-contract agreement.

    After almost an hour of talking, this was what was agreed upon and a verbal agreement was made while the contract would be drawn up and signed at ater date.

    For now, it was already agreed that Jason would be flying to Porto, Portugal before signing any contract so he could take part in some trial matches after which the contract would be signed and if his performance warranted some changes in their agreement, that could also be worked on.

    After the serious talk was over, both sides ordered something to drink as well as a few snacks while they spoke about a few other details like where Jason would live while in the youth team as well as a few other matters.

    Upon finishing their meals, they stood up to leave and walked out of the coffee bar together, heading in the same direction until Jason and Daphne stopped beside Jason''s car.

    Seeing the sleek body of Jason''s BMW, Rafael whistled, "Nice car," he praised the machine.

    "I know right, I bought her myself," Jason answered back proudly.

    "... Wait what? How did you do that?" Rafael asked curiously, inwardly wondering how Jason was able to afford a car worth over a hundred thousand dors.

    "Trade secret," Jason said with a smirk as he opened the door for Daphne first, leaving Rafael staring at Daphne with hopes that she could satisfy his curiosity, but Daphne just shrugged and got into the car and Jason closed the door behind him.

    "That reminds me, I''ll be bringing her along with me to Portugal... I hope that won''t be a problem, of course, I''ll pay the shipping fees myself," Jason informed Rafael of his decision to bring his car along.

    "It shouldn''t be a problem, but you do know that you''ll have to arrange for an international driver''s permit, right?" Rafael replied.

    "I know, but I can get that done easily with your help, right?" Jason responded while opening the door to the driver''s seat and getting in before starting the car and driving off.

    "Right..." Rafael murmured while wondering to himself that Jason sounded and acted a lot more mature than he looked.

    Just the fact that he didn''t show any signs of nervousness, or that he spoke with so much ease that it was as if they were of the same generation said a lot, little did he know that they were of the same generation... at least mentally.

    But he didn''t know, so he could only watch the car leave before turning away with ns to call Head Scout Andre about the proceedings and have awyer draft up the contracts and agreements that needed to be signed while also making arrangements for Jason''s arrival at Porto.

    He wanted to quickly get the deal done over with as he had noticed Jason''s phone lighting up with various notifications during their meeting.

    It didn''t take much to know that Jason was already receiving various love calls from the other scouts at the trials.

    Even though he doubted that any teams would interest Jason any more than Porto, one could never be too sure in cases like this as after all, nothing had been signed yet and if there was anything he had learned over the years was that, in his line of work, verbal agreements didn''t mean much in the face of higher benefits, so it was always better to snatch up the prize fastest.

    He quickly rushed off as he thought about this,pletely forgetting about the fact that Jason wasn''t the only yer present at football trials, but even if he remembered, he''d have just shrugged it off while thinking to himself that they were just "opportunity cost" as he was still very biased towards football yers on the North American continent.

 Chapter 20: Arrival at Porto, Portugal

    <h4>Chapter 20: Arrival at Porto, Portugal</h4>

    Rafael had quickly gotten across to Andre and told him the details of the verbal agreement and though he frowned a little bit after he heard that Rafael had promised Jason an unconditional position on the senior team if he fulfilled a particr use, it had only been because he may have a hard time getting the club''s manager and head coach to agree to it, but he thought it was a possible agreement.

    He did not waste any time in getting across to Sergio Conceicao and telling him about the signing as well as sending him Jason''s match clips.

    Luckily, Jason''s skills were evident to Sergio Conceicao who gave the go-ahead but also made no promises about giving him any ytime if he didn''t perform up to par when he joined the senior team, but that was up to Jason and had nothing to do with Andre who quickly gave Rafael the go-ahead to move forward with the deal and bring Jason over to Portugal.

    Upon receiving the green light, Rafael quickly began making arrangements for their journey to Portugal as soon as possible as he wanted toplete the deal as soon as possible.

    Jason who was also in as much of a hurry due to his hunger for professional football didn''t mind Rafael hurrying up with the ns to head over to Portugal and join the Porto Youth team.

    He also hurried up his own preparations to leave, but there wasn''t really much he had to do.

    Since Rafael was the one dealing with the flight and other things rted to the travelling procedures, all he had to do was pack up his clothes and get his important papers ready and nothing else.

    He had already done his SAT examinations over a year ago and had aced them, so he was no longer going to school anyway and just a few dayster, he was at the Los Angeles International Airport watching nes fly in as he waited for his flight.

    "The house will be empty when you''re gone," Daphne who was sitting beside him in the waiting area said with fake tears.

    "Just say you''re going to miss having someone cook for you," Jason replied with a roll of his eyes.

    "Oya oya, you don catch me," Daphne''s English switched to Pidgin English as she replied with her hands in the air as if she had been caught.

    At that moment, Davies''s flight was being called.

    "But I will miss you though, you little rascal," Daphne continued as she hugged him while Rafael waited behind them.

    They stayed in each other''s arms for a few more seconds until she pulled away and started pushing him towards his flight,

    "Don''t forget to call me when you get there, and every other day as well," she started rattling off instructions in his ear as she pushed him to the line of passengers.

    "Alright, alright," Jason didn''t push her off or interject as he understood her current emotions, even the ones she was trying so hard to hide by acting like a worrywart.

    "Come visit when you''re on break, or off-season, or whatever you called it," she finished off by saying when she had pushed him into the line.

    "Okay, I promise, but you''ll have to promise me one thing as well," Jason finally spoke when it was almost his turn to check in.

    "What?" Daphne asked, eager to know what he wanted her to promise him.

    "Get me an uncle," Jason said with a smirk and handed his documents to the airline service clerk, leaving behind Daphne who was staring at him with her mouth wide open at his audacity.

    After checking in, he and Rafael headed into the ne and found their seats. Rafael wanted to ask if he was feeling nervous but ended up not asking as he saw the ease on Jason''s face as they got on the ne.

    Their seats were next to each other, and they ended up in a discussion as they waited for the ne''s takeoff.

    They would be flying on a direct flight from LA to Lisbon, Portugal, which would take at least twelve hours and then they would get on another flight from Lisbon to Porto for another one-hour flight.

    The ne took off and Rafael went to sleep since it was currently nighttime, leaving a still awake Jason staring out the window at the clouds, deep in thought, but after an hour he went to sleep as well.

    He spent the twelve-hour flight sleeping or listening to music, he also watched a movie before going back to sleep again and was only woken up by the nending on Portuguese soil in Lisbon.

    From there, they got on another ne to Porto and in just over an hour they were walking out of the airport and into a minivan arranged for by Rafael to pick them up with their luggage.

    The minivan drove through the busy streets of Porto while Jason stared out the window appreciating the lively city with its art nouveau buildings, tiled structures, street art, and Baroque churches.

    It felt very medieval unlike the modern scenes he was more used to, but that in itself was its own charm, and it felt quite charming to him.

    His eyes took in the sight of the city where he hoped to start his professional career.

    The people of Porto who weremonly called the Tripeiros could be seen all around, but what Jason was thinking was what Rafael had told him about how much these people loved their team and how they came out in full support whenever their team had a match and he suddenly found himself wishing to hear them chanting his name as he jubted wildly after scoring a goal for the club.

    He closed his eyes to visualize that thought and as the image appeared in his mind, a wishful smile appeared on his face as well as a determined thought to bring the image to pass.

    He was brought out of his thoughts by the minivaning to a stop.

    "We''ve arrived."

    ***Thursday, 16th January 2020***

 Chapter 21: Repeat Caller

    <h4>Chapter 21: Repeat Caller</h4>

    "We''ve arrived," Rafael''s voice threw Jason out of his thoughts and reminded him that he was still in the presence of people.

    "Hmmm?" a confused sound came out of his mouth as he didn''t fully understand what Rafael meant by "We''ve arrived,"

    ''Arrived where?'' he wanted to ask, but his question seemed to be evident enough on his face for Rafael to notice it and he borated by telling Jason that they had arrived at his lodging.

    It was one of the dorms arranged by the clubs for its youth yers and would be Jason''s lodging for the time being.

    He had already heard from Rafael previously that he would be living with a roommate who was also a member of the youth team.

    Rafael led him to the door and handed him the spare keys to the door as the original was with his roommate who wasn''t avable to open the door.

    Jason took the keys, opened the doors, and went into the small apartment with his luggage, closing the door behind him as Rafael had already left after telling him that he would be back the next day to take him for a medical examination after which he could join the youth team in training.

    For now, he was given the day to rest and get rid of the jetg.

    Jason first put down his luggage and looked around the apartment as it was obvious from the silence even though he had made quite a bit of noiseing in that his roommate wasn''t around.

    The ce had two bedrooms each with their bathrooms and toilets, one of them looked like it was already being used.

    It didn''t take much of a guess to realize that wasn''t his room.

    The small apartment also had a slightly spacious kitchen and a living room.

    He moved his luggage into the free room that wasn''t being used yet as it didn''t take a genius to figure out that that room was meant for him.

    Jason threw his sports bag as well as his other luggage to a side of the room before taking off his shoes and crashing onto the bed, not even remembering to take his socks off before falling asleep almost immediately.

    He was very tired and even though he had slept in the ne, he still felt quite tired, and his excitement had also tired him out a fair bit, though it had not shown on his face.

    Less than a minuteter, he was asleep and breathing peacefully.

    When he awoke, everywhere was dark.

    He stumbled around looking for his bedsidemp before he suddenly remembered that he was no longer at his aunt''s home in LA.

    "Where''s my phone," he murmured sleepily as he began feeling around for his phone in the dark room, not remembering where he had left it before he went to sleep.

    It was only after feeling around unsessfully for almost a minute that he remembered something and pped his hands and immediately the screen of the phone turned on with a ding sound illuminating the room slightly and alerting him of where it was.

    He had once downloaded an app that enabled him to find his phone by sounds and the sound he had configured it to was a pping sound.

    Luckily, he had remembered it otherwise he would have had to keep feeling around for who knows how long as he didn''t even remember what the room looked like and the phone was on his sports bag that he had thrown into the corner.

    After using the phone''s shlight to find the light switch, he turned it on and looked around the room while stretching before looking back at the phone and seeing five missed calls.

    "Shit," his back immediately felt like it was drenched in cold sweat as he saw that "Aunt Daphne" had called five times.

    He had promised to call her on reaching Porto, but he hadpletely forgotten due to his exhaustion.

    He instantly did not feel like calling her back because he knew how much she wouldm-st him with her words as despite her very harmonious look, she was a furious typhoon to be reckoned with whenever her mood was not very bright, and he didn''t need anyone to tell him that she would not be happy with him right now.

    He was about to call her immediately but decided to first take a shower as he would probably have to go out to look for food since he was very hungry.

    Unfortunately, since he had just arrived here, he hadn''t made any food provisions, so he''d have to go out and look for a restaurant to get something to eat before he starved to death, and he couldn''t go out looking like he currently did... he could even catch a scent of his sweat.

    Jason quickly rushed into the bathroom immediately he noticed the scent, but then he quickly ran back out after realizing that he hadn''t even taken his clothes off or that he hadn''t brought out the toiletries and stuff that he was supposed to use to take a bath.

    After a few minutes, he ran back into the bathroom, but this time he was undressed and fully equipped to take a bath.

    Without wasting too much time in the bathroom(just over 30 minutes), he got out and started dressing up to go out.

    He opened his suitcase that contained his clothes and pulled out a ck long-sleeve cotton t-shirt, ck baggy cargo pants, and a ck leather jacket.

    He threw them on the bed before going to another suitcase that held his shoes and took out a pair of pure ck Nike SFB 6 Leather Boots before going back to pick up his clothes, did a spin, and was done dressing faster than the time it took to watch one YouTube shorts video.

    Next up he tied his hair up in a bun while leaving out a few wanton clusters to grace the right side of his face despite his hair being long enough to tie it up in a ponytail.

    For the finishing touches, he pulled on a diamond-studded chain and put a watch on his wrist, and boom, he was looking like a Yoruba demon on a mission to steal women''s hearts.

    As for where he had gotten the money to buy most of his outfits as well as his car that was on its way to Portugal by ship, what answer could there be other than sports betting?

    As a bona fide half-reincarnator, he remembered quite a few football games that he had watched back in his past life, so it was easy for him to make a few hundred grand from sports betting.

    He had used most of that money for his training as training with top-notch, cutting-edge gym equipment and also having a few trainers to help out cost a bit of money.

    Only after paying for all those things did he realize that he still had a fair bit of money and he had splurged it on whatever had caught his eyes back on a shopping trip over a year ago.

    He still remembered his aunt almost running mad when she saw him pull up into their driveway all dressed up in drip and driving a car that cost over a hundred grand.

    *Ring* *Ring*

    {''Aunt Daphne}

    "Shit, why did I think about her?" he muttered to himself almost tearfully.

 Chapter 22: Fear of the Slippers

    <h4>Chapter 22: Fear of the Slippers</h4>

    *Ring* *Ring*

    {Aunt Daphne}

    "Shit, why did I think about her," he muttered almost tearfully as he took up the phone and answered the call knowing that not answering the call would only worsen matters.

    "Hello," he muttered into the phone, purposely making his voice sound low and exhausted.

    "You better have a good exnation for not calling me as soon as you arrived over there," Daphne''s voice came from over the phone, not seeming like she had heard his tired voice, or that she had heard it but wasn''t falling for it.

    Jason immediately realized the danger from her tone, but he stuck to his game n which was to tell the truth while adding a side dish of over-realism.

    <i>Perfect Carlo Ancelotti tiki-taka tactics</i>.

    "I was so tired I forgot, and immediately I got to the crib, I fell asleep,"

    "I''m just waking up," Jason set up his counterattack with an exhausted voice.

    "Hmm mmm? Really now?" Daphne fired back; her voice full of doubt.

    "... Yeaah, do you think I''d be lying?" Jason said, drawing his words out, still confident in his mouth''s counter-attacking skills.

    "... You''re lucky your story coincides with what Rafael told me," Daphne finally responded after a few seconds, her voice slowly losing its vicious tone.

    "Wait, what?" Jason couldn''t believe his ears.

    "I already called him when you didn''t respond, and he told me that you were probably just exhausted from the flight," Daphne continued, not aware that Jason was thinking to himself about how lucky he was that he had said the truth.

    "Hold up, Pause!" he suddenly realized that something was wrong somewhere.

    "How did you get his contact details? I don''t remember giving them to you," he asked after realizing what was wrong with this whole situation.

    "... I have my ways," he could hear Daphne say with a confident scoff.

    "... You know... when I asked for an uncle, I meant someone around your age, not a sugar daddy," Jason said in a suspicious tone, letting her know that he was thinking of the unthinkable.

    "You stupid kid! What the hell are you saying!" Daphne shouted into his ears as she couldn''t believe what she was hearing.

    "It''s ok, I won''t judge," Jason said with a sigh and Daphne could almost imagine him sneering at her.

    "You''re lucky you''re too far away for my slippers to reach, but don''t forget that you''ll eventually have toe back home one day," Daphne who wasn''t willing to lose this round pulled out her finishing move.

    "Haha, I''m just joking, please don''t hurt me," he said thest part in a whisper as he was already fearing for his life when they met again.

    "How are you now, are you settling in?" Daphne asked, purposely ignoring Jason''s plea for his life though she had heard him.

    Their conversation moved from the argument and after checking in on him and making a little small talk, they ended the call.

    Immediately they ended the call, Jason put his phone into his HUGO BOSS cross bag that held his other essentials and hung the bag across his body, his rumbling stomach reminding him of what he had been nning to do before his aunt interrupted with her call.

    The urgency of his stomach''s situation prompted him to quickly leave his room and make his way towards the door of the house but upon reaching the living room he came face to face with a handsome teenager with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes who looked to be around his age.

    "Eh?" a surprised sound escaped the mouth of the blonde guy before a look of realization reced the surprise and he continued,

    "So you''re the new guy they said was going to be joining me?"

    "Uh, yeah," Jason replied affirmatively, his eyes on the guy who was going to be his roommate.

    "But I thought they said only footballers were allowed to stay in the dorms, so what''s a model doing here?" the blonde dude seemed confused as there was no angle he was looking from that would give him the impression that this new roommate of his was a footballer like him, instead he looked like he could get on a runway at any moment.

    Even his style of clothing was not normal and would easily stand out not to mention his face and the way he carried himself.

    "I''m a footballer though," Jason replied with an eyebrow raised as he didn''t know what this dude was talking about.

    "For real? That''s mad bruv, you''re mad blessed," a surprised voice with a little British ent in it escaped from the blonde dude''s mouth before he stepped forward and put his hand out for a handshake,

    "Anyway, I''m Mylo, Mylo Baumgartner," he finally introduced himself.

    "Jason Bolu," Jason replied before asking,

    "You''re going out?" he asked while noticing that just like himself, this roommate of his was decked up in "going out" clothes, he could even smell a cologne that wasn''t his as he didn''t usually use cologne.

    "Oh, yeah, I''m a disaster in the kitchen and there''s nothing in this house that I fancy as dinner, so I was going to find a restaurant to eat,"

    "Wannae with?" Mylo replied before asking as he suddenly realized that Jason was in the same situation as he was and was already dressed up to go out as well.

    "Uh, yeah," Jason replied as he walked over to the refrigerator and pulled it open only to see mostly empty spaces except for a few bags of chips.

    "I don''t fancy particrly fancy eating only chips for dinner, I''m too famished for that now," he said as he closed up the fridge thinking to himself that this roommate of his was totally irredeemable in the kitchen.

    He didn''t even the most basic ingredients like eggs or anything else for that matter.

    Despite Jason not saying anything to him about the refrigerator''s condition, Mylo could feel his face turning red as he looked into Jason''s eyes and could almost imagine Jason shaking his head at him.

 Chapter 23: First Night in Porto

    <h4>Chapter 23: First Night in Porto</h4>

    "Hey, are those contact lenses?" Mylo asked curiously as he finally noticed Jason''s strangely blue eyes.

    "No," Jason replied with one word as he walked toward the door, too hungry to engage in more than one-word conversations unless absolutely necessary.

    "They''re real?" Mylo asked again still with curiosity in his voice, but there was now a great deal of doubt in his tone as well.

    "Yes," Jason replied again as he reached the door and pushed it open, while Mylo was following him from behind.

    "Swear down? I''ve never seen something like that before though?" Mylo had a hard time believing Jason''s answers.

    "You know, someone other than me would be ufortable with this conversation... also, aren''t you supposed to be leading the way,"

    "You haven''t forgotten that I''m not from around here, right?" Jason quickly broke his own rule because it seemed like Mylo wasn''t going to stop talking.

    "Oh... that will be 20 euros," Mylo responded.

    "You want me to pay?" Jason asked in surprise.

    "Nah, I''m just joking, let''s go, I know a few ces around the area," Mylo said with augh as he took the lead as they left the dorm and walked out into the street.

    Jason looked around the city which looked even more beautiful at nighttime with all the lights casting different glows everywhere and making one feel as if they were walking inside of a beautiful painting as they walked down the busy sidewalks despite it already being night.

    "Do you mind Portuguese food? Or should we try looking for something else?" Mylo asked as they walked, suddenly remembering that this was probably Jason''s first time in Portugal and that he may not be used to the food here.

    "Nah, I''m good with whatever is avable," Jason replied as a legit foodie.

    Despite not having lived in Portugal even in his previous life, he was used to new challenges when it came to food, and he almost always weed them.

    There were still some kinds of stuff he wouldn''t even dream of putting in his mouth though.

    "Nice. Hey, since I''m kinda like your tour guide right now, I''ll be taking it upon myself to show you the tripeiros nightlife," Mylo worded, taking it upon himself to act as a tour guide.

    "Luckily for you, I know a few ces to make your first night in Porto unforgettable," Mylo continued speaking confidently with a smug smile.

    "Do. They. Have. Food?" Jason was only concerned with the one important thing to him right now.

    "All bars in Porto have food!" Mylo responded with a hard-to-believe im, but since Jason was the tourist right now, he had no words to disagree though that did not stop him from scoffing at Mylo''s words that could not be correct... right?

    After all, what kind of ce had food in all their bars?

    All that remained was for the bars to have a few rentable rooms and they would be called a holy ce by guys who came on dates with their girls.

    With their destination settled, they picked up the pace with Mylo leading the way and Jason following behind while they conversed.

    Well, it was mostly Mylo asking questions and Jason answering as he had no duct tape avable to tape Mylo''s mouth shut.

    Mylo kept questioning and conversing with him like he was a private investigator and a psychologist in his previous life and by the time they had reached their destination, both of them had enough information about the other that one would think they had been at least ssmates for a few years.

    Mylo was seventeen years old and from Switzend. He was a yer on the FC Porto youth team and yed as a center forward for the team.

    He had been offered a youth contract with the club after being at the Dragon Academy since he was twelve and was currently in Porto on a schrship that came with his contract.

    He was also one of the yers on the shortlist who were likely to be brought into the senior team as soon as he came of age.

    He had two younger brothers who lived with their parents in Switzend.

    And finally, he was single.

    Jason had no way to tell anyone that he had found out this much about a person without asking for such information and was very d when they finally reached their destination.

    *Pool Bar*

    The name of the ce was on a billboard and was almost shining in the glow from the lights, but they weren''t there to admire the signboards and quickly entered through the doors of the slightly crowded ce.

    They went to one of the few avable tables instead of taking a seat at the bar as they were here for food and not to get wasted, though Mylo slightly disagreed with that statement as while he wasn''t here to get wasted either, he wasn''t here for food only... at least not only the ones on the table.

    He was hungry for more than one kind of food.

    They sat and Mylo quickly got one of the waitresses to take their orders.

    While they waited for their food to arrive, Jason noticed quite a few of the girls in the bar/restaurant giving him a few nces, but he ignored it as he was quite used to it since it was a normal urrence.

    He always attributed it to the abnormal color of his eyes as despite always receiving nces, no girl had ever walked up to him to ask him out, so he had never thought it was because he was handsome, though he knew that he was by no means ugly.

    "Thank God I wasn''t born ugly, otherwise I would feel very jealous about this situation... not that I''m not slightly jealous already," Mylo said with an almost depressing sigh as he noticed the nces that most of the girls in the bar were sending Jason''s way and Jason who seemed to ignore their gazes with a look that said he was used to it.

    "Bruh, what''re you talking about, I get these nces everywhere,"

    "Who knew seeing a ck guy with blue eyes was that strange," Jason shrugged off whatever strange things he thought Mylo was saying and pulled out his phone.

    ''Does he not really know why they''re looking at him like that?'' Mylo felt like a bomb had exploded in his head and his depression instantly went up another notch.

 Chapter 24: Temptation in Lace

    <h4>Chapter 24: Temptation in Lace</h4>

    ***Friday, 17th January 2020***

    *RING* *RING*

    Jason''s phone rm pulled him out of the soft and warm bosom of the goddess of sleep and thrust him angrily into the real world causing him to send his hands around feeling for his phone with his hands, not yet ready to open his eyes.

    After a few seconds of the annoying ringing, his hand finally caught a hold of the phone, and he opened one of his eyes to look at the phone''s screen.

    His phone''s screen showed the time of 6:00 and he shut off his rm immediately putting an end to the incessant ringing before rising from the bed slowly while rubbing his eyes and yawning.

    He grabbed the bottle of water he had ced by the bedside and poured it down his mouth while standing up and going to look outside through the closed drapes.

    It was still dark outside, and it looked like it would be very cold as well.

    Jason immediately threw away any thoughts of a morning run out of his mind.

    It was too dark to see clearly and memorize the routes and he did not trust Google Maps enough to go on a few miles run and not get lost mistakenly, especially when he had ns for the day.

    Also, since he had a medical examination scheduled for today, it was probably for the best that he didn''t strain his muscles too much as he knew that the medical examiners would do worse during the tests.

    If there was one thing that every sportsman agreed upon, it was that the medical doctors responsible for their medical examinations were demons in disguise as the strenuous exercises that they made them go through to check their body status were sure to leave one''s body aching in pain for hours if not days.

    "Seems like it''s a few indoor exercises and yoga for me this morning then," he muttered as he closed the drapes and put on the bedroom lights before taking off his baggy trousers that served as his PJs and stood in only his underwear.

    It was a bit cold in the bedroom, but Jason''s body soon quickly began warming up as he went through his routines and exercises before finally finishing up with some yoga at which point his body was already covered in sweat.

    He went to take his bath after he was done before getting back into the room, putting on shorts, and leaving his room, aiming to get some of the milk he had bought the night before on his way back from the refrigerator.

    After leaving his room, he went to the refrigerator and took out a 1L bottle of milk.

    Without even bothering to pour it into a cup, he took off the cap and began pouring the contents of the bottle down his throat.

    Halfway through the bottle, he heard the sound of footsteps that stopped just a distance behind him.

    He turned slowly while taking the bottle slightly away from his mouth, hoping to greet his roommate "good morning" when he froze mid-turn because the figure his eyes fell on was not his roommate.

    ''Oh wow,'' he thought to himself as he put his bottle of milk back to his mouth, his eyes roaming over the body of a woman who looked to be in herte teens standing there with her eyes on him, not to mention that all she was wearing was a ckce bra and panties.

    He almost choked on his drink as he realized that, but he forced the milk down and made sure to drink every content of the bottle before speaking, not rushing to cover his eyes like most teenagers his age would do in this same situation, after all, there was nothing he was looking at that he hadn''t already seen before.

    Maybe not on the same woman, but it was all the same to him anyway.

    She had a brighter shade of blonde hair than Mylo and had slightly above-average curves. It was not enough for her to be ssified as thick, but she wasn''t a washing board either and looked quite sexy.

    "Doesn''t it feel a little... chilly?" he finally asked after a few long seconds, not taking his eyes off her but the bottle was moving away from his mouth, its contents emptied.

    "Eh?" the girl made a surprised sound before looking down at her body,

    "Oh," she muttered in realization at what Jason was talking about but made no attempt to cover herself up and instead returned her gaze to Jason''s upper body, and her face slowly lit up in a sultry smile.

    "You''re the guy who was with Mylo yesterday, right?" she asked, her eyes slowly moving toward the slight bulge in Jason''s shorts.

    "Yeah, I''m the new roommate," Jason replied affirmatively, and his mind went back to the night before when they had gone out to eat.

    After receiving their order, they had made quick work of the food and were already more than halfway through when a group of four teenage girls hade into the bar together and one of them had recognized Mylo and had pulled her group to their table.

    Mylo had introduced her to Jason as a friend of his who attended his high school, but Jason had merely replied with a nod before continuing with his food as he knew from the look on Mylo''s face and their reaction to each other, they were more like sneaky links rather than friends.

    ''Friends my ass,'' he remembered thinking to himself before the girl had pulled Mylo away from the table intending to take him along with her and friends to the nightclub, they usually frequented.

    The girls had tried to make Jason join them as well, but Mylo had intervened and told Jason to join them after he was done with his food, then they told him the address and left him behind.

    Jason remembered eating his food slowly after they left before paying the bill and heading back to the dorms.

    He had also stopped to buy a few things at the grocery store to fill up some of the space in the deste refrigerator back at the dorm and that was why he had some milk to drink this morning.

    The girl who had dragged Mylo to the club was the girl in front of him right now.

    "Melissa, right?" Jason asked as he wasn''t sure of her name despite hearing it from Mylo just the night before.

    "Yeah... uhm, do you work out?" she nodded affirmatively but was now slowly approaching Jason.

    "I''m a footballer, of course I work out," Jason could not believe she was asking him such a stupid question, but then realized that she may not have known that he was a football yer and swallowed the next words that were going toe out of his mouth and question her intelligence.

    "Oh, right... so, uhm, do yo-..."

    She continued moving slowly towards him, her hips now swaying seductively before trying to ask him another question and keep the conversation going, but Jason already caught on to what was going on and quickly interrupted her because he was not having it.

    "Stop, I know what you''re trying to do and No, I''m not interested,"

    "Save your skills for your ''friend''," he said and walked past her, throwing the empty bottle of milk in the trash and walking into his room without saying another word leaving a stunned and wordless Melissa behind him.

 Chapter 25: A Strenuous Medical Examination

    <h4>Chapter 25: A Strenuous Medical Examination</h4>

    After ignoring the thot who had tried to seduce him after spending the night moaning under his roommate, Jason dressed up and stayed in his room to wait for Rafael toe pick him up for his medical examinations.

    Of course, he also stayed in his room to avoid the thot as while he wasn''t scared of her, he couldn''t exactly bitch p her if she made another attempt at getting into his pants.

    Thew and the media would never let him hear the end of it and that was in no way good for his career, so he decided to just avoid trouble by staying in his room.

    He also locked the door as he had known from "past" experiences that women like her would never give up after only one try.

    Jason waited patiently in his room for the call from Rafael which only came almost two hourster.

    He would have been bored to death while waiting if not for the wonders of the inte that his phone kept him busy with, but immediately he got the call, he threw his phone into his sports bag and threw the sports bag on his shoulder before quickly leaving the house, not bothering to check for the other inhabitant of this house as he wasn''t sure if the thot was still around.

    "Good morning Rafa," he called out and shook hands with Rafa as he got into the back of the minivan and sat on one of the avable seats while also greeting the driver of the minivan.

    The minivan headed towards CTFD PortoGaia, the footballplex that served as the training center for the senior, reserve, and youth teams of FC Porto.

    The youth team had a medical center there and that was where he would be undergoing his medical examination.

    There was another FC Porto medical center at the Estadio do Dragao, the home stadium for the senior team of FC Porto, but that medical center was strictly for the senior team members so Jason could only do his medical at the youth medical center at CTFD Portogaia... not that he minded anyway.

    "We''re here," the driver alerted Rafael and Jason about their arrival at the Portogaia training center as the car passed through the entrance of the training center pulling Rafael out of his conversation with Jason about how they had already begun working on a temporary residence and work permit for him.

    Jason stared around at the training center as the car moved non-stop to the youth medical center.

    ***** ****

    Less than an hourter, Jason was pumping his legs at full power on an exercise bike in a well-equipped room that was simr to a gym while frowning hard at the medical specialist.

    He was right to have been careful not to exhaust himself during his morning exercises as this doctor was taking him through hell with this exercise as every five minutes the resistance of the bike increased.

    It also had a few random increases and decreases during the cycling, as if trying to simte a real match situation.

    The worst part was that this was merely a warm-up for the actual medical examination.

    ''Who the hell made these medical examination routines,'' he thought tearfully but made sure to continue cycling with full focus.

    He had been introduced to this doctor who went by the name of Luis Pinto about twenty minutes ago and every minute had been full of increasing pain.

    After a few more minutes Dr. Luis stopped him from cycling, and they started a Biodex assessment which was a test designed to test the strength between the muscle groups of a person.

    With his body already warmed up from the excessively intense warm-up, he immediately sat into a white chair that he was strapped to, both his body and his legs, and was instructed to kick his legs out with the stic straps hung to it before putting them back.

    He repeated this a few times with both legs.

    Hepleted this and then after a few minutes of rest he was told to hop on a treadmill that ran at various speeds which also simted a real match situation, but this time he ran while breathing into a mask which was going to be used to determine his aerobic capabilities.

    After that, he went through so many tests that sometimes even Jason didn''t know what the tests were for despite being a professional footballer in his past life.

    In the end, he spent almost seven hours going through various tests that included bone scans, urine tests, blood tests, as well as several other medical checkups.

    Jason already knew that the medical check-up would take a while and would be exhausting, but even he didn''t expect it to be this thorough and mind-numbingly exhausting.

    ''I guess there''s just that much difference between the top teams and the bottom feeders,'' he thought wryly as he cleaned up his aching body after the medical examinations were over.

    Before leaving the medical center, Jason said goodbye and thanked Dr. Luis who looked like a nice person despite the demon-like routine he had made him go through in the name of a medical examination...

    ... On second thought, maybe he wasn''t really a nice person.

    Jason''s body shivered as he saw the benign smile on the middle-aged doctor''s face, and he almost ran to the minivan.

    On reaching the minivan, he found out that Rafael wasn''t back yet, so he''d have to wait for him to arrive which suited him fine as his whole body was aching terribly.

    *********

    ... Meanwhile, in one of the offices in the youth medical center, Dr. Luis handed over the written results of the medicals to Rafael Hernandez and another man who looked to be in his fifties.

    "What am I looking at?" Rafael was looking at all the technical terms, strange signatures, and written numbers but couldn''t make a head or tail of what they were supposed to mean as he was a scout and not a doctor.

    "Are you sure that kid dropped out of a ser academy?" Dr. Luis himself was quite surprised at the results of the medical examination.

    "That kid is more fit than anyone else I''ve ever seen at his age... he''s even more fit than some of the younger yers on the senior team,"

    "It''s like he''s been through professional and even attribute-oriented training for a very long time,"

    "His skeletal range of movement is excellent, his joint and pelvic muscles are in great shape, with that I can boldly hypothesize that he has very good lower-body mobility and near perfect body coordination,"

    "He also has no injuries, and the strength of his legs are very impressive..."

    "Looks like we have a prodigy on our hands," Dr. Luis finished by saying with an impressed smile and then grabbing a bottle of water to moisten his throat as he had been talking for quite a while.

    "With a body condition and skills like that, it feels like a waste to have him ying for the youth team, especially since he''s already of age to be able to y in the senior team, don''t you think so as well, head manager?" Rafael asked the man who was also in the room with them while having a happy smile on his face as he was the one who had discovered this talent.

    Shockingly, the third man in the room was the FC Porto head manager who had been here since the training for the day with the senior team was over and he wanted toe check on the yer he had agreed for an excessive contract to be allowed to bring him in.

    "...Put him in the starting line-up for the next under-19 match... we''ll see after that," Sergio Conceicao said after thinking for a little while, seemingly having decided on something in his mind.

 Chapter 26: A Test of Sorts

    <h4>Chapter 26: A Test of Sorts</h4>

    Jason barely stumbled into the house and somehow found his way to his room before crashing onto the bed despite his legs not feeling like they belonged to him, yet despite his exhaustion, he was also quite exhrated.

    This exhrating feeling came from what Rafael had told him in the minivan as they were returning from the CTFD Porto Gaia after the medical examination.

    Rafael had told him that he would be joining the FC Porto Juniors in their training, and he would be ying in the uing match on Sunday.

    Rafael had also said that the FC Porto head manager would be keeping an eye out for the result of the game as it was meant to be a test of sorts for him.

    The second thing was the reason why Jason was so excited.

    If the head manager truly considered the uing match as some sort of test, then didn''t that mean that as long as he yed very well, he could join the senior team even faster than he had already expected?

    His blood boiled in anticipation as he thought about it, but his body didn''t give a shit about his thoughts and remained as heavy as lead as hey on the bed, too tired to even move a muscle.

    Slowly his wanton thoughts started to turn dark as he slowly fell asleep until only one thought remained,

    ''Thank God I already ate,'' he thought before it all went dark.

    ******

    Jason woke up due to the ringing soundsing from his phone and slowly opened his eyes and grabbed his phone to check why it was ringing only to realize that it was the rm.

    He sighed tiredly after realizing that he had slept overnight due to his exhaustion from the medical examination, but he quickly got up from the bed and did a few morning exercises before going to have his shower and dressing up in sportswear before finally packing his sports bag.

    He took out the clothes he had used for the medical examination the day before and put in new clothes that he could wear after the training was over, then he zipped up the bag as soon as he was sure that everything else he would need was present in there and he swung the bag over his shoulder before stepping out of his room a bit stealthily, not wanting to be loud since it was still just over seven in the morning.

    Jason was supposed to join the FC Porto Juniors team training starting today and he nned to jog to CTFD Porto Gaia as a recement for his usual morning jog since the distance to the training center from their apartment was just somewhere between six and seven miles.

    He walked to the refrigerator to take a bottle of milk but could not help but notice that there were fewer bottles of milk than he expected there to be.

    ''Mylo probably took some,'' he realized and didn''t bother thinking too much as he took a bottle and downed the contents before heading to the door.

    He looked back suddenly after reaching the door, remembering that since he was going to the CTFD Porto Gaia training center, then Mylo should be able to go with him, but it didn''t seem like he was up.

    Jason did not want to have to go to his room to wake him up and pull him along with him to training as it was pretty obvious by now that the fact that he wasn''t already awake at this time meant that they were not the same kind of people when it came to discipline, and Jason wasn''t going to force him to be like him.

    At most, he could give Mylo some advice after which Mylo''s actions were up to himself.

    Also, Jason didn''t want to go to Mylo''s room and have his eyes tainted by some "dirty things" as when he was heading to the refrigerator earlier, his eyes had chanced upon some clothes that were thrown about in the living room among which was a woman''s clothes and even her lingerie.

    It seemed like Mylo had brought over another girl... or maybe the same one over, but that wasn''t what was stopping Jason from going over to Mylo''s room, rather it was the simple questionable thought that ''if whichever girl came over''s clothes and underwear was in the living room, then it was quite obvious that she was probably not wearing anything inside Mylo''s room.''

    Jason may not be very knowledgeable about women matters but he knew that there was no way a naked woman had spent the room with a fully clothed man and Jason didn''t have any ns on setting his eyes on Mylo''s naked "visitor" or a naked Mylo himself.

    The image would ruin his eyes,

    "Better safe than sorry," he murmured to himself while stepping out of the apartment, shutting the door behind him and locking it.

    He really could not challenge his roommate''s determination to pick up women, he thought to himself with a chuckle as he headed towards the walkway while stretching his leg muscles that still felt a bit sore from the previous day''s medical examinations.

    "I guess he''s at least determined somewhere," Jason murmured as he took off and began jogging down the slowly filling up sidewalks towards the CTFD Porto Gaia training center, averaging just over eight minutes per mile and reaching the training center before eight o''clock.

    He headed straight for the field that Rafael had told him was the training ground for FC Porto''s youth team while taking out a ball from his bag and putting his bag on the sidelines.

    Since the trainers weren''t around, the field was still bare of any training equipment, but this didn''t bother Jason in the lightest as he simply wanted to do some juggling as a ball hadn''t touched his feet for a few days.

    He had been juggling for more than ten minutes when he heard a voice say in Portuguese, "Pass the ball."

    Jason''s eyes followed the direction of the voice to see a young man with a tussle of ck hair about twenty meters away from him before sending the ball in the direction of the man with a volleyed pass.

    The guy received the ball with a flick of his leg that sent the ball flying a bit upward before volleying it back at Jason who skillfully trapped the ball as soon as it reached him.

 Chapter 27: First Training Session with FC Porto Juniors

    <h4>Chapter 27: First Training Session with FC Porto Juniors</h4>

    "Haven''t seen you from around here," the ck haired guy said to Jason in Portuguese after getting close enough to him to be heard clearly.

    "Yeah, I just joined the team," Jason replied in Portuguese surprisingly.

    One of the leagues he had yed in his past life was the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A in Brazil, and Portuguese happened to be the most usednguage in Brazil, so he ended up learning thenguage.

    "From the academy?" the ck-haired asked curiously.

    "Nah," Jason replied and flicked the ball upward before he started juggling it once again.

    "Since you''re the only other yer I''ve seen around, do you mind if I train with you until the others arrive, I y for the Porto B team," the ck-haired haired said to Jason as he watched Jason juggle the ball.

    "Ok sure," Jason replied by sending a pass towards the guy as the guy being part of the Porto B team meant he was a member of the reserve team for the senior squad.

    "I''m Fabio Viera by the way," the ck-haired guy said as he received the pass and juggled it for a few seconds before sending it back at Jason, all while making sure the ball did not touch the ground.

    "Fabio uh..." Jason muttered, wondering if he had heard the name before while cing his right leg where the ball was going tond, and flicked it upwards, trapped it on his chest before pushing it to his shoulder and using his shoulder to push the ball up enough that he could get his head under it.

    "I''m Jason," he managed to introduce himself as well while juggling the ball with his head a few times before heading it back to Fabio.

    With introductions out of the way, they both continued ying around with the ball between themselves until people started arriving at which point Fabio had left the training ground for the U-19 squad.

    Jason had said a quick goodbye and had continued training without paying any attention to the new arrivals until he heard someone calling his name and turned to look at Mylo who was jogging towards him before sending the ball spinning quickly at Mylo who was still a bit far away.

    Mylo was surprised at Jason suddenly sending the ball at him, but his body reacted appropriately, and he trapped the ball with his chest before juggling it on his knees a few times and then sending it back at Jason.

    ''Well, at least he''s not weak in the knees after all that bedroom action,'' Jason thought to himself after confirming checking Mylo''s reaction and control of the ball with the pass he had sent at him and from Mylo''s quick reaction and control of the ball before sending the ball urately in his direction, Mylo checked all the boxes for a striker.

    He wasn''t overly exceptional, but he wasn''t terrible either, yet Jason couldn''t help thinking that Mylo could be better if only he was more disciplined towards his training and didn''t spend his evenings chasing after girls at God knows where, but of course he didn''t say that part out loud and simply received the ball that Mylo had sent back at him before waiting for him toe closer.

    "Hey, when did you leave this morning," Mylo asked as soon as he got close enough.

    "I don''t know, maybe seven," Jason answered, his face impassive.

    "That early?" Mylo eximed in surprise before asking,

    "Why didn''t you wake me?"

    "I wasn''t interested in seeing the scene of the crime," Jason replied, still maintaining a straight face.

    "Scene of the crime? What crime?" Mylo asked, his mind full of confusion at Jason''s choice of words.

    "... I saw the lingerie..." Jason muttered with a tired sigh as he rubbed his temple.

    "Oh..." Mylo''s face brightened up in realization as he finally understood what Jason meant, but before he could say anything the voice of the youth team''s head coach.

    "Gather around everyone," the head coach of the FC Porto Juniors, Antonio Frasco called for the yers in a loud voice.

    The yers put a stop to everything they were doing and gathered around where the coach was in less than a minute.

    "Where is Jason Bolu?" the head coach said with his eyes running all over the crowd of teenagers surrounding him as if he was looking for someone.

    "That''d be me," Jason said in Portuguese with his hands raised and stepped out of the crowd in response to being called by the head coach and walked over to him.

    "You can speak Portuguese?" the head coach was surprised because there had been no information about this.

    "Yes," Jason answered but didn''t mention when or how he had learned thenguage.

    "Why didn''t you tell Rafael?" the head coach ended up asking out of curiosity.

    "Because he never asked," Jason replied with an impassive look as he didn''t understand how this had ended up being a topic for conversation.

    "Oh... Ahem... "The coach cleared his throat when he realized that there was no point in asking more questions as it would feel like he was interrogating Jason instead of weing him to the team.

    "Wellds, this here is Jason Bolu and he will be joining the team for now," the coach addressed the other members of the team as he faced the crowd of teenagers.

    "Please wee him and make him feel wee as we here at FC Porto are a family," the head coach finished his address after which the rest of the team apuded for Jason as a wee of sorts.

    With introductions out of the way, the team went on to begin their training after the assistant coaches and trainers brought out the training equipment.

    The training first started with drills that focused on the physical condition of the yers and they included flexibility, agility, and stamina drills.

    Jason made sure to listen to the trainer''s instructions on how toplete the drills efficiently and gain the most effect from the drills after which he put those instructions to work immediately and did more drills than the required number.

    After the physical drills, they moved on to the team drills which revolved around keeping the ball in control within the team, so they were divided into two sides and were made to pass the ball around within each team while keeping the ball away from the opposing team until they scored at the other end.

    They could also only make two touches on the ball and were not allowed to do any fancy dribbles.

    After the rules had been set, the young yers sent the ball among themselves with quick and short passes while the opposing team chased after the ball, doing their best to gain the ball back.

    They did this for a while until they were released by the head coaches and were allowed to go to do their own individual training to improve specific aspects of their y.

    This went on until the training for the day was over after which Antonio Frasco told them toe early the next day as that was when he was going to be picking the yers who would be in the starting line-up against Familicao the next day.

 Chapter 28: Prelude to First Professional Match

    <h4>Chapter 28: Prelude to First Professional Match</h4>

    ***Sunday, 19th January 2020***

    ***11:50 am***

    Jason and Mylo arrived at CTFD Portogaia via taxi and walked together into the training center that also served as the home ground for the FC Porto Juniors home matches and made their way to the dressing room of the main field of the trainingplex where the other yers had also began to gather as well, waiting for the head coach to arrive.

    Jason and Mylo greeted members of the team on their way to one of the benches where they sat and started changing into their training kits in preparation for a short training session and warm-up before the uing match.

    While the yers were changing into their training kits, Antonio Frasco walked in with his assistant coaches.

    "Good morningds,"

    "I hope you all are well rested and prepared for today''s match?" he asked with an amiable smile as he walked to the middle of the room with a notepad under his arm.

    One of the assistant coaches pulled a moveable board in the middle of the room, right beside Antonio.

    "I''ll first start with calling the names of those who will be in the starting line-up as well as those who would be on the bench," Antonio started after acknowledging the assistant coach who had pulled over the board with a nod of gratitude.

    "We''ll be ying in the 4-4-2 t formation and the yers in the starting lineup are as follows:"

    "Goalkeeper; Pedro Virginia,"

    "Center-backs; Bernando Ferreira, Erik,"

    "Right-back; Fabio Amaral. Left-back; Andre Oliveira,"

    "Central-midfielders; Mariano Regal, Joao Teixeira,"

    "Right-midfielder; Umaro Cande. Left-midfielder; Tiago Andrade,"

    "Central forwards; Goncalo Sousa, Mylo Baumgartner,"

    "The substitutes for the match are Lacerda, Tiago Campas, Jeremy Agbanifo, Jason Bolu, Luis Gomes, Francisco Silva,"

    "As for the rest of you who didn''t hear your names, work harder in training and it''ll be your turn on the pitch soon enough,"

    Jason had already heard from Rafael that he would be added to the line-up for the match but hearing the coach adding his name to the line-up, even just as a substitute caused him to let out a sigh of relief before a determined look arose on his face.

    He immediately pledged himself to do his best should the coach allow him to grace the pitch in this match, but while he was going on in his internal reverie, Antonio was already exining their game n.

    "As always the two wide midfielders will assist in the midfield when we are on the defense and will y as wingers when we are on the attack," Antonio began to exin the mechanics of the formation he had chosen despite it being the most used formation by the team as he wanted to exin the team''s ying style to the neer on the team, namely, Jason.

    "The two central midfielders will also y in the upper part of the attacking third or the defensive third, depending on the team''s situation, am I clear?" he asked after exining.

    "Yes coach!" the team responded energetically.

    "Good," Antonio Frasco nodded his head, very satisfied with the team''s energetic response before continuing his exnation,

    "Our tactic for today is a very possessive gamey.

    I want you guys to retain the ball while moving up the pitch and waiting for space to open up in the opposition''s defense,"

    "Strikers, I want you guys to keep your eyes peeled for cracks in the opposition defense, and the moment you find the space, the nearest one to the space should make a forward run while the other should make sure to stay open as well to be able to receive the final pass,"

    "Midfielders, keep your eyes on the strikers, and as soon as the strikers make the run and find space, release the ball to whoever is more likely to score, and if the strikers can''t free themselves, they will create enough space for you guys to get the shot away,"

    "Defenders, keep the opposing yers away from the center of the goal by any means possible, but do not make any overly aggressive tackles and get any unnecessary cards," Antonio exined the game n with the aid of the board.

    He made use of the various drawings and symbols to make the game n as understandable as possible.

    "Does anyone have any questions?" he asked as he finished exining the game n, but the silence that followed his question indicated that no one had any questions regarding the game n.

    As a past-life footballer with a wealth of experience, Jason had no questions regarding the tactics that the coach had chosen for the match, so he stayed quiet like the rest of his teammates despite seeing the coach''s eyes on him as if he expected him to ask questions.

    "Since no one has any questions, then finish changing and get on the pitch and begin warming up, the match begins in an hour," Antonio finished the meeting while pping his hands to hurry the yers and they quickly began to march out of the dressing room.

    As they came out of the tunnel and moved onto the field, they could see the Familicao U-19 yers also moving onto the other half of the pitch and beginning up their warming-up routines.

    On the stands, Jason could see the seats slowly filling up with fans of both teams, but it didn''t need to be said that the fans of the Porto side were the majority and their slowly increasing cheers were already giving the Familicao team hell even before the match started.

    The Porto senior side had yed their league game the night before and despite not winning the game, the fans weren''t too let down by it and they showed it by their increasing cheers for the junior side of their beloved team and booing of the opposite side while hoping for a win for their team this weekend.

    Jason took only a few seconds to bask in the almost long-forgotten sounds of fans cheering for his team that hest heard a lifetime ago, and quickly moved to begin his warm-up by stretching his legs while keeping an eye on the opposing team''s side for any yer who looked to be a threat.

    After thirty minutes of warm-up exercises, the yers went back into the tunnels and back to their dressing rooms to change and make their final preparations for the match.

 Chapter 29: Porto Juniors vs Familicao U-19

    <h4>Chapter 29: Porto Juniors vs Familicao U-19</h4>

    In the stands around a more sparsely located area sat three men who looked to be in their fifties and weren''t cheering for their teams like the other fans but rather seemed to be looking at the yers with scrutinizing eyes.

    Or to be more specific, they all had their eyes on a particr yer with a headful of curly hair tied up in a bun juggling the ball with near-perfect flicks of the ball while paying no attention to anything else going on around him.

    "Do you think he will start the game?" Luis Pinto asked, not taking his eyes off Jason as he spoke.

    "Not likely," Rafael Hernandez and Sergio Conceicao replied together.

    "Even though I told Antonio to add him to the team and give him some ytime, Antonio can''t add him in the starting line-up yet as he has only had one training session with the team," Sergio exined while pulling his baseball cap farther down to cover his face since he was trying to avoid being recognized.

    Rafael and Luis nodded their heads in acknowledgment of his words and watched as the yers walked back into the tunnels with the pre-match warm-up over.

    ***------***

    Jason walked back into the tunnel with the rest of the team and they headed back to their dressing room that now had various jerseys hanging on the lockers.

    "Yo Jay, your jersey''s over here," Jeremy who was also a Nigerian like Jason called for Jason when he saw him looking around for his jersey.

    He was also starting on the bench along with Jason, so he didn''t have anything against showing Jason the ropes.

    Due to Jason''s sudden and hasty addition to the team, he was given a numberless jersey, but many of the youth team yers wore numberless jerseys so he didn''t look like the odd one out.

    He quickly put on his jersey before pulling on a tracksuit as well as he would be sitting on the bench.

    While the team changed, Antonio came into the dressing room once again and began speaking,

    "We''ve already decided on our starting line-up and game n so I don''t have much to say,"

    "All that remains for you guys is to get out there and win it,"

    "Vamos!!!" he gave a motivational speech to encourage the team as they began to march out of the dressing room.

    The yers in the starting line-up went ahead of the other yers while Jason and the other substitutes followed shortly after them.

    As Jason was walking along with the other substitutes to the bench, he saw Antonio beckoning to him, and he quickly walked up to him.

    "Watch how your teammates follow the game n and hopefully you cane on sometime in the second half, "Antonio whispered in Jason''s ear with his arm wrapped around Jason''s shoulder.

    Jason''s face visibly brightened up upon hearing what the coach had just told him and he had to do his best to keep a spring out of his step as he walked to the bench and waited eagerly for the match to begin.

    The yers marched onto the field and thementator began calling out the yers of both teams.

    {The Familicao side seem to be ying what looks like a 3-4-3 formation}

    {In goal, they have Tomas Pereira standing between the sticks}

    {Duarte Oliveira, Hugo Oliveira and Nemanja Perovic are ying as the three centerbacks for the Familicao team}

    {Jose Macedo and Toki Yukutomo are ying as the two center midfielders with Rodrigo Ribeiro on the right while Joa Santos is the left midfielder}

    {Sebastian Girado ys as the lone striker with the support of Leonardo de Oliveira on the left wing as well as Mauro Ribeiro on the right wing}

    Thementator rattled off and called out each team''s yers as they arranged themselves onto the pitch.

    Finally, at 2:00 pm, the referee blew the whistle for the match to start.

    Familicao was the team that kicked off the match.

    The cheering of fans of the Porto team spread loudly in the stadium right after the kickoff.

    They cheered, sang a few anthems, and shouted the names of a few of the more famous yers in the youth team.

    The first few minutes of the game were a scuffle in the middle of the pitch as each team passed the ball around and tried to find space to begin an attack only to lose the ball to the other team.

    This situation repeated itself continuously in the very early minutes of the game.

    The Porto midfield that consisted of four yers in their blue and white striped jerseys were evenly matched by Familicao''s four midfield yers in their white jerseys.

    The U-19 Familicao team''s unconventional 3-4-3 formation was proving to be a tough nut for the FC Porto Juniors to crack so far, but the Porto team soon began having longer spells of possession than the opposing team.

    Following their coach''s game n, the Porto team began holding onto the ball for longer and moving deeper into the opponent''s half and before long an opportunity opened up for them.

    Joao Santos, the right midfielder of the Familicao team took a poor touch on a ball that was passed to him by his teammate and Andre Oliveira the left-back of Porto Juniors quickly took advantage.

    He quickly lunged forward and stole the ball before passing the ball infield to Mariano while his team''s attackers started making runs toward the opposing box.

    Mariano quickly found Umaro Cande on the right side of the field with a lobbed pass.

    Umaro trapped the ball deftly and did a few step-overs to get rid of his marker before sending a high cross at Mylo in the penalty area.

    Mylo jumped for the ball, trying to connect his head with the ball and send it towards the goal, but Hugo, a center-back from the Familicao team got to the ball before him and sent the ball back out of the box.

    The ball headed outside of the penalty area and somehow ended up back at Umaro''s feet, who quickly sent the ball back at the right wing where he saw his team''s right back, Fabio Amaral making a forward run at the wings.

    Fabio received the pass mid-stride and took off down the wing with the ball.

    A yer from the opposing team was hot on his heels and tried hard to push him off the ball, but Fabio held on until he sent a high cross back into the box.

    This time the ball was headed towards Porto''s second striker, Goncalo Sousa, who quickly pushed himself off the ground with a powerful leap and connected with the ball in a powerful header that sent the ball past a stunned goalkeeper and into the back of the.

    GOAL!!!!

 Chapter 30: Porto Juniors vs Familicao U-19

    <h4>Chapter 30: Porto Juniors vs Familicao U-19</h4>

    The cheers of the crowd reached an all-time high as the ball nestled into the back of the from Goncalo Sousa''s header.

    {What a goal from the young striker!}

    {An incredible jump to connect with the cross from the wing-back and send the ball into the back of the with a bang in the early minutes of the game} thementator shouted in an excited voice as the crowd went wild and the striker took off towards the sidelines and jumped up while pumping his fist in jubtion.

    The whole team gathered around the scorer in jubtive moods, and they shared hugs, hand-fives, and smiles with each other before heading back to their half at the prompting of the referee.

    Soon the game kicked off once again and the match resumed with FC Porto Juniors in the lead and they began to y like they were in the lead since they had the momentum.

    The yers moved further up the field and the forwards began to make more frequent runs at the opposing team''s defense, constantly trying to find spaces to get a shot away.

    In less than ten minutes, the Porto team had already managed to get another four shots away with three of the shots being off target and thest one saved by the heroics of the Familicao team''s goalkeeper, otherwise, they would already be down by two.

    With their team almost getting another goal, the Porto team got even bolder and constantly looked for even more attacking options, but that was when the unexpected happened and the Familicao midfielder, Toki Yukutomo managed to steal the ball from Joao Teixeira in the midfield before setting off on a lightning-fast counter-attack.

    The Porto defense that had been ying a high defensive line was too slow to turn around and before they could make up for this ystyle that had turned out a mistake, Toki already sent a sweeping pass behind the defense and into the path of an approaching striker that was free from his markers.

    Some of the Porto team''s yers looked at the assistant referee wondering how the striker was so free, but the g stayed down and the striker continued chasing after the pass.

    Pedro, the goalkeeper for the Porto team quickly ran out of his goal, hoping to reach the ball before the striker of the Familicao team but unfortunately, he wasn''t fast enough to match the striker''s pace and ended up having the ball chipped over him and falling into the back of the.

    GOAL!!!

    1 : 1

    The Familicao team had equalized in the 23rd minute of the game just eleven minutes after they had gone behind.

    The cheers from the few happy Familicao fans were no match for the booing from the Porto fans but the Familicao yers didn''t care and gathered around the goalscorer to celebrate.

    Jason watched the events of the match with an impassive face from the bench, but the same could not be said about the yers who shared the bench with him or the coach.

    Their joyous moods had been toned down quite a bit after seeing their team conceding a goal and being equalized.

    Antonio in particr had a frown on his face, but he refrained from letting his anger show and simply barked orders at the yers on the pitch, reminding them of their game n and telling them to tighten up defensively and not lose the ball unnecessarily.

    Those were the only words he managed to get across to his yers before the match resumed.

    After the kick-off, the Familicao team seemed to have swallowed steroids and charged ferociously at the Porto team''s yers in possession of the ball.

    The Porto team was pressed hard and continuously dropped back into their half of the ball all while trying to keep the ball in possession, but the Familicao team didn''t give up on pressing aggressively and didn''t even hesitate to foul the Porto Juniors team yers.

    {In a stunning turn of events, it''s the Porto juniors team that is under fire from the Familicao team''s press and can''t do anything with the bal-... oh they''ve lost the ball} thementator was describing the match''s proceedings when he suddenly changed his words seeing the Porto''s right back lose the ball to the left winger of the Familicao team.

    Leonardo, the Familicao''s left-winger did not hesitate to send a grounded cross into the box after stealing the ball.

    The Porto team''s defense which wasn''t expecting this sudden upset couldn''t react in time to the right winger of the Familicao team running speedily into the penalty area to connect with the ball and slot it past the goalkeeper''s outstretched hand and into the back of the.

    GOAL!!!!

    1 : 2

    {My word, my word! Less than fifteen minutes since going behind and the Familicao team rose to the challenge with a resoundingeback!} Thementator''s shouts apanied the Familicao''s right-winger''s power-slide jubtion.

    Mauro Ribeiro jubted without a care in the world despite the match not having reached its mid-point.

    His teammates shared his enthusiasm and celebrated without care for the location, time, or even the referee''s attempts to hurry them.

    This time, the FC Porto Junior''s team head coach couldn''t keep his anger out of his voice as he barked at his team''s right back who had lost the ball that led to the goal.

    His words of annoyance didn''t take into consideration that the right-back had already contributed earlier with an assist.

    Antonio didn''t care and he wasn''t having it.

    His superior was probably paying attention to this game since it was a sort of test for the new yer, but his team was ying like sh*t and was already losing the game barely thirty minutes in.

    Not to mention that they conceded two goals in less than ten minutes.

    He was having a bad day right now and it was showing in his choice of words as he spewed harsh words on his yers.

    The only thing keeping profanities from his mouth were the few cameras trained on him.

    Jason watched all this from the safe space of the bench as he was not among the yers on the pitch who would have to bear the brunt of the coach''s harsh words.

    To be fair, he could understand the coach''s anger as the two goals that his side had conceded were goals that could have been avoided if they had kept their focus and not been over their heads because they had scored early on.

    These were mistakes that would diminish from the yers the more experience they had, but Jason wasn''t interested in that and was wondering when he could get on the pitch and get on the ball.

 Chapter 31: Porto Juniors vs Familicao U-19: An Unfamiliar Face

    <h4>Chapter 31: Porto Juniors vs Familicao U-19: An Unfamiliar Face</h4>

    The match resumed once again and the Familicao team began pressing aggressively once again, but the FC Porto Junior''s team''s yers who had gotten a good ear dressing from their coach didn''t lose their cool and sumb to the Familicao team''s high press.

    Instead, they passed the ball cleverly among themselves and gave the ball to their teammates as soon as they saw an approaching Familicao yer.

    With this style of y, the Familicao team''s yers quickly tired out and the Porto team managed to retain possession and slowly began to work their way up the field and into the opponent''s half.

    Joao Teixeira had just received the ball from Andre Oliveira and he had quickly sent the ball towards Tiago Andrade who was open on the left side of the field.

    Tiago received the ball and took off down the open left side of the field aiming to either get close enough to send the ball into the box or to cut into the box on his own, but before he could get far his path was blocked by two Familicao''s yers.

    He slowed down and flicked the ball between his feet, trying to find some space to dribble the ball past them, but the yers didn''tmit to the tackle and seemed intent on pushing him out of the pitch.

    Seeing that he couldn''t get past them, he tried to look for other passing options, but the Familicao yers had everyone around tightly marked, but luckily he found Umaro Cande on the right side of the field unmarked and quickly sent a cross-field pass toward him.

    Umaro quickly positioned himself to be able to trap the ball, but as the ball approached his outstretched leg, so did Jose Macedo, a midfielder from the Familicao team.

    Jose Macedo jumped into a sliding tackle at the ball, trying to clear it before it reached Umaro, but then ended up in a collision with Jose''s outstretched leg, mming into Umaro with force and both of them ended up on the floor while the ball rolled out of y.

    {That looks like it''d hurt} thementator said as he watched the two yers collide.

    Jose soon rose from the floor, but Umaro was left on the floor, rolling around in agony while clutching his right leg and hitting the floor repeatedly in pain.

    yers from both teams, along with the referee soon approached, seeing that the Umaro wasn''t standing up.

    The referee first showed Jose a yellow card before going over to where Umaroy on the ground still clutching onto his right leg with his eyes shut in agony and his teammates surrounding him with concern.

    Seeing that the situation seemed to be quite serious, the referee quickly called for the medical team to enter the field and check on the injured yer.

    Antonio watched the medical team rush to go and check on Umaro with a concerned look on his face before ncing at his team''s bench, different wheels turning in his head as this was an unexpected situation.

    From the way things looked, it didn''t seem like Umaro would be able to continue the match even though it was only the 32nd minute of the match.

    Originally Umaro was supposed toe off for Jason sometime in the second half after Jason had watched enough of the match''s proceedings, but now that Umaro was injured, it seemed that Jason would have toe on earlier.

    Unfortunately, Jason was the only yer on the team''s bench who could y in the right midfield.

    Antonio didn''t have anything against Jason ying, but his team was currently losing and it was too early in the game to make risky choices like bringing in a new yer who wasn''t familiar with the team, especially as the game hung in the bnce.

    Different thoughts flew around in Antonio''s head, but in the end, he couldn''t go against his superior''s request to put Jason in the game... there wasn''t even any other option anyway, so he called to Jason,

    "Begin warming up, you have two minutes."

    "Yes coach," Jason replied almost immediately, his face brightening up as he stood up from the bench and began to do warm-up exercises.

    He could not help but feel a bit happy that his teammate had gotten injured and allowed him to join the game earlier, but he wished him a speedy recovery in his heart as he warmed up.

    After two minutes, he was standing behind Antonio while adjusting his jersey and Antonio was giving him instructions.

    "I''m sure you were watching the game attentively, but what I need from you is to keep the possession while being quick on the attack as soon as you get the ball,"

    "Feed the ball to the strikers who are free or cut into the box should the opportunity appear, but don''t forget to help Fabio in defending the right side of the pitch when we are not in possession,"

    "Also, tell Mylo to run around a bit more, he needs to be free to receive passes," Antonio fired off into his ear as they stood on the sidelines waiting for Umaro to be brought off the pitch on a stretcher.

    {That tackle must have hurt as much as it looked. The injured yer is being brought off and it looks like he would not be able to continue} thementator intoned as Umaro was carefully ced on the stretcher and lifted carefully and moved off the pitch by the medical team.

    {A new yer ising on, and it is an unfamiliar face}

    {An unfamiliar face, an unfamiliar name, and an unfamiliar history, I wonder what surprises this yer has for us today} thementator spoke as Jason ran onto the field towards Mylo and whispered the coach''s instructions into his ear,

    "Coach said you should run around a bit more and free yourself from your marker so we can send passes your way," he told Mylo who responded with a nod.

    With the coach''s instructions delivered, he ran towards the right of the field, waiting for the match to resume, his blood boiling in anticipation.

 Chapter 32: Porto Juniors vs Familicao U-19: First minute wonder

    <h4>Chapter 32: Porto Juniors vs Familicao U-19: First minute wonder</h4>

    Fabio Amaral stood over the ball while he waited for his teammates to arrange themselves inside Familicao''s penalty box to receive the cross.

    Jason positioned himself close by at the edge of the right side of the penalty area, waiting for the referee''s whistle.

    *Fweeeeee*

    The whistle blew loudly and Fabio began his run-up towards the ball and swung his feet to connect with the ball, but instead of sending it into the box, he passed the ball to Jason who was just outside the right edge of the penalty area.

    Jason received the ball and quickly corrected his posture before sending a curved cross at the awaiting yers in the penalty area right before he could be held down by his marker.

    Many yers jumped at the iing ball that flew into the box, but it was Mariano Regal, Porto''s midfielder who got his head to the ball first and sent the ball at the goal.

    The ball spun heavily, spurned by Mariano''s header at the goal until the Familicao keeper who had dived a littlete managed to get his fingertips to the ball and pushed the ball against the crossbar, over the goal, and out of y.

    Mariano put his hands on his head as he groaned in annoyance at his goal-scoring chance being stopped by the goalkeeper.

    {Ohhh!!! What a chance, and what a save by the keeper. Tomas Perreira''s acrobatics have kept Porto Juniors from equalizing!} Thementator''s voice apanied the crowd''s cheers that swept across the stadium despite the fans'' slight disappointment at their team not scoring.

    He sent an apologetic look at Jason as well, but Jason didn''t mind the goal-scoring chance that had been missed and responded with a thumbs up and a smile as they arranged themselves in the penalty area for the corner kick.

    Fabio was the one who was taking the corner kick while the other yers arranged themselves strategically inside the penalty area to be able to connect with the corner.

    *Fweeee*

    The referee blew the whistle for the corner kick to be taken and with a powerfully swung kick, Fabio sent the ball spinning rapidly into the penalty box and towards the head of his teammates.

    yers from both teams jumped for the ball aiming to either send it into the back of the, or away from the goal with their efforts.

    Goncalo Sousa was the first one to get his head on the ball and he tried to direct it towards the goal, but the ball had barely left contact with his head when Hugo Oliveira, a center-back from the other team blocked the path of the ball with his ball.

    The ball hit Hugo''s body and was sent upwards beforeing back towards the ground.

    All the yers near the ball lunged toward the ball with various intentions, but one person was moving faster than all of them.

    Jason had watched the header of Goncalo hit Hugo''s body and how the ball had flown into the air.

    He had begun running to get the first touch on the ball before the ball even began its descent so it was inevitable that he was the first to reach the ball and with a well-timed volley he sent the ball past the defenders and the goalkeeper.

    The bulged to signify that he had scored but Jason was already running towards the sidelines in jubtion.

    GOAL!!!!

    2 : 2

    {What a goal! He''s been on the field for just more than a minute and already he has scored}

    {What a perfect start for the young yer} Thementator''s mouth kept rattling off, but his voice could barely be heard above the screams of the crowd who were cheering the equalizing goal like their life depended on it.

    Jason who was the center and cause of this reaction in the stadium was already in a power-slide with his arms stretched out as if to hug the world and enjoying every moment of his first professional goal, despite it still being in the youth league.

    It reminded him of what was toe and he had heartfelt joy on his face as he jubted happily.

    ''Ahh... I''ve missed this,'' he thought with his eyes closed, the chants of more than a thousand fans filling his ears.

    He could even hear his name a few times, but before he could think any further, he was swept to the ground by his teammates who had finally caught up to him.

    ***

    In a less crowded ce in the stands, three men sat unmoved by the euphoria that currently shook the stadium.

    "He has a good instinct and good decision-making skills for sure," Luis Pinto intoned, slightly adjusting his sses as he spoke.

    "...While I can''t deny that, it''s not enough for him to make it to the first team with just this much," Sergio Conceicao said after a slight pause.

    "But it''s still just the 37th minute, so he still has a lot of time to impress me," he added after noticing that Rafael was about to speak.

    Rafael and Luis nodded their heads in understanding and returned their attention to the ongoing game, or more specifically to Jason as the match looked set to continue.

    After the jubtions, the teams returned to their own half for the kick-off the game was now equalized once again, but this time by the Porto team and the fans who had reduced their cheers after their team had gone behind were now giving their full support through their reinvigorated cheers and chants.

    The game kicked off once again with the Familicao team in possession, but not for long as the Porto team charged at them with high spirits, their morale obviously improved by their equalizing goal, and before long they gained possession of the ball.

    With them now in possession, they slowly began passing the ball around cleverly and slowly building up an attack with their sights set on scoring another goal and taking the lead once again.

    Since Jason had scored the equalizing goal, his teammates were quite intent on giving him the ball and he didn''t disappoint.

    He easily dribbled past his markers before returning the ball to his teammates with clever passes and setting up various attacking opportunities, but the score remained the same until the 44th minute.

    Porto was on the attack once again, but this time there was a hint of hurriedness in their passes as they advanced towards the Famillicao penalty area.

    They were desperate to get a lead before halftime as that could help soften the words of their coach during the break and they showed their desire in their attack as they advanced.

    Mariano passed the ball to Joao Teixeira who did a one-touch pass in Goncalo''s direction.

    Goncalo received the ball and quickly sent the ball back to Joao before his marker could react.

    Joao was looking for an open yer as he received the ball back from the striker and by chance saw Jason making a run for into the outer space on the right wing and quickly sent the ball his way.

 Chapter 33: Porto Juniors vs Familicao U-19: A Discontent Coach

    <h4>Chapter 33: Porto Juniors vs Familicao U-19: A Discontent Coach</h4>

    Jason elerated past the Familicao''s left mid-fielder and received the ball in the open space behind the yer before elerating down the right side of the field while slowly cutting inside towards the penalty area.

    The defenders on the right side of the field quickly began positioning themselves to be able to block his inside run, causing him to reduce his speed before he ran into them.

    He raised his feet as if to make an inside pass and the defender quickly stretched out his right leg to block, but Jason faked a shot instead and deftly flicked the ball past the defender''s rooted left spot and moved past the defender.

    With the defender out of the way, Jason moved into the box and calmly rolled the ball between the remaining two center-backs towards Mylo who didn''t waste any time in sending the ball past the keeper''s outstretched gloves and causing the to bulge.

    GOAL!!!

    3 : 2

    {Right before half-time, FC Porto Juniors have cemented their status and authority against the visiting team and taken back their lead with a wonderful coboration between their young striker and winger}

    {The run into the box was made mboyant with the way the winger got rid of his man, the pass was absolute magic and it was met with the strike that it deserved} Thementator put into words the screams of the fans, his voice just as loud as the cheers that shook the stadium as they jubted with the yers.

    {I don''t know where this young new yer came from, but I like seeing him in the Porto colors already} he added in an excited voice, making it obvious that he was a fan of the blue and white side, but none of the Porto fans watching the game disagreed with his words.

    The cheers continued even as the yers walked back for kick-off.

    The assistant referee on the sidelines held up the board to show that there would be three additional minutes as the yers resumed y.

    Familicao did their best to break through the Porto within the three additional minutes, but the Porto Juniors team held on until the referee blew the whistle signifying the end of the first half.

    With the first half over, the yers trudged across the field with the team in the lead obviously more upbeat than the losing team.

    The Porto Juniors team waved at the fans, high-fived each other, and smiled happily as if they had already won the match despite having only gotten through half of the match.

    As the one who led theeback, Jason was the one on the receiving end of most of their enthusiasm, barely making it to the tunnel all while exchanging high-fives, hugs, andpliments from his teammates.

    He only managed to wave at the fans after hearing his name from somewhere in the stands.

    He walked into the stands, hearing that one shout grow to be a chant of some fans shouting his name.

    "Seems you''re already gaining fans," Mylo said to him with a smile as they walked to their dressing room, hearing Jason''s name being chanted.

    "Haha," Jasonughed a little, feeling a little embarrassed.

    Hearing his name being chanted by football fans was a part of his dreams and desires but he hadn''t expected to hear his name being chanted after merely twenty minutes on the pitch, so he was a bit embarrassed to hear someone point it out.

    He thought he was too experienced to be moved by such things, but who knew that he was still so easily razzed up by hearing fans?

    ''I guess I really did miss all this,'' he thought to himself, but this was why he loved football in the first ce.

    On the pitch, he could forget everything and feel truly free.

    It was like he was an opium fiend and football was his opium.

    These thoughts ran through his head as he walked into the dressing room where Antonio was waiting for them.

    Jason grabbed a bottle of water to hydrate himself as he sat on a bench, his eyes on the head coach who was waiting patiently for everyone to get into the room and settle.

    "Good work out there scoring three goals and taking the lead back... which you wouldn''t have had to do if you hadn''t caused two unwarranted goals in the first ce!" Antonio started speaking on a light note but nearing the end of his words, his voice had risen sharply.

    It was obvious that he wasn''t very pleased with the proceedings of the match despite his team being in the lead.

    His thoughts were, ''So what if they were winning right now? The terrible defensive mistakes they had made previously in this match made it obvious that a few more mistakes were all it would take to lose the game.''

    Jason joining the game had a greater effect than Antonio had thought it would and he had even managed to inspire aeback, but football was a team sport and no matter how many goals the attackers scored, if the defenders conceded even more, then they would still lose the game.

    "What were you looking at that they stole the ball from you and yed a pass behind you guys, huh?"

    "Did you guys even bother marking the yers I told you to mark?"

    "And you Fabio, are your legs made from spaghetti that you couldn''t trap the ball and lost the ball to that Leonardo guy, huh?"

    "Mylo, why were you running around like a pregnant woman on the field that you couldn''t escape your markers, huh?"

    Comints and corrections flew out from Antonio''s words at the pace of a machine gun and no one but Jason, the injured Umaro who wasn''t present, and the yers on the bench were spared from the coach''s harsh words.

    Antonio spent the half-time period chastising his yers and correcting them where they went wrong as well as making slight changes to their game n and by the time the FC Porto Junior yers walked back onto the pitch for the second half, they were significantly less upbeat than they previously were, but were more focused and determined to end this match as a win for their team.

 Chapter 34: Porto Juniors vs Familicao U-19: Second Half Begins

    <h4>Chapter 34: Porto Juniors vs Familicao U-19: Second Half Begins</h4>

    *Fweeeeee*

    The referee blew the whistle to signify the beginning of the second half and Goncalo who was standing over the ball passed the ball back to Joao Teixeira and with that, the second half had begun.

    The Porto side passed the ball around cleverly and avoided losing possession carelessly to the Familicao side as they slowly advanced into the opposing half.

    The Familicao yers gave chase, but despite putting a halt to Porto Juniors attacks quite a few times and even gaining possession and pushing them back a bit, the Porto Juniors side was the one with the momentum and continually pushed them far back into their own half until the only thing they were doing was defending.

    The face of the Familicao U19 team''s coach turned very dark as he watched his team fall into a fix despite all the game n revisions he had taken his yers through at half time and his heart jumped every time it looked like the Porto Juniors team would break through his team''s defense, but his team somehow managed to hold on every time... at least until the 57th minute.

    The Familicao had been defending at full focus ever since the second half started and after more than ten minutes of almost perfect defending, the focus of some yers on their side finally broke, the pressure taking its toll on them.

    Tiago Andrade, the Porto''s left winger had just gotten past Joao Santos with a clever one-two pass routine with Joao Teixeira and had found Gonalo Sousa to be free so he had sent the ball his way.

    Goncalo received the ball with his back to the Familicao goal, but he had used his body to shield the ball away from Hugo Oliveira while he turned his body to face the goal and shot the ball immediately the Familicao goalkeeper came into view.

    The ball flew powerfully towards the right side of the Familicao goal but the goalkeeper managed to make a dive and punch the ball away with a fist.

    The ball that had been punched away by Tomas Perreira flew towards the right throwing line, but just before rolling out of y, an outstretched leg snapped into the ball''s path and stopped it from going any further.

    Jason had made use of his very high eleration ability to chase after the ball the moment he saw the ball flying towards the right side of the field and had just barely managed to catch it before it went out of y, but before he could get the ball under control, he was rammed into from behind by an opposing team yer, throwing him off bnce.

    Without bothering to look at the box, he swung his leg to send a cross into the box and fell over immediately due to forcing himself to make that cross instead of stabilizing himself.

    The ball flew into the penalty box towards an arriving Mylo who volleyed the ball mid-flight and sent it into the back of the, the keeper rooted to the spot.

    GOAL!!!

    4 : 2

    {Stupendous! Exciting! Exhrating!}

    {What a shocker! The young striker sends the ball into the back of the with a bang. It is his second goal today and it is a great goal} Thementator performed various mouth gymnastics as he spoke, but all the fans were screaming too excitedly to pay him any attention at the moment.

    Mylo ran towards the sidelines with his arms swinging rapidly and he did a few back flips in excitement before going to hug Jason, the rest of the team approached joyously as the crowd''s cheering shook the CTFD Portogaia training center despite the stands not beingpletely filled up.

    Soon, the celebrations came to an end with the referee''s prompting and the yers were soon back in position for the kickoff to resume the game.

    The Familicao U19 team kicked off and unlike them ying with crushed spirits like one would expect, the Porto team scoring seemed to have infuriated them and they attacked the Porto Junior''s side with renewed vigor.

    They continuously sent yers forward and yed long splitting passes, all while trying to get behind the defense, and whenever they ended up losing possession, they pressed aggressively to get the ball back and before long a chance opened up for them.

    In the 64th minute, Toki Yukutomo managed to find Leonardo de Oliveira who cleverly flicked the ball past Fabio Amaral and ran into the box, but Fabio who had beenmbasted by Antonio during the half-time break was not having it and quickly gave chase before making a tackle for the ball, sending Leonardo to the floor in the penalty box and the ball out of y.

    The yers of the Familicao side quickly ran towards the referee trying to get a call for a penalty, but the referee paid them no heed as he had seen everything that had happened and knew that despite the tackle being a bit rough, Fabio had gotten a leg on the ball and Leonardo only fell because he didn''t get out of the way of the tackle.

    Despite the Familicao''s yer''s arguments for a penalty, the referee called for a corner kick instead and the yers had no choice but to get into the penalty box disappointed at not having gotten a penalty.

    Before the corner was taken, the assistant referee on the sidelines held up the board for a substitution for both teams.

    For the Familicao U19 side, the right winger, Mauro Ribeiro wasing off for Rudi Almeida while for the Porto Juniors side, the left winger, Tiago Andrade would being off for Jeremy Agbonifo.

    The new yers came on the field and went to their assigned positions, readying themselves for the Familicao corner kick.

    *Fweeee*

    Leonardo sent a curling ball from the corner into the box where his teammates awaited, poised to send the ball towards the Porto Juniors goal.

    As the ball approached the cross, the yers of both teams jumped to catch the ball mid-air but it was Mariano from the Porto Juniors team that got his head to the ball first and sent the ball in the opposite direction of his team''s goal.

    The ball flew outside of the Porto Juniors penalty area and ended up falling to the legs of the newly substituted yer of their team, Jeremy.

    As soon as Jeremy got the ball at his feet, he sent the ball forward to the only other yer ahead of him, trying to initiate a counter-attack.

    Jason was the yer that Jeremy had sent the ball towards and he was doing his best to hold off the yer behind him that was trying to prevent him from receiving the pass.

    Suddenly, Jason made a feint as if he was going to receive the pass, but instead let the ball pass through his legs and the legs of the yer hassling him from behind, before escaping from the surprised yer''s grasp and running around him to catch the ball before it rolled too far away.

    The cheers from the crowd increased by a notch as he escaped the yer and began the counter.

    With the ball at his feet once again, Jason took off in the direction of the Familicao goal at a lightning-fast pace, making full use of his calf muscles to pump himself forward, the shouts from the crowd increasing with every step he took.

    Just after getting to the middle of the pitch he found himself faced with two defenders from the Familicao team that were thest obstacles before he was face to face with the goalkeeper and they were closing on him rapidly.

    Hugo Oliveira arrived first and tried to block his path, his intention to stall for enough time for support to arrive from his teammates to aid him in stopping the counter-attack.

    Jason slowed his pace a bit before suddenly pushing the ball with the tip of his foot as if trying to get past Hugo but as soon as Hugo reacted to try and stop him, he moved his foot past the ball and snapped it back, performing an stico and moving past Hugo before he could correct his posture.

 Chapter 35: Porto Juniors vs Familicao U-19: A Disastrous Scoreline

    <h4>Chapter 35: Porto Juniors vs Familicao U-19: A Disastrous Scoreline</h4>

    The cheers of the crowd rose as Jason got past Hugo and he could hear thementator''s voice increasing in tone, making it clear that the crowd and thementator watching were impressed by his y, but he ignored that as another defender was still in his way.

    Duarte Oliveira had just arrived before him and before he could even get in a position to block Jason''s path, Jason quickly slotted the ball between the yer''s legs, nutmegging him, and ran behind him to get the ball, now having to face only the keeper as he approached the Familicao penalty area.

    Tomas Pereira had watched Jason easily get past his team''s defenders and he didn''t want to be gotten past that easily as well so he charged at Jason who had just entered the penalty area.

    Tomas tried to make himself look big in front of the and make Jason unable to shoot the ball easily due to being uneasy, and just as he had hoped, Jason changed his direction to the left slightly as if he was trying to avoid and run behind him.

    Tomas quickly followed, not letting Jason get past him and pushing Jason further away from the goal

    Just when it seemed like Jason would push the ball out of y, Jason''s right leg suddenly went behind his left leg and chipped the ball over the keeper in a perfectly executed Rabona pass.

    Tomas hadn''t been expecting Jason to make such an unexpected move and he had been too surprised to block the ball that flew over his head

    His eyes followed the ball that flew behind him and he saw that the ball wasn''t going in the direction of the goal, but before he could feel relieved, he saw Mylo from the Porto Juniors team jumping to meet the ball with his head and sending it into the back of the.

    {GOAALLLLLL!!!!!!}

    {HAT-TRICK!!!!!!} thementator shouted along with the Porto fans as the ball flew into the back of the in a satisfying end to a beautiful counter-attack.

    {With that the score bes 5 : 2 and what a goal it was!}

    {A beautifully electrifying run from Jason and a beautiful pass over the goalkeeper to set up the striker for a hat-trick!}

    {What a goal! What a goal!} Thementator''s excited voice as he recounted the goal served as an addition to the crowd''s excited cheers and the yers''s jubtions on the pitch.

    Even Antonio Frasco, the other youth team staff, as well as the substitutes were not left out as they could be seen celebrating with each other on the sidelines.

    In the stands, Luis Pinto suddenly looked at Sergio Conceicao and said,

    "If you let that kid stay in the youth team, I believe I''m speaking for myself and other Porto fans when I say that we will never forgive you," his tone expressed how serious he was as he spoke,pletely impressed by Jason.

    Rafael agreed silently as he felt like it was a crime for Sergio to refuse to bring Jason into the senior team after this wonderful disy.

    While the youth league wasn''t as tough and aspetitive as the senior league, for a yer to be able to y at this level on his first game in the league proved his talent and readiness to step onto bigger grounds.

    With this disy as well as the fact that Jason was already eighteen years of age, Rafael already had the fear that if they didn''t move fast and other teams caught wind of Jason''s status, they wouldn''t waste any time in offering him a professional contract.

    "..." Sergio Conceicao didn''t say a word, but internally was thinking the same thing as Rafael and already had ns of getting Jason to sign a professional contract before the January transfer season was over.

    "Rafael, get him to get an agent to discuss the contract terms with the club, but let him keep his conditions realistic or else he can find another team," Sergio finally said, not revealing his true internal feelings and making it sound like he just grudgingly epted to offer him a contract.

    "If he can sign for the team, it would be okay, but I can''t promise him constant ytime as there''s a lot ofpetition for ces on the first team," he continued with his eye on Rafael, his revealing his intention for Rafael to tell all that to Jason.

    "Alright, I''ll tell him" Rafael answered back, a little smile appearing on his and Luis''s faces as they returned their attention to the match that was about to resume, with the yers already returning to their halves.

    Once again the match kicked off, but the bodynguage of the Familicao yers after the goal was not good and there was none of their previous unwavering spirits as they passed the ball around, but the Porto Juniors team didn''t care for their opponents'' mental condition and pressed heavily, their every movement seemingly carrying the intention to extend their lead even further.

    Soon the floodgates were pulled open by the FC Porto Juniors team and by the 72nd minute, Jeremy found Goncalo Sousa in the Familicao''s penalty area with a sweeping pass and Goncalo didn''t waste any time in slotting the ball into the back of the.

    GOAL!!!!

    6 : 2

    Barely another five minutester, Bernando Fereira found the back of the Familicao from a corner that he had directed into the with his head, bringing the score to 7 : 2.

    In the 85th minute of the game, Jason found Goncalo with a grounded cross into the box after getting rid of his marker. Goncalo didn''t disappoint and rifled the ball into the back of the, getting his hat-trick as well and bringing the score to 8 : 2.

    Finally, in the 94th minute, a newly brought-on yer, Francisco Silva found Jason with a well-ced pass down the right wing that Jason had trapped before cutting into the box, dribbling past three yers and curving the ball behind Tomas Pereira with a left-footed shot.

    When the referee had blown the whistle just over a minuteter, the Porto fans were still jubting happily on the goal that had put their junior team seven goals ahead and brought the score of the game to 9 : 2.

    It was a disastrous scoreline and the yers of the Familicao U19 team could hardly raise their heads at the few fans that hade to watch them y, while the Porto Juniors team that was on the favorable end of this scoreline joined the fans in cheering after the match was over.

    The Porto Juniors team yers waved happily and cheered with the team while singing along with the crowd''s chants.

    Jason waved at the crowd a few times and was going to go down the tunnel immediately, but his teammates, especially Goncalo, Mylo, and Jeremy weren''t having it and dragged him back to the pitch to join them in celebrating with the fans and despite all his arguments while they dragged him to the field, he still joined them in celebrating with the fans, a happy smile on his face.

 Chapter 36: Unexpected Changes

    <h4>Chapter 36: Unexpected Changes</h4>

    Jason fell onto his bed, his muscles aching slightly from exhaustion, but his mind was filled with excitement after getting to y in today''s match.

    To be fair, he hadn''t expected to have that much of an influence on the game, but after getting his first goal from the corner, he had felt like he was on fire and he made sure to make the best use of the opportunities that he had.

    Of course, the fact that this was a youth league and that the Familicao U19 team was much weaker than his side aided their victory and enabled them to rack up such an extravagant score, but the fact that the opportunities kepting and that their team kept taking them remained a fact that he couldn''t deny.

    "Well, it all worked out in the end," he murmured, his mind already moving past that and going back to something he remembered after seeing something on his phone while he and Mylo were on their way back after the game.

    The current year was the year 2020 and was also the year he had returned to the past from his past reality so this year was thest year worth of future knowledge that he had, but what worried him was not that he would soon run out of future knowledge as he hadn''t really need it much anyway...

    Rather it was about the worldwide pandemic that had taken the world by storm in the year 2020, Corona Virus.

    The virus was not especially fatal, but it was extremely contagious and that caused it to rack up kills and prompt the world into taking severe actions to curb its spread to other parts of the world.

    This caused a lockdown of literally every country and almost everything in the world had toe to a pause, but thanks to the advancement of technology, humanity didn''t suffer much of an effect from the sudden halt in everything.

    He had just seen some news about the outbreak in China and he had already realized that it was only a matter of time before it spread to other parts of the world and the Covid lockdown began.

    As a "returnee", he knew the best ways to avoid the virus and ensure that he was not infected, yet he was still worried because of something else.

    In his past reality, due to the lockdown, many businesses suffered huge losses and these businesses involved football clubs.

    Due to no ieing in from the fans, the clubs could not afford to pay the exorbitant amount of yers'' sries and a lot of football clubs had to introduce pay cuts and postponement of sries.

    A lot of football clubs even went into debt because of the aftereffects of the lockdown and had to release yers from contracts and do all sorts of things because they couldn''t afford the yers.

    Jason''s problem wasn''t that he would have to deal with a pay cut, but rather the fact that he didn''t even have a professional contract yet.

    If he didn''t have a professional contract by the time the lockdown began, the chances of him getting the contract after the lockdown would be lower than ever since the club would prioritize their more experienced and longstanding yers rather than a "fresh meat" from the junior team... or older, washed up yers who they thought had no more business ying professional football.

    He knew and was very sure of this because the aftereffects of the lockdown were a leading cause of his retirement in his previous reality.

    He had been called a washed-up yer and his contract had not been extended no matter how much he was willing to concede when it came to his sry, so he had chosen to retire as he was already too old to keep his hopes up for another team toe calling.

    It had hurt him a lot back then as he thought he was at the end of his dream, but luckily he had gotten another chance and he was determined not to have any sudden ws in his path.

    Jason psyched himself up and stood up from his bed to do a few yoga routines to help with muscle exhaustion.

    He made up his mind to do his best in training and the uing youth matches so that the club management would not have a choice but to offer him a professional contract to the senior team, after all, no matter how well he yed, he couldn''t join the senior team after only one match in the youth league, right?

    Those were his thoughts when his phone suddenly rang, interrupting his yoga practice and he stood up out of his pose to pick up the phone.

    "Why is Rafael calling?" he wondered as the phone''s screen came into view, before swiping across the screen and putting the phone to his ear.

    "Hello?" he spoke in a questioning tone.

    "Have you been able to get an agent?" Rafael''s voice rang into his ear.

    "Huh? Uh, no, I haven''t gotten one yet," Jason responded, a bit confused at the sudden question that even sounded a bit urgent.

    "Well, find one quick, the club management was impressed by your performance and wants to have a conversation with you about getting on the senior team rooster," Rafael dropped the sudden bomb.

    Despite not directly saying it, Jason immediately understood that the club wanted to offer him a professional contract and words were not enough to describe his surprise at the early and unexpected decision by the club to add him to the senior team.

    This was more than shocking as this was not something that would normally be done in any professional football team, after all, it had been barely a week ago that he had not even been part of a football academy and now he was suddenly offered a professional contract, and into the senior team of a top-flight team in Europe no less.

    "Uh... ok, thank you very much," Jason was beyond stunned at how things were falling into ce so easily but not questioning anything as things were already going in a better direction than he expected.

    "The club wants an agreement as soon as possible, so as soon as you get an agent to help handle the proceedings, you can get back to me," Rafael continued speaking, not yet done delivering his message.

    "Preferably within the next few days, as it''s best if both sides cane to a mutual agreement before the end of the transfer season,"

    "Ok, I''ll get back to you soon, and thank you again," Jason finally said as it seemed that Rafael was done speaking.

    "You''re wee, I''m simply doing my job," Rafael replied and hung up the call.

 Chapter 37: Meeting with an Agent

    <h4>Chapter 37: Meeting with an Agent</h4>

    The ss doors of the Miami restaurant were pushed open as Jason walked into the restaurant dressed in casual clothes that consisted of a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and a ck leather jacket to keep out the cold.

    With the help of a waiter, he found the table he had reserved and sat there to wait, his mind a bit absent due to his thinking about the proceedings of the day before that had led him to this restaurant.

    The day before, after he had just gotten off the phone with Rafael intending to find an agent as quickly as possible...

    He had debated going online to search for an agent, or even calling Rafael back to ask for rmendations as he was no longer in the USA where he had such information, and calling for a contractualwyer all the way from the USA was kind of expensive, and stupid when he could get one here.

    While he was thinking, he had gone to the refrigerator to get something to drink and he had met Mylo watching TV in the living room.

    He had suddenly thought to ask Mylo if he happened to know an agent who could help with a contract.

    Luckily, Mylo already had an agent and had helped Jason contact him and set up a meeting for both of them to discuss.

    Jason was currently at the venue that had been set for the meeting and was now waiting for the agent.

    "Are you Mr. Bolu?" Jason suddenly heard a question that pulled him out of his thoughts and his eyes fell on the middle-aged man in a gray suit standing before him with a hand outstretched for a handshake.

    "Yes, that''s me," Jason stood up and grasped the outstretched hand.

    "Rico Gz," the gray-suited agent said his name as he released Jason''s hand and they sat at the table.

    "So, er, Mylo told me that you require my services?" Rico stated quickly getting into the reason for the meeting.

    "Yeah, It''s for a professional contract with the Porto senior team," Jason replied, quite liking the direct nature of Rico''s question.

    "Oh wow, I suppose I should say congrattions," Rico said with a bit of surprise in his tone because ording to Mylo, Jason had just joined the U-19 team under trial and had only yed one match for them.

    "Thanks... um, so, I need to meet with the club management soon and I''d need you to be there to secure my rights, benefits, and all of that, you know," Jason exined, an American ent leaking from his voice.

    "OK, I get the gist of the situation, but if I''m going to help you with that, I''d need more information about your career records until now, and if you have any special requests that you''d like me to make in the contract," Rico went into his professional mode and began to ask for the essentials that he''d need to estimate the kind of benefits to help Jason fight for.

    "I don''t have any special requests..."

    "... as for career records, I don''t really have any," Jason replied with a wry smile, a bit embarrassed at not having any career records to speak of.

    "What do you mean by you don''t have any career records?" Rico asked with an eyebrow raised in surprise.

    "It means I''ve never been part of a professional side until I joined the Porto Juniors team... unless you count my time at the Lion Ser Academy back when I was seven years old," Jason exined, the wry smile not leaving his face.

    "Hmmm... " a thoughtful look appeared on Rico''s face before he asked again,

    "Do you have any clips of yourself with a ball or in a match?"

    "Not really... but, you can check the highlights of thest Porto Junior match against the Familicao U-19 team, I yed in that one so there should be some scenes of me there," Jason answered.

    "Alright, sure. Let me check that now," Rico replied and took out an iPad from his bag while thinking to himself whether he could garner enough information about a yer in a single match''s highlights.

    In the end, all that really mattered to him was getting his agent fee after he helped Jason negotiate a deal with FC Porto and nothing else really mattered to him as he didn''t see any point in bing a long-standing agent for a yer who didn''t have any previous career records at eighteen years of age.

    These were his thoughts as he searched "FC Porto Juniors vs Familicao U-19" to be able to watch the highlights of the game.

    His eyebrow shot up as he saw the scoreline under the first video,

    ''9:2? that''s a shocking score,'' he thought as he clicked on the video and the video opened up on YouTube.

    The video opened up with the starting lineups of both teams and Rico nced stealthily at Jason who was looking through the menu when he realized that Jason''s name wasn''t even in the starting line-up.

    Jason noticed Rico stealthily ncing at him but didn''t react as he was more interested in what was on the menu than the opinion of an agent that he wasn''t nning to hire long-term.

    While Jason was focusing on selecting something from the menu, Rico was watching the video that had the highlights and had watched until the scene where Umaro had gotten injured and Jason came onto the field.

    Within the few minutes remaining of the highlights video, Rico''s expression changed drastically from an almost neutral look to a favorable expression of Jason.

    He didn''t need more than a few minutes of Jason''s performance on the pitch to estimate Jason''s current worth and though he couldn''t estimate Jason''s future worth, he could already tell that it wasn''t low.

    How good would it be if he could be a long-term agent for a yer like Jason?

    Such an opportunity would shoot his career into the realm of more famous football stars.

    "Have you watched the video?" Jason''s sudden question shot Rico back into reality.

    "Uh, yeah, I''ve seen the video and you''re quite talented. I believe FC Porto wouldn''t mind paying a good price to add you to their rooster," Rico managed to answer despite being deep in thought just a few seconds earlier.

    "About that, I wouldn''t mind going a little lower on the sry as long as I can get signed to the team and secure enough ying time," Jason tried to exin to Rico that a high sry was not especially necessary right now as it was still too early for him to be making exorbitant demands from the club.

    Not that Jason didn''t want a high sry.

    After all, who didn''t like money, but he also knew it wasn''t time yet for all that.

    As long as he kept performing well on the pitch, the money would inevitably follow.

    He wasn''t in a rush, but the same thing couldn''t be said about Rico Gz who was adamant about getting the highest sry possible for Jason because the the better the deal he managed to negotiate, the higher his agent fees.

    Of course, he didn''t say that to Jason as Jason had said that money wasn''t a major issue, but it was he who would be doing the negotiating anyway so, it was up to him to tell the board Jason''s demands.

    He could directly inte the numbers a little bit anyway.

    They discussed a few other things before Rico stood up to leave as he had another engagement after meeting with Jason.

    He did not forget to hand Jason his card and try to convince Jason to hire him as a long-standing agent, which Jason responded to by saying he would think about it.

 Chapter 38: An Intense Rush of Emotions

    <h4>Chapter 38: An Intense Rush of Emotions</h4>

    Jason watched Rico walk out of the restaurant''s doors before turning his eyes to the business card that Rico had given him and feeling the sudden urge to rip it apart.

    He didn''t like the feeling that Rico gave off and for some reason, he felt a bit annoyed and quite ufortable with him, but for now, he didn''t have much of a choice as he was in a bit of a hurry.

    The fact that the club had told him to hurry up on his side, and also the fact that he knew that it was best for him to get all contract issues over with before COVID hit the club''s pockets hard had him not wanting to waste even an extra second on signing the contract.

    Only when he had put his pen to paper and was added to the team roster could he feel at ease.

    ''I don''t n on hiring him again anyway,'' he thought to himself as he put the card into a jacket pocket before picking up the menu once again to order some food.

    He felt a little hungry and the scent of delicious food was doing a good job of making him salivate.

    Looking at the menu, he couldn''t help but shake his head bitterly as most of the food on the menu was too greasy to be on the te of a strict sportsman like him.

    Just as he was settling on a few less greasy foods, he heard a young female voice beside him that prompted him to look up immediately to respond.

    "Have you decided on what to order?" a young waitress who looked to be in herte teens appeared in Jason''s view as she asked in Portuguese.

    "Oh! Uhm... ahem, uh, y-yeah, I''ll have the Tripas a moda do Porto, cmari with arroz de feijao, and a ss of lemonade," Jason replied in Portuguese, trying to hide his sudden involuntary stuttering and maintain his impassive face.

    "Oh wow. I figured that you weren''t from around here but you knew Portuguese?" the young waitress was surprised at Jason speaking Portuguese and responded in Portuguese.

    "You figured right. I am not from around here," Jason had a slight smile appear on his face as he replied.

    "Are you Brazilian?" she questioned with curiosity as she had noticed that Jason''s Portuguese sounded quite different from hers even though they could understand and speak to each other.

    "Nigerian and American," Jason said in reply.

    "I don''t think they speak Portuguese in any of those ces?" the young waitress questioned, a bit confused.

    "They don''t, I learned it myself and it seems the time I spent learning it is finally paying off since I can have a conversation with a beauty like you," Jason replied, unintentionally flirting with her, and cringing internally after realizing the words that just left his mouth.

    "Hey, I-I can speak English too, you know," the young waitress replied hurriedly, but by her sudden hurried tone and slight stutter, anyone could see that she was slightly rizzed up by Jason calling her a beauty.

    "So, you said you''d have the Tripas a moda do Porto and cmari with arroz de feijao, right?" she asked in a hurry, while writing down Jason''s order on a notepad, looking like she wanted to run off.

    "And lemonade," Jason corrected,

    "Ok, and a ss of lemonade... I''ll go handle that," she added and began to walk off.

    "What the hell was that!" Jason murmured to himself as he put his hand to his chest and felt his heart beating way faster than usual despite him not exerting himself physically.

    Not to mention that he was feeling self-conscious all of a sudden and saying things that would normally never be caught dead saying to anybody.

    This all started as soon as he had set his eyes on the young, beautiful waitress.

    It was like he was trying to impress her... which was something he had never done in both his past life and this one... so far.

    As previously mentioned, due to his mental trauma, he had a problem recognizing emotions, but no matter how emotionally unstable a person was, unless he was stupid, there was no way he wouldn''t notice some particr emotions.

    Jason had always known of his almost totalck of emotions and while it had not been impossible for him to develop any emotions, his totalck of empathy made him feel like it was a waste of time and energy, so he rarely bothered with things like emotions unless necessary, which happened to be too few times to count.

    In his previous life, the only emotion he had felt involuntarily was the emotions he felt on the pitch and it was also the only emotion he had voluntarily chased after as he desired more of it, but now he was feeling something simr, albeit not of the same level, from a girl he had barely met.

    Strangely, it didn''t feel bad, but he wasn''t sure if he wanted to bother with trying to develop this emotion because despite how much it felt good right now, he also knew that emotions had a good effect on clouding one''s judgment.

    He also knew that there were two sides to anything and everything.

    If he tried to reach out and go after what he was feeling at that moment.

    If he opened up to this new feeling and things ended up going the wrong way like it had previously happened with the death of his family, he wasn''t sure he could handle it.

    It was then that he realized that he was actually scared.

    He had always been scared of losing someone again despite the low chances of it ever happening, but after he had been given another chance, he had always tried to do things differently, yet he wasn''t sure if he wanted to try something as intense and dangerous as what he was feeling.

    Jason was still thinking when someone brought his food over.

    He almost did not remember to acknowledge that he had received his food as he was currently in an emotional dilemma that he had never thought he would experience in his life.

    But with food now on the table, he shelved his emotional dilemma and focused on the more important things at hand, he''d get back to his emotional dilemma after he was done with his food.

    And that was exactly what he did, he pushed all his thoughts to the side and focused on the taste of offals, shrimps and ls, and rice and beans.

    After he was done eating and sipping on his lemonade, the young waitress who was the cause of his emotional turbulence appeared before him with his bill,

    "Here''s your bill," she said daintily as she ced the bill on his table.

    "Will you be needing anything else?" she asked as she waited while Jason was pulling out his wallet.

    "... Actually, yes, I''ll be needing three things," Jason said after a while as he pulled out his wallet and snapped it open.

    "I''d be needing your name, your contact details, and the time you''re getting off," he said, a decisive smile appearing on his face as he ced some money on the table while internally thinking,

    ''I might have gotten another chance, but we only live once, right?''

    ''...Best not to have any regrets,'' he had made his decision and it was a hasty one, which was not like him at all, but well, he was trying to do things a little differently now.

    "Sofia..."

    "... My shift ends in an hour," Sofia said with a flirtatious smile as she put a piece of paper on the table and picked up the money before walking away, with a little sway in her hips.

    Jason picked up the paper to see the words "I thought you''d never ask" as well as a string of numbers on it.

 Chapter 39: Date?

    <h4>Chapter 39: Date?</h4>

    Jason sat at one of the chairs overlooking the terrace and enjoyed the view while waiting for Sofia''s shift to be over.

    He had spent some time checking some information on his phone and had also spent some time throwing some darts at a dart machine that the Miami restaurant/bar had, but he was now enjoying the view while waiting patiently.

    ... Maybe patiently wasn''t the right word as he was feeling a bit jittery and nervous at the fact that he was going to be going on a date in a few minutes.

    ''Maybe this wasn''t a good idea,''

    ''Maybe, I shouldn''t have set this up,'' despite his impassive face that seemed to be enjoying the view, he was currently having a fierce internal debate with himself, but before he had time to doubt himself even more, he heard the voice of the cause of his emotional turbulence.

    "Hey, I never got your name," Sofia said as she arrived behind Jason, no longer wearing the ck T-shirt with the motif "Miami", and the ck trousers that served as her waitress uniform.

    Jason turned to face her and took in her whole appearance in a single nce

    With dark brown hair that had dirty blonde ends framing a cute oval-tanned face, added with tear drop-like eyes, a rounded nose, and plum-colored lips, one could not say she wasn''t beautiful.

    A well-shaped body with slightly small but well-defined curves that couldn''t be hidden by the woolly cardigan, or slightly baggy jeans she had on added to her beauty.

    While she couldn''t be called one of the most beautiful or sexy, she was definitely easy on the eyes, and this only served to enchant Jason a fair bit.

    "Ahem... it''s Jason," Jason quickly caught himself before he could be caught staring, but seeing the satisfied smile on Sofia''s face, it was obvious that he hadn''t been fast enough.

    Sofia seemed like she was about to call him out on that before they both suddenly heard the voice of a woman behind them, "So this is why you hurried off after your shift was over, huh?"

    Standing behind them was a woman who looked to be a more mature and fuller version of Sofia with an "I caught you in the act," smirk on her face.

    Before Jason could even say anything, or ask who the MILF version of Sofia was(even though the answer was pretty clear), Sofia grabbed his hand and began pulling him away while covering her face in embarrassment.

    "I''m guessing a conversation while enjoying the view from there is off the table," Jason said with a nce at the terrace and "MILF Sofia".

    "Completely off, we can walk by the riverside instead or go somece else," Sofia said without so much as ncing back, doing her best to hide her embarrassment.

    "Ok," Jason replied with a littleugh, watching her try to hide her embarrassment and failing.

    He could not help finding it very cute to watch.

    "Stopughing at me," Sofia half-whispered as she dragged him out of the shop.

    "Okay... also, you can let go of my hand now," Jason replied, while it felt good that she was holding onto his hand, it was also a bit weird and ufortable to be dragged around by a girl.

    "Oh, sorry," Sofia quickly let go in realization.

    "So, I''m guessing that''s your mother," Jason began a conversation from the avable topic.

    "Yeah, that''s my mum, she owns the ce," Sofia replied, settling into afortable pace alongside Jason as they walked down the street.

    "So that''s why you work there?" he asked as he noticed theck of mention of her father in that sentence realized that it was probably not a good conversation topic so he avoided asking about it.

    "Yeah, I work there whenever I''m around," Sofia answered without a pause in her stride.

    "When you around?" Jason asked in surprise.

    "Yeah, I''m actually a student at the University of Lisbon, so I''m usually not here a lot these days," Sofia exined.

    "Wow," Jason murmured while feeling his heart drop.

    "What about you? Are you here to study or something?" Sofia asked, unaware of Jason''s heart''s turbulence.

    "Nah, I''m here for football,"

    "Huh?"

    "I''m currently a trial yer on the Porto U-19 squad and am about to be signed to the senior team," Jason said, not sure if he should be releasing that information to Sofia, but he couldn''t help himself and suddenly felt like bragging a little.

    "Oh wow, but I haven''t seen you around though," Sofia''s eyes widened in surprise at Jason, but she was also surprised as she was a fan of FC Porto and had not seen him in the few youth games she had bothered to attend.

    "Ah, I didn''t know you paid attention to football teams, but I actually just arrived and have only yed one game for the youth team," Jason replied a bit surprised that she was a football fan.

    "Of course, I pay attention to football teams, I love football and am a fan of our team, FC Porto," Sofia responded.

    "So, are you hungry, or should we keep walking," Jason asked as he saw a restaurant up ahead on the street path they were walking on.

    "I''m good," Sofia shrugged and they continued their discussion as they kept walking.

    They forgot everything and kept talking about various things, just enjoying each other''spany.

    It was a first for Jason, and while he couldn''t tell exactly how Sofia felt, he believed that she felt at least a bit interested in him.

    It wasn''t until almost two hourster that they realized how far they had been walking, and had to take a cab back as there was no way they were going to walk back the same distance.

    They both dropped off back at the Miami restaurant and Jason waited for her to walk back into the restaurant before he headed back to his apartment, feeling light all over despite having walked around aimlessly for more than two hours.

    "I thought you said you weren''t going to take long," Mylo asked as he walked into the living room of their apartment where Mylo was lying on the couch watching football.

    "Things came up," Jason answered half-heartedly, not keen on exining.

    Suddenly Mylo sniffed at the air as he caught a hint of the scent of women''s perfume,

    "Oh, I see what came up," he said with a knowing smirk after confirming the scent.

    "Was she helping you to take care of it after it came up?" Mylo continued, his perverted smirk not leaving his face.

    "Man shut up," Jason said with augh as he picked a cushion and flung it at Mylo''s face.

    "Come on man, tell me, I wanna know," Myloughed as he dodged the cushion before picking up a cushion as well and sending it at Jason.

    For a while,ughter rang out in the apartment as pillows were flung in all directions.

 Chapter 40: An Overreaching Agent

    <h4>Chapter 40: An Overreaching Agent</h4>

    Jason jumped off the treadmill, huffing violently as he had just finished an intensive 30-minute run at above-average speed, and sat on the floor while mopping some of his sweat away with a towel.

    Team training for the Porto Juniors hadn''t resumed as they were supposed to be resting after their game just over a day ago, but Jason would nevery on the couch that long in the name of rest.

    He would rather up his grind at every moment, continuously trying to better himself as while he had been given a second chance, he would still have to work extra hard to make good on this chance and achieve his dreams.

    He hadn''t been given a system or some sort of cheat ability like in those books with simr situations to what he had experienced, so he had to work extra hard if he wanted to change anything from how it was in his previous life.

    Things had already begun changing and he was already walking a very different path from his previous life, but that was not going to stop him from working hard.

    Rather he was going to up his work rate, increase his training time, and do as many body conditioning exercises at every chance he got.

    If Cristiano Ronaldo could make it to the top of the football world with hard workbined with his talents, then Jason didn''t see any reason why he couldn''t do the same...

    ... Even though things hadn''t gone that way in his previous life despite how hard he worked, that wouldn''t dampen his enthusiasm and efforts

    As soon as he caught his breath, he stood up again to continue his run on the treadmill, while thinking to himself,

    ''Rico should have contacted the club management, or maybe he''s even meeting them already.''

    Rico Gz was Mylo''s agent whom he had hired to help negotiate his contract with the PC Porto club management.

    Rico was the one who would contact the club and negotiate a contract with them before getting back to him with the results of the negotiation and asking for his input if he was unsatisfied with the deal or his signature if he was satisfied.

    It was probably too early to be expecting Rico to havee to an agreement with the club as he had just hired him the day before, but Jason couldn''t help feeling eager to put pen to paper as soon as the deal was finalized.

    ''I hope that guy doesn''t mess things up,'' Jason couldn''t help thinking to himself.

    ***At the same time at Estadio do Dragao***

    Rico arrived for a hastily set up appointment and was ushered into a widely spaced meeting room that looked a little empty except for the presence of three people.

    Seated in the chairs at the end of the table were Sergio Conceicao, Rafael Hernandez who was attending in ce of Head Scout Andre, and Filipe Carlos, the substitute legal representative for the club and the person majorly in charge of the negotiation proceedings.

    Rico walked in and shook hands with everyone before he was offered a seat and the negotiations began.

    "I think I speak for the majority of the club''s management when I say that we have seen the talent shown by your client and are very impressed and hope to add him to our ranks," Filipe Carlos began speaking, doing his job as the lead negotiator.

    "Of course, my client is also eager to join the FC Porto team... as long as the negotiations areplete," Rico began on a light-hearted note but added another sentence to show that despite Jason''s eagerness, their side wouldn''t be willing to concede benefits just to join the squad.

    Filipe Carlos could hear Rico''s intention from his tone, but he wasn''t fazed as this wasn''t his first experience with such a situation.

    "I have read the contract draft that you sent to me and I believe that some adjustments need to be made," Rico began not noticing Sergio Conceicao''s eye roll on the side.

    Sergio Conceicao had seen the contract draft as well since his input was one of the most valued when the draft was put together.

    While the current draft wasn''t the best that could be offered, it was the kind of contract that would be epted by any other yer in Jason''s shoes, so he didn''t see any reasons why there needed to be adjustments made to the draft.

    But Filipe Carlos who was in the same line of business already expected that every agent would always try to secure more benefits with or without the consent of their clients as more benefits equaled more agent fees, so he wasn''t ruffled and coolly asked,

    "What part do you think needs an adjustment?"

    "I''m sure you don''t think you can secure my client services with a sry of just 7000 euros weekly," Rico replied and everyone in the room couldn''t help but feel their lips twitch.

    "I''m sorry... did you say ''just'' 7000?" Filipe''sposure which had been trained with experience over years flew out the window and he barely managed to grab onto it in time.

    He had seen agents that overreached their bounds, but it was his first time meeting one this brazen and he couldn''t help but curse internally,

    ''This motherfu**er.''

    "How much do you think your client''s wages should be then?" Filipe asked after he had reigned in hisposure.

    "At least 30000 euros weekly," Rico said self-righteously.

    This time, Sergio and Rafael couldn''t keep their faces straight and Rafael immediately interjected as he couldn''t stay silent,

    "Don''t you think paying 30000 euros a week to a yer who doesn''t have more than a single professional game under his belt is a bit over the top?"

    "If it''s for a yer with as much talent as my client, then no, I don''t think it is," Rico immediately replied, not willing to take a step back.

    "No one is saying he doesn''t have talent, we just haven''t seen a consistency of such performances in games to give him such a sry," Rafael began trying to exin, but Sergio could no longer stay silent and took over the exnation,

    "That''s why it''s only a two-year contract, and when he has proven himself to the team, the club management, and the fans, then paying that much or even higher isn''t a problem," Sergio countered Rico''s reasoning.

    "But-..." Rico began but Filipe suddenly interjected,

    "Is this a demand of your client?" he said, his voice dropping dangerously low.

    "Well, I''m here to represent my client an-..." Rico began again after realizing that things may end up getting out of hand, but Filipe interjected again,

    "IS THIS... A DEMAND. OF YOUR CLIENT?" he asked, slowly spelling the question out.

    "I believe my client would fully agr-..." Rico tried to y it off but it seemed that Filipe was intent on not allowing him to finish any sentences as he interjected once again,

    "Do you know who the highest-paid person in the FC Porto team is?" Filipe asked, but then went ahead to answer the question himself,

    "It''s Pepe, a three times champions league winner and he has a weekly sry of about 55000 euros,"

    "The average weekly sry of our yers is just about 24000 euros..."

    "But now, you are demanding an amount above the average sry for a yer who doesn''t even have an academy experience ," Filipe fired away, his words harshly scratching against Rico''s ears.

    "I''m very sorry, but if those are your demands, then there is no point in negotiating," Filipe said thest words any agent would want to hear with conviction.

 Chapter 41 An Olive Branch

    Reading works can both earn Points. Points can be exchanged for gifts.

    41 An Olive Branch

    "I''m very sorry, but if those are your demands, then there is no point in negotiating," Filipe said with conviction, seemingly ready to throw the deal under the bus and move on.

    Rico was so stunned at his decisiveness that he couldn''t speak for a few seconds and only kept opening and shutting his mouth like a goldfish.

    It was at this moment he realized, he had fu**ed up.

    He had been so carried away with raising Jason''s worth and negotiating a higher sry to get as much agent fees as possible while impressing Jason with his negotiating skills that he had not paid attention to the call of reason and he was now on the verge of losing it all.

    "10000," Sergio Conceicao who had been silent all while Filipe was speaking suddenly spoke up,

    "I''ll go out on a limb and offer 10000 euros per week as a sry because I believe in his talent and hope he''d do a lot for the club,"

    "Of course, other uses in the contract draft will have to be adjusted ordingly and a new contract draft will be sent to you soon," Sergio said coolly, offering an olive branch to Rico who was already on the verge of sinking the deal, and Jason who didn''t even know what was going on.

    "... I-I''ll speak with my client and get back to you," Rico managed to say, doing his best to keep hisst shred of pride as an agent intact as he stood up from the table, said his goodbyes and left the room.

    "Why did you offer that much money?" Filipe asked Sergio immediately the door was closed behind Rico.

    "...It was probably for the best, and I think he is worth that much," Sergio said after a little while,

    "Since we didn''t pay a transfer fee for him, let''s just think of this as signing a good talent at a cheap price as I don''t think we can acquire a talent of his level with an amount this low," he further exined his reasoning. Filipe kept quiet after hearing his reasoning as he couldn''t argue with what Sergio said. He had gathered information on Jason when he had been informed that he would be in charge of the negotiations concerning him, so he knew that what Sergio said made sense.

    "I don''t want to be biased, but I think that guy is doing this without the knowledge of the kid," Rafael finally spoke after being silent for so long.

    "What do you mean?" Filipe asked, a bit confused.

    "Well, I informed the kid about the club''s decision to add him to their rooster just the day before yesterday and told him to get an agent,"

    "This was probably the best he could do between the time I spoke to him and the time the agent contacted us and collected the contract''s draft," Rafael began creating a scenario with his words.

    "Wait, you mean the kid just hired that guy?" Sergio asked stunned.

    "Probably, he didn''t have an agent before this," Rafael answered.

    "That doesn''t mean it couldn''t be what the kid wants," Filipe questioned, not so willing to believe that Rico quoted such a high amount without the permission of his client though he had intoned at that during the negotiation.

    "Maybe, but we just sent the contract draft to him this morning so I''m not sure if he would have had time to contact the kid while reading the contract draft before he arrived here," Rafael remained adamant about defending Jason.

    "That still doesn''t mean much. Most young yers these days are all about the money instead of passion," Filipe also remained adamant about ming Jason.

    "Hey, I''m the one that scouted this kid and I can tell you that while he isn''t forward with his emotions a lot, he has as much passion as you want," Rafael didn''t give up though.

    "Hmph, how can you tell?" Filipe scoffed

    "I can feel it��" Rafael responded in a confident tone

    "Plus, the kid seems pretty well off and drives a car of over a hundred thousand dors that he said he bought himself, so I don''t think he would have such an overreaching demand for money," Rafael said with a littleugh.

    "How would you know that he bought it himself?" Filipe asked dubiously.

    "That''s what he said and his aunt didn''t say otherwise, so I think it''s the truth," Rafael replied.

    "His aunt? What did his parents say?" Sergio asked, a bit interested in the sudden mention of an aunt.

    "...He''s an orphan," Rafael said with a sigh.

    "Oh," Sergio and Filipe said in unison.

    "Well anyway, there isn''t much we can do now but wait for news," Sergio said with a sigh as he stood up.

    As the head manager of the club, he had work to do and did not have enough time to sit around talking with even his colleagues unless it was about something pertaining to the club.

    Nothing they discussed now would influence the deal anyway and all they could do was wait for a response on Jason''s side.

    ***Meanwhile, on Jason''s side***

    Jason counted again the number of zeros behind his weekly sry and it took all of his effort to avoid spitting the drink in his mouth at Rico''s face, but that did not stop him from cursing internally.

    ''What did this motherfucker do?'' he thought rmedly.

    He had not waited for news and had done some online research and knew that the average weekly sry of the FC Porto senior team was around 24000 euros.

    The implication behind this was that a youth yer being promoted to the senior team would probably be offered a sry between 1 - 5 thousand euros weekly depending on their talent.

    He would probably be offered about 4 to 5 thousand with his situation, so why the hell was he seeing 10000 euros? n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    One had to know that the the amount he was seeing was probably the amount he was seeing after negotiation had taken ce, so how much had this bastard requested in the first ce?

    Jason could not help rubbing his brows in exasperation as he remembered that he had told this idiot that he wouldn''t mind conceding a bit when it came to the wages he was offered, but then this motherfu**er had gone ahead and done this.

    This guy was trying to fuck up his rtionship with the club management before he even joined the club,

    �� and all because of what?

    Jason couldn''t understand Rico''s reasoning, but what he knew was that, what had happened, had happened and he couldn''t change it so he could only move on.

    With that in mind, he asked the most important situation in this situation, "Since we''vee to an agreement with the club, when can we meet up to sign the contract?"

    He was itching to sign the contract and get rid of this disaster of an agent as soon as possible before he messed things up further.

 Chapter 42 Contract Negotiations I

    42 Contract Negotiations I

    ****Wednesday, 22nd January 2020***

    Jason and Rico arrived at the Estadio do Dragao and made their way into the FC Porto''s head office which was located within the sportplex itself.

    On reaching the building, they were ushered by a secretary through the building and walked through brightly lit corridors on their way to the conference room which was their destination.

    On their way through the corridors, Jason took note of the picture frames of the Porto team holding some trophies that had been won over the years.

    There were no trophy cabs at the head office though as they were all located at the FC Porto museum, but this had not diminished Jason''s good impression of the club as a winning team.

    In less than a minute they stood before finely carved mahogany doors and the secretary that had brought them here informed them that this was their destination before turning around and heading off.

    Rico seemed especially self-conscious all of a sudden but straightened his suit while trying to mask his difort from Jason.

    "While we''re in there, I''ll be responsible for the contract negotiations and anything else thates up, so be at ease,"

    "You''re free to ask me for a private conversation, but don''t openly interrupt my conversation with their representative, and try not to show your emotions on your face no matter what,"

    "Are we clear?" Rico fired off a bunch of instructions to Jason, suddenly sounding very serious all of a sudden.

    He had noticed that despite seeing that he was being offered 10000 euros as a weekly sry, Jason hadn''t seemed overly impressed with him, so he was nning on doing his best to help Jason gain the most benefits from the club.

    Hopefully, by doing so, he could impress Jason to hire him as a personal agent, otherwise, it would be a lossplete.

    Little did he know that no matter what happened today, Jason''s opinion of him was already set in stone and it was never going to change.

    Of course, Jason did not know about all that was going on in his mind and simply responded with an "OK" as Rico rapped on the door sharply twice before pushing open the doors without waiting for a response.

    In the room were four people seated at the conference table and they seemed to have been in a conversation before Rico and Jason''s arrival.

    The previous lineup of Sergio Conceicao, Rafael Hernandez, and Filipe Carlos now had an addition in the person of Jorge Nuno Pinto Da Costa who was the club''s current and most long-standing president in the history of the club.

    "Ha, here he is," Rafael stood up first among the four and held his hand out to Jason in a greeting,

    "Wee, wee," he smiled warmly.

    "Good morning, Rafa," Jason greeted as well as he grasped Rafael''s outstretched hand.

    Jason also shook hands with Sergio Conceicao who was his soon-to-be coach and with Filipe Carlos.

    "I have high hopes for you," Pinto Da Costa said with a smile as he shook Jason''s hand after being introduced by the other people in the room before they sat at the table to discuss the contract.

    "Mr. Gz, we meet again," Filipe started speaking first, his face carrying an amiable smile that hid his usual fierceness whenever he did his job.

    "Good morning, Mr. Carlos," Rico responded with a slightly hardened voice and spies seemed to fly between them just after a mere exchange of greetings.

    "Well, Mr. Gz," Filipe began, his voice taking on a formal tone and his amiable smile disappearing as if it was never there to begin with,

    "Have you and your client read and understood all the terms of the contract?"

    "Do you find the terms agreeable?" he asked, staring intently at Rico who almost cowered at his strong gaze.

    "We have finished reviewing the draft of the contract," Rico began and then paused for a while before continuing, "...However we believe that some uses still need amendment,"

    ''This motherfu**er,'' Jason had a hard time keeping a frown appearing on his face and he couldn''t help cursing internally as a smile that was not a smile appeared on his face.

    They had spoken about this when they met yesterday and they had agreed that all they would do at the Estadio do Dragao was to sign the contract, but what was this guy doing now?

    Nevertheless, he couldn''t just interrupt and decided to wait and listen to Rico''s argument before he called for a private discussion.

    "Please, do tell me where you believe needs adjustment in the draft," Filipe, handed Rico the initiative.

    "First, I believe that there should be a form of appearance bonus for my client as it would help in motivating him during the matches,"

    "Secondly, don''t you think the release use you''ve ced on my client be a little too high for a young yer,"

    "That''s a whole 45 million euros! Are you trying to trap my client in your team until he can attract such an enormous fee?" Rico argued vehemently.

    "Firstly, Mr. Gz, the reason for there being no forms of bonuses in the contract is because we believe that the amount we are paying your client as a sry is already quite voluminous for a yer of his stature,"

    "But we can add a use that allows for a sry increment if he scores a set amount of goals, or gives a set amount of assists in a season," Filipe countered.

    "How many goals or assists are we talking about?" Rico asked, slightly happy that he had gotten his way.

    "Either 13 goals or 17 assists per season," Filipe replied, hiding the smirk that threatened to break out on his face.

    "Don''t you think that''s a bit too much for my client," Rico shot back, surprised at the unbelievable number that Filipe had quoted. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "For a young talented yer receiving 10000 euros a week as a start-up sry, I don''t think it is," Filipe said, a victorious smile appearing on his face.

    Only Rico himself, Rafael Hernandez, and Sergio Conceicao knew that he was getting back at Rico for calling out an absurd amount of money for Jason''s sry the day before.

    Jason and Pinto Da Costa were just looking on in slight confusion at this battle between both sides'' legal representatives.

    Rico knew he had been had.

    Filipe had acted as if he was going to give him what he had asked for but had added an almost impossible condition to fulfill.

    For a young yer to score up to 13 goals or give 17 assists in a season was going to be very difficult in a top-tier team like FC Porto where there were cream of the crop yers always fighting for spots in the starting line-up.

    Even if he managed to get a lot of game time, the Primeira Liga was not going to be kind enough to allow an upstart to just score that many goals or give that many assists.

    Unfortunately, he didn''t have the right to point that out because he was the one who had argued that Jason was able to do that much for the team and should be paid that much more.

    His mistake hade back to bite him and there was nothing he could do about it.

 Chapter 43 Contract Negotiations II

    43 Contract Negotiations II

    "But what about the high release use of 45 million euros?" Rico changed his target after realizing that he had lost the first battle.

    "Don''t you think it''s a bit too much for a yer receiving only 10000 euros weekly," Rico intoned, using Filipe''s argument against him.

    "... This is simply to secure the club''s investment in Jason," Filipe said after a pause, not able to give a reasonable excuse as Rico''s argument was correct.

    The release use was made to be high to make sure that Jason couldn''t escape from the club easily without them gaining a lot from it if he ended up attracting a lot of offers and they had even nned to increase the release use even further when Jason was renewing his contract with the club as long as he could prove to be a talented yer.

    "Investment?" Rico could not help blurting out.

    "My client''s development was a result of his own efforts and your club has not had enough of a hand in his development to this level to request such a sky-high price for a release use," Rico shot back, his tone quite offensive, but he didn''t care as he was enjoying getting back at Filipe.

    Jason who had been bidding his time until he called Rico for a private discussion suddenly widened his eyes in surprise and realization at Rico''s words.

    Harsh as it was, it was true.

    His current development was a result of the back-breaking training he had subjected himself to and his past life experiences and had nothing to do with the FC Porto team so who were they to demand such arge amount to "secure their investment" when they were literally signing him in on a free transfer.

    All that they''d be doing was paying his sry which wasn''t worth even a tenth of what they were asking to release him from the contract.

    This came as a shocker and eye-opener for him that a football club was inherently a business and they would always do their best to secure the most profit and benefit for themselves.

    �� Sometimes even at the expense of their yers

    It wasn''t something new to him as he had seen it happen a few times in his past life, but he had had his head stuck in the clouds when it came to himself and hadpletely forgotten about it.

    All he had wanted to do and paid attention to was ying football and he had been willing to sign a contract that despite the benefits it had would be able to keep him trapped for a long time.

    �� Luckily, this time it was just two years, but even two years could make or break a yer''s career.

    All this thinking reinforced his mind into getting a trustworthy agent who could help him traverse the treacherous world of contracts.

    Unfortunately for Rico, despite having Jason''s appreciation for helping him wake up to reality before it was toote, he wasn''t on Jason''s list of prospective agents.

    "We can remove the release use and instead add a buyout use of at least 5 million euros,"

    "This way as long as another team can make an offer of at least 5 million euros, then the club would be open to transfer talks," President Pinto Da Costa suddenly interfered, already tired of this back-and-forth exchange between Rico and Filipe.

    He had other meetings to attend today as the club president of FC Porto, and it was already hard on his old bones to attend all of them, so he wasn''t interested in wasting his valuable time watching an argument no matter how intriguing it might be.

    "What say you Mr. Gz?" President Pinto Da Costa asked in his regal-sounding voice.

    Rico looked at Jason, who nodded, already okay with the deal.

    "Okay, deal," Rico said and stood up, extending his hand to the club president.

    "This has been one of the most intense contract negotiations I have attended in a while," President Pinto Da Costa said as he took Rico''s hand.

    "I''m only trying to do my best for my client," Rico replied with a nce at Jason.

    "Of course," President Pinto Da Costa responded with a smile before turning to Jason.

    "I suppose I should wee you to the club now,"

    "But don''t forget to keep striving to turn your potential into your abilities," he advised Jason while patting his shoulder.

    "Thank you for your wise words, I''ll do my best for myself and the team," Jason replied with a confident smile.

    "Haha, I like you already,"

    "Let''s leave those guys to handle the contract," President Pinto Da Costa said with augh and pulled Jason aside for a conversation with Sergio Conceicao and Rafael joining in and leaving Rico and Filipe to finalize the contract and add in all the upgraded uses.

    Jason finally got to really speak with his new coach and they discussed what would be happening after the signing of the documents.

    He would have to be taken on a tour to explore the Estadio do Dragao and the various facilities it had to offer as well as its museum where the trophies and history of the club were put on disy. He would also have to meet with the club''s sporting director to pick his jersey number and then meet with the publicity secretaries.

    Meeting the publicity secretaries was to arrange things like publicizing his addition to the team to the FC Porto fan base.

    He''d probably do at least one interviewter on as despite him not being a big signing, he was a bit of a hot topic in the youth league due to his performance in the match against the Familicao U-19 team and the club would never let go of a chance to gain more publicity for themselves as more publicity almost always equaled a higher ie for the club.

    All this ran through Jason''s mind as he was engaged in a discussion with Sergio, Andre, and Pinto Da Costa while they waited for the updated contract to be printed.

    Luckily they didn''t have to wait and soon the sheets of paper were being spat out of the printer that was present in the conference room.

    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 44 Pen to Paper and a Tour

    44 Pen to Paper and a Tour

    Jason''s signing for the Porto side didn''te with much fanfare and the only people present were Jason himself, Rico Gz, his agent, and the four officials on the FC Porto side namely, Pinto Da Costa, Sergio Conceicao, Rafael, and Filipe Carlos.

    There were only a few club photographers present to take a few pictures that would beter publicized when the announcement was made.

    More pictures would be taken of him in a FC Porto jerseyter as well, but that would be when he had chosen a jersey number as the club wouldn''t be putting too much effort into publicizing a virtually unknown youth yer whose shirts wouldn''t even be able to sell a hundred pieces as of yet.

    Such extensive publicity was meant for more famous yers with enough good performances under their belts to trigger explosive sales of club merchandise.

    Jason wasn''t such a yer yet so he''d have to bear with the minimal treatment and publicity until his performances proved otherwise, and Jason didn''t mind as he was one to let his actions do the talking most of the time.

    After the signing of the contract and posing for pictures, Pinto Da Costa and Filipe left first as they had other things to do and meetings to be at, leaving all other matters to Sergio Conceicao and Rafael. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Sergio Conceicao also had to leave to join the team on a trip to the Estadio D. Afonso Henriques in Guimares, Portugal for the Taca da Liga match against Vitoria de Guimares.

    But he didn''t forget to have a conversation with Jason about how he was to join the senior team in training the day after at the CTFD Portogaia trainingplex.

    Since Jason had done a medical examination just a few days ago and was determined to be match fit, he could join the team''s training immediately, but as for when he would actually grace the pitch for his debut was not yet known.

    Sergio also called one of the assistant managers, Vitor Bruno toe and take over the duty of taking Jason on a tour of the Estadio do Dragao and its facilities as well as helping him choose a locker and meeting the kit manager to select a jersey number.

    After making all those arrangements, Sergio Conceicao left as well and Jason only had to wait for five-odd minutes before Vitor Bruno came along to begin the tour.

    They headed to the stadium first and went in through the entrance reserved for staff. Vitor led them through the well-conditioned corridors, meeting various members of the staff and introducing Jason to them as the newest addition to the team before they finally arrived at the team''s dressing room where Jason was told to pick one of the free lockers.

    Jason didn''t hesitate in randomly selecting one of the avable lockers and they soon moved on after listening to some stories from Vitor who was making sure that the tour wasn''t boring with his good conversational skills and apt storytelling.

    18:25

    It could be seen that he was quite experienced in this part of his job.

    Next, they headed out onto the field of the glorious stadium where they would meet the kit manager, Rui Goncalves.

    Jason stepped onto the beautiful green turf and closed his eyes with emotions raging in his mind as being on this field, despite not wearing a jersey or ying a match made hime to the terms that he had actually taken more than the first step and had joined a team that was already bigger than the peak of his past life.

    And though he hadn''t met his teammates or joined the team''s lineup even as a sub, he still felt quite joyous deep inside.

    He could almost imagine the fans in the stadium chanting loudly, but he was soon brought out of his imagination when the kit manager arrived.

    Rui Goncalves asked what number Jason would prefer to have on his jersey but Jason simply asked Rui Goncalves to rmend a number for him instead as he knew that the number he preferred already belonged to another yer at the club and there was no way the yer would be giving up his number for a fresh meat on the team.

    Rui ended up rmending either number 14 or number 21 as they were both numbers that no one was using and Sergio had instructed him to try to make Jason''s number a lower digit that would signify his importance to the team.

    Jason didn''t fancy the number 14 and ended up picking the number 21 as his jersey number.

    After that, Jason had to meet the publicity managers who told him that there would be an arranged interview for him here at Estadio do Dragao.

    With that out of the way, they continued the tour, and Jason was taken all around the Estadio do Dragao''s various facilities as well as meeting the employees of those facilities.

    Right from the people in charge of cleaning to the people in charge of taking care of the field''s turf.

    He also visited the merchandise shop, the museum, and even the handball court that was also on the grounds of the Estadio do Dragao sportsplex.

    By the time they were done with the tour of the sportsplex, Jason didn''t have any energy left to do any more walking, yet despite his exhaustion, there was a happy smile on his face and after saying his goodbyes to Vitor Bruno who lead the tour as well as Rafael Hernandez who had apanied him throughout the tour, he left with Rico Gz.

    Rico took him back to the apartment that he shared with Mylo before zooming off in his car, leaving him to walk inside the building.

    As Jason walked through the front door of the apartment, he couldn''t help but notice that the building was awfully silent, so he figured that Mylo probably wasn''t around.

    Not that it mattered to him anyway, he thought to himself as he walked into his room to have a bath and freshen up as he had ns for the evening.

    FC Porto would be having a match against Vitoria de Guimares in about an hour and he nned to watch the match of his team, so he didn''t mind the silence.

 Chapter 45 Introductory Video

    Chapter 45 Introductory Video

    Jason walked out of his room dressed in a simple grey T-shirt and grey shorts, but his hair was still dripping wet as he walked into the living room area and grabbed the TV remote before jumping onto the couch.

    He pressed the red button to turn on the TV and closed his eyes to wait for the TV toe on while savoring the cool feeling of the water soaked up by the hair on his head.

    The TV screen lit up a few secondster and with a nce, Jason already determined that he wouldn''t have to change the channel as it was already on the sports channel so he put the remote back on the dresser.

    After seeing that the match hadn''t begun yet, Jason pulled out his phone just in time to see a message notification appear on the screen.

    {Hey} Sophia had texted.

    Jason quickly swiped open his phone and began texting back,

    {Hey, what''s up?}

    He had barely pressed send when a file with the file extension ''.jpeg'' flew in from her end.

    Not yet having opened the file, Jason texted back,

    {Don''t you think it''s still a little too early for you to be sending me jpegs?}

    {Jpegs? What''s that?} Sofia texted back with a confused emoji, but before Jason could exin another message came flying in from Sofia who had just understood what Jason meant by ''jpegs''.

    {You dirty-minded hooligan}

    {Why would I send you that? (�p����)�s} Sofia texted furiously

    {Yeah, why would you send me that already?} Jason texted back before going to open the file only to see a picture of himself.

    It seemed to have been taken earlier in the day when he was signing the contract for the Porto side and it seemed to have been taken when he wasn''t aware of it.

    ''All that posing for the camera only to pick the picture that they had taken when I was unaware,'' Jason thought to himself with a wry smile, not even knowing whether to be annoyed or not.

    {Oh�� I didn''t expect news about it to be out already} Jason finally texted back to Sofia after seeing the picture that was part of an article about him joining the Porto senior team.

    ''One match youth league sensation signs for FC Porto''s senior team, huh?'' he thought back to the title of the article.

    {Well it is on the FC Porto''s website already, I saw it when I went to check the lineups for our match against Vitoria de Guimares} Sofia replied.

    {Oh��} Jason texted back while nodding his head in understanding.

    {Anyway, congrattions} Sofia texted.

    {Enough about me, how was your day?} Jason changed the conversation topic.

    {Well, my day was��}

    They continued chatting andpletely forgot about the match they both previously had ns to y and didn''t realize that they had missed the game until the notifications about the game''s scoreline appeared on their phone screens.

    But even then, they just swiped it away almost unconsciously only to get back to whatever nonsense they were talking about, as there was no way what they were talking about for more than two hours would benefit the world in any way, yet it was something they were both enjoying while bing even morefortable with each other.

    ***********

    ***23rd January 2020***

    Jason and Vitor Bruno, one of the two FC Porto senior team''s assistant coaches walked towards the club''s publicity department for Jason''s appointment with them today.

    Jason had arrived just a few minutes earlier and had met Vitor waiting for him as even though he had gone on a tour of the Estadio do Dragao just the day before, it would still be quite discourteous to leave Jason to his devices just a day after joining the club, so Vitor had been instructed by Sergio Conceicao to help Jason with anything that needed to be done in the stadium for that day, hence their current situation.

    Soon enough they had arrived at the publicity department to meet with the person in charge of the publicity department, Livio Ferreira.

    On reaching there, Jason heard that there would be a change in ns and instead of doing a small interview, they would be doing a short video instead.

    This was because the publicity manager had decided to put Jason''s highlights at the Familicao U-19 game to use in a bid to create an impact when introducing Jason to the club''s fanbase rather than just doing a simple interview that would end up being typed out and wasn''t even a video.

    Livio Ferreira was someone who would rather do something exciting than a boring typed-out interview that almost no one but the die-hard fans who happened to be free enough at the moment to read the whole thing.

    Luckily for him, Jason happened to have enough clips to put together an impactful and interesting, yet short enough video that would interest whoever watched it a little bit at least�� so why not? Livio Ferreira had thought and had changed the original n for Jason''s initial introduction to the club''s fans.

    Of course, he had asked for the permission of Sergio Conceicao, the club''s head manager, for what he was about to do and had received the go-ahead.

    All Jason had to do was put on the prepared jersey that had his name and number on it and do a few motions in front of the camera and the publicity department would do the rest.

    ''Easy, right?'' Jason had thought, but he had changed his method of thinking when he had changed his poses and acted out more than ten scenes, each more annoying than thest.

    He had been made to hold the ball and say different things and had changed how he held the ball more than ten times at the instructions of the person in charge of the video-making, yet even that had not been enough and he had been made to juggle the ball, do all sorts of tricks, yet the videographer didn''t seem to have found the right scene to go along with the video.

    It was only more than an hourter that he had finally been set free after the videographer was satisfied.

    At this point, Jason couldn''t wait to run away and heaved a sigh of relief after being told that that was all he had to do for the day and he could leave.

    He would be joining the team the day after as they weren''t back yet and were entitled to a day of rest after their match, so there would be no training for the senior team that day, so he had the day free, but Jason already nned to spend the day training anyway.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 46 First Training Session with the Porto Senior Team I

    Chapter 46 First Training Session with the Porto Senior Team I

    ***24th January 2020***

    Jason and Mylo arrived together at the CTFD Portogaia training center at 6:48 am both breathing heavily, but aspared to Jason''s just slightly faster than normal breathing, Mylo was wheezing as if the air that was passing around had decided to ignore him and not go down his lungs.

    Jason merely nced at him before taking his eyes away, noting down Mylo''sck of stamina which seemed to be a contrast to his "stamina" elsewhere.

    To be fair, there was no way Mylo would be a match for Jason in terms of something like stamina when Jason had a lifetime of experience with training methods that he had been using to train ever since he awakened in this reality, but at the same time, Mylo''s stamina was a bit too poorpared to what was expected of him at academy level football.

    This enlightened Jason as to why Mylo didn''t make too many movements during the Familicao U-19 match and hardly ran after the ball, leaving the pressing of the opponents to his teammates.

    It seemed that he knew his own inadequacy in the stamina department and tried to cover up for it by making fewer movements and conserving his stamina.

    What he hadn''t realized was that the youth team''s staff had noticed this weakness as well. It was also probably one of the reasons why he hadn''t been given a contract to the senior side.

    He may have had enough ability in other areas to be able to hold his ce on the senior team, but one couldn''t just join the senior team rooster of a first-rate team in Europe by only being good in a few specific aspects.

    Their all-round ability must reach a certain level in every aspect before they could be considered for a professional contract and Mylo was missing a few points from the criteria and one of those was his poor stamina.

    However, if he kept up with what he had done this morning and had followed Jason for a run to the training center, then he should be able to at least improve his stamina a fair bit.

    Normally,ing to the training center this early and while running all the way was not something that Mylo would usually do, however, Jason getting a professional contract and joining the senior team seemed to have awakened something in him and had shocked his brains enough for him to try putting in more effort in training to be able to join the senior team as well.

    That was what had brought about the current situation, and he was already almost having regrets, but when he saw that Jason''s breathing was significantly lesspared to his wheezing, he gritted his teeth and threw away any ideas of quitting and stood up straight to follow Jason through the gates of the training enter despite his aching muscles and how hard it was to catch his breath.

    Once inside the trainingplex''s grounds, they split up and went to their various training grounds as the training grounds of the senior team and the junior team differed.

    After splitting up from Mylo, Jason headed to the field that was used for the training of the senior and reserve teams of FC Porto(FC Porto and FC Porto B).

    Upon arriving there he noticed that only one person had arrived and was on the field juggling the ball, the person also looked quite familiar as well. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Jason first put down his sports bag, took out his white-gold Nike Mercurial Superfly 5 CR7 FG ser boots, and swapped them on for the new bnce trainers he had on.

    After putting on his cleats, he jogged onto the field while calling out to the figure juggling the ball,

    "Hey Fabio," Jason called out, prompting Fabio Viera who had been juggling the ball with his full focus to look over at him in surprise.

    "Ball," Jason called again, not stopping his movements and just as he requested, Fabio hit the ball high in his direction.

    Jason positioned himself while waiting for the ball before jumping and using his chest to control the ball and bringing the ball down to his awaiting feet where he immediately started juggling it before hitting the ball in a low-driven pass back at Fabio.

    Fabio trapped the pass and waited for Jason to run up to him before saying, "I saw the news about you joining the team, congrattions," he said with his hand stretched out for a fist bump.

    "Thanks," Jason bumped his hand in acknowledgment.

    "You''re the only one here?" Jason asked with a raised eyebrow.

    "Yeah, I usually arrive early, training usually starts at 8 unless in special situations," Fabio replied.

    "... So we have about an hour before the others arrive then?" Jason said after a pause.

    "Yeah," Fabio nodded affirmatively.

    "That''s cool, we can get a bit of extra training in then," Jason said with a smile, relieved that he wouldn''t have to train alone till 8 am as it was always better training with someone.

    "Alright, let''s start with a two-touch rondo," Fabio said with a smile, happy to have found a training partner with simr tendencies as he did.

    With a mutual agreement in ce, both of them began doing simple training and warm-ups to prepare for the actual training that wouldmence when the whole team arrived.

    By 7:30 though, two more people arrived and joined Jason and Fabio after introducing themselves to Jason as Pepe and Otavio.

    Yes, it was the same Pepe who had yed for Real Madrid and had won three La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey titles, and three UEFA Champions League titles and was now the captain of the FC Porto team at 36 years of age.

    Otavio was a yer on the senior team who had been part of the previous season''s squad which had lifted the Primera Liga.

    After some basic introductions between each other, they continued their training with Pepe and Otavio joining.

    Soon enough, others began to arrive, but they didn''t stop what they were doing.

    They were now doing a two-touch rondo with one man in the middle trying to intercept the ball.

    Fabio was the current middleman and was currently experiencing hell as Jason, Otavio, and Pepe passed the ball cleverly around him with less than three touches to spare, yet he was not any closer to retrieving the ball.

    Luckily for him, Sergio Conceicao arrived at that moment and called for all the yers to gather, putting an end to their makeshift training session.

    With their pre-training at an end, Jason just kicked the ball at the open goal over 50 yards away, but he realized that he had slightly miskicked and the ball had a bit too much elevation on it and wasn''t going to go into the, but rather looked like it would hit the crossbar, so he turned away while muttering,

    "Crossbar,"

    *CLANG!*

    As he had expected, the sound of the ball hitting the crossbar rang in his ear less than a second after he had turned away.

 Chapter 47 First Training Session with the Porto Senior Team II

    Chapter 47 First Training Session with the Porto Senior Team II

    *CLANG!*

    As he had expected, the sound of the ball hitting the crossbar rang in his ear less than a second after he had turned away.

    He started walking towards where the yers were gathering and only then did he notice that quite a few eyes were on him and there were various looks in their eyes, but most of the looks he was getting were ones of surprise.

    He turned to Fabio, Pepe, and Otavio who were behind him and noticed the same look of surprise in their eyes.

    At this point, he began to feel a little worried as he didn''t know why they were looking at him like that.

    "What?" he asked, suspiciously.

    "Nice trick," Pepe was the first to speak, and only then did Jason understand what was happening and he suddenly felt the urge to facepalm in exasperation.

    ''That was a fluke!!!'' he screamed internally, but only shrugged on the outside, not feeling inclined to exin what actually happened as they had to go meet the head coach, Sergio, who had been waiting around for more than a minute despite calling the yers to gather around.

    Jason didn''t want to get into Sergio Conceicao''s bad books for dilly-dallying. Despite the unlikelihood of such a situation happening, Jason didn''t want to take his chances so he just continued walking towards where Sergio stood along with the other yers, not bothering to say any more.

    They all walked together in silence to the crowd of yers gathered around the head manager.

    "Good morningds," Sergio Conceicao said in Portuguese while locking eyes with Jason and beckoning him over.

    Jason responded and walked over to Sergio who stood in front of the yers.

    "This here is Jason Bolu as I believe you all should know if you pay attention to news about the club, or bothered to read the emails that were sent to you guys about his addition to the team," Sergio began patting on Jason''s shoulder as he stood beside him. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "I think some of you already are familiar with him, but irrespective of that, I want you all to wee him and treat him well as he too is now part of the FC Porto family, and I expect you to treat him as such,"

    "So Jason�� wee to the team, I hope this will be a fulfilling time for you as well as everyone here," Sergio introduced Jason to the team in order to establish a good rtionship between the team and the new arrival.

    The team apuded after Sergio stopped speaking and Jason nodded as a little smile appeared on his face.

    "Alright, let''s get to work boys," Sergio eximed while gesturing to Jason to go back to join the yers.

    "For those yers who were in the squad the day before yesterday, I want to say, I admire the effort you put in to win the match, but I could not help but notice something in that match," "In that match, our two goals came from Tiquinho and Alex, who y the left forward and left back positions respectively, yet very few goal attempts came from any of the yers on both sides of the midfield, "

    "Our most used formation as well as the formation we used in thest match was the 4-4-2 holding formation, which means that the two wide midfielders have to function as wingers who are in essence, forwards as well, yet I''ve noticed that it''s bing a trend in thest few matches that no goals are forting from any of the wide midfielders,"

    "I have no issue with theck of goals, rather I have an issue with theck of attempts at goal from the wide midfielders," Sergio quickly got into dissecting the problems that he had noticed in their game n in thest few matches as that was what he nned to address in their team training for the day.

    "I have told you before, when our team is on the attack, the wide midfielders function as wingers while whenever we are not in position is when youe back to your duties in the wide parts and even central parts of the midfield, but what you have been doing in thest few matches shows no reflecting of that,"

    "You have relegated yourselves to bing just suppliers who send the ball forward to the strikers and have hardly been making runs into the penalty area and just sit outside the penalty area,"

    "If you keep ying like this, we are likely to lose a game soon enough if a team can manage to hold our strikers back from being effective in the area,"

    "Thus today''s training would have us address that by looking at ways you can exploit ying down the wings and be more effective in the final third,"

    "With that said... Siramana!" Sergio called to another of his assistant coaches who stood beside him and collected a notepad from him.

    "I''ll be splitting you guys into two sides and you will each take turns in intervals of five minutes to try and score against the other team using the wings,"

    "Literally speaking, the wingers would be the focal points of your attacks and the winger must be the ones to score or to give the assist," Sergio exined what they would be starting the day''s training with and began calling the teams for each side out.

    Sergio began calling out names for the two sides, and one team consisted of all the big names in the first team as well as some of the substitutes while the other side consisted of the rest of the members of the first team as well as the reserve team members.

    There was no attempt at trying to bnce the teams and it was pretty obvious that the second team consisted of mostly reserve team members who would be used as the grinding stones to sharpen the "more important" team members, but this didn''t matter to Jason as he was faced with an even worse situation.

    He was allocated as a member of the second team, and not just as a member of the, but as a substitute for the second team.

    ''I''m really starting from the bottom, huh?'' Jason thought to himself with a wry smile as he walked off the field along with the substitutes from the two teams.

    Rafael had told him that joining the team didn''t mean that he would automatically be favored by the coach and just get chances handed to him and even he already knew that chances to impress wouldn''te to him on a silver tter.

    In fact, he had had the pleasure of spending more than a season on the bench without being able to be on the football field in his previous reality, but he hadn''t expected to really start directly from the bottom again even after signing a contract with the senior team.

    Despite the current situation, however, he wouldn''t let it bring him down and would train more determinedly than ever so that when the time came to impress, he would be ready.

    It may end up taking a little while, but he was ready to wait while doing whatever was required of him until he managed to break into the team''s line-up.

    The chances woulde�� in fact, there was one that would be arising in a few minutes when he was allowed to join the training.

    Not to mention that his position was the focal point of the day''s training.

 Chapter 48 First Training Session with the Porto Senior Team III

    Chapter 48 First Training Session with the Porto Senior Team III

    The team training started with the first team on the attack, trying to use their wings to break through the opposition.

    The fact that the second team knew the aim of the training was intended to make the training harder than usual because otherwise, it wasn''t going to be a fair match-up with the way the teams were arranged, but even then, they still weren''t a match for the first team as could be seen with how the first team controlled possession of the ball.

    Yet despite heavily oppressing the second team with their gamey, doing what the head manager requested of them was harder than expected.

    Since the second team members knew that the wingers of the first team were the focal point of the attack, they focused their defensive efforts on those wingers and made sure to kill whatever attacks they tried to start up and prevented the first team from being able toplete the assignment for the first five minutes.

    "Switch!" Sergio Conceicao called for the teams to switch their roles as soon as the allocated five minutes were over and the second team immediately went on the attack, yet the same thing which happened to the first team when they were trying to use the wingers as a focal point and ending point of their attacks repeated itself.

    At this point, Sergio Conceicao had a slight frown on his face as it seemed that his yers weren''t getting the message he was trying to pass across to them, yet he decided to wait until every yer had had a chance.

    After the next five minutes were over, he called for a squad rotation and let the yers who were substitutes of both sides take the ce of some of the yers on both teams.

    It was Jason''s turn to have a go at the training objective and he didn''t waste any time in joining his team on the field, ready to have his hand at the challenge.

    After the new yers were substituted on came onto the pitch, the training continued.

    Since Jason was on the second team, his team would be defending first and he quickly got down to it and stayed on the yer he was marking which happened to be the Portuguese left-back, Alex Telles.

    Defending wasn''t Jason''s strong suit, but he made sure to cover up for this weakness with a higher work rate and made sure to be around to intercept any ballsing Alex''s way.

    This way another five minutes passed and it was time for the teams to switch objectives once again.

    The ball was taken back to the middle of the field and they kicked off again but this time it was the second team that was on the ball.

    Since the aim of this training was for the wingers to score a goal or give an assist making them the focal point of the attack, the ball soon found its way to Jason''s feet.

    Jason had just joined the FC Porto senior team and knew next to nothing about their ystyle or their mannerisms.

    He also didn''t know what the head manager hoped to teach the yers by subjecting them to such a job-specific training drill, but he did know two things right now.

    He knew the aim of the drill, and he knew that the only person he could currently trust was himself.

    Right now his teammates were more of a burden to him than a help because they had no rtion to each other and passing the ball to someone who could end whatever attacking endeavors Jason had in mind before they even started was a bad idea.

    At this moment, it was not an exaggeration to say he was at the bottom of the ranking in this team and there were only two ways he could rise in the rankings and get a ce in the team''s lineup and that was either by luck if enough yers were injured in the first team to open up space for him, N?v(el)B\\jnn

    �� Or by impressing the manager during their training sessions.

    Jason wasn''t willing to bet his future on waiting for space to open up in the first team so there was only one option right now and the manager he had to impress was currently watching over the training session intensely so it was now or never.

    Jason slowly began to move the ball down the right side of the field, but with every step he took, his pace increased greatly, and soon he was running at full speed past the midfield line and approaching the opponents'' penalty area at high speed.

    The yers from the first team immediately noticed the danger and soon three yers were blocking all the paths Jason could take to move any further.

    Jason inevitably slowed his pace a little, his eyes darting around as he moved closer to the first yer in his path, who happened to be Otavio.

    Just when the three yers in his path thought he would pass the ball back to a teammate, Jason suddenly dipped his foot under the ball and flicked the ball over an unsuspecting Otavio before running around him to catch the ball he had flicked over.

    Despite the sudden surprise of Jason flicking the ball over Otavio, Alex Telles who happened to be the closest to the ball charged at the ball that wasing back down to the ground, hoping to clear it before Jason could get the ball back under control,

    But that was a mistake as Jason stylishly flicked the still airborne ball in between Alex''s legs before running behind him as well.

    With his well-executed dribbles, Jason had gotten rid of all the yers on his path down the right wing and he took off down the right wing with Alex Telles, Otavio, and Danilo Perreira on his heels.

    Jason took note of this but didn''t hesitate and kept charging forward while cutting inward into the penalty area but before long he had to slow down again as there was another yer in his way.

    Jason slowed his pace and did a couple of step-overs to try to throw off the yer in his way, but how could an experienced yer like Pepe be so easily tricked by a couple of step-overs?

    Seeing that Pepe wasn''t going to fall for the stepovers, Jason realized that he had no other choice than to get in closer, face him head-on, and then create enough space to get a shot away, so he kept moving closer and then made a sudden move pulling the ball towards his left with the inside of his right foot.

    It seemed like he was trying either sweep the ball past Pepe''s right or between his legs, but as soon as Pepe brought forth his leg to block his path, Jason''s leg''s direction changed and he suddenly used the outside of his feet to push the ball back outward, performing a reverse stico and managing to squeeze himself and the ball past Pepe and barely create enough space to get a shot away.

    Since he had managed to create enough space, he quickly pulled his leg back in a bid to get the shot away as quickly as possible, but just as he started swinging his leg back at the ball, he was suddenly swept off his feet in a sudden tackle that sent him flying.

 Chapter 49 First Training Session with the Porto Senior Team IV

    Chapter 49 First Training Session with the Porto Senior Team IV

    With his leg swept away from him, Jason had no other option than to be sent tumbling onto the floor while cursing internally, ''Fucking hell,'' he groaned as he rolled onto his back and sat up, doing his best to keep himself from overreacting as he did not appreciate being brought down roughly after getting this far, but he couldn''t do more than have a bitter smile on his face when he saw that it was the captain of his team that had sent him flying.

    *Fweeeee*

    The whistle in Siramana Dembele''s mouth went off loudly signifying for the training toe to a pause while the medical staff that were always on standby quickly moved onto the field as the tackle looked a bit too rough and despite theck of a pained expression on Jason''s face as he sat up, they weren''t willing to take any chances.

    "Don''t you think you were a little too rough on the neer, eh? Pepe?" Siramana Dembele asked with a wry smile as he arrived before the team captain.

    "I apologize for that, but I wouldn''t have had to if the kid actually yed like a neer," Pepe replied with an embarrassed smile.

    ''Luiz and Jesus are going to have a lot of work to do if they hope to keep their ce on the team if the kid keeps ying like this,'' he thought as well while giving a side nce at Jason who was being tended to by the medics.

    The medics fussed over Jason, carefully checking for any signs of injury while continuously asking if he felt any difort, but luckily the tackle didn''t seem to have had an adverse effect on Jason''s physical condition other than him being a little winded from the sudden unexpected flight.

    Soon he was back on his feet, intending to continue the training session, but the head manager suddenly called for all the yers to gather around again.

    The yers didn''t waste any time gathering around the head manager once again and Sergio began speaking as soon as the yers were gathered.

    "It seems most of you don''t understand the point of this training method,"

    "I had initially hoped that you guys could learn the aim of the training on the go, but it seems that of all the wingers that should be the focal point of this training session, only one of you is on the right path,"

    "As a winger, you are supposed to keep the opposition defenders on their toes, and constantly scare them with your actions,"

    "You run at them with or without the ball,"

    "If you are not with the ball, you run at them and keep them upied so that they don''t have time to keep watch over the strikers, thus helping the strikers to create space, and if you''re with the ball, you run at them with the ball as well, doing your best to make themmit and then you can get past them with your speed, skills, or even passing the ball,"

    "In essence, what I need from you is a healthy amount of individual brilliance," Sergio Conceicao,id out his mindful intentions for the team before turning to Jason,

    "Jason here was on the right path, but as for whether he did too much is not for me to decide as while he could have passed the ball, he still managed to get past our team''s captain and gain enough space to get the shot away,"

    "Of course, we saw the repercussion of that and he didn''t get the goal, but in a real match, that would have been a penalty so I''m willing to step back a bit and say he did well enough, but I''d advise against attracting such attraction from aggressive yers or at least, escape from their range to avoid an injury," the manager advised, his words intended for the budding young yer.

    "In essence, I need more adventurous efforts from you guys on the wings," "It may notpulsorily be a goal, but I need your help in making sure that more attacking avenues are open to our team and we can have an easier time winning games, not just staying back and throwing passes," Sergio finished by saying.

    "So once again, from the top," he pped his hands to encourage the yers and sent them back to the pitch to continue the training.

    With the coach''s intentions for them fully revealed, the yers yed with renewed vigor and tried to implement the coach''s instructions in their ying style, but it had to be said that their ying style felt a bit awkward because they weren''t used to ying this way.

    Jason also didn''t relent and put in double the effort during the training session. He also made a few more daring runs at the defenders, but the first team''s defenders weren''t as lowly guarded against him as the first time, and getting past them had be noticeably harder and they always managed to stop him before he could enter the penalty area, yet it could be just barely noticed that he seemed to be getting better at evading the defenders each time.

    Unfortunately, the first team''s defenders still had enough experience and ability in their tank to prevent him from getting a goal and only after being taken on and off the field three times did he finally manage to get an assist by finding Fabio Viera just outside the box with a low cross-field ball after drawing the defenders away.

    Fabio had then found the bottom-right corner of the goal with a powerful right-footed shot.

    Fabio''s goal that was assisted by Jason was the fourth goal that had been scored during the duration of this training session, but was the first goal scored by the second team.

    Without wasting much time, the training continued less than a minuteter.

    **On the sidelines**

    Sergio Conceicao watched the second team''s yers run up and down the pitch while passing the ball cleverly among them and doing their best to avoid losing possession. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    His eyes involuntarilynded on the newest addition to their team, Jason and he nodded internally, happy to see the kid performing at a fairly above average during his first internal scrimmage with the senior team.

    The kid was ticking all the right boxes for what Sergio was looking for in a yer in his position and he was improving at quite a noticeable rate.

    He was making the right runs, his work rate was high, and he had good dribbling skills, good vision, and passing skills. He also had a very quick pace and a tremendously exceptional eleration that was enough to leave yers eating the dust behind him.

    All in all, he looked like he could jump on a field of professionals and impress right away, but experienced managers like Sergio Conceicao himself would still argue that he couldn''t be put in a match in the senior league just yet.

    There was a huge difference in physical ability between yers at the senior league level and youth yers, and even though Jason''s physical fitness results were "theoretically" enough to support him at the senior league level, Sergio still wouldn''t allow him into a senior league match immediately as Jason would need to adjust to ying at such a level.

    He could develop that by training with yers at such a level, so there was bound to be a wait for Jason before Sergio Conceicao would even consider adding him to the lineup even as a substitute.

    As for how long that period of adjustment was going to be for Jason, it would depend on how quickly he adjusted.

    It could be two weeks, three weeks, a month, or even two months, but one thing was for sure, it was only after he satisfied Sergio''s stringent requirements that his name could even be brought up in discussions concerning the team''s line-up.

    It was all for Jason''s good and Sergio only hoped that Jason wasn''t an overly entitled person who would be overly dissatisfied and act up due to ack of y time during this period.

 Chapter 50 Individual Training

    Chapter 50 Individual Training

    **4:56 pm**

    Jason sat on the sidelines with a water bottle in his mouth as he reminisced on the earlier training session.

    Most people watching the session would have thought that he was tearing up the pitch with his electrifying runs and nifty dribbling skills, but Jason who would have been the focus of their attention knew that immediately after the first run when he had managed to get through the first team''s yers easily because they had their guard down, doing it again had gotten a lot harder.

    It wasn''t to the point that it became impossible, but it got a lot harder than he expected and was especially physically demanding and Jason who thought he had put in enough work on stamina-building exercises ever since he woke up in this reality found himself wheezing because of the physical exertion he had to put himself through to get past the yers.

    Inevitably, his efficiency dropped the more tired he got until it reached the point where he didn''t even bother dribbling past yers because he knew that with how tired he was, he''d lose the ball immediately, so he opted for the nearest pass instead.

    ''This is quite troublesome,'' he thought to himself.

    This was his first time against yers of such a high level of standard, yet he felt like he could hardly keep up the moment they had their guards up against him.

    What was to be noted was that this was a training match and the yers were keeping their aggressiveness in check so it would be a lot worse if he was in an actual match. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    He may not even be able to get past them at all.

    Granted, the FC Porto team was at the top of the food chain in the Portuguese Primera Liga, so most of the other teams weren''t at the same level in terms of yers ability or skills, but he had to remember that the Portuguese league wasn''t even one of the top five leagues in Europe.

    At this point, his experienced mind didn''t need anyone to tell him that he wasn''t match-ready and still had a lot to do to adjust to ying at such a level.

    Luckily, he had been training long enough to know that it wasn''t that he didn''t have the skill required, rather it was more like he had the skills but he needed to sharpen his skills and his movements to be able to adjust to such a level.

    That was why he was still at the training ground doing agility, maneuverability, and reflex sharpening training at a period when all the other yers had been released by the coaching staff over an hour ago.

    Part of the squad had left at an even earlier time as the team had a Taca da Liga finals match against Braga the next day and the yers who would be part of the squad traveling to the Estadio Municipal de Braga for the game had ended their training earlier to rest their muscles for the uing game.

    The rest of the squad, Jason included, who weren''t part of the match day squad were allowed to continue their training, but as early as an hour ago, the training grounds had been empty except for Jason and Roberto Carvalho, a fitness coach who was still helping Jason with his training.

    Not being a part of the squad against Braga had note as a surprise to Jason and he actually weed being left out because he knew that he wasn''t ready and being part of the squad was likely to be more of a detriment to him than a good thing.

    He could even get injured with his current condition.

    But even though that was the case, being left out of the squad still left a bad taste in his tongue and he was currently using that as motivation to go harder at the drills so he could have his debut even a minute earlier.

    "If you''re still going to train, then it''s best if you stand up and continue before your muscles cool off," Roberto, who was standing about a meter behind Jason advised.

    "..." Jason nodded and with a groan stood up once again and jogged onto the pitch where cones had been arranged despite his legs feeling as heavy as lead.

    He soon stood in front of the first cone and Roberto passed the ball to him as he was going to be maneuvering his way through the cones with a ball at his feet.

    "Ready?" Roberto asked Jason who replied with a nod.

    "Start!" he called while pressing on the stopwatch in his hand to begin a timer while Jason charged into the cones with the ball, dodging and weaving through the cones like his life depended on it.

    He did a few back-and-forthps of the course and only stopped when he felt like he couldn''t move his legs at a quick enough pace anymore.

    "I''m done," he managed to say as he let himself fall to the floor, his legs no longer feeling like they could support his weight.

    "Okay, I''m guessing we''re done for today?" Roberto asked as he clicked on the button that stopped the stopwatch and held out an electric hand-held massager* to Jason.

    "Yeah, we''re done," Jason breathed out as he collected the electric hand-held massager and put it on before holding it to his thighs, the ball-shaped spinning end of the massager giving a bit of relief to his tense and tired muscles.

    "I admire your work ethic, but remember that you shouldn''t push yourself too much even in training as that can cause muscle exhaustion that may lead to injuries," Roberto said, his eyes on the tired-looking Jason who slowly moved the hand-held massager up and down the full length of his legs.

    "I''ll take your words to heart coach," Jason replied with a nce at the fitness coach.

    He also knew the risks that overtraining brought if it was not carefully, and he was all for avoiding the risks, but the benefits that the extra training would bring him could not be skimmed over as well so it was up to him to find the correct bnce between training and resting.

    With these thoughts, he continued massaging his legs while Roberto had some staff pack up the cones and other stuff used for training.

    Soon enough, he was on his feet and walked towards the locker rooms where he wanted to put down his training equipment and have a bath and change.

    He remembered to grab the bag he had brought with him and dragged it along on his shoulders to the shower rooms.

 Chapter 51 A Disappointing Finals

    Chapter 51 A Disappointing Finals

    **25th January 2020**

    The day before��

    After finishing his training he had dragged his tired legs to go wash up and change, not forgetting to leave his sweat-covered training attire for the staff in charge of handling them.

    After washing and changing, he had walked alone out of the trainingplex, Mylo having left a long while ago.

    Instead of heading straight back to his boarding, he had decided to go get something to eat, as well as meet Sofia while at it, so he had gone to the Miami restaurant.

    He had eaten there and then spent the rest of his evening exploring the streets of Porto with Sofia, ignoring his legs throbbing in annoyance at his actions, but hey, the heart wants what it wants.

    They had to bear with it.

    He had only arrived back at his ce at almost 10 pm and he had gone to sleep immediately.

    This had led to him waking up quitete this morning, only leaving the warm embrace of his nket at 6:30 am.

    In reality, he could have woken up earlier as the amount of tiredness he had felt yesterday was nowhere near enough to cause him to change his normal schedule.

    His waking up aste as 6:30 could be attributed to two things, of which the first was that as a member of the senior team, there was no team training for the day as today was a match day and he wasn''t part of the match day squad that would be traveling to Braga.

    Second, he had a previous arrangement nned for the day and the ce he was supposed to get it done didn''t open as early as 7 am so why bother stressing himself?

    He might as well just enjoy a few more minutes in bed before getting ready to go to the customs office to retrieve his car that had arrived in Porto two days ago.

    With these thoughts, Jason stepped out of his bed and began his day.

    He did a few stretches and did some yoga to help with muscle exhaustion as his calf and thigh muscles still felt a bit sores from the previous day''s training.

    After he was done, he had his bath, dressed up, stepped out of his room, and exchanged a few words with Mylo while grabbing a bottle of milk inside the refrigerator which happened to be thest one.

    He made a mental note to buy another pack on his way back and then left the building, not worried about breakfast as he nned to go to CTFD Portogaia for training for the day after picking up his car and he would be able to get something to eat from the cafeteria.

    Jason quickly got a taxi to take him to where he would pick up the car and despite it being quite a distance from their boarding, the driver was quite experienced and had ample knowledge of the traffic situations of various streets in the city so he was able to arrive in just over an hour. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He paid the fare and released the driver as he was going to be driving a car away from here so he had no reason to make the driver wait behind for him.

    Due to it still being quite early in the morning, Jason was able to quickly meet the right people, sign all the appropriate documents, and less than an hourter he was caressing the steering wheel of his baby.

    Throwing the International Driving Permit that the club had helped him get as well as his Work permit into the car''s safe, Jason pushed the button to start the car and it came to life with a low hum.

    Jason first checked the fuel and battery levels and saw that they were at a satisfactory level, but considering that he had made sure they were filled before he had the car sent over, that was to be expected.

    All that remained to do was to connect his phone to the car to ess the maps as he still wasn''t knowledgeable enough about Porto to be driving without a map.

    He quickly did that and turned on some music while he was at it before zooming out of the parking lot and into the streets of Porto, his next destination being the CTFD Portogaia trainingplex.

    Unsurprisingly enough, it took him almost two hours to get there, showing that technology was still no match for human experience when it came to maneuvering the almost midday streets of Porto.

    As soon as he arrived, he hopped out in a hurry, a bit anxious to begin his training since he had wasted quite a bit of time already, but did not forget to get some food at the cafeteria before getting his training equipment and beginning his training with the aid of one of the fitness coaches avable.

    His major aim was still agility, and reflex sharpening so he opted for training drills that would help with sharpening those abilities, but even then, he didn''t forget to do other training and exercises as he couldn''t only rely on just those two qualities to y in the Primera Liga.

    He even spent a few hours in the gym and before he realized how much time had gone, it was already past 6 pm and the sky was already darkening, the sun gradually moving out of view and the time for the Taca da Liga finals was fast approaching.

    Thinking to himself that since his car had arrived, he could afford to leave a littlete the trainingplexte at night, he opted to continue training and watch the match on the TV in the cafeteria with all the other staff members who wouldn''t have left yet.

    Thus he finished his training at a few minutes to 7 and went to freshen up before moving to the cafeteria. When he reached there, he realized that he had underestimated how much the level of loyalty that the staff members of the club had for their club as the ce was filled with people conversing and sharing food and drinks while waiting for the match to begin.

    Despite his surprise at the current scene, Jason greeted and rted well with the crowd even as they sat together to watch the game.

    Soon, 7:45 arrived and the match began with the Porto and the Braga sides fighting for the Taca da Liga silverware.

    The match began with both sides ying attacking football as they both wanted to be the side that got their hands on the trophy at the end of the match, but before long the Braga side began to y more cautiously, allowing the Porto side to y with more momentum and disy their attacking prowess.

    Yet, it did not take long to notice that something strange was happening.

    The Braga side had put their focus on stopping all passes from reaching the two strikers of the Porto side and they were seeding.

    By the time the first half had ended, the strikers could count the number of their touches on the ball to be below ten individually.

    Soon the second half started and the same situation repeated itself despite the Porto side ying with renewed vigor. They just couldn''t get through the Braga side''s defense that felt like a titanium today. Despite the fan''s expectations that the wingers would step up since the strikers were being closely marked, the wingers were just as ineffective on the ball if not more.

    They constantly lost the ball and neither of them moved into an advantageous position enough to affect the game.

    The game slowly approached its end and just when the fans of both teams were thinking that they would have to wait for extra time or even penalties to decide who would lift the trophy, the Braga sideunched a devastating attack in the 94th minute of the game.

    They tore through the Porto defense and sent almost all their yers forward and after absolutely ripping up the Porto''s defense, the team''s left back found Ricardo Horta, the Braga team''s right winger with a cleverly executed curling pass that flew across the Porto penalty area.

    Ricardo Horta did not waste any time inplimenting the exquisitely delivered pass with a one-touch shot that sent the ball into the back of the.

    Words were not enough to describe the forms of jubtions that tore through the stadium from the Braga team''s yers, their management, and their fans.

    Their shouts of joy and jubtion directly extinguished any hopes of the Porto side equalizing, especially as they had scored such ate goal that had every potential to be a winning goal.

    The bitter looks of the Porto team as well as the travelling fans were also disyed clearly for everyone to see.

    Jason watching this from the other side of the screen could only think, ''Coach is gonna be pissed.''

 Chapter 52 An Annoyed Coach

    Chapter 52 An Annoyed Coach

    **27th January 2020**

    It had been a day since the Taca da Liga''s finals and the team had not had any training the day after they lost the finals which was not in line with what Sergio Conceicao really nned to do to punish the team but he had been forced to let them have a day off to rest anyway.

    Their schedule was packed and they had a match almost every three days so he had to let them have a break despite his annoyance, otherwise, there would be an increased risk of injuries.

    Losing the finals had annoyed him quite a bit as even though the Taca da Liga was not a historical trophy, having only started less than twenty years ago, losing a chance at any form of silverware was not something that would make him happy.

    But what had actually caused him to be infuriated was how his yers had yed in that match.

    The very thing he had mentioned in training that was likely to happen had happened despite how he had tried to address it in training and had even created a specified training drill to counter it.

    The strikers had been tightly marked and were unable to receive the ball but instead of his wingers to step up and perform when needed, they had stayed at the edge of the box, sending passes that always got intercepted and made them vulnerable on the counterattack.

    Words were not enough to describe how infuriated he was as he watched his yers y like that. He had shouted and given instructions but that had only had the opposite effect and his yers started ying like headless chickens who had never heard the words gamen or tactics in their lives.

    He had his head in his hands when the goal that caused his team to miss out on the silverware arrived even though he had been expecting it.

    He had been nning on making sure that he dragged the team back to Porto that same night and began training the next day, but his assistant managers had dissuaded him from such actions.

    In the end, he had listened, but that had done nothing to calm his temper and now that he was looking at the team for the first time again since that night, his annoyance welled up again as he remembered how they had given a performance that was too embarrassing to be considered professional.

    Yet despite his annoyance, he kept his cool like the experienced coach he was. This was not his first time losing a game after all.

    "Previously I had mentioned that you wingers have been too passive on the attack and that this coulde back to hurt us," Sergio Conceicao began speaking to the yers that stood before him on the field.

    "Yet after I said that and even made ns and told you what I need from you�� you still went onto the field and yed absolute rubbish that even academy-level students wouldn''t y��" he came to a pause and stared hard at the culprits who wished they could bury themselves in sand at that moment, but it wasn''t happening.

    "Especially you Jesus, you yed like somebody with two left legs and kept causing us to lose possession with those idiotic, non-directional passes you were making into the box,"

    "Do you think you are Kevin De Bruyne who can always find the right pass?"

    "Well, I''m here to tell you that you''re not and your passes were absolute shite in that match,"

    "With that said, we are going to be doing the same training, but this time, whenever you don''t score after every five-minute interval, whichever team is on the attack will be doing 30 split squats while their wingers will do 50," Sergio Conceicao gave his verdict.

    Jason who was standing in the back along with Fabio Viera could not help but have a bitter smile on his face as he could already feel the pain iing pain in his legs.

    As he had expected, the anger of the manager had spread to the whole team irrespective of whether they were involved or not and it was even worse for Jason as he was a winger as well and was going to be one of the most affected by the punishment.

    He was already having a hard timepleting the team''s training and still having to do individual training, but now the coach had directly added a fifty squats every five minutes drill to his training routine.

    He felt like crying out at this injustice, but he knew it would not have an effect on changing the manager''s decision and would rather cause the manager and the team to look at him in a different light that wouldn''t be positive so he kept his lips sealed.

    In the end, it was not something he could avoid so he could only go along with it. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Well, a little more training would only help him with his intention of getting into the team''s lineup faster.

    Soon the training started again and despite the show of talent that Jason had shown in thest training session, he was still on the second team''s group of substitutes who would be rotated along with the squad after a round of attacking and defending.

    "Sir, we would need to finalize the squad registration for the Europa League before the end of this month, but since Bruno Costa has left the club for Portimonense, we currently have a vacant spot in the previous squad registration," Vitor quickly stated why he hade, wanting to quickly leave and not take much of the manager''s time.

    "Oh�� that," Sergio suddenly had a thoughtful look on his face as he hadn''t given it much thought.

    This did not faze him as he already epted that he wasn''t yet ready to be on the big stage and for now, his patience still had a long line of thread before it could be worn thin.

    **After the day''s training session**

    Sergio Conceicao was in his office, dealing with some documents when Vitor Bruno, one of his assistant coaches came into the office after a knock.

    "Sir, we would need to finalize the squad registration for the Europa League before the end of this month, but since Bruno Costa has left the club for Portimonense, we currently have a vacant spot in the previous squad registration," Vitor quickly stated why he hade, wanting to quickly leave and not take much of the manager''s time.

    "Oh�� that," Sergio suddenly had a thoughtful look on his face as he hadn''t given it much thought.

    "Here''s a list of yers avable that you could consider adding to the squad," Vitor saw the thoughtful look on his boss''s face and quickly handed him a notepad of yers who were not registered on the Europa squad and were on the club''s payroll.

    "Thanks," Sergio muttered as he took the notepad and began to look through it.

    The current team that was registered for the Europa League had enough strikers, midfielders, defenders, and even goalkeepers.

    The only part of the squad that was a bitcking in numbers would be the wingers and that was because there weren''t that many wingers in their team in the first ce, but as he thought about this, his eyes suddenly fell on thest name on the list that seemed to have just been scribbled on there.

    A strange smile slowly appeared and spread across Sergio''s face as he tapped on the name twice and then returned the notepad to Vitor, "Add the new kid to the squad," he said with a grin as he handed the notepad to Vitor.

    "New kid��? Wait, you mean Jason?" Vitor Bruno asked in surprise.

    "Yes... What''s wrong with adding him to the squad?" Sergio Conceicao asked, his grin not leaving his face.

    "I thought you said he wasn''t ready for a ce in the line-up yet?" Vitor asked, obviously bewildered by this decision of the head manager.

    "I did say that, but I think you should have noticed as well that he''s adjusting to the team''s tempo at an rming rate and would soon qualify for me to change my mind about him,"

    "That''s not to say that I will immediately add him to the team or anything of the sort, but it may not be a bad idea to add him to the squad and he may get a chance toe on from the bench in one of theter games if we manage to get that far," "Not to mention, he''s one of the few pure wingers that this team has and the others that I could consider adding aren''t his match, so it''s only right I add him to the team," the head manager exined his reasoning to his assistant coach.

    "I see�� since those are your thoughts then I''ll add him to the Europa League squad," Vitor nodded in eptance and turned to leave the office, leaving a still grinning Sergio Conceicao behind him.

 Chapter 53 Experiencing Matchday at Estadio do Dragao

    Chapter 53 Experiencing Matchday at Estadio do Dragao

    **Tuesday, 28th January 2020**

    Jason slowly drove into a free space in the parking lot in the Estadio do Dragao stadium and turned off the ignition of the car.

    After the training/punishment the day before, he continued his own personal training untilte before leaving the trainingplex.

    The team had also had a few hours of training earlier today at the trainingplex before the coach had called out the yers who would be in the team''s line-up for the day''s game.

    He had them stop their training to avoid them getting exhausted and took them aside toy out to them, the team''s game n for the uing game.

    Jason, who wasn''t among the line-up had continued his individual training until almost 5 pm.

    He had then stopped, freshened up, and then drove to the Miami restaurant to get something to eat and to meet up with Sofia as they both were going to the Estadio do Dragao after to watch the game, so it was sort of a date.

    Jason hadn''t experienced the atmosphere of a match day at Porto yet, and since he would always be allocated tickets to the game as a member of the team, then why not watch the game at the stadium instead of back at home?

    Sofia who was a fan of the Porto side was also all for it when he had brought it up so that had led to the current situation.

    Jason and Sofia got out of the vehicle and joined the crowd that was streaming into the stadium in droves.

    Sofia wore an Alex Telles Porto jersey along with dark blue jeans and Jason was dressed in ck cargo track pants and a hoodie, but Jason didn''t bother pulling the hoodie over his head as there was no point in doing so.

    He wasn''t famous enough that he had to hide his face from people and despite the cold, he didn''t need to cover his head as in his words, "Who needs a head warmer when you''ve got enough hair."

    They made their way into the stadium and found seats in the stands that overlooked the team benches and satfortably to wait for the beginning of the game.

    The pre-match warm-up was already over and it was soon going to be time for the yers to make their entrance so they didn''t have to wait too long.

    The Porto side and the Gil Vicente sides came out holding hands with children and the referees in the lead.

    The pre-match formalities didn''t take much time to get through and the match soon kicked off after both teams had picked a side.

    The Gil Vicente side was the team that kicked off the match and their travelling fans seated behind their goal cheered loudly as the team kicked off.

    This was the second time both teams were meeting this season and their previous meeting had been the first match of the season which had ended up in a defeat for the Porto side so the shouts of the Porto fans soon overshadowed the voices of the travelling fans as they spurned their team for a victory this time.

    The match started on a very attacking note and the ball flew across the field a countless number of times as both teams tried to find a goal.

    There was no shortage of exciting attacking football from both sides and both teams didn''t hold back and rained down shots on each team''s goalkeeper.

    This went on for the first thirty minutes of the game but a first goal still hadn''t arrived and the two teams attacking attempts slowly dwindled and they slowly transitioned to a more conservative style of football. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    It was at this time that the Porto team''s wingers ineffectiveness began to show itself once again.

    It wasn''t as bad as in the previous game against Braga, but as soon as the Gil Vicente team stopped sending yers forward and their defenders settled back to y a more defensive game, the holes in the defense that the Porto wingers had managed to exploit were closed up and they found it difficult to have as much influence on the game as before.

    Luckily other members of the team were up to par enough to keep the Gil Vicente team under pressure enough to prevent them from making any waves, but as the end of the first half approached, the Gil Vicente began to y more aggressively than ever, their objective seemingly being to get a goal before the first half ended, and soon an opportunity to do so showed itself.

    In the 43rd minute, Jesus Corona lost possession of the ball when he tried to dribble past a yer from the Gil Vicente team and the yer who snatched the ball quickly started to begin a counter but was forced to slow down before long due to the quick rearrangement of the Porto''s defense to quell the counter-attack.

    The Gil Vicente team ended up stopping their counter to not risk losing the ball and instead opted to pass the ball around patiently just outside the Porto penalty area.

    It was inevitable that leading the opponent to their penalty area without increasing the press would cause problems and soon a Gil Vicente midfielder found the team''s center forward, Lima at the edge of the penalty box.

    Lima quickly used his physique to shield the ball as he turned to face the Porto goal and fired a low-driven shot to the left corner of the goal.

    Ivan Marcano, the Porto goalkeeper quickly flew at the ball, but to his dismay, he was a few split seconds toote and the ball flew past his outstretched hand to m into the back of the.

    *GOAL!!!*

    {And it''s Gil Vicente who score first after a counter that seemed to have lost its luster}

    {A surprising effort from the striker who brought his position to life with a wonderful strike on the ball, sending it past the keeper and into the back of the to lift his team and the team''s supporters who have traveled to watch them y}

    {With that goal, history looks set to repeat itself} Thementator performed mouth acrobatics while Lima, the Gil Vicente striker performed jubtion acrobatics of his own in front of the thousands of fans that filled the stadium, but only his teammates and the visiting fans were in any mood to follow him in jubting the goal.

 Chapter 54 Experiencing Matchday II

    54 Experiencing Matchday II

    Sergio Conceicao''s face turned dark as he watched his team go behind, but unlike in the previous match, he kept mute and just stared on, deciding to keep his words until the first half was over.

    On the field though, Pepe rallied his teammates and told them to not be too affected by the goal as there was still ample time to make aeback in the game.

    His teammates seemed to have been touched by his words and didn''t show any signs of their morale being lowered as they moved back to their positions to await the continuation of the match.

    It didn''t take too long for the match to kick off once again and the moment the Porto team kicked off, they seemed to be possessed by the dragons they were named after as they advanced smoothly through the opposition half and tore through the Gil Vicente formation, not giving them any chance to respond as they advanced further and further.

    The ball finally ended up at the legs of Alex Telles who stood a few yards away from the edge of the penalty area, but that did not deter him from testing the goalkeeper despite the range.

    Swinging his leg powerfully, he unleashed a powerful left-footed shot that tore at the Gil Vicente goal and seemed destined for the back of the, but the Gil Vicente goalkeeper seemed to have been possessed by the spirit of a kangaroo and unleashed an incredible dive, managing to get the tip of his fingers to the ball and deflecting it just enough to send the ball over the goal.

    {And Ohhhh!!! What a shot and what a save!!!} Thementator couldn''t keep quiet after seeing such an attempt at goal and a beautiful corresponding save to counter it.

    The fans of the Porto side had been on their feet when the ball had left Telles''s foot but now had their hands on their head in surprise and disappointment at the ball not ending in the back of the.

    Everyone in the stadium who was in support of the Porto team was disappointed at the ball not ending up in the back of the, but they all had to admit that it was a tremendous effort by the Gil Vicente goalkeeper to keep the ball out.

    The Porto team quickly gathering in the Gil Vicente penalty area woke everyone from their daze as they watched the yers push each other around with varying intentions.

    The Porto team yers wanted to get a goal from the corner while the Gil Vicente yers were willing to do anything to prevent them from getting one so the penalty area felt more like a wrestling ring than a football field.

    It was Alex Telles who stood over the corner and he stepped back and raised his hand in the air to signify to his teammates that he was ready.

    The referee blew his whistle and Telles ran up to the ball and sent a powerful inswinger into the penalty area, prompting various yers to jump for the ball, hoping to catch it with their heads.

    In the end, it was Ivan Marcano, one of the two center-backs of the Porto side who won the aerial battle and managed to get his head to the ball, sending it at the Gil Vicente goal.

    The Gil Vicente goalkeeper lunged for the ball and once again got his hand to it despite being a bit slow to react, but his contact with the ball didn''t have enough power to send the ball away from the goal and it collided with the inside of the goal post before rolling past the goal line.

    *GOAL!!!*

    {Barely two minutes and the dragons have mmed level} thementator screamed as the whole stadium erupted in a loud explosion of cheers from the Porto fans while Ivan Marcano himself ran at the corner g and did a flying fist pump before hugging Alex Telles who had set him up with a perfect cross into the box.

    His team gathered around to join the celebrations as they shared high-fives and hugs.

    Jason in the stands also could not help having a smile on his face as he saw his team get back on level terms with the opposing team, after all, it did not feel good to watch your team lose, regardless if he was ying or not.

    His eyes fell on Sofia who was cheering along with the other fans around him and he could not help putting his hands to his ear to check if his noise cancetion earbuds were still in as he could feel his brain vibrating from the noise.

    He was a football yer and he was used to noise, but there was still a difference between being on the pitch and the crowds in the stadium shouting, and being in the crowds to hear them erupt in extremely loud voices. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Soon the match resumed but it didn''t take long before the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half of the game and the yers trudged across the field and into the tunnel to get a much-needed fifteen minutes of rest and some advice or change in their game n from their managers.

    The fans waited while entertaining themselves with some songs and chants, some went to get refreshments, and some even bought team merchandise.

    Fifteen minutes wasn''t a long period of time and the match soon resumed with the beginning of the second half.

    This time it was the Porto side that kicked off and as soon as the match resumed it was clear that the enthusiasm that they had begun to show after going behind in the first half was still very much on disy and they heavily oppressed the Gil Vicente side with their attacking prowess.

    Even the wingers weren''t to be left out as it seemed that things were finally clicking for them as well and they took the opportunity to run at the defenders, send many balls into the box, and even took shots at the goalkeeper.

    Unfortunately for them, the goalkeeper stood strong and managed to stop all the balls that came flying his way, but he couldn''t keep up his tremendous run of form for long under the heavy oppression of the Porto team''s attack.

    The Porto side were given a corner in the 57th minute of the game and just like before, Alex Telles sent a powerful inswinging cross into the penalty box.

    Pepe rose above the Gil Vicente''s defenders to get his head to the ball and sent it at the goal, but this time the Gil Vicente goalkeeper was prepared and managed to get his hand to the ball, but he didn''t get enough on it to send it out of y.

    The ball had bounced back into y and just when everyone thought a Gil Vicente yer was about to clear it, Sergio Oliveira from the Porto side lunged for the ball and managed to get his leg to it and send it back where it came from.

    The bulged when the ball flew into the back of the, but Sergio Oliveira was already running off to celebrate as their team had finally managed aeback.

    GOAL!!!

    {It''s here! We saw iting and it''s finally here! The proud dragons of Porto have risen back on top} Thementator did his job as the stadium once again erupted in cheers with their team now in the lead.

    Due to the hurrying of the referee, the celebrations didn''tst long and the match soon resumed with both teams trying to score more goals, the Porto team looking to extend their lead while the Gil Vicente side searched for an equalizer.

    Unfortunately, neither of the teams was able to get another goal even as the clock ran down and in the end the whistle was blown and the match ended with a score of 2 - 1.

 Chapter 55 The Days That Rolled By... I

    Chapter 55 The Days That Rolled By... I

    The day after the match against Gil Vicente was a rest day for the team but that did not stop Jason from going to the CTFD Portogaia trainingplex for individual because, to him, he hadn''t exactly done anything that required him to rest.

    He also wanted to take any opportunity to better himself so he could join the team''s match day line-up even one second earlier.

    It would not be toote to have rest days by then.

    With such determined thoughts, he maintained his rigorous training schedule, but his schedule was bound to change a bit in theing days as Sofia would soon be traveling back to Lisbon to continue her studies, which meant no more evening walks and all.

    It was inevitable and there was nothing he could do about it, but thanks to technology, he would still be in contact so it didn''t really change much in their rtionship and it would have even less of an effect on his training schedule so it was nothing to be worrying his head over.

    With that, the days rolled by��

    **30th January 2020** Team training resumed and the focal point of the training was still the same training to improve the wingers'' individual brilliance just like before. It could be seen how much more familiar the team had gotten with this style of y and the wingers disyed their long-dormant skills and sent goals flying into the back of the throughout the session.

    It seemed like it would not be long before they reaped the gains of this new style of y that could help the team diversify its attacks.

    Jason could also feel himself slowly adjusting to the team''s tempo and it was gradually getting easier to deal with the first team''s defenders and he could not help but be d to see that his individual training already seemed to be paying off.

    Even then, he was not going to stop his efforts and would rather increase them now that he had seen how effective it was being.

    **31st January 2020**

    There was a slight change in the team''s squad rotation for the day''s training session as Jason was now starting for the second team''s internal scrimmage against the first team. It could not be considered much progress, but it was progress all the same.

    Jason was also d to see it happen as it felt like his efforts were paying off and he was getting acknowledged for his improvements, but now more than ever he could not afford to ck off as he was finally moving up the food chain.

    Thus he dug deep into himself and yed with even more ferocity than ever, running at the defense like a psycho, yet smoothly weaving his way in and around them like an experienced Tai Chi master.

    His efforts resulted in him finally scoring a goal against the first team and even managing to give two assists.

    **1st February 2020**

    Today was another match day for the team as they had an away game against Vitoria de Setubal so the yers who were part of the team''s line-up for the match would be travelling to Setubal.

    This did not affect Jason who still wasn''t in the team''s line-up and as usual, he arrived at the CTFD Portogaia trainingplex to do his own training, irrespective of whether the team had training or not.

    He trained hard all day and by 6 pm when the match started, he was cleaned up and in the cafeteria with the trainingplex staff to watch the game.

    Just as he had been expecting from the team''s improvement in the training set up by the head manager, the wingers were ying very dynamic football and did not give the opposing team a chance to breathe.

    They suffocated them with their heavy attacking football and the fact that their attacks coulde from all directions up the pitch and soon the Vitoria de Setubal team crumbled.

    Luis Diaz found Telles just outside the penalty area in the 39th minute with a fine pass after getting rid of his marker and Telles wasted no time in testing the keeper with a powerful driven shot.

    It was not the keeper''s lucky day and the ball flew past his outstretched arm and nestled itself in the back of the opening up the game''s scoreline.

    Just five minutester, Jesus Corona ran at the defense with the support of his teammates and they swiftly and cleverly passed the ball around the defenders in perfect coordination until Jesus Corona found space between the defenders and ran behind them just in time to collide with a beautiful driven pass from Otavio.

    He sent the ball past the goalkeeper''s outstretched hands, bringing the score to 2 - 0 just before the first half ended.

    Just three minutes after the second half began, Jesus Corona found Tiquinho Soares in the penalty area with a low cross and Soares didn''t disappoint, quickly bringing the score to 3 - 0.

    The match went on and on and just when everyone thought the game would end in 3 - 0, Luiz Diaz unleashed a daring run down the wings and escaped two defenders before curling the ball around the goalkeeper after one minute of additional time.

    4 - 0

    A few minutester, the match was over and the Porto team had won by andslide, but what was worth noticing was that they had finally solved the issue of dynamism among the wingers. Two of the four goals that the Porto team had were scored by the wingers and they were involved in the remaining two goals as well.

    The game ended on a very good note for the Porto team and their fans, but Jason''s day wasn''t over as he had just received the shock of his life that came in the form of an email.

    He had just been told that his name had been added to the provisional squad for the Europa League and it would be an exaggeration to say that he was surprised. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Even bbergasted wouldn''t quite cut it as this was beyond that.

    He was a yer who hadn''t even had his debut in the middle of the season and now he was being added to the team''s Europa League squad.

    At this point, he was willing to believe that the team''s management had smoked some ''Jamaican cush'' because how else would they make such a decision if their sense of judgment was intact?

    After all, it didn''t make any sense no matter how he thought about it unless he chose to be hyper-optimistic and that was something that Jason was not so he calmed down to think about it and only after thinking for a while did he think that it kind of made some sense.

    The team didn''t have any additional pure wingers and instead only had yers who could y as wingers despite it not being their original position.

    Adding him to the squad may help if the team had injury problems.

    He could also feature against some of the weaker teams if his team managed to meet up with them even though he wasn''t really sure about the chances of that happening as they were already in the knockout stages.

    Their first opponent for the round of 32 was Bayer Leverkusen, and they would be a tough nut to crack for sure.

    In the end, it had only benefits for him and wasn''t a loss, so he wouldn''t kick a gift horse in the mouth. It could also mean that the head manager had him in his ns and he should be able to make a debut soon, so Jason didn''t mind having more opportunities, rather he was grateful for them.

 Chapter 56 The Days That Rolled By... II

    Chapter 56 The Days That Rolled By... II

    **3rd February 2020**

    After the big victory against Vitoria de Setubal two days ago, Jason intensified his efforts at training, his patience to wait for a game having decreased by a huge margin.

    There was also going to be a Taca de Portugal first-leg semi-final match against Academico de Viseu tomorrow and he hoped the manager would finally give him a chance to feature in the match, even as a sub.

    So he was at training the day before, working on his individual attributes, and was going even harder at training today in a bid to impress the manager enough to have a chance at cracking the line-up.

    Today the head manager had adopted an even more winger-specific internal scrimmage.

    The yers on the team were now restricted to two touches on the ball and only the wingers were exempt from the restriction making the training even more job-specific than ever.

    This did not really hinder Jason and he worked harder than ever, managing to score two goals today but only managing one assist today.

    **4th February 2020**

    Jason was at the CTFD Portogaia training center for the entirety of the day as he still wasn''t added to the team''s line-up.

    He could not deny that a little annoyance crept up in his mind when he had not heard his name being called in the matchday line-up when other yers in the second team who weren''t doing half of what he was doing in training had been called.

    This was one of the matches where it should have been safe for him to get some game time as the opponents for this game weren''t even in the Primera Liga and were in the lower-ranked LigaPro that the reserve team of the senior team yed in.

    Yet the head manager still hadn''t chosen him and he could not understand why, but he still had to reign in his annoyance and continue his individual training while the yers that were selected for the matchday line-up prepared for their trip to the Estadio do Fontelo.

    Since there was nothing he could do to change the manager''s decision, he decided to channel his annoyance into his training and for the whole day he was training with so much fury that he was breaking his previous limits yet his trainer mistook it for enthusiasm and kept giving motivational speeches, infuriating him so much that he forgot to watch the match due to how he was training so hard.

    When he finally came to himself due to his muscles giving out, he realized that it was already past 8 pm. He barely had enough energy to get back to his boarding and could not help but think about how lucky he was to not have brought his car to the trainingplex that day as there was not enough juice left in him to drive his car back.

    He had just cleaned up and boarded a metro back to his ce as he was too tired to do anything else.

    **5th February 2020**

    Due to overexerting himself the day before, Jason had decided to take a day off to rest to let his muscles rest and avoid any injury risks.

    Luckily, the team always had a rest day after every match, so he wouldn''t technically be skipping training, but he could not help but wish that he had kept his cool so he would have not been so exhausted that he could not train. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He was not usually one to lose his temper due to having an unusually strong grip on his emotions, especially in his past life, but it seemed that now that he was so close to his goal, he was getting a bit overly anxious and he didn''t like how it felt.

    His anxiety had caused ack of patience and irrationality and that had led to the situation where he overworked himself.

    Jason knew that he needed to work on that and get his emotions under control so as to prevent it from causing a problemter on if he flipped out.

    Luckily, he realized this early and could work on it, so he went to training with a mind to take whatever decisions that the head manager made concerning him in stride and not let it rile him up anymore.

    This did not mean that he would just let things be though�� rather he''d put in so much effort(without over-training, of course), that the manager wouldn''t have any choice but to involve him in the line-up eventually.

    **6th February 2020**

    New changes happened in the training session and Jason was moved to the first team''s squad for the internal scrimmage winger-centered training session, but he was on the bench and would not be starting the scrimmage match.

    Not that he minded as this meant that he was slowly but surely moving up the ranks in the team despite not having participated in any actual matches.

    Training started with the coach being in a little of an annoyed mood and increasing the punishments of the attacking team for not scoring after every five-minute interval.

    Jason thought this to be because the team only had a draw in the match against the Academico de Viseu team and his thoughts were correct.

    Despite it not having much of a big impact on their cup run as there was still a second leg match to y at the Estadio do Dragao, it was still quite embarrassing for his team to be drawing against a mid-level team in a lower-ranked league, hence why he wanted the yers to work harder in training.

    The yers didn''t have a choice and could only go along with the arrangements from their manager.

    It was worth noting that Jason managed to get four goals and five assists in the training session today.

    This could be attributed to him being on a higher-quality team and ying against a weaker side so it felt almost like easy mode after being up against the first team''s yers all this while.

 Chapter 57 The Days That Rolled By... III

    Chapter 57 The Days That Rolled By... III

    **7thFebruary 2020**

    Training continued today as well with everyone training harder than ever because of the high-profile matching up the next day.

    The Porto side would be weing their biggest rival team, Benfica to the Estadio do Dragao in a match that promised to be full of high amounts of tension but full of excitement all the less.

    Yet the tension was lost on Jason as he was currently dealing with his emotions that threatened to spill over after the head manager had thrown him back to the second team''s side for the internal scrimmage matches.

    ''Was this man ying with his emotions?'' he wondered while doing his best to keep his emotions in check.

    Why add him to the first team and give him hope if he was only going to throw him back despite Jason not doing anything wrong and performing at a whole new level after the promotion?

    He couldn''t understand the manager''s decision and despite it being a mere change in training arrangements, Jason was having a hard time keeping his emotions in check despite having made amitment to doing just that a few days earlier.

    Because of this, he ended up not performing up to par during his first minutes on the pitch in the internal scrimmage and this had earned him 60 split squats and he hade off the pitch due to squad rotation five minutes after.

    Being taken off the pitch had given him a few minutes to think and calm his raging emotions enough to remember his previous decision to take every decision made by the manager in stride while performing at a high enough level that would not give the manager any other choice than to include him in his ns.

    After getting a few minutes to calm himself, Jason was brought back onto the pitch with the next squad rotation and he proceeded to rip the first team''s defense in his enthusiasm and managed to serve the forwards two assists within the five minutes that his team was on the attack.

    At the end of the internal scrimmage session, Jason had racked up two goals and five assists against the first team.

    On the sidelines, head manager Sergio Conceicao looked at his yers who were now doing individual training after finishing the winger-specific training session that he had been having them focus on over the past two weeks.

    He was trying to decide the yers who he would be adding to the line-up for the match against their rivals theing day and his eyes involuntarily fell on the newest addition to their team.

    The kid had been adjusting to the level of the first team yers at an rming rate and Sergio knew that it would soon be time for his name to start popping up in his mind when he was deciding matchday line-ups but he still thought it was too early.

    It was for this reason that he had vetoed his assistant''s decision to add him to the first team in the internal scrimmage training session.

    Sergio Conceicao wanted Jason to adjust to the level of the first team and the best way to do this was by having him y against them and not along with them. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Either of those choices would still end up having the same result, but having him y against them would have him adjust at a much quicker rate, hence he had sent him back to the second team which was obviously the much weaker side and it seemed like his decision was having the required effect.

    Sergio Conceicao thought Jason still needed more time to adjust, but Jason''s performances were saying otherwise and it was already time to start considering adding him to the line-up as he was already performing at the level where it shouldn''t cause any harm to the team to have him debut.

    Unfortunately due to the high stakes in theing games, Sergio Conceicao could not bring himself to add Jason to the line-up immediately.

    There was the Benfica game which held a lot of importance to the fans and the management anding immediately after that was the second leg of the Taca de Portugal against Academico de Viseu which needed to be won at all costs because the team already lost one domestic cup this season.

    After those two matches were matches against Vitoria de Guimares, a team that almost always made it into the top seven in the Primera Liga every season, and the first leg of the Europa League round of 32 against Bayer Leverkusen.

    He needed to think a lot about whether he should add Jason to the line-up immediately, but now that he was thinking hard about it, there shouldn''t be a problem featuring Jason in one of those matches as a substitute and letting him experience a few minutes of the game.

    Maybe not in the big matches like the one against Benfica or Bayer Leverkusen, but against weaker teams like Academico Viseu or Vitoria de Guimares, he concluded.

    **8thFebruary 2020**

    It was match day at Estadio do Dragao and the dragons weed the eagles for a sh that would send the fans of either side home with bragging rights for a few months at least.

    Jason arrived at the stadium to watch the game after a fulfilling day at the training grounds as he was not a part of the matchday line-up. Not hearing his name when the line-up for the match was called earlier in the day during the morning training session was not surprising and he had been half expecting it, but he still could not help but hope that the coach had finally changed his mind, yet it seemed like he had been hoping for too much.

    It was still the same and his name was still skimmed over despite how much effort he had put into training so it was inevitable that he would feel a bit down.

    He had even been tempted in a burst of childish anger to not bothering to the stadium to watch the game, but he had ended up thinking that doing that would be quite childish so he had ended uping anyway.

    ''This match better not be a waste of my damn time,'' he could not help thinking, his emotions tethering on the vengeful side after not being picked for the match day squad.

 Chapter 58 FC Porto vs Benfica

    Chapter 58 FC Porto vs Benfica

    A match between rivals like Porto and Benfica was a match that always promised to be full of excitement and drew fans from all over the country to pay attention so it always guaranteed that the stadiums would be packed and it could be felt in the atmosphere of the stadium as well.

    The feelings of excitement, tension, and even rivalry in the air were almost palpable and it was under these conditions that the two sides marched out with different emotions on their faces, ranging from excitement to confidence, and even nervousness.

    The match kicked off soon after and just as expected in matches like this, things got off to a quick start, and barely ten minutes into the match, Sergio Oliveira from the Porto side already found the back of the with a header thatplimented a beautiful cross from Alex Telles.

    The stadium had erupted in loud cheers that needless to say, shook the stadium in celebration of their team''s goal and even the jubtions by the yer were full of more passion than usual, but the match had barely begun and soon kicked off again.

    Just eight minutester, the Benfica side showed huge amounts of self-recovery as they burst on an attack that ended with the Brazilian striker, Carlos Vinicius catching a cross from Rafa Silva on the volley and sending a thunderous strike at the goal.

    Augustin Marchesin was in no way able to match up with such a shot and could only watch as the ball flew past him and caused the to bulge and send the stadium into a frenzy once again.

    Even the Porto fans were in a frenzy after such a goal. This was one of the joys of the game after all, as such a goal needed to be appreciated irrespective of who it was scored against.

    After the celebrations, the match kicked off again and there was no shortage of attacking football from both sides but it wasn''t until the thirty-eight minute that another goal came.

    Luis Diaz had been brought down in the Benfica penalty box after dribbling past Alex Grimaldo and the referee wasted no time in blowing his whistle with his hand held up for a penalty.

    Of course, the yers of the Benfica side tried to argue about the possibility that it wasn''t a penalty but the referee made it obvious what he thought, but to thoroughly convince everyone who had doubts he still headed to the sidelines to check again with the assistance of the VAR and soon he was back on the field, his decision remaining the same.

    Porto was given a penalty and after having an internal discussion to choose who would take it, Alex Telles took up the ball and ced it on the penalty spot before stepping back.

    A few secondster, he had sent the ball into the back of the despite the keeper going the right way.

    The home of the dragons was once again filled with cheers of excitement after their team had once again taken the lead.

    The celebrations continued for almost a full minute before y resumed but till the end of the first half, neither of the teams were able to get another goal.

    Fifteen minutes after the first half ended, the yers were back on the pitch and the second half started, both teams still ying like everything was on the line because, in all honesty, it was.

    Forty-five minutes was more than enough for Porto to either solidify their lead or for the Benfica side to make aeback and soon it seemed like thetter was about to happen.

    After many attempts, the Benfica side managed to crack open the Porto defense with a splitting pass from Pizzi and Carlos Vinicius did not waste any time making an incisive run and catching the ball behind the defenders before going off to finish, disying the skills that made him the current top scorer in the league and increasing his goal tally.

    The Porto side wasn''t surprised by their rivals'' fighting spirit, but they weren''t ready to give up on the match either, and as soon as the match resumed, they attacked with undisguised ferocity, looking for the that would put them back in the lead.

    Unfortunately, the Benfica side''s defensive efforts were up to the task and their attacking prowess was even more so. They also attacked the Porto side with the intent to put themselves in the lead as well, but the Porto side held out as well.

    This way, the game fell into a stalemate for a while, but as soon as they realized that the end of the ny minutes was soon approaching they increased their efforts once again.

    It was at this time that the Porto team was on the attack and the ball ended up with Otavio just outside the box.

    The Benfica side did not waste any time in boxing him in, not giving him any space to start something, but by virtue of his smaller size and agility, Otavio somehow managed to weasel himself past one of the yers enough to get a shot away.

    The ball headed for the goal speedily, but on a closer look at the situation, it seemed that the ball would end up narrowly missing the goal.

    Suddenly Ruben Dias who was close to the path of the ball tried to clear the ball but he somehow miscalcted the distance between his leg and the ball and ended up deflecting the shot instead, causing the ball that was going wide of the post to change directions and make it past the surprised goalkeeper.

    Thus in the 82nd minute of the game, Ruben Dias had unintentionally caused an own goal that sent his team from equals in the game to being the losing team.

    The whole team was distraught, the fans were shocked, and Ruben Dias, the cause of the whole situation could only cover his eyes in shame whileying on the ground while the Porto yers and fans jubted.

    The Porto side wouldn''t reject such timely help from their opponents and jubted as if they scored the goal themselves. Their fans weren''t left out either as they jubted while not forgetting to make leering faces and noises at the traveling fans who had their heads in their hands in surprise at the situation.

    The match soon resumed due to the prompting from the referee and the Benfica side kicked off. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    They quickly went on the attack and disyed unyielding spirits despite having gone behind, yet try as they might, they couldn''t crack open the Porto defense who were at full alert due to being so close to ending the game in their win.

    The Benfica side attacked and attacked and despite giving the Porto fans many scares, the Porto side managed to hold on till the final whistle, cementing their win in the rivalry-filled match.

 Chapter 59 No Chance for Debut in Sight... Again

    Chapter 59 No Chance for Debut in Sight... Again

    **10th February 2020**

    The aftermath of the Porto team''s victory over their bitter rivals could be felt during the training session even after having a whole rest day.

    The yers were bubbling and their morale was high and this was clearly disyed in their attitudes as they trained harder than usual.

    Even the special scrimmage format training session that the head manager had been making them do for thest few weeks was done with more enthusiasm today than ever and the wingers who were the focal point of this training session performed like superstars all through the duration of the training session.

    There was just one person at the training ground who wasn''t caught up in the enthusiasm along with the other team members. Jason didn''t have any negative emotions because his team had won and he was in fact, quite happy for them, but he wasn''t happy about hisck of involvement in the first team or in any matches for that matter.

    If the coach didn''t have ns to put him on the first team for the time being, then he should at least let him have some game time with the reserve team, but even that door was closed to him and he had been stuck on the training grounds for more than two weeks without any game time despite performing very well in training.

    yers that he performed better than at training were getting game time and he was getting absolutely nothing. He had not been able to get even a whiff of professional football all this while and this was quite frankly, very frustrating, thus it was hard for him to be especially enthusiastic during training.

    Jason was naturally a very patient person, especially in his past life, but that was because he knew that back then, he didn''t have enough ability to warrant an outburst, even if he was the one being short-changed.

    But things were different now, he could see that he had the ability to at least guarantee himself some ying time, yet he was still not being chosen by the manager to be added to the line-up.

    So he wasn''t in the correct frame of mind to be enthusiastic about the team''s victory, but despite that, he did not skimp out on training as hard as possible because he knew that hard work would never disappoint him.

    Working hard was his ticket into the team and despite how things didn''t seem to be working out correctly, reducing his training would not help him change anything, so why would he stop working hard at training and bettering himself?

    **12 February 2020**

    The senior squad''s training pitch at the CTFD Portogaia was currently filled with yers undergoing various training drills in preparation for the Taca de Portugal matchter in the day.

    Suddenly the head manager arrived with his two assistant coaches and called for the yers to gather around as he wanted to announce the line-up for the uing game. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "The yers in the line-up for today''s game are Diogo Costa, Diogo Leite, Chancel Mbemba��" the assistant coach, Vitor Bruno began speaking as soon as thest yer arrived at the gathering of yers.

    The yers listened eagerly to hear if they would be chosen by the manager for the game and the younger yers listened more eagerly as this was a cup game and was usually a stage for the younger yers.

    Jason who was among the crowd of yers listening eagerly for their names listened more eagerly than ever, but as more names were called and his still hadn''t been called, his heart beat faster and faster while hoping against hope that he wouldn''t be passed over yet again, yet unfortunately that didn''t seem to be the case.

    "Joao Mario, Vitor Ferreira, Fabio Silva, and Ze Luis," the assistant coach finished calling the names of the yers in the line-up.

    "For those that didn''t make the line-up, don''t give up and work harder during training and you''ll soon get your chance��" Vitor Bruno was giving a motivational speech to the other yers on the team who weren''t selected for the line-up but Jason was no longer listening.

    Or rather he didn''t have the heart to listen to such words that had the opposite of their intended effect on him, and the only reason why he hadn''t stormed off was that he still had enough emotional control to not show his displeasure on his face, but every time he wasn''t selected on the line-up it was getting increasingly harder to keep his displeasure from showing on his face.

    As soon as the assistant coach finished his speech, Jason walked off to go and continue his individual attention, doing his best to not pay any attention to the younger yers on the team who had been chosen for the team''s line-up.

    He feared that seeing the joyous looks on their face might cause him to lose hold of his emotions that were currently stretched taut, but as he continued his individual training, his mind could not help going back to the line-up selection despite how hard he tried not to think about it.

    Some of the younger teammates that he always tore up in training somehow managed to make it to the line-up while he who was capable of making those yers no different from scarecrows was somehow skipped over.

    It was absolutely maddening and his emotions swirled faster and faster until he couldn''t take it any longer and had to stop the agility drill he was currently going through.

    He straight-off walked off the pitch after, not even saying a word to the trainer who was helping him with the drill or any of the other yers who were still training.

    He went to wash up and threw his training equipment into his locker before moving to the car park in the training center, his objective being to leave this ce as soon as possible.

    Team training was already over at this point so there was no problem with his actions, but even if there were, he wouldn''t have cared.

    Jason jumped into his car and mmed on the elerator as he drove out of the trainingplex''s grounds, doing a drift as he got onto the main road.

    From there on, he just kept on driving.

 Chapter 60 A Watchful Captain

    Chapter 60 A Watchful Captain

    Jason didn''t bother looking at his map to select a destination, nor to make sure he didn''t get lost because, at that moment, those were the least important things on his mind.

    Despite his slightly abnormal control over his emotions, even he had a limit and he had hit it.

    In the beginning, he had understood that he wasn''t ready to feature in the senior professional team not because he wascking in talent or skills but because he wasn''t used to such a ferocious and physically demanding stage.

    He had understood this point and had patiently decided to wait until the head manager had thought he was ready.

    He had not just waited while doing nothing extra, but rather had taken up various individual training sessions to better himself every moment he was on the training ground so as to decrease the time he would spend adjusting to the Primera Liga NOS.

    He usually arrived at the training ground as early as 7 am to train with Fabio Viera who always arrived as early as he did and he filled his training schedule almost to the point that apart from the necessary rest to rx his muscles and avoid injury, he did not have any other breaks.

    He trained every moment he was on the training ground, involving himself in both team and individual training from the moment he stepped on the field to the moment he stepped off the field.

    He was even usually thest person to leave the training ground and on more than one asion he had left the training grounds aste as 8 pm, yet what had he received for it?

    He had obviously gotten better and had adjusted enough that he could now cope while ying against the first team''s yers and could even almost manage to get past them and score a goal or two and even get assists as well.

    As far as he was concerned, he was pretty much adjusted, yet the coach had refused to y him or even look his way.

    At first, he had thought that due to the team having a bad run of form, the manager couldn''t afford to be experimenting with the line-ups when results were the priority so he had decided to stay patient, but then the manager had begun picking yers that no matter how anyone looked at it, wasn''t as good as he was.

    The yers that the manager had selected over him didn''t have a single aspect apart from defending or goalkeeping where they outshone him, and yet the coach picked them and added them to the line-up while not even looking his way or even giving him a thought.

    Not once, but twice��

    The worst part was the absolute silence from the manager.

    If the manager had a n for him and had called for him and told him his thoughts, then no matter how the current situation was, he wouldn''t have felt like this, yet the manager had chosen to stay silent, leaving Jason''s errant thoughts to run wild.

    ''Did the manager dislike him?''

    ''Did he like him?''

    ''Did he have a n for him that he wasn''t letting on?''

    ''Had he been forgotten?''

    ''Was this all because of the stupid sh*t that bast**d, Rico Gz had pulled when they were trying to sign the contract?''

    ''Was it something else?''

    ''Was there something he wasn''t seeing?''

    ''Was he too impatient?''

    Jason''s mind ran wild and was currently more active than that of a woman wondering if her man was cheating on her, yet despite the current overwhelming activity of his brain, he was only getting struck with more questions that had no answers to them.

    "Why the hell am I even acting like an insecure girlfriend?" he suddenly muttered to himself with a chuckle, the long drive he had taken seeming to have slowly calmed his raging emotions.

    That and the beauty of the serene river that he was driving beside had had the effect of pulling him out of his errant thoughts and he quickly found somewhere to park by the roadside before getting down and walking over to an empty bench that faced the river before sitting down and just staring aimlessly at the flowing water.

    He let the sound of flowing water trickle through his eardrums as he watched the hypnotic scene of the water streaming along the river.

    As his raging emotions slowly calmed down, he suddenly heard a *Ding* notification sound that prompted him to pull out his phone from his pocket to see a message arrive from Sofia.

    *Back at the CTFD Portogaia training center*

    The yers who were chosen for the team''s line-up were packing up their equipment into their sports bags and dressing up in preparation for going to the Estadio do Dragao for the game, but Pepe, the team''s captain who had also been selected among the line-up wasn''t going through the same motions as the other chosen yers and was instead on his way to meet the manager.

    He had noticed something that he thought needed addressing sooner rather thanter before it ballooned into something that may not necessarily be good for the team.

    "Hey Coach, can I get a few minutes of your time?" Pepe asked as he walked up to Sergio Conceicao who was speaking with Vitor Bruno and Siramana Dembele.

    "Oh, Of course��" Sergio responded on seeing his team''s captain approach him for a conversation and he quickly ended his conversation with his assistant coaches and sent them off before turning to Pepe.

    "Ok, what is it you want to talk about?" he asked.

    "Firstly, I''d say that I''m not contradicting your decision about your line-up but I don''t think the new kid, Jason is happy with it," Pepe began.

    "Did he tell you that?" Sergio Conceicao suddenly interrupted, his eyes narrowing slightly. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "No, but he didn''t have to," Pepe responded before continuing,

    "The kid has impressed not just me but the others ever since he joined the team. He has talent, is focused and confident, and is very hardworking,"

    "He''s always among the earliest to arrive for training and is usually thest to leave the training grounds, he even usuallyes for individual training on rest days,"

    "His hard-working mentality along with his other attributes remind me so much of Cristiano but there''s one aspect where both of them arepletely different,"

    "It''s their mannerisms, Cristiano is very outspoken and straightforward, he wears his emotions on his face and you can almost always tell when he is angry or not because he will always speak up if it feels like he is being treated unjustly, but the same doesn''t hold for Jason,"

    "Jason was always very silent even when we first met and he almost always wears apletely impassive look on his face that makes it hard for anyone to tell what he''s thinking, yet even I have noticed that he doesn''t seem to be in the correct frame of mindtely,"

    "He''s been more silent than usual and he''s currently no longer at the training ground, which is something he''s never done before,"

    "I know it''s not my job to tell you what to do with your yers and that you have a reason why you haven''t included him in the starting line-up, perhaps you have a n for him, but I feel you should at least talk to him and assure him that he''s part of your ns," "I also want to let you know that I''m not the only one who has noticed that his mood seems to be offtely and if it stays that way, the yers may begin to think that you don''t care enough about them which isn''t good for the squad''s morale," Pepe finished by addressing how the matter could affect the whole team''s morale, making it clear that he wasn''t favoring one yer over the team.

    "... Thank you for bringing it to my notice, I''ll see what I can do and make the proper adjustments," Sergio Conceicao finally said after a few seconds of thought.

    "For now though, go and get ready, we have a match to win," Sergio Conceicao pulled his thoughts back to the matter at hand and relegated Jason''s matter to a matter to be thought over at ater date.

    "Alright coach," Pepe responded and turned around, heading back to pack up his things.

 Chapter 61 Cracking the Line-up

    Chapter 61 Cracking the Line-up

    **13th February 2020**

    *7:12 am*

    Jason arrived at the CTFD Portogaiaas the sun was finally beginning to warm up the early Portuguese morning, though its early rays weren''t having as much effect in warming the environment as one would like as it still felt very chilly.

    Jason felt that the temperature was a bit below what he was used to, but it didn''t really matter much right now as his body would warm up enough once he began training and he would be able to push any thoughts about the weather to the back of his mind.

    It was safe to say that the CTFD Portogaia training center currently looked quite empty as firstly, it was quite early, and secondly, due to the match that had taken ce the day before, the yers were obliged to a period of recovery, and rest so there wasn''t any team training scheduled for this morning.

    Fabio Viera who used to be very early to the training ground wasn''t around as well since he had taken part in the Taca de Portugal match against Academico de Viseu the day before, so Jason was all alone on the training ground, but that didn''t bother him.

    After his burst of emotions the day before, he had ended up spending his evening staring at water streaming along one of the rivers in Porto.

    He had also ended up pouring out his grievances to Sofia when they were texting each other which was actually very strange to him as he never thought he would catch himself doing something like that his whole life.

    He had never done it before, even in his previous reality so he found it quite strange that he could let down his guard and pour out so many emotions that he didn''t even know that he had.

    The funniest part was that after he had done it, he felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off of his chest and he felt noticeably lighter, at least emotionally.

    All the raging emotions that had been threatening to spill over were gone and it was like he was never even angry in the first ce, but maybe it was due to that that he noticed that Sofia had more of a sway on his state of mind than he previously realized or had been willing to admit.

    �� Or maybe it was just that it felt mentally enlightening to pour out his emotions. He couldn''t really tell as this was what one was supposed to feel after seeing a psychologist so he wasn''tpletely sure, but he wasn''t going to bother himself thinking too much about that right now as it wasn''t the time for such things.

    Left to him, what was happening between him and Sofia was happening a bit too fast and he would rather it dragged out a bit longer, but because he didn''t want to lose hold of what it would feel like was why he had bothered getting involved in the first ce and now he wasn''t even dictating the tempo of the situation anymore.

    He would still do his best to slow down whatever was happening between them though as he was more focused on his football right now. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Anyway, after "pouring out his heart" he had calmed himself enough to remember that the only way to make the manager change his mind about him was by proving himself even further in training and he would have to train even harder if that was the case so here he was back at the trainingplex when all other members of the team were taking a break.

    He still felt quite annoyed at not being selected for the team''s line-up but there was nothing he could do than train harder and impress everyone on the team at every opportunity he got until there was no other option for the manager than to add him to the line-up.

    **15th February 2020**

    *2:47 pm*

    The team had just finished the team training session and were now about to go on with their own individual training while others that didn''t have any individual training were free to do whatever they wished, but Sergio Conceicao suddenly called for the yers after having a meeting with other technical staff to decide the team line-up that they would be taking along to the Estadio D. Afonso Henriques in Guimares, for the match against Vitoria de Guimares.

    After deciding the line-up, Sergio Conceicao had the club staff gather the yers into one of the avable halls at the trainingplex team where team meetings were usually held. He wanted to have a tactical meeting as early as possible regarding the tactics they would be using against the uing opponents so that they could practice a little bit before the game the next day.

    With that thought in mind, he gestured for his assistant coach to hand him the notepad that contained the names of the yers that had been selected for the line-up when he saw that the yers werepletely gathered in the hall. After collecting the notepad, he waited for a few seconds for one of the staff to pull a mobile whiteboard towards him and hand him a marker as well before stepping back.

    "Our match against Vitoria de Guimares is an away game, but we will still be using our 4-4-2 t formation," he began, quickly drawing eleven circles on the bottom half of the board in the 4-4-2 t shape.

    "Before going further to talk about our tactics for the game, I''ll first be calling out the line-up for the game,"

    "In goal, we''ll be having Augustin Marchesin,"

    "Our centerbacks for the game will be Diogo Leite and Chancel Mbemba. The left-back will be Matheus Uribe while our right-back will be Sergio Oliveira,"

    "In center mid-field, we will have Danilo Pereira and Romario Baro. Our left midfielder will be Luiz Diaz and our right midfielder will be Jesus Corona,"

    "The two strikers upfront will be Moussa Marega and Ze Luis."

    Sergio Conceicao paused for a bit to grab a sip of water from a water bottle, his throat feeling a bit dry.

    The yers who had heard their names in the line-up had slight smiles on their faces, but Jason who was sitting in the back along with Fabio, Pepe, Otavio, and Telles let out a sigh as he had not heard his name once again, but he still had some lingering hope as the coach had not yet called out the yers who would be on the bench yet.

    Soon, the head manager''s voice could be heard again after he put down his water bottle,

    "On the bench, we have Diogo Costa, Pepe, Ivan Marcano, Wilson Manafa, Shoya Nakajima, Jason Bolu, and Vincent Boubakar."

 Chapter 62 Tactical Meeting

    62 Tactical Meeting

    Jason hadn''t heard thest name on the list of yers on the bench as he felt like an explosion had gone off in his head as soon as he heard his name finally being called among the team''s line-up.

    An involuntary smile broke out on his face and he felt Fabio''s hand on his shoulders shaking him, but he couldn''t be bothered to react as he was too happy for that right now.

    Even though being called on the bench didn''te with the guarantee that he would end up gracing the field, at least it was a step in the right direction, but before he could immerse himself in his thoughts or before the members of the team that he was closer to could congratte him on cracking the line-up, Sergio Conceicao had continued speaking.

    "With that out of the way, I''m sure some of you will have noticed that some of the yers I called will not be ying in their conventional positions, but it can''t be helped as we have to rest some yers for the uing Europa League game against Bayer Leverkusen,"

    "Anyway�� We''ve faced off against Vitoria de Guimares twice already this season and we''ve lost once while barely managing to win the second time, so this time I want a different result�� a bolder result,"

    "Thanks to our new wing-focused style of y that adds a lot of dynamism to our attacks, I believe it should be much easier to do this, so I''ll be exining what I need from you in the match,"

    "Sergio, you''ll be ying as the right back and what I need you to do is to keep a tight hold of your marker while making sure to always be able to support your teammates whenever they burst out on the attack," Sergio said to Sergio Oliveira while drawing out some markings on the board to further exin what he meant. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "As for you Mattheus, you''ll be ying as an inverted wing-back, so you''ll only stay on the left wing whenever we are in a defensive situation, but whenever we have possession or are on the attack, you will move to the central parts of the midfield to support our attacking endeavors,"

    "Of course, this means that we may be subject to quick counters on the left side of the field whenever you''re out of possession, but that''s exactly what we should make them think as Danilo will be staying back with the other two center-backs to defend whenever you are not able to track back quick enough, so if they attack from the left, they will be met by a blockade in form of Diogo, Chancel, and Danilo while you close them down from behind,"

    "It may sound like a clever idea, but I''ll need your full efforts to pull this off as it wouldn''t be easy to stop their attacks when they are that close to our goal, but I''m sure I can trust you guys, am I right?" Sergio asked generally while exining the team''s tactics.

    "Yes coach," Mattheus Uribe, Diogo Leite, Chancel Mbemba, and Danilo Pereira echoed as they were the recipient of the head manager''s question.

    "Good, so for the attack, Romario will y as a center midfielder mostly but he will join the attack and y as an attacking midfielder whenever we are on the attack while I trust that Luiz and Jesus already know what to do on the wings as well, correct?" Sergio Conceicao continued exining before asking another question again.

    "Yes coach," this time it was Luiz Diaz and Jesus Corona who answered the head manager.

    "Good, you''ll have to make sure to keep the opposing team''s defense on tenterhooks throughout the match, run at them whether you have the ball or not, and don''t give them any time to catch their breath," Sergio Conceicao went on to exin despite their answers and even drew lines on the board to indicate what he wanted them to do.

    "Finally, the two strikers will cooperate with the wingers and midfielders to find space to run in behind and free themselves from their markers. You have to make sure to keep up with the wingers whenever they''re breaking through the opponents'' defensive line, is that clear?" Sergio asked to see if his strikers were listening and they responded just in time for him to know that they were following his words.

    "Yes, coach," Ze Luis and Moussa Marega quickly responded, eliciting a nod of approval from the head manager.

    "As for the yers on the bench, I hope you were listening to the roles I gave each position because when and if I bring you on, you would probably have to follow the same instructions unless I say otherwise," Sergio Conceicao continued, but even after speaking, he didn''t give the bench yers a chance to respond as he was already speaking again,

    "I want you guys back on the pitch right now, you''ll be ying a fifteen-minute scrimmage against other team members and be following the instructions I just gave you, so move quickly, we don''t have much time and you guys need enough rest for the game tomorrow so double up," Sergio Conceicao hurriedly sent the yers back on the field so they could test-run and adjust the tactics quickly.

    The yers trudged back to the field under themand of the coach and they soon began the scrimmage match with the head manager barking out instructions on the sidelines and correcting whichever yer was not ying ording to what he wanted.

    Fifteen minutes quickly came and went and despite neither side managing to score a goal from the other during the scrimmage session, it could be seen that they were well organized and didn''t have any problems defending or attacking with this formation.

    As for whether the tactic would be able to earn them a win at the game remained to be seen, but they had done their parts by preparing for the game and they were finally dismissed to get some rest before theing day as they would still have to travel to Guimares the next day, and even though it wouldn''t be a long trip, being in a bus was still going to be a bit exhausting because of how cramped it was.

    The bench yers weren''t opportune to take part in the scrimmage game, and they just watched from the side, but neither of them really cared at this point, especially Jason as he was still feeling bubbly at finally cracking the team''s line-up.

    But even though he had cracked the line-up, he still wasn''t going to let up on his training so even after the team training ended and the yers started leaving, Jason still stayed behind to do a few more individual drills before leaving the training grounds.

 Chapter 63 Arrival at Guimares

    Chapter 63 Arrival at Guimares

    **16th February 2020**

    *8:33 am*

    Jason arrived at the CTFD Portogaia training center almost a full hour before the agreed meeting time, but it wasn''t because he wanted to do individual training.

    If he wanted to do individual training he would have arrived even earlier, but he wasn''t here for that, rather it was mostly because he didn''t exactly have anything he was doing back at home��

    Okay, that was a lie as well.

    It was actually because Mylo''s "friend", Melissa was back at the apartment and she seemed to have developed more of an interest in him after not meeting him for a few weeks.

    She and Mylo had probably had one of their exciting nights once again as Jason hade across her in his living room when he had woken up this morning and this time she had on even lesser clothing.

    The worst part was thattely, Mylo had been taking a page out of his book and had been waking up much earlier to go training thus he wasn''t around to put the b**ch on a leash.

    Seeing that it was just him and her in the apartment, Jason bolted.

    He escaped back into his room and quickly took his bath before quickly throwing on his clothes, grabbing his sports bag, and fleeing the apartment like he was running away after a bank robbery.

    From his long-deceased Christian parents, Jason remembered a quote they used to say that was supposedly somewhere in the Bible, "Flee from temptation��" Despite his heart having long waxed cold to the religion that his parents had tried to instill in him when he was younger, he still chose to listen this time and he fled as quickly as his legs could carry him.

    He wasn''t ready to exin stories that touched to anyone should any problems arise if he stayed back, so he didn''t dilly dally and that was why he was here at the CTFD Portogaia a whole hour before the agreed time.

    At least it wouldn''t be a waste if he spent his time preparing his equipment and clothing for the trip, as he just now remembered that he was supposed to go collect some equipment and clothing from the logistics department.

    He quickly made his way to the logistics department and there he was given a tracksuit and a pair of New Bnce sport shoes that the whole team would be wearing on the trip as well as before the game as they arrived at the Estadio D. Afonso Henriques.

    He was also given a vest that he would wear over his jersey while he sat on the bench.

    Jason also used the opportunity to collect new shin guards as well as a pair of ck gloves from the logistics department before stuffing everything into his sports bag except for the ck New Bnce tracksuit, and the New Bnce 574 shoes that he would have to put on soon.

    After leaving the logistics department, he arrived at the team''s locker room where some other yers had already arrived and were already prepping as well.

    Jason said a few greetings before going ahead to change into the new ck tracksuit and shoes, while also taking the time to repack his hair carefully as he had been too hurried when he left his ce to do it properly.

    After he was done dressing up and saw that there was still time till the agreed meeting time, he decided to rearrange his sports bag to be more orderly and while he was at it, he took out his headphones and connected it to his phone before beginning to listen to music.

    It didn''t take much longer for everyone who was part of the line-up to gather and soon they got on the team bus along with the manager and some other technical staff that would be following along and headed to Guimares.

    The distance from Porto to Guimares was 58km so it would take a bit less than one hour to arrive at Guimares.

    Jason was seated in the middle of the left row and had the team captain, Pepe seated beside him.

    Pepe wasn''t much of a conversant and was more inclined to take a nap which Jason didn''t mind at all.

    Not that Jason had problems conversing with people, but at this moment he rather preferred silence and he was thankful he got it.

    He would have also taken a nap if not that it was a bit too early in the morning for a nap, so he stayed awake and listened to music all the way.

    The team bus arrived at Guimares just after eleven and the bus headed to a hotel where they would have a meal and rest for a little while until 2:00 pm when they would finally head to the Estadio D. Afonso Henriques for a little prematch training and warm-up before the match would finally begin at 5:30 pm.

    The bus first arrived at the hotel and the yers went in to have a brunch of sorts, but still had to keep their meal light as they would have a match soon, and by 2: 00 pm they were already on their way to the Estadio D. Afonso Henriques.

    When the bus finally came to a stop outside the stadium, there was a crowd of traveling fans around to wee the yers and the yers heard their names being called by some of the fans.

    Since they had a little time before the game, the head manager gave the yers ten minutes to interact with the fans and sign autographs if they were requested to while the head manager himself and other members of the staff headed inside the stadium.

    Jason was already prepared to follow the manager and the staff members into the stadium as he was a new signing at the club that didn''t have any fans yet, but he was held back by the team''s captain.

    "You can''t leave the fans hanging whether they are here for you or not. As long as they are wearing the team''s colors, then you should at least pay attention to these people who are here to support the team," Pepe whispered into his ear.

    Jason nodded his head, newly enlightened by his team captain and he decided to join the other yers in interacting with the fans.

    Funnily enough, he was actually recognized by a few of the fans who called his name and asked him for an autograph despite his surprise.

    He was especially attracted to a man who looked to be in his early thirties who held up a young girl who looked to be around seven years old, so he approached them.

    "How are you little angel," Jason asked in Portuguese, surprising the man who held up the girl as he was a diehard fan of the team so he knew about Jason''s signing and had even seen the promotional video that contained Jason''s highlights, so he had done a little research in his spare time and realized that Jason was a new yer who shouldn''t even be able to understand Portuguese let alone speak it.

    But the little girl,pletely unaware of this answered, "I''m fwine," her voice containing a little baby babble in it despite her slightly older age, but it sounded very cute.

    "Can I get your autograph?" the young girl asked Jason while holding out a Porto jersey that seemed to be new and surprisingly had his name and jersey number on it.

    He didn''t even know that the club was already producing merch using his name.

    "Of course little angel, do you have a marker?" Jason who couldn''t resist this little girl''s cuteness acquiesced immediately.

    "Dwady has one," she replied while turning to her father.

    Uh, yeah, the man quickly switched to using one hand to hold her up while using his other hand to search for a marker through his clothes, "Uh I saw the video and you are really good, I hope you can bring that to the pitch in theing games," the man said to Jason while he searched through his clothes for a marker before finally finding it and pulling it out.

    "Thanks, I hope the coach allows me onto the pitch to y too," Jason replied with a wry smile as he collected the marker before turning back to the little girl. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Alright little angel, what do you want me to write?" he asked her with a smile on his face.

    "Hmmmm��" the little girl suddenly looked thoughtful before saying,

    "Write you like Selina and you''ll score a goal for Selina," the little girl finally said after some thought, not noticing Jason''s hand that froze mid-air and trembled slightly.

    "... Selina?" Jason asked, the smile on his face frozen.

    "Yesh, that''s my nwame," the girl spoke, her voice still sounding very cute, but Jason''s mind was somewhere else as a mncholic smile slowly broke out on his face.

    His deceased little sister was also named Selina.

 Chapter 64 Vitoria de Guimares VS FC Porto.

    Chapter 64 Vitoria de Guimares VS FC Porto.

    A mncholic smile was stered across Jason''s face as he went on to write what the little girl, Selina demanded on the jersey before handing the marker back to her father and rubbing little Selina''s head.

    He said a quick goodbye and began to walk away, his emotional state slightly turbulent, but he quickly put it behind him and attended to a few other fans before heading into the stadium along with his teammates.

    They were led to their locker room where they met the two assistant coaches who told them to quickly change so they could get onto the field and have a little pre-match training and match warm-up.

    The assistant managers would be overseeing that along with other technical staff since the manager had already headed to the pre-match press conference.

    The yers were soon on the field and doing a few warm-up drills as the stadium slowly filled up with the home fans of Guimares and the visiting fans from Porto.

    After an hour of pre-match warm-up, the yers headed back into the dressing room for final preparations before the game.

    The head manager was already back from the pre-match press conference and quickly took the yers through the pre-nned tactics once again while the yers dressed up in their kits.

    Soon the yers were in the tunnel while the bench yers were already sitting at the bench along with the head manager.

    After the yers filed out and did all the pre-match ceremonies, the match started shortly after with the Porto side being the team to kick-off the game.

    Immediately after the game started, the Porto side tried to assert their dominance with high possession and rapid attacks that came from every side of the field.

    They managed to get a few shots away within the first twenty minutes of the game, but they still weren''t close enough to taking the lead as the Vitoria de Guimares side stood strong and thus the two teams were stuck in a deadlock.

    But after the first twenty minutes of the game, things changed rapidly and the Vitoria de Guimares took the reins of momentum and began to y like champions, and it didn''t take long before they began to oppress the Porto side and push them back into their half for the rest of the first half.

    The Porto side continually tried to break this surge of momentum, but time and time again, they were continuously repelled and they were stuck in a passive y.

    Sergio Conceicao on the sidelines barked out instructions and tried to encourage his team, but nothing seemed to be working.

    The good thing was that even though they were being heavily pushed back, they still hadn''t conceded a goal yet even as the clock ran down and the end of the first half approached.

    Sergio Conceicao was already thinking about the changes he could make to the tactics that could help the team put on a different disy in the second half when disaster struck suddenly for the Porto side. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Vitoria de Guimares side had been trying to break through the Porto''s defensive line yet again, but just like before, they were met with a sturdy wall, and they ended up losing the ball once again, but Mattheus Uribe who had been a little jittery after being oppressed for the most of the first half of the game tried to clear the ball but ended up kicking the ball at Danilo Perreia.

    Danilo Perreira couldn''t get out of the way in time, so the ball mmed hard into him before rebounding back over the Porto''s defense line.

    The striker of the Vitoria de Guimares side who had been in an offside position couldn''t believe his luck as the ball dropped right beside him and he was left face-to-face with the goalkeeper.

    He deftly controlled the ball before moving closer to the Porto goalkeeper and skillfully curled the ball around him, not letting himself be pressured by the defenders closing in from behind him.

    Augustin Marchesin was no match for such a sudden move and despite trying his best, he could only watch as the ball curled past him in a blocking position and nestled into the bottom left corner of the goal.

    GOAL!!! {In a surprising yet unsurprising turn of events, it''s Vitoria de Guimares who score first despite the odds stacked against them} Thementator''s voice echoed around the stadium despite the home fans cheering at the top of their voices.

    {It can be said that we all saw iting with how they had been the dominant side, yet scoring from a mishap by the Porto team is still quite surprising} Thementator''s mouth didn''t stop working despite how his words made the Porto team even more distraught.

    The goal hade at an unexpected time and had stunned everybody on the Porto side. The yers, the staff, and the fans were lost for words.

    Mattheus Uribe and Danilo Perreira who were the cause were even more so and could not look their teammates in the eyes, especially Danilo Perreira who had been dragged into this situation by Mattheus Uribe shooting the ball at him.

    "I hadn''t asked for this," he wanted to shout out, but he didn''t dare to and could only pick up the ball from the goal and take it back to the halfway line.

    After the Vitoria de Guimares side took their sweet time celebrating their goal, the Porto side finally kicked off, but they had barely made the pass when the referee blew the whistle to signify the end of the first half.

    The yers of both teams trudged across the field towards the tunnel, but it was obvious that one side looked more upbeat than the other side.

    As the Porto yers filed into their team''s locker room, the yers who were tired chugged down water, but before long they felt almost scared to swallow the water in their mouths because of how the head manager just silently watched them with cold eyes that only disyed the emotion of disappointment.

    After a full minute of awkward silence, Sergio Conceicao finally spoke, "I will not make a case of how you guys yed in the first half as I''m sure you yourselves know that you were not up to par,"

    "... As for the goal you conceded�� " he paused mid-sentence to take a deep breath and control his raging temper that threatened to spill over.

    "Anyway�� going forward, we will be making a few changes," Sergio just decided to not mention anything about the goal as nothing that woulde out of his mouth right now concerning the goal would help to lift the yers'' morale and he still needed to win this game so he refrained himself.

 Chapter 65 Vitoria de Guimares VS FC Porto II: Unexpected Situation

    Chapter 65 Vitoria de Guimares VS FC Porto II: Unexpected Situation

    "Romario will being off for Shoya Nakajima,"

    "Shoya will be able to do more upfront and help the strikers since that''s his conventional position,"

    "Sergio Oliveira will be moving to the left-back position while Mattheus Uribe will being off for Wilson Manafa," Sergio Conceicao started with the changes to the line-ups going into the second half.

    Making two substitutions out of the avable three substitutions at halftime may seem like he was going overboard, but the team was already losing and if he didn''t make the changes earlier, they may not have enough time to make any difference in this game.

    The two yers he had taken off were not doing enough to help the team in their attacking endeavors so it was best he took them off now rather than waiting and hoping they could step up in the second half.

    With the changes out of the way, Sergio Conceicao went further to make more changes to the team''s tactical set-up within the few remaining minutes they had for their break.

    Soon enough though, it was time for the yers to head back out for the second half.

    The Porto yers went back out with determined faces, eager to correct their first-half performance with a better performance and hopefully a better oue.

    The second half kicked off with Vitoria de Guimares in possession.

    They quickly set out to y even more attacking football than in the first half, seemingly trying to carry over the momentum from their first goal into the second half, but this time the Porto side seemed to be up to the task and easily repelled them and snatched possession of the ball.

    For the next fifteen minutes, the Porto side yed good attacking football, always looking to start an attack every moment they were with the ball and quickly starting a press whenever they lost possession to snatch the ball back.

    Within the first fifteen minutes of the second half, the Porto side managed to get more than five shots away with three of them being on target, but the heroics of the Vitoria de Guimares goalkeeper kept Porto from scoring.

    Sergio Conceicao''s worry was growing for every minute he watched from the sidelines.

    His team had still not equalized and for every minute that passed, it was bing more difficult for them to gain anything from the game.

    ''It seems it''s time to take a risk,'' he thought to himself as his eyes fell on Jason who waited on the bench, his eyes on the game.

    "Jason, begin to warm up," Sergio Conceicao suddenly called out to Jason, who was fully focused on the match as he tried to analyze the opponent''s ying style and behavioral pattern but was still attentive to his surroundings to hear the coach.

    "Yes, coach," A burst of excitement flooded his mind as he stood up and began to do a few warm-up exercises, still keeping his eyes on the game.

    At that moment, the Porto side was on the attack once again, deftly passing the ball just outside the opposing team''s penalty area while looking for an opportunity to release the ball.

    Shoya Nakajima had just received the ball from Jesus Corona who was trying to make a run inside to receive the ball immediately inside the box.

    Not wanting to disappoint, he tried to send the ball in between the defenders and into the path of Jesus Corona, but in his haste, he did not fully survey the area before he sent the ball forward which led to the ball being intercepted.

    The Vitoria de Guimares left back who had just intercepted the ball saw that the Porto side was gathered in their half while trying to find an equalizing goal and that this was a good opportunity for a counterattack, so he quickly sent the ball flying over them forward into the midfield.

    The Vitoria de Guimares right winger somehow managed to escape his marker and chase after the iing ball.

    He trapped the ball carefully and quickly took off at the Porto''s goal with all the Porto defenders chasing him from behind.

    Diogo Leite who was the closest defender pumped his legs as fast as possible as he gave chase.

    He knew that if he let the yer get away and the yer scored a goal to allow the Vitoria de Guimares side to double their lead, then the game was as good as over.

    So he made a quick decision and as soon as he was close enough, he lunged forward in a tackle that could only be called a flying tackle and entwined his legs with the Vitoria de Guimares right winger and brought him down just before he made it into the penalty area.

    *FWEEEEEE!!!*

    The referee ran towards their location and without any hesitation in his movements, swiftly pulled out a red card.

    Diogo Leite already saw iting from the moment he made the decision to bring the yer down so he didn''t even bother trying to argue with the referee about his decision but rather he had a slight smile on his face instead.

    Even his teammates came around to give him high fives because they knew that he had sacrificed himself to keep the team''s hopes of getting something from the game alive.

    The Porto fans and the yers on the sideline were stunned instead and Jason even had to stop his warm-up routines as he knew that the situation had just changed.

    Professional teams were only allowed to make three substitutions and Sergio Conceicao had already made two, but now one of the team''s defenders had gotten a red card and was sent off, so he would have to be reced.

    No team would willingly leave a hole in their defense if they could help it, especially not a losing team as they had to avoid conceding any further goals that would set them back even further so it only stood to reason that Jason probably wouldn''t be able toe on to the pitch for this match because of the current situation.

    Sergio Conceicao as the head coach was in even more of a dilemma.

    He couldn''t fault the yer who had been sent off because he had sacrificed himself for the team, but at the same time, he could not leave a hole in the team''s defense at this point.

    He also couldn''t possibly tell Danilo Pereira to fill the center-back position as he was already doing so while having to do a lot in the midfield as well.

    Thus it was inevitable that he would have to bring on another defender at this point instead of an attacker, but what was he supposed to tell the young yer that he had already told to warm up and had given him hopes of a debut?n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    At this moment, Jason walked up to the Sergio Conceicao and asked,

 Chapter 66 Selfless Decision?

    Chapter 66 Selfless Decision?

    "Should I call the captain or Ivan?" Jason asked Sergio Conceicao in a low voice, surprising the head manager, but there was nothing Jason could do about it.

    Football was a team sport and bringing on a defender was the right decision in this situation so despite how much Jason wanted to be the one to be substituted on, he could only give up his spot.

    Luckily, he had enough maturity and was experienced enough to make the right decision without feeling like he was being short-changed.

    Diogo Leite''s sacrifice also had an impact on his decision and he suddenly felt that insisting oning on would be a bit too selfish, even though the manager was the one who would still make the decision, but he could see the manager hesitating, hence he stepped up and voluntarily gave up his chance.

    "... Please call Pepe and tell him to begin warming up," Sergio Conceicao finally said after a few seconds of silence.

    "... and thank you," he muttered in a low voice after Jason left, but the loud shouts in the stadium made it impossible for Jason to hear him.

    In reality, he was the one who made all the decisions so Jason''s act of giving up his ce wouldn''t really make a difference even if he didn''t, but Jason''s actions had eased his conscience a little bit, so he was thankful and now felt indebted to Jason.

    Jason of course didn''t know this and had already told Pepe that Sergio Conceicao wanted him to warm up in preparation for being substituted into the game after which he returned to his ce on the bench.

    The other yers on the bench did not know whether tofort him or thank him at this moment because of how there was no emotion being disyed on his face, so they just kept mute.

    Diogo Leite who had just been sent off came to the sidelines and shook hands with all his teammates before sitting down on the empty space beside Jason that was filled up by the team''s captain less than a minute ago.

    "Nice one," Jason said as he offered his hand for a handshake to Diogo Leite who took his hand while muttering a "thanks".

    Soon the manager made a substitution and Ze Luis one of the team''s two strikers would being off for Pepe, the team''s captain.

    Sergio Olivera gave the captain armband back to Pepe when Pepe ran onto the pitch and Pepe quickly started rallying his teammates as he took position determined to not let any of the sacrifices of his teammates be wasted.

    The match soon resumed with Vitoria de Guimares taking a free kick that ended with the ball in the stands.

    y then resumed with a goal kick from the Porto side with Augustin Marchesin sending the ball high.

    Despite being down by one man, the Porto team yed like they were on a mission and the of the yer who was sent off was hardly felt as they attacked Vitoria de Guimares time and time again.

    Unfortunately, even at the eighty-fifth minute they still had nothing to show for their efforts, and the end of ny minutes rapidly approached with neither team managing to add to the scoresheet.

    At this point, the travelling fans of Porto were already silent with a few of them even praying for a breakthrough for their team.

    Unexpectedly it seemed that someone had heard the fans'' prayers as a space suddenly opened up in the defense of the Vitoria de Guimares team and Shoya sent the ball through towards the right wing.

    Jesus Corona made an incisive run behind his marker to get on the ball and making sure to hold him off, he sent a grounded cross into the box that somehow found Moussa Marega who was holding off his marker.

    Moussa Marega sent the ball flying furiously past the opposing goalkeeper to bring his team level and the team went wild in celebrations.

    They were joined by the yers on the bench, the team manager, other technical staff, and the fans.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {It''s here! The dragons have stolen level at thest and now leave the fans lingering with the question; "Is there still time for one more?"} Thementator didn''t hesitate to do his job while the Porto yers and fans celebrated their goal.

    The Vitoria de Guimares team that had managed to hold a lead until this period could not express their disappointment enough and their fans were even more infuriated.

    It was like the yers'' brains had shut down due to their confidence in bagging a win and it had backfired hard and now they were level.

    The Vitoria de Guimares''s manager on the sidelines couldn''t keep silent and berated his yers continuously in fury.

    The referee wasn''t paying attention to all this and wanted to hurry up the Porto yers but who knew that they were already back in their half of the field, and waiting for the game to resume, a dangerous glint shining in their eyes.

    As soon as the Vitoria de Guimares side kicked off, the Porto surged at them like an unending wave,pletely ignoring their defensive measures and putting on an unimaginably concentrated heavy pressing and chasing down every yer of the opposing team that had the ball.

    The Vitoria de Guimares side also wanted to get a redeeming goal so they were not so easily pressured by the Porto yers who were charging at them like dragons after their prey.

    It was at this moment that the Vitoria de Guimares''s one-man advantage over Porto showed itself and they somehow managed to escape the Porto''s team press andunch an attack, rapidly approaching the Porto''s goal and soon one of the Vitoria de Guimares''s midfielder couldn''t control the urge to shoot anymore.

    As he received the ball, he smoothly dribbled past Danilo Perreira just outside the box before swinging his foot heavily andunching a thunderous shot at the Porto goal.

    Augustin Marchesin dived for the ball but could only watch in agony as the ball flew past his outstretched arm, but just before going into the goal, the ball hit the top crossbar, plunged downward, and bounced on the goal line and just before it was about to spin into the Porto goal, Chancel Mbebma flew over the goalkeeper that was lying on the floor and managed to clear the ball with a well-executed scissors kick to clear the ball from the goal line.

    Some Vitoria de Guimares yers were adamant that the ball had gone in though, and tried to shout for the referee but some of the Porto yers didn''t care about that and were already chasing the ball.

    Shoya Nakajima was the one who got to the ball first and quickly turned to face the opposing team''s goal beforeunching a lobbed pass over the Vitoria de Guimares defensive line and into the path of Luiz Diaz who was currently on the right side of the field.

    The Vitoria de Guimares yers had finally realized that the referee wasn''t responding to their cries and quickly gave chase.

    Luiz Diaz didn''t care as his full focus was on the ball that was flying into his path.

    He trapped the ball with his chest and used it to push the ball forward before running after the ball.

    A defender of the opposing team appeared in his way, but he easily skipped past him and charged down the right side of the opposing team''s half.

    Very soon, two defenders came to try and block his path while the yer he had gotten past earlier was on his heels, so he quickly began looking for a teammate. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Luckily Moussa Marega was making an incisive run past his marker. He was like a freight train that couldn''t be stopped and Luiz Diaz didn''t waste any time in sending the ball into his path.

    Moussa Marega managed to control the ball as he entered the right side of the penalty area and he quickly tried to slow down, but that was when he realized that his path to the goal was blocked by another two yers.

    Moussa Marega knew he did not have enough agility to escape the two yers and he didn''t want to use his physical strength to push them out of his path as that could lead to him losing the ball or the referee calling a foul, but then out of the corner of his eye, he saw an approaching Porto jerseying into the penalty area.

    Marega just ended up pushing the ball toward the goal line before sending the ball across the penalty box and into the path of the approaching yer.

    Pepe who had been running all the way from his team''s half at the beginning of the counterattack saw the balling into his path and he jumped as if he was going into a tackle, and sent the ball flying into the bottom corner of the goal.

 Chapter 67 Dreadful Wait and Final Result

    Chapter 67 Dreadful Wait and Final Result

    {My word my word! What do we have here!?}

    {In a game that we all thought had gotten away, Porto has not just pulled level but has gone a step further by taking the lead in injury time!}

    {This will ensure that they keep their spot on the top of the table if they manage to end this with a win here!} Thementator quickly got to work after seeing the ball end up in the back of the. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    {The team captain came inte in the second half, but he quickly took the reins, led from the front, and is now inspiring his team potentially towards victory} Thementator''s words didn''t stop rushing out and yed out well as a background track of the celebrations that were going on at the Estadio D. Afonso Henriques.

    Pepe and the other Porto yers celebrated wildly in front of the visiting fans, while the yers and the Porto staff on the sidelines weren''t left out as they joined in on the celebrations, but as the celebrations were going on, the referee suddenly blew his whistle loudly with his hands raised.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    All the celebrations paused for a short second as they heard the loud shrill sound of the referee''s whistle that indicated that there was a problem.

    {Oh wait, it seems the referee has gotten something here} Thementator added.

    The Porto yers who were in the midst of the celebration turned over to look at the referee who was surrounded by some Vitoria de Guimares yers who seemed to beining about something.

    Pepe quickly pushed away the yers who were clinging to him and walked up to the referee along with some of his teammates to find out what was going on.

    {It seems that some of the Vitoria de Guimares yers think that their earlier attack that had led to the ball being cleared from the line by Chancel Mbemba was actually a goal}

    {They seem to think the ball had crossed the goal line before it was cleared and it seems like the referee isn''t sure either, but now that Porto has gotten a goal, he may have to take a second look to ensure fair y} Thementator did a good job of erasing the confusion of the Porto yers with his words.

    Due to the likelihood of that being the truth, the referee had blown his whistle to tell the yers to stop so that he could have time to check.

    The referee waited on the field surrounded by yers from both teams with his hand to his ear as he awaited a response from the analyzers of the goal line technology.

    A dreadful wait immediately ensued the whole stadium as everyone waited anxiously as the referee''s decision would determine whether either Porto or Vitoria de Guimares would win the game.

    After almost a full thirty seconds, the referee finally received a response and headed off the field to check the situation with the aid of the VAR.

    At this point, the tension in the air was almost palpable and almost everyone in the stadium was unconsciously holding their breaths.

    Finally, it seemed like the referee had seen enough to make a decision as he left the screen and headed back to the field while blowing his whistle and making a few gestures that caused groans from the majority of the fans in the stadium and cheers from traveling fans.

    The referee had ruled in favor of the Porto side as after checking carefully he had seen that though it was very close, Chancel Mbemba had managed to clear the ball before it couldpletely cross the goal line.

    It was a very close call as the ball was merely millimeters from crossing the goal line. That was why he had been called to personally check and make the decision as the assistant referee didn''t dare to make a decision regarding this case.

    All this nitty-gritty pieces of information were of course unknown to the Porto yers and fans who were back to celebrating their goal as they slowly moved back into their half.

    Of course, the Vitoria de Guimares yers were unhappy with the referee''s decision, but there was nothing they could do about it and they instead tried to hurry the Porto yers'' goal celebrations so they could try to equalize in the little time they had left, but the Porto yers weren''t budging.

    They knew that the best way they could ensure that they took all the points from this match back home was to waste away the remaining time left in the match.

    This was also the easiest way as they could also decide to try defending instead, but they weren''t willing to take the risk when there was an easier way of getting the same results.

    Due to their actions however, a fight almost broke out amongst the yers of both teams, but was quickly quelled by the referee who after settling the fight, tried to hurry the Porto yers back to their half, yet the Porto yers still made sure to waste time by dragging their feet as much as possible.

    By the time the Porto yers finally arranged themselves back in their half, the four extra minutes of injury time was already over and they already expected to hear the match''s final whistle at any time.

    The thousands of the Vitoria de Guimares booed and cussed at the Porto yers, but they weren''t bothered in the slightest.

    If they were the type that cared about what the opponent''s fans thought about them then they wouldn''t have been trying to win the game in the first ce.

    The Vitoria de Guimares team finally kicked off and they immediately tried to attack the Porto side, sending all their yers forward and trying to get a goal before the referee blew the whistle.

    For some reason, the referee didn''t immediately blow the whistle to end the game and this put a lot of pressure on the Porto side who had to deal with a very desperate Vitoria de Guimares side who even had a number advantage over them.

    Luckily, they managed to hold out until the referee blew the whistle a whole three minutester to end the game.

    The Porto side quickly erupted in cheers,pletely ignoring the disappointed and distraught Vitoria de Guimares team.

    Jason also stood up with his teammates from the bench while pping his hands.

    He was a little bummed out that he wasn''t able to break hisck of matches streak yet again, but at least the team won and he felt like he had made the correct decision.

    If he was the one who was substituted into the game earlier instead of the team captain, Pepe, he wasn''t sure if he could score and inspire the team to a win like Pepe had done in the remaining minutes of the game, as after all, it would have been his debut match.

    Of course, it wasn''t an impossibility, but who cares right now anyway?

    They had won the game as a team and even though he hadn''t yed, it still felt good to win, plus he had also been able to determine that the manager wouldn''t mind letting him get on the field soon.

    Maybe not in the next match since it was a Europa League match, but definitely in the match after that at least�� after all, it was only fair, right?

 Chapter 68 Post-Match Interview

    Chapter 68 Post-Match Interview

    The Porto yers celebrated with the visiting fans before some of them began heading to the locker rooms to freshen up and prepare to leave as they were still going to head back to Porto that same evening.

    However, some of the yers and even the manager were blocked by reporters who hoped to interview them.

    Sergio Conceicao was blocked by more than three reporters who immediately started barraging him with questions.

    "Despite your team going behind in the first half by what we can all agree was a mistake from your yers, the team still went on to pull off a very impressiveeback in the dying minutes of the game and help the team clinch the much needed three points to keep you need to stay at the top of the table. Can you tell us how you feel?" A man who looked to be in histe twenties asked while holding up a mic that had the words "Sport TV" on it.

    "Without a doubt, I feel happy that we managed to secure the win despite the bumps we had to face, and while this was one of our more exciting wins, I would usually prefer if we could settle the game earlier and I''m sure the yers and fans agree with me as well," Sergio Conceicao replied to the first reporter before quickly turning to the next reporter who had a question. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    This time the reporter was an older-looking man who looked to be in his forties and was from TVI,

    "The goal scored by Vitoria de Guimares in the first half was obviously a mistake from Mattheus Uribe. Can you say if this was because of nerves from ying in a position he wasn''t used to and is that why you made the decision to bench him from the second half?" the second reporter asked, his question bordering obviously bordering the offensive line but Sergio Conceicao used to all sorts of questions from the media.

    "Mistakes happen a lot in football so what happened isn''t anything new. Also, Mattheus is a very versatile yer who wouldn''t have a problem coping with the position I assigned him to y," Sergio Conceica quickly replied but before he could continue, the second reporter was already asking another question, "So why did you bench him immediately and not give him time to redeem himself?" "My decision to substitute Mattheus had to do with the changes we made to our tactical setup after going behind and I believe that with the results from the match, my decision wasn''t wrong, was it?" Sergio Conceicao replied smartly, effectively shutting up the second reporter as he turned to another reporter.

    "Today marks yet another day that the newest addition to the team, Jason Bolu hasn''t yet gotten an opportunity to get on the pitch and impress the team''s fans even now that he is finally a part of the line-up. Can you give us any information on the subject?" a female reporter who looked to be in her early thirties asked Sergio Conceicao while holding a mic with the "RTP" letters printed on it boldly.

    "Jason is a very talented kid and he had not managed to get an opportunity on the field much earlier because he was adjusting to the new environment, but now I believe he is match-ready and should be able to feature in some of theing matches," Sergio Conceicao responded quickly, not giving away too much information.

    "I''m sure the fans should be happy to hear that, but some of the fans couldn''t help but notice that you had previously had him warm up, but then ended up not bringing him on. Can you tell us the reason for that?" the female reporter quickly asked another question, hoping to have more entertaining content than a routine answer.

    "Uhm�� Football is a team sport and the whole team, including Jason, knows that. At that moment, the team had just had a man sent off and despite how talented Jason is, his talents don''t lean toward the defensive part of the game so the moment he saw what had happened, he came to ask me which of the defenders would take Diogo Leite''s ce, and the result of his actions and the team''s efforts is a win," Sergio Conceicao responded like this because he didn''t know any other way that he could respond without having the fans look at him as a manager who didn''t care about his yers.

    So he could only heap praises on Jason so as to not let the fans misunderstand the situation as most fans wouldn''t understand the reasons behind his tactical decisions.

    "Wow, so Jason is not just talented, but also quite a team yer. I''m sure the fans are looking forward to seeing him on the pitch in the club''s colors even more," the female reporter eximed in surprise.

    "And so are we at the club," Sergio Conceicao responded with a slight smile before continuing here,

    "Okay, I''ll not be taking any more questions, have a good evening," Sergio Conceicao ended the interview and quickly walked off, not bothering to register the words of thanks from the reporters.

    With the interviews out of the way, it wasn''t long before the Porto yers began filing back into the team bus in preparation for their trip back to Porto.

    Less than an hourter, the team bus was already on the road and was already heading back to Porto.

    Some of the yers, especially the ones who had yed the full ny minutes of the game were already finding it hard to keep their eyes open due to the exhaustion but the excited chats between the remaining yers about the game kept them awake.

    Jason as someone who didn''t even step on the field for a single minute after the pre-match warm-up didn''t have anything to add to the conversation so he stayed silent and contented himself with looking through his phone aimlessly but before long a surprised look appeared on his face when he saw his name.

    He had been sent a notification to watch the video of the post-match interviews and surprisingly his name was part of the title.

    "Porto''s head manager and team captain praises the selflessness and hard work of new signing," is what the title read.

    Jason couldn''t be more surprised as he hadn''t even yed in the match so why was he the focal point of the post-match interviews?

    He decided to watch the video to see what had happened and less than ten minutester he was looking dumbfounded.

    Apparently, the fact that he, a new signing of the club was warming up as if it was time for his debut, but then the decision being changed had somehow interested the fans, the reporters, and the various broadcasting media groups so the questions about him had been asked of all the Porto yers that were interviewed.

    This led to the current situation where he was praised by the team manager and his teammates.

    His manager had called him selfless, his team captain had said he was very hardworking and went further to tell the press about Jason''s training habits of arriving early and leavingst, and Moussa Marega who didn''t know what to say about him had spoken of and slightly exaggerated how he had tore up the first team at the first training session and even the crossbar that Jason had hit on the very first day.

    Jason couldn''t be more lost at the moment because everything they said about him wasn''t exactly true.

    The manager''s im that he was selfless was a lie as Jason himself knew that he wasn''t selfless and what had happened during the match was because he immediately realized that the manager couldn''t bring him on and leave a hole in the team''s defense so he had proactively decided to give up the spot before it was snatched from him because he couldn''t go against the manager''s decision anyway so there was no point in stubbornly holding on.

    As for what Pepe had said about him being hardworking�� well, it was kind of true, but that was because Jason knew that he wasn''t as talented as everyone thought him to be, rather it was because his starting line was different from others and he had to do a lot of extra training and learning new things to manage to hold on to this advantage.

    If he was as talented as he was made out to be, then he would have be a top yer in his past life even if he could not be a football legend.

    The thing about him tearing up the first team at his first training session at the club was notpletely correct as he was only able to do that because the first team had their guards down when they faced him that day.

    Finally about the crossbar thing�� how many times did he have to say that it was a fluke!!!

    �� Actually, he still hadn''t mentioned it, and even if he had, would people have believed him?

    All in all, it had already happened so there was nothing much he could do to change it, but he was slightly worried.

    The way his teammates and manager had praised him along with the media doing its best to blow up the matter had already made the Porto fans who knew about him have especially high expectations while the ones that didn''t know him would begin to take notice of him now.

    If he didn''t hit the ground running after all this media hype, then he would immediately fall out of favor with the fans which could have a drastic effect on his career going forward, but at this point there was naught he could do apart from what he was already doing.

 Chapter 69 Europa League Match Line-up

    Chapter 69 Europa League Match Line-up

    After returning to Porto that same night, the yers dispersed for the night but were back at training the next day with only the yers who had yed against Vitoria de Guimares having a few extra hours of recovery.

    All the other yers were hard at training in preparation for the Europa League first leg of the round of 32 match against Bayer Leverkusen.

    The yers didn''t need anyone to tell them that this was a match that carried a lot of weight and even worse was that they were up against a very tough opponent so the yers were hard at training for the following days that led up to the d-day.

    **19th February 2020**

    *4:35 pm*

    At the CTFD Portogaia training center, the Porto senior squad had just finished their training session and were already packing up to leave the training grounds when the head manager arrived to inform the yers of the team''s line-up that would be going to the BayArena for the Europa League match.

    "As the starting line-up hasn''t been decided yet, I''ll be calling those who would be part of the provisional squad for the next game," n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "The yers involved in the squad are Augustin Marchesin, Diogo Costa, Pepe, Ivan Marcano, Chancel Mbemba, Alex Telles, Wilson Manafa, Danilo Perreira, Sergio Oliveira, Otavio, Shoya Nakajima, Tiquinho Soares, Moussa Marega, Jason Bolu, Luiz Diaz, Jesus Corona, Mattheus Uribe, and Vincent Aboubakar,"

    Jason who was among the crowd of yers hadn''t been too expectant that the manager had decided to add him to the provisional squad for the Europa League match, so he was quite happy that he was picked, though he wasn''t fully sure if he would get a chance to grace the field since this was an Europa League knockout game which wasn''t usually used as a stage for youth yers.

    But that didn''t stop him from hoping that he could finally grace the field and finally y his first game for the club.

    The manager who was ignorant of his thoughts had already continued speaking,

    "Those of you that are part of the squad should be here by 9:00 am tomorrow morning as we need to prepare for our flight to Leverkusen tomorrow, that will be all," Sergio Conceicao said as he returned the notepad in his hand to Vitor Bruno and began to walk away, no longer having anything to say for the time being.

    With the manager having walked away after saying what he hade to say, the yers began to disperse, some leaving to prepare to leave the training grounds while others went to continue training.

    Jason was of course part of thetter group and he quickly went back to training, hoping toplete a few more drills before leaving the training ground.

    He quickly got to it, not letting the fact that he was part of the line-up for the Europa League match deter him from training as much as usual.

    He didn''t stop training until it was half past six after which he said ended his training and began to pack up, stuffing most of his training equipment into his team locker and taking only his personal equipment.

    Jason didn''t bother showering because he nned to jog back to his apartment as a sort of training since he had not driven his car to the training center that day.

    So, saying his goodbyes to his trainer and other staff members of the training center that he was quite familiar with from his days of watching matches together with them in the training cafeteria, he began his jog back home.

    Jason took it easy and did this as more of a leisurely jog than an intensive one, slowly eating up the distance with a measured but leisurely pace, his headphones on his ears blocking out all outside noise.

    Despite Jason jogging at a pace that he considered leisurely, he still managed to reach his lodging about forty-five minutester which goes to show that professional sportsmen were different from the average as Jason had done leisurely what would take more normal people an intensive effort to manage toplete.

    Jason of course wasn''t thinking about this, but rather was currently pulling open the door to their apartment with an annoyed look.

    �� In more human terms, his car was gone.

    As for why he had an annoyed look on his face, It was because upon reaching the apartment, he was met with an empty space where his "baby" should have been.

    �� In more human terms, his car was gone.

    The only reason why he hadn''t freaked out was because this was not the first time this was happening�� unfortunately.

    Despite their rtionship that bordered something like friendship, Jason''s roommate, Mylo had a weird quirk of messing with his stuff and "borrowing" his things without saying a word and expecting Jason to be cool with it.

    Jason as a man who had lived for almost sixty years in total was definitely NOT cool with it and hadined about it to Mylo a few times that he didn''t appreciate his things being borrowed.

    But despite talking to Mylo about it, his things were still unsafe, and likely to be kidnapped at any time.

    If Jason bought food and left it hanging around, Mylo would "borrow" it. If Jason bought drinks and kept them in the refrigerator, Mylo would "kidnap" them and they would never be seen again.

    Even Jason''s clothes were not safe anymore and Mylo had on more than one asion, "hired without pay", some of Jason''s drip to go pick up girls and Jason had only found out that his clothes had been mandeered" after he saw it lying around in their living room where Mylo had removed it in the prelude to the battle that ended up taking ce in his bedroom.

    Now even his car had been "conscripted forcefully " by this roommate of his and Jason felt that it was finally time he put his foot down and end this before it went any further.

    Jason quickly pulled out his phone and dialed Mylo''s number but Mylo''s phone kept ringing without him picking up the call, so Jason could only hang up the call and go have his bath, deciding to wait till Mylo came back.

 Chapter 70 Arrival at the BayArena

    Chapter 70 Arrival at the BayArena

    **20th February 2020**

    *8:13 am*

    Jason drove into the parking lot at the CTFD Portogaia training center and carefully drove into one of the avable parking spots before turning off the car''s engine.

    Grabbing his sports bag in the passenger''s seat, he pushed the button to open his door beforeing down and closing the door.

    He quickly made his way toward the team''s locker room while throwing his car keys into his sports bag.

    In the end, despite waiting for Mylo to get back the day before until almost 11 pm, Jason had decided to go to sleep as keeping himself awake any further would not allow him to get enough rest, especially since there was a game the next day and he was part of the team''s lineup.

    When he woke up this morning though, he found his car keys lying around on the kitchen table as well as some articles of clothing lying around randomly, some of which were feminine.

    It didn''t take him much to realize what had happened and despite not being happy about it, he was not going to barge into Mylo''s room where who knows what horrors his eyes mighte across.

    Jason had noticed that there seemed to be more than one female bra lying around and it didn''t take a genius to know that a woman wouldn''t normally wear more than one bra so it was likely that Mylo had had a very exciting night with more than one woman.

    Jason wasn''t a pervert who wanted to see that so he definitely wasn''t going to be barging into Mylo''s room unannounced.

    Unfortunately, due to his schedule, he couldn''t afford to wait around until Mylo came out, so he just decided to focus on his own things and deal with Mylo when he got back from the match against Bayer Leverkusen in Germany.

    Of course, Jason wasn''t going to let his car once again experience the horror of carrying more than two passengers ever again so he drove his car to the training center even though he didn''t need to and it would have been more convenient to have left it back at the apartment.

    Jason could also have just taken the keys, but it would be kind of weird to just take the keys while leaving the car behind, so��

    Putting that behind him, Jason walked into the team''s locker room where a few other members of the squad for the match had already arrived and were changing into a suit.

    Quickly having a few handshakes and greeting his teammates, Jason moved to his own locker and found a suit hanging on the locker coupled with a pair of ck dress shoes, already prepared by the team''s logistics department.

    He didn''t waste any time in dressing up and, before focusing his efforts on making sure that everything he would need for the trip and the match were in ce.

    Doing that didn''t take much time, so a couple of minutester, Jason was sitting with his back to the locker and his headphones on while waiting for time to pass.

    Luckily, he didn''t have to wait long, and by the time it was 8:40 am, every member of the matchday squad was present, even the head manager, his assistants, and the other technical staff had arrived.

    Seeing that everyone had arrived, the head manager ordered for everyone to get on the bus as there was no point in waiting around.

    The bus soon headed for the Francisco Sa Carneiro Airport where they would then fly from Porto to Leverkusen, Germany with the aid of the team''s private jet.

    Thus the team arrived at the Porto airport without much fanfare and quickly boarded the team''s private jet.

    Thirty minutester, they were already in the air and on their way to Leverkusen, Germany.

    The flight from the Francisco Sa Carneiro Airport in Porto to Leverkusen, Germany took, two hours and fifteen minutes before they touched down at the Cologne Bonn Airport stadium in Cologne at 12:19 pm.

    Aftering down from the ne, they were picked up by a bus that had been chartered by the team which took them to Lindner Hotel Leverkusen Bayarena where they would have lunch and rest for a few hours.

    They would also be staying over at the hotel after the game as they couldn''t head back to Porto immediately after the game since the game would be starting at 8:00 pm and would not be over until at least about 10:00 pm.

    After a hearty lunch that was filled with tasty but healthy German dishes, the yers were given time to rest until 4:00 pm after which they would be headed to the BayArena to get some pre-match training done and to settle everything that needed to be done before the match.

    Jason was to share a room with Otavio and as such, they both headed to their room while conversing along the way, but both of them seemed to understand that they needed to rest if they were to be in tip-top shape for the uing match, so after settling in, they both went to sleep after setting an rm for 3:50 pm.

    By the time the rm rang to wake them up, they quickly shook off their drowsiness before grabbing their sports bags and moving out of the room together.

    Their movements were so in sync that it was strange, but theyughed it off after noticing it on the way out of the hotel.

    The bus headed to the BayArena immediately after and arrived twenty-five minutes after their departure from the hotel.

    The yers quickly disembarked while waving to the traveling Porto fans who were at the entrance to wee the yers.

    Unfortunately, they were running short of time, so they didn''t have any extra time to spend interacting with the fans like in thest match, so they quickly headed inside the BayArena.

    Sergio Conceicao called for Pepe on the way and they separated from the other yers as they had to attend the pre-match conference.

    This arrangement did not hinder the yers'' movement as they were already used to it. They just followed the guide that led them to their allocated locker room. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    On reaching the locker room, they didn''t waste any time changing out of their suits and into their training kits before marching out of the locker room with the assistant coaches and other technical staff in the lead.

 Chapter 71 Europa League round of 32 first leg

    Chapter 71 Europa League round of 32 first leg

    The Porto yers had been doing their training on one half of the field while the Bayer Leverkusen yers were also having a pre-match training session on another side of the field.

    They had been training for almost thirty minutes when their team captain and head manager arrived to join them with Pepe joining the team in warming up directly while Sergio Conceicao was watching over the training while ncing at the Bayer Leverkusen yers training every so often.

    After doing various passing and agility drills that weren''t too intensive for another hour, the Porto team yers were called back into the locker room for the starting line-up selection and tactical meeting. The yers filed into the locker room and began to sit on the bench while waiting for the tactical meeting to start.

    The rapidly increasing noiseing from above them told of the stadium that was being filled with fans as every minute passed. Sergio Conceicao ignored all that and quickly began the tactical meeting, "I''ll start with our starting line-up and formation before we get into anything else,"

    "We''ll be using the 4-4-2 formation t formation that will transition into the 4-4-2 diamond whenever we are on the attack,"

    "For the starting line-up, our goalkeeper will be Augustin Marchesin," "Pepe and Ivan Marcano will be starting in the center-back positions, and Alex Telles and Wilson Manafa will be starting in the left-back and right-back positions respectively,"

    "Danilo Pereira will be ying as a CDM in the left-center side of the mid-field, while Mattheus Uribe will y as right a CM in the right-center side of the midfield,"

    "Luiz Diaz is our left winger, Jesus Corona will be the right winger, and we''ll have a striking partnership between Tiquinihio Soares and Moussa Marega upfront," "Needless to say, the rest of you are on the bench," Sergio Conceicao very quickly informed the yers of the starters and the bench yers before moving on the the tactics.

    "Our opponents will be ying the 3-4-3 diamond formation and we''ll have a lot to do if we want to keep them from scoring, as they are very used to this formation,"

    "Additionally they are very good at quickly and fluidly changing their positions on the field so that would make defending against them even harder, so there are three specific yers I want you to put your full focus on defending against,"

    "The first person is their center forward, Vond, he has a knack for moving towards the right wing, thereby leaving the center part of the field upied, but this is a ruse as the right winger, rio is always watching and ready to burst into the center whenever there is an opportunity which makes him the true danger and is usually the final point of their attacks,"

    "Then there is that kid Kai Havertz that''s ying as the central attacking midfielder, he seems to have been given the right to roam the field freely and because of his vision and positioning, he''s quite good at finding space in the defense, and getting in behind to score,"

    "Those are the three main yers I want you to watch as once either of them is moving and heading for our goal, it means they have something set and it''s your job to stop it and it''s my job to tell you how,"

    "Danilo, I want you on Kai Havertz every minute of the game, don''t make him make inside runs, don''t let him get away, don''t let him breathe, hell, even if he''s substituted, keep guarding him from the bench," the head manager instructed very seriously, causing a small burst ofughter among the yers.

    "You guys mayugh, but Danilo, that''s what I need from you," Sergio Conceicao reiterated.

    "Since Vond will frequently move to the right, make sure to press whenever he gets the ball, but I want Pepe and Ivan specifically looking to intercept any passes that seem to be making their way to rio on the right,"

    "Now on the attacking front, I don''t need to say this, but our objective is to hit them with lightning-fast counterattacks to get behind their center-backs before sending the ball infield for our strikers to finish," Sergio finally exined the basic set-up of their tactics for the game before spending the rest of time reiterating his words and exining further on the tactics.

    00:25

    "For the other yers, we shall use zonal marking to try to keep them restricted while doing our best to drive them to the wings where they can''t cause any waves," n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Now on the attacking front, I don''t need to say this, but our objective is to hit them with lightning-fast counterattacks to get behind their center-backs before sending the ball infield for our strikers to finish," Sergio finally exined the basic set-up of their tactics for the game before spending the rest of time reiterating his words and exining further on the tactics.

    Jason paid extra attention during the tactical meeting as for some reason he had a pressing feeling that he would probably end up ying in the match, despite how unlikely it seemed, but it never hurt to do what you were going to do anyway, right?

    At fifteen minutes to eight, the yers in the starting line-up were lining up in the tunnel, awaiting their cue to start marching out onto the field.

    The line-up for both teams was being shown on the huge disy screen in the stadium and the line-up and formation of the Bayer Leverkusen team was the first to be shown.

    {The Bayer Leverkusen team has set themselves up in the 3-4-3 diamond formation} Thementator quickly began doing his duties.

    {In goal, they have Lukas Hradecky, their no. 1 goalie}

    {The three center-backs who will be in charge of the team''s defensive line are Jonathan Tah, Aleksandar Dragovic and Sven Bender}

    {In center midfield we have Lars Bender, the team''s captain who would be leading from behind as usual, in the wide midfield areas, we have Charles Aranguiz, and Karem Demirbay ying on the left and right sides of the midfield respectively}

    {Kai Havertz as a lone central attacking midfield will be looking to link up well with the three forwards, Leon Bailey, Kevin Vond, and Lucas rio} Thementator skillfully listed the yers in the line-up and exined the home team''s formation. Thementator then went on to talk about the away team, but at this point, most of the fans were awaiting the match''s kick-off and were no longer listening as they had already seen the line-ups previously anyway.

    From then on the pre-match formalities didn''t take long and soon the yers were waiting around for kick-off by the Porto team that had won the coin toss.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    At exactly 8:00 pm the referee''s whistle blew to signify kick-off and Tiquiniho Soares didn''t waste any time in sending the ball back to Mattheus Uribe who sent the ball towards the left wing where Luiz Diaz was awaiting the pass.

    Just like that the first leg of the Europa League round of 32 kicked off.

    The Porto side despite being away from home and only having the support of about two thousand traveling yed like they were right in their own backyard�� at least for the first few minutes.

    Following the head manager''s instructions, they managed to shut out most of the Bayer Leverkusen attacking options, limiting them to only two shots for the first ten minutes of the game and neither of those two shots were on target.

    When they were not defending, they were skillfully passing the ball around in the midfield with enough confidence that one would think the Bayer Leverkusen yers were naught but training dummies.

    Unfortunately despite their defensive efforts, their attacking attempts didn''t bear as much fruition as their main attacking tactic for the game was a counter-attacking tactic thus with them doing well enough to prevent the opposing team''s attempts, they were also blocking their own chances tounch a counter-attack.

    This had caused the match to be stuck in a deadlock.

 Chapter 72 Europa League round of 32 first leg II

    Chapter 72 Europa League round of 32 first leg II

    Since the Porto yers were currently in control of the flow of the game, they continually tried to break through the Bayer Leverkusen defense, trying various passing maneuvers and trying to dribble past them, but the three center-backs were proving to be a very tough nut to crack.

    Luckily, hard to crack didn''t mean impossible to crack, and the Porto attack soon broke through the Bayer Leverkusen defense.

    Luiz Diaz had been incessantly trying various tricks to get past his marker since the game started and the moment he received the ball from Mattheus Uribe, he quickly ran down the field while hugging the sidelines.

    Sven Bender had quickly noted him as a threat and ran at him to block his path, but this time Luiz Diaz quickly passed the ball back infield, not trying to do any tricks.

    Sven, who had charged at him was stunned to see him pass the ball infield and he used his eyes to follow the ball, but in that split second, Luiz Diaz skipped past him to receive the ball back from Mattheus Uribe who had received his earlier pass and sent it back immediately, quickly executing a one-two routine and executing Sven Bender from the defensive equation. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    With Sven Bender out of his way, Luiz Diaz quickly tried to cut into the box but was soon met with the intimidating visage of Jonathan Tah rushing towards him and he quickly sent a pass across the penalty area instead of trying to dribble past the scary center-back.

    Luckily, the ball managed to find Tiquniho Soares who despite being tightly marked, managed to hold his defender long enough to trap the ball and get a shot away.

    The ball flew at the Bayer Leverkusen goal, seemingly goal-bound until it was met by the outstretched hand of Hradecky who had lunged at the ball the moment it left Tiquniho''s foot.

    With well-trained reflexes and skill, he managed to deflect the ball with a punch, sending it against the crossbar and out of the field.

    {What a shot and what a save! We haven''t gotten a goal, but we have an exciting start in this Europa League round of 32 match that holds much in the bnce} Thementator''s skill set at hyping up the crowd reeked from his inciting words that shook the crowd, most of who were cheering that their team hadn''t conceded from such a sudden, yet almost devastating attack.

    The Porto team had a corner kick from their attempt so despite their efforts not paying off, they still had a chance to do something with this attack.

    Alex Telles as the team''s no.1 dead ball specialist was the one who stood over the corner-kick and held up his left hand as a signal for the team to ready themselves for the ball.

    With a short run up and quick swing, Alex Telles sent the ball flying into the penalty box prompting yers of both teams to jump for the ball.

    Mattheus Uribe was the one who got his head to it and sent it flying at the Leverkusen goal, but somehow the Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky managed to unleash a spectacr dive and got his hand to it, preventing it from getting past him.

    Despite managing to prevent stop the ball from going into the, Hradecky wasn''t able to hold onto the ball and the ball didn''t bounce out of y, but rather towards Moussa Marega who couldn''t believe his luck and quickly unleashed a powerful shot, trying to m the ball into the back of the, yet somehow Hradecky managed to get off the ground and jump for the ball again to prevent his team from going behind.

    Just managing to get the tip of his finger to the ball, Hradecky managed to deflect the ball towards the left crossbar and the ball mmed against it heavily before bouncing back and this time getting cleared by Lars Bender, quickly putting an end to the Porto attack.

    The Porto yers couldn''t believe that they hadn''t been able to score in that situation and stared at Hradecky in surprise for a few seconds.

    This man had proved why he was able to be a professional goalkeeper in a top-flight team like Bayer Leverkusen despite being below the average height one would expect of a goalkeeper.

    Anyway, the match wasn''t over and they would have more opportunities to get the ball past him in the match, so they quickly got over their shock and ran after the ball.

    The match continued and immediately after this scare, it was easily noticed that the Bayer Leverkusen had increased the ferocity of their attacks, showing a determination that they were not willing to wait till they were behind until they started trying to score.

    Barely a few minutester, it could be seen that the Porto side was having a harder time dealing with this surge of attacks and was under immense pressure.

    Eventually, the Porto defense couldn''t keep up anymore and they cracked under the pressure thanks to a well-executed attack routine from Bayer Leverkusen in the 29th minute.

    Bayer Leverkusen had been smoothly passing the ball around in the middle of the pitch while the Porto yers were doing their best to dispossess them.

    Suddenly Lars Bender sent a ball over the defensive line and towards the right side of the Porto penalty area.

    Ivan Marcano who was the closest Porto defender to where the ball was heading quickly ran for the ball but somehow Vond ran past him and got his leg to the ball, but instead of trying to cut into the penalty area with the ball, he did an unexpected back pass to the approaching feet of Demirbay.

    Demirbay controlled the ball deftly with his first touch and sent a curling high cross into the penalty area.

    The sudden switch from control to attack had stunned the Porto defensive line and most of them could not react on time.

    Pepe was the only one who managed to notice rio sneaking into the penalty box, approaching the ball that was curling into the penalty area. The team captain quickly tried to jump for the ball, his intention to clear it and not let it reach rio, but despite managing to react on time, the ball curled past his head before he could clear it and was met with a header from rio who directed the ball downwards.

    The ball bounced on the ground just before Augustin Marchesin''s outstretched arm and over it before nestling itself in the back of the, giving the home team the lead.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Bayer Leverkusen have brought the game to life and struck in first this Europa League knockout tie, much to the delight of their home fans}

    {The captain began a devastatingly quick attack with his lobbed pass and his teammates executed the attack to perfection, making sure to bring back their returns} Thementator prattled on as the Bayer Leverkusen yers and their fans celebrated their goal.

 Chapter 73 Bad Gets Worse

    Chapter 73 Bad Gets Worse

    After Bayer Leverkusen opened up the game with their goal, the Porto side tried to answer back with a goal of their own but the Bayer Leverkusen defence stood strong as their team also tried to double their advantage.

    In the end, neither team managed to send the bulging until the referee blew for the end of the first half.

    With the whistle having been blown, the yers of the two teams trudged off the field and down into the tunnel for a much-needed fifteen-minute break.

    After the Porto yers werepletely gathered in their locker room, the head manager began to speak,

    "Apart from letting your guard down and letting them get the first goal, I don''t really have anything to fault in how you''ve yed as you''ve put on a wonderful disy,"

    "Unfortunately the goals haven''t been forting, but don''t be let down by that as I believe that if you keep this up and work even harder, we can end tonight with a win,"

    Sergio Conceicao first gave a motivational speech of sorts before beginning the mid-match tactical meeting.

    He gave some of the yers newer instructions and instructed them on how to make use of some of the potential weaknesses in the opponent''s formation.

    By the time the first-half break was over, the FC Porto yers were refreshed, both physically and mentally, and ready to put out a more intense gamey in the second half.

    It was the Bayer Leverkusen side that kicked off the second half and the match quickly resumed with the high-intensity gamey from the first half with both teams doing their best to send the bulging.

    The Porto team yed with as much ferocity as they could muster, managing to send more than five shots at the Bayer Leverkusen goal with three on target, but Hradecky''s heroics kept the Porto team from scoring.

    In the 55th minute of the game, Porto had just gotten another shot away but the ball had ended as a goalkick so Hradecky collected a ball and ced it on the ground before sending it flying into the middle of the field.

    Danilo Perreira and Kai Havertz jumped for the ball, but by sheer physicality, Danilo pushed away Havertz before heading the ball toward Mattheus Uribe, but before the ball reached Uribe, it was intercepted by Charles Aranguiz who quickly trapped it before taking off centerfield towards the Porto penalty area.

    The Bayer Leverkusen team yers, seeing that Aranguiz was inching closer to the Porto penalty area began to make various runs to free themselves from their marker.

    Aranguiz quickly picked out Leon Bailey and sent a through pass towards the left wing.

    Wilson Manafa quickly gave chase of the ball, but Leon Bailey, one of the fastest legs on the football pitch worldwide beat him for pace and got to the ball first and quickly cut in towards the penalty area but his path was quickly blocked by Pepe.

    He tried to do a couple step overs, but Pepe wasn''t budging but rather was edging him outward and if he didn''t do anything, he would be forced out of y by the Porto team captain, so he made a quick decision and did a chip pass over Pepe''s outstretched leg into the penalty area without looking while hoping that one of his teammates was able to receive the ball.

    Kai Havertz who had been given a free role on the pitch had been following Bailey from behind and was in a position to receive the pass.

    He trapped the ball on the left corner of the box and slowly edged the ball forward, wanting to get a shot away, but Danilo Perreira who was just arriving behind him because he wasn''t a match for Havertz''s pace tried to tackle him, and clear the ball but in a moment of misjudgment, Danilo swept Havertz''s legs from under him without making contact with the ball.

    *Fweeeeeeee* n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Sure as can be, the shrill whistle of the referee let him know that the referee had noticed what had transpired and was already pointing to the spot for a penalty while pulling out a yellow card from his breast pocket and showing it to Danilo.

    Like always, the Porto yers tried to appeal to the referee about the penalty.

    It was a foregone conclusion that even if it was very obvious that a foul leading to a penalty had beenmitted, the yers of the team that gave away the penalty would always appeal to the referee even when there was no point and it was clear that their teammate was at fault.

    The Porto yers did the same, but the referee wasn''t budging as he had seen the situation very clearly and even a rey was enough to see that it was a clear penalty.

    The only decision that should have been changed in his opinion was changing the yellow card to a red card for Danilo Perreira as the foul that hemitted was very much deserving of it.

    As expected, the Porto yers weren''t able to make the referee change his decision and a penalty was given to the Bayer Leverkusen team, plunging the BayArena into a more celebratory mood while the traveling fans of the Porto side who were still looking hopeful a few seconds ago now had depressed looks on their faces.

    Amidst the happy looks of his teammates and the hopeful and slightly depressed looks of the Porto yers, Kai Havertz put the ball on the penalty spot and took five steps back.

    *Fwweeee*

    Havertz ran up to the ball before sending the ball towards the bottom left corner while unfortunately for the Porto team, Augustin Marchesin had dived towards the right side of the post.

    The result of this was of course��

    {GOAL!!!}

    {And Leverkusen double their lead, going against the hopes of the Porto fans and guiding their fans towards ecstasy}

    {What a strike! That one strike has made it a lot more difficult for Porto to get anything from this game, but feel free to correct me if they prove me wrong and that''s a huge if!} Thementator didn''t bother trying to soften the brunt of his words as he gave hismentary on the current situation.

 Chapter 74 A Misfortune that Begets Opportunities

    Chapter 74 A Misfortune that Begets Opportunities

    As the Bayer Leverkusen yers were celebrating, Sergio Conceicao called Otavio and Shoya Nakajima from the bench to quickly begin warming up as he had to quickly make some changes to the game n before the game got out of hand.

    Thus before the Porto team kicked off, the assistant referee held up the board, signaling for substitution.

    Jesus Corona and Mattheus Uribe on seeing their numbers being disyed in red knew that their time was up on the pitch and they quickly jogged down to the sidelines.

    Shoya Nakajima was going to being on for Mattheus Uribe while Otavio would being on for Jesus Corona.

    ''Hopefully, they can breathe life into our attacks that areing to a dead end every time,'' Sergio Conceicao thought to himself as he watched the new substitutes run to take their positions on the pitch.

    The match kicked off again with the Porto side having possession of the ball and without wasting any time theyunched an attack that ended up repelled, but were able to show their fighting spirit that said that they weren''t willing to stay down and swallow this loss just yet.

    Under their incessant attacks, they put tremendous pressure on the Bayer Leverkusen team and gradually pushed them back into their half, forcing them to put most of their efforts into defending.

    Finally, in the sixty-fifth minute of the game, the Porto teamunched an attack that seemed like it would finally result in the goal they had been looking for.

    The Porto team had been exchanging the ball among themselves just outside the Leverkusen penalty area with well-calcted passes.

    Suddenly Shoya Nakajima, the newly substituted yer who had just received a pass from Danilo Perreira tried to make a run into the Leverkusen penalty area with the ball, hoping to make use of his advantage in stamina as a newly brought-on yer.

    He managed to get past Lars Bender with a swift flick of his feet and a sudden change in direction, but just as he was entering the penalty area, he made as if to shoot and swung his left leg before faking the shot and pushing the ball towards Tiquiniho Soares who had just gotten rid of his marker.

    The ball had barely left his feet when Jonathan Tah''s right foot which was outstretched in a sliding tackle collided into his right ankle harshly.

    Jonathan Tah hadn''t known that Shoya Nakajima would fake a shot before passing the ball to an opponent instead and had flown into a tackle, intending to block Shoya Nakajima who looked like he would get the shot away.

    This led to a mistimed tackle that sent Shoya Nakajima tumbling over in the Bayer Leverkusen penalty area.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The referee quickly blew his whistle while pointing to the penalty spot as he ran over, pulling out a yellow card that he showed to Jonathan Tah.

    The Porto yers and fans quickly erupted in a little celebration seeing as they had just been awarded a penalty. Even the manager on the sidelines had a small smile finally rise on his face as he finally saw a little hope for his team to grasp, but a few secondster, his smile slowly faded into a frown as he noticed that Shoya Nakajima who had been brought down in the penalty box hadn''t stood up and was instead still rolling over in pain while grabbing his ankle.

    The Porto yers had also noticed this and more of them gathered around Shoya while the referee was already calling for the medics to hurry over to attend to the injured yer.

    At the moment, despite having gotten a penalty, the Porto team and their fans didn''t have a happy expression as the injured payer looked to be in a lot of pain even as he was being tended to by the medics.

    Sergio Conceicao was watching from the sidelines with a hard expression as he knew that with the injured yer looking to be in that much pain, it would be a miracle if he could continue to y for the rest of the game.

    In fact, even if the yer somehow managed to stand up after treatment and request to continue to y, Sergio Conceicao would not allow him to, as the pain on his face could not be just pain from a mere collision and was more likely to be an injury so Sergio would not risk letting the yer continue and aggravate the injuries any further.

    There was just one problem with this situation and that was that the yer that had gotten injured was a yer that had just been newly substituted onto the field.

    ''What kind of bad luck is this?'' he thought to himself as he looked at the yers remaining on the bench.

    Shoya Nakajima was a central attacking midfielder and that was the position he was currently ying on the field, but there was nobody on the bench right now that could y that position.

    �� Or was there? The thought suddenly appeared in his mind as his eyes fell on Jason.

    From the scout reports, it was noted in the scout report that Jason could y the CAM position and he just remembered that point now, but he was hesitant.

    It was one thing to bring Jason on in such a high-stakes match despite him not having any prior professional experience, and it was another thing entirely to bring him on and put him in a position where he hadn''t tested Jason''s effectiveness in performing.

    Thinking that he would have to take a gamble, he turned his head back to the field and his eyes involuntarily fell on Otavio making him suddenly remember that Otavio shouldn''t have any problems ying the CAM position and he could instead bring Jason on to take Otavio''s ce on the right wing while Otavio moved to the center parts of the midfield.

    Under this wave of ingenuity, he suddenly called out to Jason, "Warm up ande here for instructions, you have one minute." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Jason looked up in surprise, but his body ignored his surprise and pulled him out of his seat while his mind was still processing the manager''s sudden decision.

    Jason quickly began to do a few stretches and warm-up routines on the sidelines all while the medics on the field were giving Shoya Nakajima first aid treatment while calling for another colleague to bring a stretcher as they had determined that he was not going to be able to continue the game.

    He had been hit hard by the tackle and his ankle was almost dislocated, but for now, they weren''tpletely sure of whether it was only his ankle that had been injured or if he had a muscr injury as well.

    They were of course not going to risk it, so he was out.

    As they were slowly shifting Shoya to the stretcher while being extra careful with his leg, Jason had already finished warming up and had arrived beside Sergio Conceicao.

    "Tell Pepe and Otavio that I want you on the right and Otavio in the center and they''ll get the information across to the other members of the team,"

    "I''m sure you hear all the instructions during the tactical meeting, but just in case, I''ll say it again,"

    "Make sure to keep your marker on his toes, run at him, and if you can get past him like you''ve done so many times in training, leave him behindto have no choice than eating your dust,"

    "We are currently behind and I want you out there doing your best for the team so we can get on level terms and maybe even make aeback, but don''t be pressured, just take it as if it was a training session and you''ll be alright," Sergio rattled off instructions and even a motivational speech to Jason who was changing into his jersey and checking his kits to see if everything was in ce.

    After giving his instructions to Jason, Sergio Conceicao told the assistant referee that Jason wasing on and the referee got started on the substitution procedure, putting Jason''s number on the board.

    As Shoya Nakajima was being carried off the field, the assistant referee held up the board and Jason stood beside him rubbing his gloved hands to stave off the nervousness that suddenly arose in his heart as the moment for his debut approached.

    After giving his instructions to Jason, Sergio Conceicao told the assistant referee that Jason wasing on and the referee got started on the substitution procedure, putting Jason''s number on the board.

    As Shoya Nakajima was being carried off the field, the assistant referee held up the board and Jason stood beside him rubbing his gloved hands to stave off the nervousness that suddenly arose in his heart as the moment for his debut approached.

    His heart was beating at an unnatural speed and felt like it was going to leap out of his throat.

    He was so nervous that he unconsciously did the cross sign and even prayed.

 Chapter 75 A Debut to Remember I

    Chapter 75 A Debut to Remember I

    {That tackle must have hurt much more than it seemed as the injured yer ising off and he is going to be reced by�� Jason Bolu�� }

    {That''s an unfamiliar name and it seems it''s his debut}

    {It seems that the current situation has made the Porto manager take such a risky decision, but let''s see how this new yer can help the team} Thementator did his job and gave analyticalmentary on the ongoing situation as Shoya Nakajima was brought off the field and reced by Jason who ran onto the field and went to whisper the manager''s instructions in Otavio''s ear before telling who was nearby as well.

    With the injured yer having been attended to and reced, the yers moved out of the Bayer Leverkusen penalty box to allow for the penalty to be taken.

    Luiz Diaz was the one who was going to take the penalty and was already standing over the ball while waiting for the arrangements to bepleted and as soon as he heard the referee''s whistle he stepped back away from the ball to give himself ample space for a run-up.

    *Fweeeeee* The referee''s whistle blew again and Diaz ran up to the ball before swinging his foot powerfully and sending the ball towards the extreme end of the bottom left corner of the goal post.

    Hradecky guessed the direction of the shot and dived in time, but wasn''t able to reach the corner on time to save the ball and could only watch the ball smash into the back of the. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Porto fans cheered in excitement as they watched the scoreboard change, but the Porto yers didn''t do much jubtion as they were still behind by a goal.

    Luiz Diaz quickly ran to get the ball out of the Leverkusen goal and began to jog back to the halfway line eager to continue the game but not forgetting to high-five his teammates on the way.

    With both teams not willing to waste time, the Bayer Leverkusen team quickly kicked off the game once again, but instead of attacking the Porto team to try and score a goal and cement their lead, they opted to keep possession of the ball among themselves with short measured passes.

    They understood that the Porto team currently had the momentum and they could not afford to give them even a slight opening until their momentum died down, but the Porto team wasn''t going to let them have their way easily and they surged into Bayer Leverkusen''s part of the field, initiating a high press in a bid to get the ball back as quickly as possible.

    Under the influence of a high press, Bayer Leverkusen couldn''t hold onto the ball for long and were quickly dispossessed, but instead of initiating a high press of their own to try and get the ball back from the Porto team, they settled back and switched their defensive tactics to zonal marking, their n being to block Porto''s path into the penalty area.

    Due to this, the Porto team could only pass the ball around while looking for an opening.

    The clock continuously ran down and by the time the clock was nearing the eightieth minute, Jason who was new on the pitch had already gotten a few touches on the ball but had not done anything other than pass the ball to the nearest yer without even trying to dribble past anybody.

    From an optimistic point of view, he was doing well enough and wasn''t losing the ball because of some stupid mistakes, but realistically and pessimistically speaking, he had been quite underwhelming and had only been doing the barest minimum that had been expected of him.

    The only reason why nobody was making a big issue about it was because there was a more important matter at hand, but if the game ended like this, then there would surely be some people who would notice and talk about this while reviewing the match.

    The reason for this underwhelming performance was major because of Jason''s nervousness, he had been a bit too nervous when he hade on and didn''t feel confident enough to do what he normally did in training, but after being on the field for a while, he had calmed down enough.

    Thus the moment he received another pass from Wilson Manafa, the team''s right back, Jason trapped the ball and didn''t pass the ball immediately like he had been doing previously, but began moving slowly towards Charles Aranguiz.

    Charles Aranguiz thought Jason was an easy catch and quickly stretched out his leg to tackle Jason who was in range, but as soon as his leg moved enough to create enough space for the ball, Jason slotted the ball coolly between his legs before escaping behind him to retrieve the ball.

    Jason''s sudden move stunned the crowd and for a moment there were loud shouts of "oohs", "yeehs", and "aahs" from the crowd, but Jason''s teammates who knew from training that Jason only began dribbling when he wanted to start an attack quickly surged forward and made themselves avable for a pass.

    Jason who had just escaped from Charles Aranguiz quickly ran down the pitch while hugging the sidelines before passing the ball infield to Otavio who was free of his marker.

    Otavio didn''t bother wasting any touches to control the ball and did a one-touch chip pass over the Bayer Leverkusen defensive line into the path of Moussa Marega who wrestled away from Dragovic and barely managed to control the ball with his chest and volleyed it at the Leverkusen goal prompting a stupendous dive from Hradecky who barely managed to keep the ball from going in.

    {Maregaaa!!! What a shot! And what a save!}

    {After minutes of silence, the Porto team has sparked to life here, unleashing a devastating attack that almost bore fruit if not for a show of excellence from Hradecky}

    {I''ve said this before, but Porto has a lot of work to do if they''re going to beat the Finnish goalkeeper}

    {I do have to say as well that the attack wouldn''t have been possible without the run made by the young winger}

    {He put on an exciting disy, cleverly getting rid of his marker before making that pass, giving life to the whole attack}

    {Let''s hope he has some more of such ys in store} Thementator spoke excitedly with the same fervor that he would speak with if a goal had been scored.

 Chapter 76 A Debut to Remember II

    Chapter 76 A Debut to Remember II

    After the ball went out for a corner kick, Porto took a corner kick that ended up being sent back into the midfield by the Leverkusen yers and they were once again locked outside the box, but they weren''t going to give up on attacking and were soon trying to break through the Bayer Leverkusen defense.

    Alex Telles had just sent the ball to the middle of the field where it was picked up by Otavio before he sent it down the right wing toward Jason but in his haste, he had sent the ball a little farther away from Jason''s path than expected.

    Charles Aranguiz also quickly ran for the loose ball in a bid to clear it, but by virtue of his quicker eleration, Jason got to the ball first and not losing hisposure, coolly slotted the ball between the legs of Charles Aranguiz who was charging over, increasing the number of times he had nutmegged him in the match to two.

    This time, Charles Aranguiz didn''t want to let Jason get past him again so easily and tried to grab onto Jason, but Jason as if expecting this quickly brushed away Aranguiz''s hands, not letting him have anything to grab onto.

    Just after escaping from Charles Aranguiz, Jason came face to face with Lars Bender, the opposing team''s captain and it was obvious from how Lars'' face and posture that he wasn''t going to let Jason get by him as easily as he had gotten past Aranguiz, but Jason didn''t care right now as he felt like he was in the zone.

    Quickly making a feint as if to go left, Jason pushed the ball toward the left of the German defensive midfielder with the tip of his right foot and the moment he noticed Lars moving to block his path, his leg moved past the ball before flicking it back to the right in a smooth and swift motion, performing a reverse stico and getting past the Leverkusen team captain.

    With the Leverkusen team captain out of the way, Jason spotted Tiquiniho Soares making a run and was almost getting past his marker, so Jason quickly sent a through pass into his before he ran offside.

    Just as he expected, Soares made it past his marker and quickly stretched his leg to control and push the ball in his path slightly forward.

    He managed to achieve his intention and was quickly in control of the ball, just managing to enter the Leverkusen penalty box, but the Leverkusen defenders didn''t have the intention of allowing him to get his shot away and were quickly moving in on him, forcing him to take the shot from the edge of the box.

    Not wanting to risk losing the ball, Soares quickly took the shot, aiming for the top right corner but just as he had lifted his hands to cheer, Hradecky somehow managed to get his hand to the ball and deflect the ball out for a corner kick.

    {And yet again, Hradecky denies the dragons with a scintiting save. The Finnish goalkeeper seems to be the only one standing between the dragons and the goal they so dearly want}

    {Do I have to say, that we might be witnessing another great talent rising in the football world as the performances put on disy by the young Nigerian winger are a delight to see and if he keeps this up, he could help his team to im the goal they are so desperately searching for} Thementator couldn''t keep his excitement out of his voice and shouted with a rising fervor every second that went by,pletely impressed by Jason''s performance in the game.

    With thementator being that impressed, little needed to be said about the Porto fans who were already falling in love with this new yer who hadn''t even been on the pitch for thirty minutes. Even the Bayer Leverkusen fans were impressed and so was everyone who was watching the match''s live broadcast on their televisions, phones, or at viewing centers.

    Jason who was on the field was of course oblivious of this and was already positioning himself in the penalty box for the corner, feeling a little exasperated that the team hadn''t been able to equalize yet.

    ''Why is this guy so good today?'' Jason thought exasperatedly with a wry smile as he nced at Lukas Hradecky who was currently the undisputed best yer on the opposition team.

    Jason didn''t remember Lukas Hradecky being this good in his previous reality, so what was going on, and why was this guy performing like he had been possessed by prime Casis, Buffon, and Petr Cech allbined into one person?

    His errant thoughts weren''t helping him to decode the goalkeeper, so he put his thoughts away and focused on the iing corner kick, but before he had the chance to jump for the ball, Jonathan Tah had gotten his head to it with an impressive leap and had sent the ball towards the midfield.

    Jason quickly moved out of the Leverkusen penalty box and slowly moved back to his position on the right wing, not feeling bad about not having gotten a chance to try to head the cross into the corner into the goal post as he knew that his heading skills were probably his worst attributes after his defending and goalkeeping, so he would have flopped the header anyway.

    The ball that was cleared into the midfield by Jonathan Tah had quickly been retrieved by the Porto team and they were already back on the attack, their momentum undampened by their continuous failed attempts.

    They passed the ball cleverly among themselves in the Bayer Leverkusen half and seemingly recognizing Jason''s influence in revitalizing their attacking efforts, Jason was soon picked out again by Otavio.

    Jason received the ball just a few yards away from the right corner of the Leverkusen penalty area and quickly moved towards the penalty box, but Aleksandar Dragovic quickly blocked his path, not nning to let him run freely anymore.

    Jason could immediately see from the look in Dragovic''s eyes that he wouldn''t hesitate to foul him harshly if he tried to dribble past him, so Jason quickly looked for the nearest pass instead, but all his teammates who were close enough were being tightly marked and Jason didn''t want to pass back to the defense as that would bring an end to the attack.

    Seemingly out of options, he started moving forward and once he was close enough, he did a couple of step-overs to confuse the defender. Once he had drawn Dragovic in with his movements, he suddenly cut towards the left, creating just enough space to get a shot away. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Without hesitation, Jason unleashed a curler from the right corner of the penalty area with his less dominant left foot, aiming for the bottom left corner of the goal.

    Hradecky was alert and dived for the ball, but just when it seemed like the ball would finally manage to get past his outstretched arm, the tip of Hradecky''s gloves slightly touched the ball and deflected the ball just a bit from it''s original path.

    *CLANG*

    A ringing sound echoed as the ball nged against the left goal post causing groans of agony and uneptance to fill the stands where the Porto fans stood with their hands raised in the air.

    The yers on the field however ignored the groansing from the stands as the ball wasn''t out of y yet, the ball had nged against the left goal post and bounced back into y towards the left side of the penalty area.

 Chapter 77 A Debut to Remember III

    Chapter 77 A Debut to Remember III

    Otavio was the first yer to run for the loose ball and managed to bring it under control before it bounced out of y.

    After a quick nce to check his teammates'' positions, Otavio didn''t hesitate to send a pass back to the front of the post.

    Moussa Marega quickly connected with the pass and sent a first-time shot at the goal but yet again Hradecky managed to get his hand to it and pushed it downward.

    The ball bounced on the ground in front of the goal and rose up but before it coulde down, Jonathan Tah lunged for it, got his head to it, and directed it to the side of the goal, trying to send it out of y for a corner kick.

    As the ball directed by Jonathan Tah flew out of y all but one yer gave up on stopping the ball and that yer our young debutant. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Jason knew that even after the ball went out, his team would still gain a corner but something told him that he could not allow this attack to just end like this as the team''s chances of scoring a corner against the Bayer Leverkusen team were almost close to none.

    With the height advantage of the German team, Jason knew that it would be a miracle if the team could beat them in the air and their current situation didn''t allow for them to leave their goal-scoring chances to something as unreliable as a corner.

    With these thoughts in mind, Jason ran as fast as he could, just barely managing to get close enough before sliding and just barely getting his foot under the ball to kick it back into y before it crossed the line.

    The ball flew back into the center of the penalty to an awaiting Otavio who didn''t let the ballnd before volleying toward the Leverkusen goalpost.

    Like usual Hradecky dived for the ball but his luck seemed to have finally run out as the ball smashed past his outstretched gloved palm and sent the flying.

    {GOAL!!!] Thementator shouted the words as the visiting Porto fans erupted in cheers.

    {It''s here! It''s finally here! After so many attempts, Porto have drawn level in the 85th minute of the game!}

    {Ever since going two behind, they''ve dug deep, thrown the opposing team into the back seat, and finally, they have found their equalizer} Thementator''s words sounded as a background to Otavio who had run to the sidelines before jumping into a power slide with his arms spread wide in celebration but he didn''t stay in that position for long as he was brought down by his teammates who had rushed over.

    {They tried again and again to get past the goalkeeper and just when it felt like the game would slip away they have finally gotten an equalizer, and I can say without doubt that the Porto team owes this goal to the young debuting yer} Jason who had just stood up from where hey and went to celebrate with the team had a wide smile on his face as he was happy that his gamble had paid off.

    It wasn''t exactly as he envisioned it as he wasn''t expecting Otavio to directly volley the ball into the back of the, earning him his first assist stat in professional football, but he had no issues with the current development.

    His teammates rubbed his hair and gave him high fives as he arrived at where the team was gathered in celebration with the traveling Porto fans.

    As Jason nced at the fans with a smile he immediately noticed a pair of familiar faces after which he smiled and waved at them.

    Surprisingly it was little Selina and her father who Jason had met and given an autograph before the Vitoria de Guimares match a few days ago. It seemed they had travelled to Leverkusen to watch the Europa League game and Jason could not help but respect their love for the club.

    The celebrations did not take too long as the Porto yers still retained a hunger and belief that they could not just equalize but could even manage to turn the tablespletely so they were soon back in their half of the field, waiting for the match to kick off once again.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The referee''s whistle signified the continuation of the game and the Leverkusen team quickly kicked off, but unlike before when they made keeping possession of the ball their focus, they had changed their objectives and were now sending yers forward, very intent on taking back the lead.

    The Porto team had already proven that they were no soft persimmon and they reacted in kind, quickly going on a high press and doing their best to retrieve possession of the ball.

    The next five minutes was a back-and-forth exchange of the ball between both teams as both teams tried to break through each other''s defense.

    At this point there were only a few more minutes until the 90th-minute mark would be crossed and on the sidelines, the assistant referee held up a board that showed that there would be an additional four minutes of injury time.

    Perhaps due to that, the Bayer Leverkusen team suddenly burst with ferocity and finally broke through the Porto''s back line with a sudden attack.

    Moussa Diaby, a newly substituted yer elerated past Wilson Manafa in a spectacr disy of speedy dribbling and cut into the Porto penalty box.

    Pepe quickly blocked his path and Moussa Diaby didn''t hesitate to send the ball towards Kai Havertz who was standing just outside the box beside him.

    Kai Havertz didn''t bother to control the ball and sent the ball into the penalty area with a chip pass.

    The ball flew into the right side of the Porto penalty area andnded in Lucas rio''s path.

    rio quickly trapped the ball and cut back immediately much to the dismay of Alex Telles who tried to tackle him and ended up missing.

    Due to Telles losing his footing because of his mistimed tackle, rio suddenly had some space to shoot and without wasting a split second, he let the shot fly.

 Chapter 78 A Debut to Remember IV

    Chapter 78 A Debut to Remember IV

    The ball flew at the Porto goal at breakneck speed but Augustin Marchesin, the Porto team goalkeeper had been watching rio from the moment the ball was passed at him so he was in a position to easily deal with the shot.

    Thus the ball found itself smoothly grasped from midair by the goalkeeper.

    Augustin Marchesin quickly stood up with the ball, knowing that this wasn''t the time to be lying around and he quickly threw the ball into the midfield towards Jason.

    Jason quickly trapped the ball from the keeper''s throw before he turned towards the Leverkusen goal and elerated, his legs pumping rhythmically and shooting him across the field.

    Jason was soon faced with a Karem Demirbay, but instead of slowing down and dribbling past the yer, he sent a pass past him instead.

    Otavio appeared behind the pass that Jason sent forward and sent a through ball behind the yers toward the left wing and into the path of Luiz Diaz who ran after the ball.

    The sudden switch from defense to attack that had ended up in the lightning-fast counter that was currently taking ce stunned the Leverkusen team and took almost all their yers out of the equation.

    Luiz Diaz managed to reach the ball on the left side of the penalty area, just a few yards before it rolled out of y and he quickly changed directions and charged into the box, but the Leverkusen defenders weren''t just going to let him do whatever he wanted and stood in his path.

    For some reason, even though two defenders stood in his path, Luiz continued moving forward, intending to take them on despite better passing avenues open to him.

    With brimming confidence, Diaz smoothly performed an stico to dodge past Sven Bender before linking it with a 360 Cruyff turn that he used to escape Jonathan Tah,pletely wowing all the fans and bringing himself face-to-face with the Leverkusen goalkeeper.

    Hradecky hadn''t expected that Luiz Diaz would manage to get past the two defenders in his path but immediately he saw Luis Diaz escape the defenders, he charged out at him, wanting to stop this problem before it got too close forfort.

    Luiz Diaz who had just gotten past Jonathan Tah was stabilizing the ball as he moved towards the goal, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Jason just run into the penalty box from the right wing and he waspletely free yet he ignored it as he was already in front of the goal anyway.

    In his haste and a moment of selfishness, he had not paid any attention to the Leverkusen goalkeeper for a few seconds and when he finally realized it, Hradecky was almost at his feet jumping for the ball.

    Surprised at the goalkeeper''s sudden appearance in front of him, Luiz Diaz was startled and immediately shot the ball, no longer having theposure to curl the ball around the keeper.

    The ball flew from Luiz Diaz''s foot and hit Hradecky''s wide-spread hand and was deflected out of y for a corner.

    {And Oh! What a run, what a chance, and what a save!}

    {That was Luiz Diaz''s chance to put Porto in the lead but Hradecky has denied him and granted his team a lifeline and kept them in the game}

    {Diaz''s teammates can''t believe that their team did not manage to get the lead from that attack and seem to be openly berating him as there were obvious passing options for him instead of him going solo with the shot in a selfish quest for glory} Thementator couldn''t stop talking, his voice disying his emotions about the game to the listeners.

    Jason could not believe that Luiz Diaz had wasted that chance either and neither could the other members of the team or the head manager.

    Even the fans couldn''t believe it because not only was Jason free, Tiquiniho Soares and Otavio were also free enough to receive the ball and score and they were all onside, yet Luiz Diaz had decided to go solo and had still wasted the chance so at this moment, it was taking all the fans had to not curse at Luiz Diaz in anger as they still had hope for the game.

    The same restrictions did not hold true for the Porto yers on the field though and almost all of them berated Luiz Diaz endlessly.

    Even Sergio Conceicao wasn''t left out and he could be seen throwing his foot in an annoyed gesture as he shouted at Luiz Diaz.

    Jason was the only one who didn''t say anything to Luiz Diaz, but there was obvious annoyance on his face so no words needed to be said.

    Luiz Diaz knew he had been a bit too selfish so he quickly apologized, not getting angry at his teammates as he knew that their anger was justified.

    The team quickly gathered in the Leverkusen penalty box for the corner as the game was still not over and they had onest chance to make a difference in the next two minutes that remained of injury time.

    As usual, it was Alex Telles who stood over the corner kick his hand in the air, signifying the set piece routine they would be using in the air with his hand while waiting for the referee''s whistle.

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    Telles ran up to the ball and sent it curling into the box.

    yers of both teams rose to catch the ball with their heads, both teams yers having different intentions for the ball but Jonathan Tah managed to beat everyone in the air and send the ball outside the penalty area.

    The Porto yers quickly ran for the ball and Otavio was the one who reached the ball first and passed the ball back to Telles who was on the right side of the penalty box, but Telles hesitated to send the ball back into the penalty area because he was very clear on the fact that their team did not have a height advantage so crossing the ball into the penalty box had low chances of leading to a goal.

    He quickly passed the ball back and to Otavio who wasted no time in sending the ball over to Wilson Manafa.

    The Porto yers contented themselves with keeping possession of the ball just outside of the Leverkusen penalty area while trying to look for a space to break through the Leverkusen defense, but the Leverkusen yers seemed to havee to a collective decision to stay back and defend till the final whistle.

    The clock slowly ran down and when it remained ten seconds till the end of the allocated time, Otavio decided to send the ball into the box in ast-ditch effort to see if the team could cook something up as they were almost out of time.

    Thus with a quick nce inside the box, he moved down the left side of the field, and from a distance of a few yards away from the left corner of the Leverkusen penalty area, he sent a curling triv pass into the penalty area with the outside of his right foot.

    The ball flew up into the air while curving out and it seemed that the ball would cross the face of the goal and go wide when suddenly a shadow in the Porto jersey rushed past his marker intent on catching the ball.

    Jason had been watching and waiting for a chance to create something but due to the Leverkusen team quite literally "parking the bus" he had not been able to create anything because they were fully intent on defending the scoreline and just when he had thought that the game would end up in a draw, he had seen in Otavio''s eyes an intent to create something so he had readied himself to run for the chance should it evere.

    So when Otavio sent the triv pass into the penalty box, he was the first to react and managed to move quickly enough to get past his marker, but even then the ball was moving too fast and he would not be able to reach it in time to trap it before shooting, not to mention that they were already out of time. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The only way he could reach the shot was with a diving header or lunging at it with his feet and since he didn''t trust his heading skills enough heunched himself into the air feet first.

 Chapter 79 A Young Dragons Wings

    Chapter 79 A Young Dragon''s Wings

    Jason lunged into the air with his left foot stretched out to full length and just barely managed to catch the ball midair with the tip of his outstretched foot.

    Hradecky, Bayer Leverkusen''s goalkeeper had noticed Jason''s movement toote as he had been too preupied with keeping his eyes on the iing ball, and by the time he dived for the ball, it was toote as Jason had managed to direct it with his touch even while mid-air and the ball flew past the goalkeeper''s outstretched hands and snuggledfortably into the back of the.

    {GOAL!!!} Thementator shouted in excitement, but Jason had already flung himself to his feet and was already running towards the traveling fans in the stands with joy and excitement all over his face.

    As Jason ran to the sidelines, he didn''t have anything on his mind but out of the corner he noticed a rose that seemed to have been flung at him and he deftly caught it mid-air, not pausing mid-step and upon arriving before the fans, his body seemed to have been taken over by instinct as he did a charismatic bow before bringing the rose to his lips and giving it a kiss before blowing a kiss at the fans as well.

    It was an instinctual celebration and Jason didn''t know why he did it, but he was too full of joy to cafe and before he could think any further, his teammates arrived and surrounded him with hugs in celebration.

    {It''s here!} n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    {The dragons have stamped their authority and their youngest dragon has spread his wings dominantly over Leverkusen just minutes after leaving his nest!}

    {In a beautiful disy of strong will and hard-headedness, Porto have staged aeback in a game that seemed to have been all but lost, and right in the middle of their efforts and pulling all the right strings is the young debuting yer who finally has left his mark on the scoreboard in a debut that will be hard to forget}

    {With an impressive strike to put his team in the lead in the dying embers of the game, he has made the team relieved, their manager exuberant, and their fans joyous} Thementator shifted into a different gear ofmentary, his excitement spilling from his voice and serving as a catalyst for the joyous visiting fans to disy more of their joy while the home fans could only watch in silence and disappointment.

    At this point, they couldn''t even be bothered to cuss out Jason as they normally would. That was how much Jason''s performance had impressed them and they couldn''t help but wish that he yed for their team.

    With him on the wing and Kai Havertz in the middle, what a bliss it would be, they couldn''t help but imagine, but unfortunately that wasn''t the case.

    At this point, the Leverkusen yers couldn''t be bothered to hurry them up as the game was already all but over and the referee would most probably blow the final whistle immediately after the game resumed so there was no point in hurrying up the Porto team.

    The Porto team soon began to move back to their half, putting a halt to their celebrations for the time being but were going to get back into it as soon as the game ended which was just a few seconds away.

    Jason who had just been freed from the group hug walked off the pitch to the stands where the traivelling fans were seated and amidst the outstretched hands that he high-fived, he held out the rose to the young girl, Selina who was in the stands with her dad.

    Selina didn''t waste any time grabbing the rose from his hand and a beautiful smile appeared on her face as she collected the rose and waved wildly at Jason who was returning back to the pitch.

    Jason who was returning to the pitch saw her wave and waved back with a smile before turning away and jogging back to his team''s half of the field.

    With both teams back in their half, the game kicked off, but before the ball reached the yer that the pass was made to, the shrill sound of the referee''s whistle blew loudly to signify the end of the game and the visiting fans erupted in another round of excited cheers as their team had won the first leg of the round of 32, granting them an advantage in theing second leg.

    The Porto yers quickly began their second round of celebrations and waved to the fans.

    Jason as the yer making a debut and scoring the match-winner, was the focal point of their celebrations.

    Jason''s hair had been rubbed so many times that his hair that he tied up in a bun was already rough and just when he was thinking that he would have to untie and repack his hair, he heard a voice behind him.

    "Du warst im heutigen Spiel sehr beeindruckend," someone said in German behind him which prompted Jason to look behind.

    The words spoken by the person meant, "You were very impressive in today''s match," and Jason turned back to see the young prodigy called Kai Havertz just behind him.

    "Danke du warst auch seer beeindruckend," Jason responded back in German as well surprising Kai Havertz who hadn''t expected Jason to be able to speak German.

    Jason''s words meant "Thanks, you were very impressive as well,"

    Due to Jason having yed in various leagues around the world he was well versed in as many as eightnguages which included; English, Portuguese, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Japanese, and Yoruba.

    Despite not ying in any of the top leagues where any of thosenguages were spoken except Japan, he still had to learn thenguages to facilitatemunication between him and his teammates and that was helping him now.

    Kai Havertz had been quite surprised to hear Jason respond to him in German but he didn''t ask any questions concerning it despite his curiosity and simply shook hands with Jason as they made a bit of small talk before they went their separate ways.

 Chapter 80 Rest and Return

    Chapter 80 Rest and Return

    With the match over, the yers gradually began to go back to the locker room to clean up and change in preparation for leaving the stadium and Jason wanted to follow after them as well but was blocked by some reporters who had approached him for an interview. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Not minding an interview, Jason didn''t mind waiting around a bit to answer a few questions so he agreed to the interview.

    With a mic in his face, a female reporter from CBS who looked to be in her mid-twenties asked the first question,

    "You just had your debut,ing on in the 69th minute of the game and helping your team to stage aeback with an assist and a goal. What did you feel likeing into the game?"

    "Ahh, Not gonna lie, I was actually a bit nervousing into the game as it was a very important game," Jason said with a wry chuckle.

    "That''s why it took me a little while to get into afortable stride, but I''m happy I was able to help the team win the game and make our fans happy," he continued without a hint of nervousness even though this was his first interview in this life.

    "With your performance today, it''s not an exaggeration to say that you''ve impressed your team''s fans and probably some worldwide fans as well. Can we expect more of the same from you?" a second reporter who held a mic with the words ESPN boldly printed on it asked.

    "I hope so�� but one thing''s for sure, as long as the manager gives me a ce in the line-up I will do my best to help the team win games," Jason replied without a stutter.

    "You scored your first goal on your debut and I have to add that it was a very impressive goal, but I do have to point out that your jubtion stood out a lot to me as well. It''s quite a gentlemanly celebration that seems like it would tug at the heartstrings of a lot of female football fans around the world, don''t you think?" the first reporter asked another question.

    "I don''t know, haha," Jasonughed a bit.

    "To be fair, I don''t even know who threw the rose, but as soon as I caught it, I just did whatever came to mind and that was what happened. There''s not really a deep meaning to it or anything," Jason repliedughingly before telling them that he would not be answering any more questions and quickly walked away before they found another way to hold him back.

    With ast wave to the traveling Porto fans, Jason walked into the tunnel and began making his way to the team''s locker room.

    On the way to the locker room, he met Otavio who was holding the man of the match award as he also made his way to the locker room.

    Despite both of them having an assist and a goal during the match, Otavio ended up being named the man of the match over Jason, but Jason didn''t feel any negative emotions over this as he didn''t feel like it was something worth putting too much thought into, but overall, it was because he was too happy right now to care about something as little as that.

    He had finally gotten his debut and not only was it in a Europa League match which was quite impressive, but he had also helped his team to stage aeback and he had gotten his first goal and assist stat in his first game without even spending half an hour on the pitch, so how could he not be happy.

    He even congratted Otavio on the award.

    As Jason and Otavio entered their locker room, both of them shared high fives with the whole team as they were both the facilitators of the team''seback and they were praised by their teammates.

    Sergio Conceicao also came inter and even without him saying anything�� which he did, it could be seen by his facial expressions that he was happy with the team''s disy, especially with Jason.

    His gamble had paid off in full and then some.

    But not openly disying any partiality, he praised the whole team''s efforts and instructed them to quickly freshen up and pack up so that they could get a bit more time to rest tonight before heading back to Porto the following day.

    The yers followed the manager''s instructions and quickly prepared to depart.

    Their departure did not have as much fanfare as their arrival as they departed quietly and made their way to the Lindner Hotel Leverkusen BayArena where the yers had a quick dinner before trudging tiredly to their beds.

    The phenomenon of "being too excited to sleep" did not hold true for Jason as he fell asleep almost immediately after his body hit the bed, the mental and physical exhaustion finally catching up to him.

    ###

    Jason woke up a few minutes after 6 am, despite his phone rm not ringing as he was already used to waking up at that time.

    Getting out of bed with a yawn, he began to do a few yoga routines to help with his muscle exhaustion but even after doing Yoga for almost a full hour, his muscles still felt quite sore.

    ''There really is a difference between ying at the top level and ying below the top level,'' Jason wondered thoughtfully.

    He had only been on the field for just about twenty-five minutes which was not even up to a full half, yet he was this tired. It also needs to be said that he came onto the field when yers of the opposing team were already exhausted after ying for seventy minutes.

    ''It seems I still need to work on my stamina and also to streamline my ying style to use as little energy as possible,'' he decided, noting down the effects of his exhaustion that could have an adverse effect if left unchecked.

    A few minutester when Jason was already having his bathe and freshening up, Otavio woke up as well and started getting ready as well as the team would be heading back to Porto that morning.

    The team soon got ready and had a quick breakfast before heading to the airport to get on the ne back to Porto.

    On getting to Porto, the yers weren''t immediately dismissed and instead, headed to the CTFD Portogaia training center from the airport as they had a massage scheduled to help with the match recovery process.

 Chapter 81 Grocery Store Encounter

    Chapter 81 Grocery Store Encounter

    Thanks to the massage scheduled by the club for match recovery, Jason got to experience very soft female hands sensually caressing all over his aching muscles. There were advantages and disadvantages to getting a massage though; the good thing about the massage was that Jason felt that the tension in his muscles had eased considerably and that it wouldn''t be long before he was back to full match fitness.

    The bad thing was that being caressed sensually by beautiful women in the name of a massage had his blood flowing to all the wrong ces and that was a bit much for an eighteen-year-old virgin.

    Mentally speaking, Jason wasn''t a virgin as he had had his fair share of sex in his past life and he had enjoyed a lot of it, but ever since he came back to the past, Jason had put matters concerning the opposite sex to the back of his mind and fully focused on his football. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    This led to him not having had any sexual connections with a female ever since he came to this reality.

    In other words, Jason was a capital V for virgin.

    His lips were virgin lips, his hands were virgin hands�� his whole body was a virgin�� even his back hole was a virgin hole as he did not swing the other way.

    So now that he was being touched very sensually, it was quite normal for his teenage body to react "hornily"�� if there was such a word.

    Thus Jason had to spend a few minutes just sitting in ce while thinking up the most random thoughts in a bid to calm his raging "blood flow" as it was too embarrassing to walk around with a pole in between his legs that his sports attire did little to cover.

    Only after his blood flow had returned to a more normal state did he get up to leave the training ground as he had the rest of the day off.

    Of course, Jason was very tempted to stay back at the training ground and get a couple of training drills done, but after taking a few minutes to consider his physical condition, he decided to go back to rest.

    It would not be fun if overdid it and was not match fit for theing games or even worse�� If he got injured and was not able to take part in theing games.

    With those thoughts, he pulled his car keys out of his sports bag and headed to the car park where he had left his car.

    A few minutester, he was pulling out of his parking spot, heading out of the trainingplex, and heading back to his boarding, but he stopped at a grocery store on the way, intending to get some groceries so he could cook something up as it had been a while since he did any kitchen work.

    Since he had a day off that he believed was well deserved, then it was best if he did things that he enjoyed doing so that when he got back to the training ground on the following day, he''d be both physically and mentally rejuvenated.

    Driving into the parking lot of the grocery store, Jason got out of his car and headed into the store at a rxed pace. He picked a basket and began to pick out vegetables, fruits, and other ingredients that he nned to turn into a delicious dish when he got back to his apartment.

    In his ingredient-picking mood, he hummed a tune to himself while he forgot about his surroundings so he didn''t notice a group of young teenagers that consisted of four guys and three girls who seemed to be discussing animatedly when one of them nced at Jason a surprised look.

    "Hey, doesn''t that guy look familiar?" a ck-haired, sses-wearing guy who looked to be fifteen years of age, asked the other guys in the group while the girls also looked over at Jason whom the bespectacled guy was pointing at.

    "Oh shit," one of the guys in the group with a head full of brown hair muttered.

    "No fucking way, it''s him, that''s Jason Bolu, isn''t it?" another guy in the group who was also the only dark-skinned guy in the group spoke as well, recognizing Jason''s face.

    "I mean, he looks like him," the sses-wearing teenager who noticed Jason first replied to the third guy.

    "Who is he? Is he someone famous?" One of the three girls in the group couldn''t hold back her curiosity and finally asked after noticing the exaggerated looks that the boys in the group were giving the handsome stranger who was picking up groceries as any normal person would.

    "I don''t know if he''s famous, but he''s hot," One of the more outgoing girls in the group looked at Jason''s figure with ravenous eyes and licked her lips.

    Jason who wasn''t even aware of what was going on behind him suddenly shivered as it felt like he was being eyed by a ravenous wolf, but he quickly brushed it off and returned his focus to picking ingredients as there was no way anything in a grocery store could be dangerous unless of course if a zombie apocalypse were to happen.

    Even then he would be safe and would simply treat the zombies to a nice game of nts and zombies with all the seeds in the grocery store.

    The fourth guy in the group was typing in something on his phone before he finally stopped operating his phone, seemingly having found what he was looking for before holding out his phone to the girls,

    "I don''t know if you can call him famous as he has only just debuted for our team yesterday in the Europa League, but he''s good and he''s currently the young talent who everyone in Portugal is talking about," he said as he gave the girls his phone which was opened to the Sport TV home page and had Jason''s picture above the news headlines.

    The whole group looked at the fourth guy''s phone and saw the headlines on the Sport TV home page,

    "Young Porto yer leads his team to victory on his debut,"

    The girls in the group were not as fervent in following the Porto team despite being fans of the club as Porto residents, but even they knew that for a young yer''s name and face to be in the news, then the yer was definitely talented.

    �� Also, Jason''s picture that had been used for the headline picture was captured close up when he was blowing a kiss at the fans with a wink, thus Jason''s handsome visage and gesture that was quite romantic and heart-stirring along with the cameraman''s expertise in capturing the picture struck at the girls'' hearts and they instantly became fans of Jason despite not having too much knowledge about football.

    "Do you think, he''ll give us his autograph?" the bespectacled, ck-haired youth asked the others.

    "Who cares about his autograph, I want his contact details," the second girl muttered as she nced at Jason with a strange look in her eyes.

 Chapter 82 Awakening Repressed Instincts

    Chapter 82 Awakening Repressed Instincts

    Jason had been surprised when a group of teenagers hade up to him asking for his autograph, but he had obliged and signed his autograph on their clothes and books.

    One of the girls was a bit freaky and had asked him for his phone number and even asked him to sign on weird parts of her body and when Jason had refused, she had asked him to sign on her bra.

    At that point, Jason had just put a finger on her lips to shush her while looking at her intently, his sapphire-like eyes almost glowing while he smoothly signed on the corner of her shirt.

    It was a tactic he used to use in his past life''s reality whenever he needed to shush a female from talking and it always worked, though the version he used on the young female fan was a very watered-down version as the original version usually ended up with him and whichever female he had used it on, waking up in a bed together after an "eventful" night.

    One thing to note was that he had never tried using it for any males though.

    After giving them his autograph, Jason tried to return to picking his ingredients but themotion caused by the teenagers that had gone up to him had caused other people to notice him, and more people began to appear and ask for his autograph, handshakes, pictures and all sorts of things.

    Jason who was quite new to the fame, did his best to cater to all the fans as he was literally going to be free for the whole day, but by the time he was able to free himself, pick up the rest of the ingredients he needed and go to pay for what he had picked up, while also giving an autograph to the cashier and taking a selfie with her, more than an hour had passed since he went into the grocery store.

    "I guess this is what they call instant fame," Jason muttered as he pushed the button to start his car.

    ''It seems I''ll have to start disguising myself whenever Ie out now,'' he thought to himself, but he couldn''t deny that he liked the attention that he was receiving from people after just one match.

    This reinforced his will to y better and put out more delightful performances that would help his team win games while he advanced on his path to his goals.

    The fans and money that came with his progress were a very wee bonus in his opinion.

    With nothing left that he wanted to do outside, Jason headed to his apartment, cruising the streets, the sleek futuristic design of his car garnering interested nces wherever he drove by, but Jason didn''t care about that and continued driving.

    On reaching his house, Jason drove into the parking lot, got out, and went into the house, throwing his sports bag onto the couch and immediately taking the groceries to the kitchen. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    After storing the things he would not be using immediately, Jason began cooking.

    Lately, he had found himself craving the Japanese foods that he used to eat in his past life when he yed in the J1 league, so today he was going to be cooking some ramen for himself.

    After washing his hands and putting on kitchen gloves, Jason transformed into a god of the kitchen, his hands moving dexterously as he prepared all the raw materials and began the process of turning, flour, eggs, pork, etc., into a bowl of Spicy miso pork ramen.

    "Ittadakimasu," he muttered before he began to slurp down his masterpiece, only stopping after he was done.

    The sweat on his face as put his bowl down despite the air-conditioned room indicated that he may have made the miso broth a bit too spicy, and he could only me his Yoruba genes that would not feelfortable if there wasn''t enough pepper inside his food.

    He could ignore it most times since there were not many countries that could cope with the levels of spiciness that his Yoruba genes demanded, but whenever he had to cook for himself, he always made sure to make sure that nobody but him and his only family member, as well as a few other "real men" who were impervious to that level of spiciness, could touch his food.

    He quickly stood up and went to wash all the dishes and ingredients that he had used in preparing the meal because he knew that with how heavy he was feeling, he would be asleep within minutes if he wasn''t doing something so he wanted to get the dishes done before hey in the bosom of the goddess of sleep.

    After doing the dishes, hey on the couch, turned on the TV, and switched it to the sports channel but before ten minutes passed by, he was already breathing peacefully with his eyes closed, his consciousness long gone.

    When Jason''s finally consciousness began to return, he felt someone''s hand on him that seemed to be patting him up and down.

    With his mind still groggy, his instinct took over and his left arm smoothly grasped the arm that was on his body.

    Immediately his arm grasped the hand that was patting him, his mind was able to simte the position of the person patting him down, and his right arm flew out and mmed into the person''s chest before he stood up and using the person''s arm as a pivot, Jason threw the person over his back and mmed the person into the ground.

    In between throwing the person over his shoulder and mming him into the ground, Jason''s consciousness finally awakenedpletely, but that didn''t stop him from following through with the smackdown he was doing.

    Safety first, ask questionster�� was one of his mottos as a member of the dark-skinned species of humans.

    With the person who was tapping him downpletely subdued, Jason finally looked at the person''s face and was stunned beyond words,

    "Mylo?"

    "What the fu*k were you doing?" Jason asked in surprise.

 Chapter 83 A Long-coming Quarrel

    Chapter 83 A Longing Quarrel

    "Mylo?"

    "What the fu*k were you doing?" Jason asked in surprise, but didn''t take his foot over Mylo''s shoulder and he still held on to Mylo''s arm.

    "?rrrgh, fuck, that hurts bro," Mylo groaned in pain as Jason''s sudden chain of reactions that ended up with him experiencing a real-life WWE smackdown had stunned and hurt him.

    "That doesn''t answer my question, Mylo," Jason replied, his face darkening as he stared more intently at Mylo, his eyes seemingly glowing due to the reflection of light and scaring the living daylights out of Mylo.

    "Let my hand go first, it hurts too much," Mylo barely breathed out.

    Jason paused to think about it for a bit but decided to release Mylo as he didn''t want to cause any injuries to him and from their previous encounter, he already knew that there was not much Mylo could do to harm him physically. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Thus Jason released Mylo''s arm and stepped back, allowing him to get up.

    Mylo got up while rubbing his shoulder and eyeing Jason suspiciously before asking,

    "Hey�� you wouldn''t happen to be from Wakanda, would you?" Mylo asked with his eyes squinted in heavy suspicion.

    "... What?" It took a few seconds for Jason''s brain to boot up and realize the absurdness of the question before he reacted in surprise and confusion.

    "What the hell was with that crazy assassin-type reaction, bruh, I was scared for my life," Mylo burst out, still very suspicious.

    ".. Oh, that was just martial arts," Jason shrugged as if it wasn''t a big deal and for him, it kind of wasn''t.

    Back in his previous reality, he had done many physical exercises and sports to try to improve on specific physical attributes of his body.

    One of the things he had taken on was martial arts and this was done to improve his physicality, his reflexes, and his flexibility.

    ording to his teachers, he supposedly had quite a lot of talent in this aspect as he was able to learn Muay-Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the master level in as little as five years.

    However since he came into this reality, he had put all those things aside and not bothered learning any new martial arts, but due to continually training his body physically and the asional practice of his martial arts techniques, his skills hadn''t deteriorated at all and had in fact gotten better as he was currently more physically fit than he was back then.

    When Jason started learning martial arts in his previous reality, he was already over thirty years of age and had already suffered numerous injuries while ying football, especially in his legs, so it was supposed to be impossible for him to reach the master level, yet he did it and in a very short time too.

    So now that he was back in the past with a much younger body that hadn''t been wrecked by countless injuries, he was way better than he ever was in his past life.

    If any professional martial artist knew of his prowess, they would no doubt think that he was a prodigy and would try to pull him into the world of martial arts, but Jason wanted to be a football legend and not a martial arts legend.

    But that was currently not the matter at hand and Jason pulled himself out of his errant thoughts and repeated his question, his patience with Mylo waning quickly.

    "You still haven''t told me what you were trying to do, patting me down like that?" he asked with an impassive face, but his voice had gotten noticeably lower and harder.

    "Oh, I was just looking for something and wondering if you had it on you," Mylo finally answered Jason''s question.

    "Hmmm?��" Jason''s eyebrow rose in confusion for a second before doubtful understanding shone through his eyes the next second.

    "... This ''something'' you''re looking for wouldn''t happen to be a BMW i8 car key, would it?" Jason asked, not wanting to believe his own words.

    "Yeah, that was what I was looking for, I need the keys if I''m going to drive the car out," Mylo replied, feeling like Jason''s tone was a bit odd, but he didn''t care too much about it.

    "Ohhh?" Jason wowed in awe, absolutely stunned by Mylo''s audacity.

    Call him old school, but in his previous reality, when he was around Mylo''s age, he wouldn''t dare to do something like this and neither would anyone else of his age, as any such audacious behavior would have long been driven out of them with their parents'' belts and slippers in the name of an ass whooping.

    They wouldn''t even have to do this much before they were absolutely terminated.

    Yet in this new reality, the behavior of the so-called "gen-z" always threw him off, but that wasn''t the current matter at hand as it was his roommate''s annoying behavior that he needed to address.

    "... So, you were looking for ''my'' car keys and when you couldn''t find them, you decided to search for them inside my pockets just cause I was sleeping?" Jason asked, his tone incredulous.

    "Not to mention, Mylo, you''re seventeen�� you''re not even legally allowed to drive!" Jason stated, his tone incredulous.

    "Why you always gotta be so extra man, just gimme the damn keys," Mylo responded a bit annoyed by Jason''s tone, his mind unable to fathom why Jason sounded so surprised.

    "No, I''m not gonna give you my keys so you can go get yourself into trouble or even get into an ident," At this point, Jason wasn''t even focusing on Mylo''s attitude, he just didn''t want the idiot to harm himself with his stupid behavior�� also if that bastard crashed his car, Jason would probably kill Mylo himself before he made his dead body pay for the damages.

    "Fuck off man, don''t tell me what to do�� It''s just a damn car!" Mylo fired back, his tone aggressive and he stormed off.

    The door mmed a few secondster, letting Jason know that Mylo had left the house in anger, but Jason couldn''t be bothered to care.

    "Maybe it''s time I moved into a new house," he muttered to himself as he sat back down on the couch.

 Chapter 84 An Apology

    Chapter 84 An Apology

    **22nd February 2020**

    Jason stepped out of his car with his sports bag on his shoulder and he headed towards the locker room of the CTFD Portogaia training center, locking the doors of his vehicle with the push of a button.

    After his argument with Mylo the day before, Mylo had left the apartment and had note back until the early hours of the next morning but Jason was already asleep by then.

    Jason as usual woke up to clothes that did not belong to either of the inhibitors of the apartment, but he didn''t care about it as he did his own thing, quickly preparing a smoked salmon sandwich that would serve as a light breakfast before taking his things and heading out to the trainingplex.

    As Jason walked to the locker room in a bid to change into his training gear, a lot of things swirled across his mind.

    After the argument with Mylo and not wanting to bear with Mylo''s behavior, Jason had already decided to move out of the apartment that the club had allocated for him for the trial period.

    The club hadn''t said anything about wanting him to vacate the premises but with the way things were going between him and Mylo, they wouldn''t need to say anything.

    The only problem was that while Jason had settled into his routine of training and matches, he had not really made much progress in other things like exploring the streets of Porto and getting to know more about the ce itself.

    He hadn''t had the time to do any such thing when his major focus had been on trying to crack the team''s line-up all this while so he had been too busy focusing on his training to do anything else and even the little he knew was because of him looking for ces to eat as well as the walks he had gone on with Sofia, otherwise the only ces in Porto he would be the Estadio do Dragao and the CTFD Portogaia trainingplex.

    In this kind of situation, he should have left this kind of thing to his agent but that was another problem for Jason who didn''t have an agent.

    There was no way in hell that Jason would have hired Rico Gz as his long-standing agent after the sh*t he had pulled during Jason''s signing process with the club so he didn''t have an agent as well.

    Since there was no way he would involve the club in this kind of a situation and he didn''t want to ask for Rafael''s help, then the onus fell on him to find a new living space.

    Luckily his ount bnce had gotten a lot healthier after a few weeks of wages had been deposited and had a more healthy shade with more greens so it wouldn''t be hard for him to afford a new ce right now.

    As for when he would have time to go look for a house, he could only hope he would have some time to get to it in theing days.

    He also needed to intensify his efforts to look for an agent as well, he couldn''t be doing all this menial work by himself so it would be best to get someone that would help him share his burdens.

    These were all the thoughts that swirled across Jason''s mind as he changed into his training and marched onto the field.

    The atmosphere around Jason at the training ground that day was noticeably different than before and the yers who usually made it into the senior team line-up seemed to regard him with more respect than before.

    Even the club staff were more enthusiastic around Jason and were always willing to help Jason with his drills, even if all he needed was for them to help him set up cones or fetch the ball.

    Jason was a bit stunned at first at such a change in treatment, but he couldn''t say that he didn''t like what was happening, yet despite this, he didn''t let it get to his head as he had only yed one match and if he let such a treatment get to his head and he fell off the wagonter, people''s opinion about him would change negatively then as well.

    Thus Jason didn''t dare to reduce his workload and even increased it now that a few more people were helping him to make the best use of his time and increase his efficiency.

    By the time Jason decided to end his training and leave the training grounds, he had been able to get more training done throughout that day than he had ever done on previous days.

    Saying his goodbyes and appreciative words to the technical staff members who helped him with his training Jason went to clean up and left the trainingplex.

    On his way back to the apartment, Jason branched at the Miami restaurant to eat something as he did not think he had enough energy to cook anything after the amount of training he had been able to do that day.

    After a hearty but healthy meal, Jason finally headed home to get some rest as he had to keep up his training intensity so that the manager would always have him in his thoughts for theing games. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Due to Shoya Nakajima''s injury in thest match, he''d be out ofmission for at least a month so a spot had currently opened up in the line-up and even though it wasn''t a spot in the starting line-up, it was still better than nothing at all.

    With his performance in thest match, the manager would think of him as a good option, especially now that the team currentlycked yers in that position so he was going to do his best to fill that spot.

    He felt bad for his injured teammate but Jason wouldn''t give up such a chance and was already looking to steal one of the starting lineup spots.

    He didn''t have the time to care about how anybody else felt on his path, especially when it was the feelings of his teammates who yed a simr position to his.

    Jason finally reached his apartment a few minutes before 9 pm and surprisingly met Mylo in the living room.

    Jason muttered a greeting and was going to walk past without saying another word when he suddenly heard Mylo speak,

    "Uh�� I thought about what happened yesterday and realized that you deserve an apology,"

    "I shouldn''t have burst out like that when I was obviously the one at fault for trying to take your keys without your permission,"

    "It was wrong�� and I apologize," Mylo let out a string of words that had Jason halting his steps and looking at Mylo all surprised.

    "Did you just apologize?" Jason asked in surprise.

    "Yes, I''m sorry," Mylo responded, confused at Jason''s surprised look.

    "... Oh, wow�� Uhm, apology epted," Jason finally said after a pause, surprised that Mylo would apologize so quickly and wondering what had caused this sudden apology, but still epting the apology anyway as he would choose peace over conflict any day.

    Mylo''s apology wasn''t going to make him change his decision to leave the apartment anyway, but Mylo didn''t need to know that.

 Chapter 85 Incoming Outbreak

    Chapter 85 Iing Outbreak

    The following days that led up to the next match were filled with training and more training for Jason and his efforts were rewarded when the manager put his name in the line-up. It wasn''t a position in the starting line-up, but it was good enough for Jason as these kinds of things took time.

    The manager wouldn''t just pick him over more established yers at the club just because he had performed well in just one game�� actually, the manager could if he had a bias towards the yer, but Sergio Conceicao wasn''t that kind of manager.

    Sergio Conceicao would not just put Jason in the team regardless of the other yers'' opinions as this could easily cause dissent in the team which was not good for the yers'' morale and the team''s chemistry.

    More importantly, the yers currently in the line-up had already disyed performances thatmanded a ce in the team and just removing them from the line-up just to put in Jason who only had a single game under his belt was not exactly a well-calcted move.

    Rather it would be more apt to call it a risky move and Jason may not perform at the required level which could cause the team to lose games.

    For a manager whose happiness and sess depended on good results, there was no way he would make such a move.

    The team was already established and Jason had a lot more to do before he could be handed a ce in the starting line-up.

    Therefore, in theing future, Jason would at moste off the bench and have a few minutes to make an impact in the game and if he continued to pull out performances like thest match, then it wouldn''t be long before he could earn himself a ce in the starting line-up.

    **23 February 2020**

    The team bus came to a stop just outside the entrance into the stadium meant for the yers and other members of the staff, but the surrounding areas were filled with fans who were being held back by security and a few railings that had been arranged there to keep away the crowd.

    The yers came down from the bus and headed into the stadium while not forgetting to wave at the crowd. Jason came out as well with his sports bag slung over his shoulder and his headphones over his ear, his face a mask of seriousness as he headed into the stadium.

    He also stopped to wave at the fans a bit, but he noticed something, the amount of fans didn''t seem to be as much as there usually was. There wasn''t really that much of a difference, but Jason was usually sensitive to things like this and his gut was telling him that the amount of fans present wasn''t as much as they usually were, and he understood why.

    What else could it be other than COVID-19?

    This was the year of the outbreak and while it had not been ssified as a pandemic outbreak by the WHO in this timeline yet, the way it was spreading was a little too fast for people to not take notice of it, thus the more cautious people were already avoiding crowded areas hence the slight drop in the number of fans present at the stadium.

    Of course, the majority of people still did not care and some people did not even believe that there was such a disease, nor did they believe that it could be spread as quickly as they were told or that it was even that deadly so they continued with their daily lives.

    Of course, Jason was not among them as he knew what wasing and he was already taking precautions as it would be very embarrassing for a reincarnator/time-traveler like himself to die of COVID-19 before he could fulfill his dreams and reach the top of the world.

    If his fellow reincarnators heard of it, he would never live it down in the afterlife.

    That was why at this point, he was already wearing a nose mask at almost every moment and washing his hands at any opportunity he got.

    This got him raised eyebrows from a lot of people, especially Mylo and the guys at the club, but he didn''t care to exin and simply continued with what he was doing as he knew that they would also have heard of the disease and the basic steps to avoid contacting it.

    If they then decided not to follow the precautions, that was their business and not his, he was not some saint of justice that would keep poking his nose into people''s business when they were the ones that stood to gain all the benefits from his intervention.

    If they could not make efforts to ensure their own safety, he wasn''t going to do it for them�� he wasn''t even going to speak as it could lead to an argument and Jason had already had enough of conflicts.

    Right now, the only thing that bothered Jason was the issue of him trying to change his living location.

    Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, he could basically conclude that the streets were no longer as safe as he would like to think and since he was currently doing his best to avoid contracting the disease, then there was no way he would expose himself while looking for a new ce to live.

    Even worse was his looking for an agent as he knew that picking an agent was not something he could rush, otherwise, what if he ended up with an agent that was crazier than Rico Gz?

    He wouldn''t even know where to cry.

    At this point, it seemed that there was only one path forward. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Since the COVID lockdown was inevitable and it was looking less than likely that he would be able to move out of the apartment he shared with Mylo before the lockdown began, then it was probably better if he shifted his attention to preparing for how he could coast through the lockdown without dying of boredom and still be able to continue his training.

    After all, he had alreadypleted his major objective of joining the team before the lockdown began and he had even gone a step further and was already almost a part of the starting line-up.

 Chapter 86: Porto vs Portimonense I

    Chapter 86: Porto vs Portimonense I

    Preparing for the COVID lockdown was currently a major agenda in Jason��s mind, but it still came second to other more important things in his mind, one of which was the uing match so he put away his errant thoughts and decided to focus on the match.

    He could get back to his internal debate after the match.

    Thus Jason quickly hurried his steps to the locker room and changed into his match gear and jersey, before putting on a training vest over his jersey and putting on a bib over the vest.

    He headed out to the field immediately after for the warm-up drills along with the rest of the team before heading back into the locker room after about thirty minutes for the tactical meeting.

    They had already been informed of the starting line-up for the match when they were still doing some pre-match training back at the CTFD Portogaia trainingplex earlier whichprised of;

    Augustin Marchesin (GK)

    Pepe, Chancel Mbemba (CBs)

    Alex Telles (LB), Sergio Olivera (RB) Danilo Pereira (CDM), Matheus Uribe (CM)

    Luiz Diaz (LM), Otavio (RM)

    Tiquiniho Soares, Vincent Aboubakar (STs)

    As expected, Jason wasn��t in the starting line-up, but there was a high chance that he would be substituted onter on in the match as the coach would probably think that he was on form after his performance in thest hope.

    Jason was counting on that and hoped the manager looked his way during the match.

    After the tactical meeting, the yers marched out of the locker room, those in the starting line-up heading to the tunnel to await their cue while the bench yers, the other club staff and the manager went to the team��s space on the sidelines.

    At 8:30 the referee blew the whistle to start the match and the match between FC Porto and Portimonense kicked off.

    Jason watched the match from the sidelines with wishful eyes, wondering when he could also be part of the starting line-up.

    The match between Porto and Portimonense got off to a quick start when Portimonense somehow got through the Porto defense and scored first.

    It happened when Chancel Mbemba stepped out of his defensive line to try to intercept a pass but somehow missed leaving a hole in the defense and a Portimnense midfielder capitalized on his mistake and chipped the ball over Chancel Mbemba and sent a lobbed pass to the Portimonense striker who controlled the ball with his chest before letting into his path.

    From there he sent a blitzing shot at the goal that Augustin Marchesin was no match for and gave his team the lead.

    Sergio Coneicao was stunned, the yers were stunned, the fans were stunned, but the Portimonense yers didn��t care and went off to the sidelines to celebrate.

    Despite his team going behind, Sergio Conceicao didn��t do much more than shouting at his yers to refrain from repeating such a mistake.

    He sustained the belief that his team could still get something for the game and it was also quite early in the game so there was no need for him to lose hisposure over something so little.

    As soon as the match kicked off again, the Porto team quickly took control of the game, dictating the game��s pace and giving the Portimonense team no chance to build anything off the momentum of their goal.

    They didn��t just stop there, they also pressed hard and took the game to the Portimonense team, pushing them back into their half until all the Portimonense team could do was defend.

    Their attacking endeavour finally paid off in the 35th minute.

    The Portimonense team had stolen possession of the ball and tried to stage a counter attack but before the could go far, they lost the ball. The Porto team quickly took advantage of the space opened up by the Portimonense when they tried tounch the counter and Otavio sent a ball to Tiquiniho Soares.

    Tiquiniho Soares received the ball a few yards away from the penalty area, pushed past his marker and then sent the ball into the path of Vincent Aboubakar.

    Vincent Aboubakar ran after the ball while holding off his marker until he received the pass and charged into the Portimonense penalty area and sent the ball past the goalkeeper to give his team the equalizer.

    With both teams level, they both tried to get a goal to get themselves into the lead, but until the whistle that signaled the end of the first half, the goal just wouldn��te and they walked off the field for a much needed fifteen-minute break.

    In the locker room, Sergio Conceicao did his job as a manager and instructed the yers on how to take advantages of the weaknesses in the opponents formation.

    He gave each yer specific instructions that should help them y better.

    He also did not forget tomend the yers who had been doing well out on the pitch, while also admonishing the ones whose performances still left a bit to be desired.

    By the time the fifteen minutes was over, he sent them back to the pitch, not having made any changes to the line-up yet.

    The second half resumed shortly after and before long it became obvious that Sergio Conceicao was the better manager between him and the Portimonense manager.

    A few minutes after the second half resumed, the Porto team had pushed the Portimonense team so far back that they were barely managing to just hold the Porto team just outside their penalty area, but they couldn��t keep it up for long as in the 50th minute of the game which was just five minutes after the second half started, the Porto team found the back of the with a beautiful headed goal.

    Otavio had spotted Vincent Aboubakar making a run inside the Portimonense penalty area and had sent the a cross in his direction.

    Vincent Aboubakar had jumped above everyone else in Portimonense penalty area to catch the header and had sent it past the keeper��s gloves, putting his team in the lead, sending the whole stadium into a frenzy.

 Chapter 87: Estadio do Dragao Debut I

    Chapter 87: Estadio do Dragao Debut I

    With Vincent Aboubakar bringing the score of the game to 2 : 1 with Porto having two while Portimonense had one, the bnce of the game had shifted.

    Portimonense no longer dared to y cautious football and sent their yers out in an effort to try to bring the game back to level terms but that ended up having the opposite effect than what they had been looking for.

    Just five minutes after the Porto team finally took the lead for the first time in the match, the Porto team had found another opportunity.

    They had been pushing for an attack despite the Portimonense team��s ferocity which was a result of going behind and they had finally managed to get the ball back into the Portimonense half, but they were finding it difficult to get into the Portimonense penalty box with the Portimonense team��s aggressive defending.

    In the end, Mattheus Uribe decided to take a risk and send the ball forward to Tiquiniho Soares and by luck, the ball managed to reach the striker, but as the striker tried to get past his marker, his marker grabbed onto Tiquiniho��s shirt and pulled, bringing the striker to the ground.

    *Fweeeeee*

    The referee��s whistle quickly blew to signify a foul as the referee ran up to the yer who fouled and showed him a yellow card.

    The Porto attack had been stopped but they now had a free-kick just outside the right side in front of the Portimonense penalty area. As the team��s dead ball specialist, Alex Telles stood over the free-kick, and with the referee blowing his whistle, he ran up to the ball, arched his body, and swung his left foot at the ball.

    Courtesy of Alex Telles��s foot hitting the ball, the ball smoothly took off the ground, whizzed just over the wall, and headed for the top left corner of the Portimonense goal.

    The Portimonense goalkeeper saw iting, ran for the ball, and made a dive but somehow still fell short of the ball that swooshed past his outstretched hand and into the back of the.

    {Goal!!!}

    {3 : 1}

    {The Portuguese wingback has once again showed us what he��s good at, what he��s known for, and how he delivers}

    {Beautiful curler, absolutely inescapable, and it found the top corner} Thementator��s voice served as the backdrop for the noise from the fans that filled the stadium as their team cemented their lead.

    The yers also took their sweet time celebrating their goal and only returned after the referee��s continuous urging for the game to resume y.

    The game soon resumed with the Portimonense team kicking off and unlike theplete loss of morale from going two goals behind that everyone was expecting, the Portimonense team still seemed willing to fight to gain something from the game.

    They applied pressure on the Porto team and sent the ball and their yers forward in a bid to get a goal that would bring them closer to an equalizer, but the Porto team wasn��t nning on just letting them have their way.

    Unfortunately, the Portimonense team��s determination to get a goal was a bit more than the Porto yers expected and they soon found the opportunity they were looking for from a thunderous shot from their striker just outside the Porto penalty area that found the top corner despite Augustin Marchesin��s attempts to deter the Portimonense team.

    {Goalll!!! 3 : 2 }

    {Could Portimonense have something here?} Thementator asked a question that was up to the Portimonense team��s yers to answer.

    On the sidelines, Sergio Conceicao turned to the bench and called out to Jason and Wilson Manafa to begin warming up.

    Jason and Wilson didn��t waste any time jumping off the bench and began doing warm-up routines to warm up their muscles for the game.

    Thus while the Portimonense team was celebrating their goal, Jason and Wilson were warming up while listening to the manager��s instructions for them.

    Mattheus Uribe would being off for Wilson Manafa and Wilsoon would be swapping positions with Sergio Olivera who was previously in the right-back position.

    Jason on the other hand would being on for Otavio.

    After the substitutions, the match kicked off in the 67th minute with Porto in possession of the ball, but the Portimonense team, emboldened by their goal pressed hard, doing their utmost best to steal possession from the Porto team.

    Unfortunately for Portimonense, Porto was a top-flight team that wouldn��t so easily crack under the pressure and instead began disying just as much of a better performance as the increasing pressure that they were being attacked by.

    They kept possession with smooth passes and good off-the-ball movement.

    The ball went from Danilo Perreira to Sergio Oliveira and then Sergio Oliveira sent the ball to Luiz Diaz who with one touch of the ball, escaped his marker before sending the ball to Vincent Aboubakar.

    Not seeing any space to move through, Vincent Aboubakar sent the ball back to Sergio Oliveira in midfield and Oliveira sent the ball to the right side of the field where the ball was brought under control by Wilson Manafa with his chest before sending the ball that was still mid-air to Jason.

    With a smooth flick of the ball, Jason made use of the fact that the ball was already off the ground to flick the ball over his marker that was behind him before turning around to catch the ball while his marker slipped due to a loss of footing from the sudden change in direction.

    Even though there was enough space for Jason to make a run at the Portimonense, he chose to send a long cross-field pass toward the left side of the penalty area where he had seen Luiz Diaz making an inside run.

    The ball flew just over everyone in its path before dipping inside the left side of the Portimonense penalty area.

    The Portimonense yers thought the ball would end up either in the hand of their keeper or out of y Luiz Diaz suddenly appeared behind their defensive line and jumped to catch the ball mid-air with his foot in a disy of inhuman body and ball control.

    Though they were stunned at the sudden appearance of the Porto winger behind their defensive line, they were professionals for a reason and quickly gave chase, but Luiz Diaz was already too close to the goal and already had the ball under control.

    The next second, he was already swinging his leg and sending the ball past the goalkeeper.

 Chapter 88: Estadio do Dragao Debut II

    Chapter 88: Estadio do Dragao Debut II

    *CLANG*

    The ball clipped off the right post and rolled out of y surprising everyone in the stadium who were already looking at the scoreboard to see the change in number from 3 to 4.

    Jason had his hands over his head as he saw the ball roll out of y and could not help but look at Luiz Diaz in disappointment, but the culprit had his hands over his face in disbelief at his own actions and did not dare to look back just yet.

    Seeing Luiz Diaz who didn��t dare to look back, Jason��s eyebrows twitched and he turned away while adjusting his gloves.

    Jason wasn��t the only one who was disappointed with Diaz��s stunning miss.

    The other yers on the field, the fans, and even the managers of the two teams couldn��t believe their eyes either.

    Actually, it was more apt to say that, the Portimonense manager couldn��t believe his luck while Sergio Conceicao couldn��t believe his eyes and it took all he had to reduce his disappointed gesture to just covering his eyes with his right palm.

    The Portimonense team��s goalkeeper collected a ball from one of the ball boys and quickly took the goal kick, putting an end to the disappointed actions on the pitch and reminding the Porto yers that they still had a game to y. The yers of both teams jumped for the ball and y continued.

    The Portimonense team increased their efforts and did their best to try to find a goal to put them back on level terms with the Porto team, but the Porto team still wasn��t showing any signs of buckling under the pressure and instead took the fight to them.

    Soon the Porto team found another opportunity in the 82nd minute with Jason cutting in from the right side of the Portimonense penalty area.

    One of the Portimonense defenders was charging at Jason from behind to see if he could sneakily tackle Jason but Jason was already aware of his actions so when the yer arrived beside Jason suddenly shifted his body and pushed the ball through the space between the yer��s outstretched legs but this caused him to change direction and he was no longer facing the goal but rather seemed like he would run out of y by the side of the post.

    The yer that Jason had just gotten past did not feel embarrassed and continued chasing after Jason as it seemed like he could still stop Jason since Jason was out of options in his view.

    Just like he thought, Jason made it as if to cross the ball across the goal and the defender immediately lunged into a tackle and blocked the path of the ball but to his surprise, Jason faked the pass and pulled the ball back.

    The yer could only watch in surprise and embarrassment as he slid out of Jason��s path.

    With the path for a pass clear, Jason sent the ball into the path of the approaching Luiz Diaz as there were other defenders that would hold him back if he tried to dribble through.

    The ball rolled into Luiz Diaz��s path and he arched his body, trying to chip the ball over the Portimonense goalkeeper who was already out of his goal line anding for the ball, but as Luiz Diaz swung his leg at the ball, he suddenly slipped and to his utter dismay, kicked the ball in the awkward position of falling down.

    Needless to say, the ball flew in apletely different direction from the intended target and Jason had to duck to avoid the ball that shot at his face.

    {Another chance missed. Luiz Diaz has bottled yet another chance to help his team cement their lead. He seems to have worn his fashion boots to the stadium and left his shooting boots back at home} Thementator didn��t care for the fact that Diaz had slipped and shouted hismentary, his tone full of derision.

    This time, Luiz Diaz could not avoid Jason looking at him in annoyance and giving him the stink eye, or better known in Nigerian terms as ��the bombastic side eye��, or ��the criminal offensive side eye��.

    Even the Porto fans at the stadium were groaning in annoyance at Luiz Diaz who was wasting chance upon chance at giving the team an increased advantage and piling up their goal difference.

    Despite Jason��s annoyance, he still walked up to Luiz Diaz and gave him his hand to pull Luiz Diaz up,

    ��You alright?�� Jason asked as he pulled Luiz Diaz up.

    ��Yeah�� Sorry,�� Luiz Diaz muttered an apology in broken Portuguese.

    ��It��s alright, you��ll score next time�� or next match,�� Jason replied with a littleugh as they headed back out of the Portimonense penalty box.

    ��I hope it��s this match,�� Luiz Diaz said with a littleugh of his own as they high-fived before going back to their positions.

    The Portimonense goalkeeper took the goal kick and sent the ball into the middle of the field.

    As usual, the yers of both teams jumped for the ball but this time it was Portimonense that got their head to the ball and they quickly sent the ball back to their defense in a bid to retain possession.

    After being in possession for about a minute, the Portimonense began to slowly move upfield with the ball, still intent on getting an equalizing goal.

    The Portimonense team suddenly burst on the attack surprising the Porto team by sending all their attackers forward and sending the ball after them. The ball soon reached the right side of the penalty box and it was apanied by the Portimonense right winger who sent the ball into the Porto penalty box.

    The Portimonense striker out-leaped everyone else in the Porto box to reach the ball and directed the ball towards the Porto goal, but Augustin Marchesin was up to it and pushed the ball over the crossbar, giving the Portimonense team a corner instead of the goal they wanted so badly.

    The Portimonense team��s yers quickly arranged themselves in the Porto penalty area for the corner kick and the Portimonense yer who stood over the ball sent the ball into the penalty box.

    The yers of both teams jumped for the ball, but it was Pepe who got his head to the ball and sent the ball flying into the midfield where Jason and Luiz Diaz were waiting for an opportunity to counter.

    With the balling at them, they nced at each other and made their intentions known to each other in just that nce.

    Luiz Diaz immediately turned and took off while Jason waited and trapped the iing ball before turning and sending the ball into the path of Luiz Diaz who was already running down the left wing.

    After sending the ball at Diaz, Jason also took off and started running toward the Portimonense penalty area at top speed.

    The few Portimonense defenders who were outside the Porto penalty area at the time of the corner kick quickly gave chase, not intending to let Diaz make it all the way to their team��s penalty area, but in doing this, they forgot to pay attention to Jason who wasing from behind.

    Running at his top speed, Jason soon arrived beside Luiz Diaz but in the middle of the field and Diaz quickly sent the ball forward into his path.

    Jason increased his pace and chased after the ball, just managing to reach the ball before it entered the penalty area, but the goalkeeper was already off his line and almost close enough to lunge for the ball.

    Jason didn��t waste any time to take a second touch and quickly sent a curling ball under the goalkeeper��s left armpit with a first-time shot.

    The ball flew past the goalkeeper and into the back of the.

    Jason watched the ball go in before taking off to the sidelines to jubte, kissing his right and left palms before stopping and spreading his arms wide as if to hug the crowd that was screaming loudly in excitement.

    There was a huge smile on his face that showed his happiness in full disy to the fans.

 Chapter 89: An Interesting Encounter...

    Chapter 89: An Interesting Encounter...

    Chapter 89: An Interesting Encounter��

    {He��s done it! He��s done it!}

    {His first game in the home colors and he��s put his foot down on solid ground with a wonderful disy of a goal!}

    {He did itst match in Leverkusen and now he��s brought this performance back home with a goal that will have him worming his way into the hearts of the most staunch of Porto fans}

    {What a talent! What a disy of skill and pace! Whatposure! What a goal!}

    {We might just be witnessing the genesis of a yer whose name will shock the world in the years toe}

    Thementator would not stop talking in excitement and his infectious voice was spreading waves of excitement in the stadium.

    Luiz Diaz was the first to arrive beside Jason and he jumped on him from behind, causing Jason to pause his celebration and hold him before he pulled both of them to the ground in his excitement, but then the other yers arrived and the celebrations continued for a few more seconds.

    By the time the match kicked off again, it was obvious that the Portimonense team was defeated both mentally and literally and the match ended with the score at 4 �C 2. Jason joined the team in waving to the fans and doing a few celebratory routines as he was very happy that he was able to win his first game wearing the team��s home colors at the Estadio do Dragao.

    With his performance in the match, his game time in theing games was already most likely ensured, even if he was only toe on from the bench.

    It would take the manager to have a hole in his brain for him not to y Jason in theing games and Jason didn��t think that Sergio Conceicao had a hole in his brain.

    After the post-match celebrations with the fans, Jason headed towards the tunnels but was soon blocked by reporters for an interview.

    ��In your debut against Leverkusen, you scored a goal and gave an assist, and in today��s game which is also a debut of sorts for you since it��s your first game in the traditional Porto colors, you scored another goal, how long do you think this run of form wouldst?�� a male reporter from Sport TV asked Jason.

    ��That��s not a question I��d know the answer to�� Of course, I��ll alwayse onto the pitch and give everything I have and there will be times when everything falls in ce and other times when I don��t score, but as long as I��m helping the team, I don��t think that��d matter innit?�� Jason replied honestly as there truly was no way for him to know the answer to that question and it was obviously impossible for him to score in every game.

    ��With another win in the bag, Porto have once again maintained their ce on top of the table with the eagles chasing ferociously from behind. Do you think that Porto can keep up with this and win the league title?�� Another reporter asked.

    ��I don��t see why not. We have a good squad, we have a history of winning the league quite a few times, and we��re currently on top of the table, so like�� I don��t see why we can��t win the league���� Jason answered, also wanting to mention that the Porto team would also need to be verymitted and could not afford to drop points irresponsibly, but he stopped himself and didn��t mention that part.

    Jason answered a few other questions before heading to the locker room to clean up and change before heading to the bus along with the rest of the team.

    The bus took the yers back to the CTFD Portogaia training center and Jason said his goodbyes to his teammates before jumping into the car and driving off.

    Some of the yers had invited Jason to a small hangout to celebrate their win, but Jason was not really feeling it at the time, plus he wanted to get some rest as it was already quitete, so he declined and quickly drove off before they tried harder to convince him.

    He didn��t want to offend anyone by rejecting them too much, especially since he was just gelling into the team so it was better to stay out of these things at the moment, plus the team had an important gameing up and this was no time to be partying hard.

    Thus Jason headed home and jumped into bed, only waking up some minutes after 6 am the next morning.

    He got out of bed and did a few yoga routines to help with muscle exhaustion before having a bath and moving out into the living room.

    Since the team had won the game the day before, they had a day off, and Jason first nned to cook something up to satisfy his hunger before heading out for some pre-lockdown shopping.

    Surprisingly, on reaching the living room, there was an absence of foreign clothing material that did not belong to the two inhibitors of the apartment, suggesting that Mylo hadn��t brought a girl over the night before.

    Needless to say, Jason was quite shocked at what he was seeing�� or rather the absence of anything to see.

    ��Did his roommate suddenly change for the better overnight?�� Jason couldn��t help thinking as he double-checked to see that there was no extra clothing.

    ��Or maybe, he was too tired after their game to bring a girl over?�� Jason wondered as he knew that the Porto Juniors team also had a match the day before against the Rio Aves U-18 team, so it stood to reason that this line of thinking was correct.

    ��Welp, it ain��t really my business,�� Jason muttered as he moved to the kitchen while pondering on what he could eat for breakfast.

    Jason first pulled open the refrigerator to check the ingredients that he had avable as he didn��t want his breakfast to be somezily made bran-cereal.

    After checking his refrigerator, he decided to make grilled chicken and some pasta while also making a few muffins and gran bars to snack onter.

    Of course, this wasn��t a typical breakfast, but Jason didn��t care as he was starving.

    With the decision made, Jason began the cooking process; bringing out the required ingredients, preparing them for the cooking process, etc.

    Soon all sorts of delicious scents wafted from the kitchen into the rest of the house and with it came the sound of hurried footsteps.

    Jason who was in the kitchen when he heard the sounds of footsteps that didn��t sound like they belonged to a single person muttered to himself,

    ��I knew it was too good to be true,��

 Chapter 90: An Interesting Encounter... II

    Chapter 90: An Interesting Encounter... II

    Chapter 90: An Interesting Encounter�� II

    ��Something smells mighty good around here,�� Jason heard Mylo��s voice as the footsteps came closer to the kitchen, but he didn��t stop what he was doing and carefully pulled out the chicken from inside the oven and ced it on the counter.

    At this point, Mylo had appeared in his sight and he was bare-chested, but wearing a grey pair of shorts, and beside him was a woman who looked to be in her mid tote twenties and was somehow fully dressed, despite the half-naked state of her aplice.

    ��Bro, are you cooking?�� Mylo asked in a surprised tone.

    ��As you can see,�� Jason replied with a roll of his eyes, disappointed in himself for believing that Mylo had turned over a new leaf and no longer brought women home every night.

    ��You can cook?�� Mylo asked in absolute disbelief.

    ��Well, you don��t see the food magically appearing and preparing itself, do you?�� Jason asked dryly.

    *Gulp* Mylo swallowed audibly as the scents from the various foods that Jason was conjuring up blew across his nose.

    ��Hey�� you put me in your ns when you were cooking all this up, right?�� Mylo asked eagerly. ���� Unfortunately, yes�� I miscalcted the rations and there��d be some extra left for you,�� Jason had actually had Mylo in mind when he began cooking which was why he hadn��t decided to cook peppered grilled chicken and spicy pasta instead, but now he feels like it was a waste of his consideration.

    ��Am I in your consideration as well, Mr. Jason?�� the woman who came out of Mylo��s bedroom with him finally spoke and she sounded quite formal and well learned which surprised Jason as he didn��t expect someone like that to be someone who spent her nights in clubs and went home with just anyone.

    ��I guess weird people are everywhere,�� Jason thought to himself before asking the woman,

    ��And who might you be, beautiful?�� Jason asked as the woman was actually quite the eye candy.

    With long wavy hair that cascaded down her shoulders with a part of it framing the left side of her face, pale white skin that one would think belonged to a vampire, and almost blood-red lips doing their best efforts to beautify her face, she was not just beautiful�� she was smoking hot, and that had gotten Jason��s attention as it was obvious that something didn��t add up here.

    She was too beautiful and had the aura of a strong and impressive woman so her spending the night with Mylo in a burst of fun didn��t add up.

    ��Adele Joyce, pleased to meet you,�� Adele said and stretched out her hand for a handshake.

    ��Pleasure to make your acquaintance,�� Jason replied as he took off the oven mitts and took her hand his eyes glowing in the morning light as he stared intently at her, trying to uncover what felt off about her.

    Suddenly, Jason left her hand and in a swift motion picked up a spoon and whacked the back of Mylo��s hand that was snaking its way to the grilled chicken on the kitchen counter.

    ��Ow!�� Mylo took away his hand in pain while looking at Jason with an aggrieved look in his eyes.

    ��Dirty people don��t get to eat, go wash up first,�� Jason said in a firm tone that let Mylo know that there was no room for debate.

    Mylo rushed off, not wanting to waste any time before he was allowed to eat and Jason turned away, throwing the spoon he had whacked Mylo with into the sink and picking up another spoon to stir the pasta.

    With his back turned to Adele, he asked in a yful tone despite his whole body at alert as he didn��t trust the woman,

    ��You wouldn��t happen to be one of those crazy fans that stalk people, would you?��

    ��No�� I��m an agent working for Gestifute,�� Adele replied with mirth in her tone.

    ��An Agent?�� Jason asked bewildered at where this conversation was headed.

    ��Yeah�� you don��t happen to have one of those right now, right?�� Adele replied and sat at the kitchen counter watching Jason stir the pot.

    ��No, I don��t have an age-���� Jason was saying when he suddenly paused as he came to a realization,

    ��Naaahhhhh, it can��t be what I��m thinking, innit?�� Jason turned back to Adele with a stupendous look on her face.

    ��Well, if what you��re thinking is that I traced you to your home and used your roommate to get a personal meeting with you, then yes, you��re in the right direction,�� Adele confirmed his thoughts with her words.

    ��What the hell,�� Jason murmured as he startedughing at the absurdity of the situation.

    It reminded him of the absurd scenes he had seen in movies and novels and he couldn��t help butugh hard at how interesting it was his body lost its tension and he rxed his taut muscles.

    ��I��ll give you ten points for the ingenious and interesting idea,�� he said with augh as he turned back to the pasta and stirred some more, checking if it was done.

    ��Is that a ten out of ten?�� Adele asked with a smile and a bit of surprise at Jason��s reaction to her motives. He was acting a lot more maturely than she thought and she could already feel herself losing initiative in the conversation.

    ��You wish�� you have a thousand points to fill up,�� Jason responded with augh as he turned off the heat under the pasta.

    ��But since you have managed to get this far, I suppose rewarding you for your efforts is in order, so I��ll listen to whatever you have to say,��

    ���� but only for five minutes,�� Jason turned back to face Adele, but despite his yful tone, there was a steely look in his eyes that leaked out some of the aura that he usually let off when practicing martial arts.

    It was a dangerous aura and quite simr to what some fantasy books would call killing intent, but it was merely a disy of one��s mindset, will, and intention in a way that was almost palpable and could cause fear in people with a weaker will.

    Nevertheless, Adele could almost feel the temperature dropping around her, causing her to shiver and check if the heater had been turned off.

 Chapter 91: An Interesting Encounter... III ; Adele Joyces Story

    Chapter 91: An Interesting Encounter... III ; Adele Joyce''s Story

    Chapter 91: An Interesting Encounter�� III ; Adele Joyce��s Story

    Despite Jason��s intense stare, Adele managed to catch herself and start speaking,

    ��I��m not sure if you��ve heard of Gestifute, but we are a worldwide known agency for being top of the line in managing athletes, especially footballers,��

    ��We have world-famous yers like Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Felix, Diego Costa as well as many others under our management and we strive to get the best for our yers out of every deal and contract they engage themselves in, be it club contracts, endorsement deals and other things,��

    ��Upon realizing that a young talent like you did not have a long-standing agent, we want to offer ourselves and our services to you and be a part of your sess story,��

    ��If you sign with us, we promise to do our utmost to help you take care of the official side of things and leave you to focus on your football. You can leave all the dirty work to us,�� Adele said everything she wanted to say at a stretch and finally stopped while hoping that Jason would be impressed and agree to sign with her, or at least take the time to think about it.

    ���� It��s a good pitch, that��s for sure�� but it��scking a little�� desperation,��

    ��The desperation that would make you trace me all the way to my living quarters and quite literally sleep with my roommate just to get a personal meeting with me without my consent iscking in your presentation,�� Jason said, his tone a little devious.

    ��If it makes you feel better, I never nned to sleep with him, and I didn��t, he was too drunk to do anything yesterday,�� Adele revealed a shocking revtion that would have Mylo covering his face in embarrassment if he heard Adele��s words. ��Even if I were to believe you, that��d earn you a few more points with me at most�� it doesn��t change the fact that you are revealing a desperation that is quite frankly, very surprising from someone as beautiful as you,�� Jason mentioned, still with a smile on his face, but his tone having a mix of curiosity and indifference.

    It was almost like he was quite curious about her situation, yet he wouldn��t give a flying fuck about it as well even if he heard what it was about.

    ��Nobody loves their job that much,�� he added, his curiosity getting the better of him as he wanted to know what would bring a beauty like her to do something as unreasonable as what she was doing.

    Adele could see Jason��s curiosity in his eyes, yet at the same time, she could hear his indifference in his tone and she immediately knew that only her full disclosure would even have a slight chance of shaking Jason��s indifference and enable him to even consider hiring her as an agent.

    After a few more seconds of thought, with a sigh, she finally opened her mouth

    ���� It��s always been my dream to manage world-renowned athletes, but it isn��t nearly as easy to actually do it as it is to dream about it, especially as a woman,��

    ��Barely managing to get throughw school while also learning sports management at the same time was already hard enough, and I barely managed to get hired by a toppany like Gestifute, but even within thepany, thepetition is intense to get a top yers signature,��

    ��A budding agent like me cannot manage to get the signature of an already established yer and even if I managed to find someone willing to make me their agent, my colleagues will manage to steal their signature as I don��t have any proven records, thus the only way out for me is to sign a talented young yer that can blossom into a world-known talent, but even doing that is hard,��

    ��Any young yers that have shown such talent have already been snapped up by other agents and the only way I can find a young talent to sign would be if I signed a kid who is probably younger than ten years old,��

    ��If I did that, how long would I have to wait until he became a professional, even after waiting, what if he doesn��t attain the heights that we hope he reaches�� that��s why I only have you as an option,��

    ��A young yer with enough talent and potential to be world known, at least from what I can see�� yet not having an agent,��

    ��You have no idea how much my colleagues are salivating over you,�� Adele said with a wry smile.

    ���� That��s um�� quite the sob story����

    ���� It is quite interesting, but uh, your five minutes are over, so leave your card and I may contact you after some consideration,�� Jason responded with a smile, but the indifference in his tone was rming.

    ��Has anyone ever told you that you��re good at ying with a woman��s heart,�� Adele muttered in a self-deprecative tone as she took out her card and handed it to Jason.

    Jason took the card from her hand and examined the card, seeing her name, a couple of digits that were probably her phone number, and the words ��Gestifute�� written on the back of the card.

    Weighing the card and feeling the sharp edges in his hand, Jason suddenly had an intrusive thought to do a trick he had learned in his previous reality while learning martial arts.

    He suddenly flicked his wrist sharply and sent the card flying in at an empty milk carton that he had drunk earlier.

    Instead of the card bouncing off the carton, it surprisingly embedded itself in the carton with so much force that it sent the empty carton flying a few centimeters back, but the embedded card that punctured the milk carton was very clearly visible, surprising Adele.

    ��What was that you said earlier?�� Jason asked with a toothy grin that showed his pure white canine teeth in all their glory.

    He hadn��t taken his eyes off Adele since she gave him her card and his eyes had been on her all while he had performed that parlor trick of embedding the card into the milk container, and this had both impressed and slightly scared Adele, and Jason was for some reason enjoying ying around with her emotions.

 Chapter 92: An Interesting Encounter... IV

    Chapter 92: An Interesting Encounter... IV

    Chapter 92: An Interesting Encounter�� IV

    Quite frankly, Jason was already very impressed by Adele��smitment to her dreams and even identified with her quite a bit as they both had dreams that they were willing to do almost anything for.

    Not to mention that he liked her work ethic which already did a lot to disy how far she would go to ensure his benefits if he hired her as his agent.

    Also, he didn��t even have anybody in mind for an agent in the first ce and the girl worked for thepany that Jorge Mendes, the super agent who worked for Cristiano Ronaldo created, so he was quite literally already sold on hiring her.

    There was even the added benefit that he was to be her first client thus she would not have that aggressiveness and hard-headedness that other agents who already had clients would have that would make them sometimes ignore the client��s concerns thinking themselves to know best.

    So, in all honesty, the only thing preventing him from telling her to prepare a contract was that he wanted to take some time to consider a few things, but was he going to tell her that he was already nning to hire her?

    Definitely not!

    Part of it was because he wanted to consider his options and also take this time to check how much patience she had in waiting for things, and the other reason was that he had a sudden urge to y around with her emotions and keep her on tenterhooks around him.

    He was mostly doing it because he wanted her to know that he was the one calling the shots so that she wouldn��t develop into the seconding of Rico Gz if he hired her immediately, but there was also a part of him that was deriving pleasure from what he was doing. It was a part of himself that he didn��t really pay attention to previously, but it seemed that he�� liked teasing people, which was quite frankly a new discovery about himself.

    But this wasn��t the time to focus on this new behavior that would soon turn into a habit if he continued and Jason took up his oven mitts to check the muffins he was baking.

    After checking the muffins, Jason served himself a tter of pasta and tore up some of the chicken while gesturing for Adele to do the same.

    Not taking much time to wolf up the meal, he quickly finished up, ced the dishes in the dishwasher, and turned off the oven, estimating the muffins to be done baking before heading towards his room to change.

    As he headed to his room, he heard hurried footsteps in the direction of Mylo��s bedroom which probably Mylo who was probably done washing up and was now dressing up.

    With Mylo done washing up, he quickly ran into the kitchen to serve himself some pasta, tore a piece of the chicken, and started wolfing it down, not paying much attention to much else.

    Jason in his room pulled open his dresser and took out a white T-shirt, a baggy ck hoodie, ck cargo pants, and a pair of white and ck Nike Air shoes.

    Quickly dressing up before finally adding his essories like his chain, wristwatch, wrist chain, diamond studs, and ck shades.

    ��As they say, never be caught unfresh,�� Jason murmured to himself as he checked his fit in the mirror before turning around to leave.

    Grabbing his HUGO cross bag that held his phone, keys, some cash, his cards, a hand sanitizer, and some nose masks, Jason left his room and closed the door behind him.

    He met Mylo in the living room, wolfing down some pasta while holding a piece of grilled chicken in his other hand while Adele remained in the kitchen also eating as well, but it was quite strange to notice that they weren��t speaking to each other.

    ��Hold up, are you going out?�� Mylo asked when he saw Jason��s get up.

    ��Uh, yeah, I��d obviously not wear all this just so I can kick back on the couch and watch TV, you know?�� Jason answered back with a raised eyebrow.

    ��Can Ie with? I got nothing to do today,�� Mylo asked, putting the chicken into his mouth.

    ���� Hurry up then,�� Jason thought for a while before agreeing.

    There was no harm in letting Mylo go shopping with him, after all, Mylo wasn��t a woman and it wouldn��t be bad to have a pair of extra arms and an extra opinion�� a sensible one, though he doubted if Mylo could provide that, but no harm in taking the risk, he could always ignore whatever Mylo said if it sounded stupid.

    With Jason giving the go-ahead, Mylo quickly stuffed the rest of the food on his te into himself at record speed and rushed into his room to change into clothes that he could wear to leave as his current outfit was a bitcking.

    ��You hurry up as well, there��s no time for you to sit around and eat my food that slowly,�� Jason said to Adele, almost causing her to choke on the piece of chicken in her mouth.

    ��Can he not be so harsh with his words?�� she thought tearfully to herself but did not stop stuffing herself.

    ��I��m only staying silent because I can��t annoy him and give him a reason to reject me, it��s definitely not because the food is delicious,�� she thought to herself as she kept her mouth shut and continued eating, but her speed of eating had be noticeably faster.

    Mylo quickly finished changing and soon came out of his room, ready to head out.

    At this point, Adele had already finished eating and was already heading out of the house with Jason in the lead, so Mylo quickly followed after them and locked the door behind him.

    Outside the apartment, Jason and Mylo headed toward Jason��s car while Adele headed toward another car that was parked across the street which was a ck colored Toyota Yaris.

    Just before reaching her car, she suddenly turned back and called out to Jason,

    ��Hey don��t forget to call me,�� she said in a loud voice before opening the door to her car, getting in, and driving off without awaiting a reply from Jason.

    ��Bruh�� I��m the one who brought the girl home, howe you��re the one she wants a call from?�� Mylo muttered.

    ��I��m just that much more charming than you are,�� Jason heard Mylo��s words and answered, but was inwardly thinking to himself while opening up his door,

    ��Do you think I��d normally care for your leftovers?��

    Just as they both got into the car and shut the door, Mylo suddenly replied,

    ��Funny thing is all I remember was drinking with her at the club before I nked out and woke up in my bed,��

    ��I don��t know why I can��t remember anything at all, and I wish I could since she��s that hot, but she��s got an attitude and didn��t let me get any closer to her this morning,�� Mylo confessed in slight confusion and regret.

    ��I guess she wasn��t lying when she said nothing happened between them, but I wonder how she managed to get Mylo to ckout as I��m sure this guy only drinks a few beers at most,�� Jason wondered to himself.

 Chapter 93: Pre-Lockdown Shopping I

    Chapter 93: Pre-Lockdown Shopping I

    Jason started the i8��s engine with the push of a button, but before he drove off, he searched for ��Decathlon Porto Boavista�� on the map.

    He had asked Adele earlier if she knew a ce where gym equipment and she had mentioned a few names, but this was the first one Jason remembered.

    ��Hopefully, it had everything he��d need,�� he thought to himself as he drove off, following the directions on the map and just after half an hour psed, Jason pulled into the parking lot of the huge store.

    He turned off the car��s engine, but before he got down, he pulled out a nose mask and covered his face before handing one over to Mylo.

    ��What��s this for?�� Mylo asked but still epted the mask.

    ��What do you think they made them for?�� Jason countered sarcastically with a question of his own.

    ��Hey! When you say it like that, it makes me sound like a dimwit,�� Mylo said, his tone sounding a little offended.

    ��But you are a dimwit, Mylo�� But luckily, you have a few good points so no one minds too much,�� Jason replied matter of factly. ��Hey!�� Mylo burst out in a high voice.

    ��Just put on the damn mask man, there is a fucking viral infection out there and I��d rather you not be the cause of my death,�� Jason said with an eye roll as he pushed open his door, the door rising upwards like an eagle spreading it��s wing.

    ��When you say it like that, I feel kind of convinced to do it cause the virus will probably kill me as well,�� Mylo said with a shiver of realization as he got out of the car as well.

    ��Good that you know, so get used to it, you��ll probably need to wear it for a long time, or maybe even longer after you join the senior squad,�� Jason said as they headed to the store.

    ��What do you mean?�� Mylo couldn��t understand the underlying meaning of the sentence.

    ��Do you really think the only reason I cover my face is because I want to avoid the virus?�� Jason asked with a nce at Mylo.

    ��Nah, it��s also probably to cover that stupidly handsome face of yours,�� Mylo muttered with a little envy, because if he had Jason��s face, he wouldn��t have to stress his tongue with trying to get into a girl��s head before he took her home, instead he��d just stare intently at her with Jason��s sexy eyes and make any sexy type of gesture and the girl would be instantly wet.

    �� Okay, maybe that was a little over-exaggerated, but the fact was that picking up girls would be more than ten times easier than it currently was for him and that was a lot.

    ��What?�� Jason asked confusedly upon hearing Mylo��s words, the meaning of Mylo��s words refusing to register themselves correctly in his brain.

    Jason belonged to the type of people who would look in the mirror and know that they looked good, but would never admit that they were not just good looking, but were actually a lot more handsome than most people as the concept felt foreign to them.

    For such people, admitting it would be like admitting that on the grand scale of things, humanity didn��t matter that much�� it was the truth, but it wasn��t something they��d ever ept, admit, or even think about, thus when Jason heard what Mylo was saying he was inwardly wondering,

    ��What the hell is this stupid guy saying now?��

    Those were his thoughts but he decided to gloss over it as the matter of how handsome his face was not a topic for discussion, was not the topic being discussed, and was not a topic to ever be discussed with another man.

    ��Anyway, forget that and think about how easy it would be to walk around peacefully with a face that almost everyone can recognize,�� Jason returned to their original conversation.

    ��Ah�� I see,�� Mylo muttered in realization.

    ��I wouldn��t mind if beauties always ran up to me though,�� Mylo continued with a dreamy look.

    ��This idiot�� what was I even expecting,�� Jason thought, his palm pping his forehead in annoyance.

    ��Just keep up, I have a few other ces to be at and if I don��t see you by the time I��m leaving, I will not be waiting,�� Jason said his final words and went silent as he walked into the doors of the Decathlon Porto Boavista store.

    ��Hey, wait up,�� Mylo hurried his steps and followed quickly after Jason.

    Once inside the store, Jason called out to one of the store attendants and they headed towards the equipment area.

    There Jason picked a treadmill, a cycling machine, a ram roller, some dumbbells, and other equipment that he could use to train inside of the house even during the lockdown.

    Unfortunately, the apartment only had a few extra rooms where he could ce these few pieces of equipment so he couldn��t buy too many things and could only make do with these few pieces of equipment.

    He also bought some extra gym clothes and shoes just in case.

    Mylo also picked up a few gym clothes but was mostly looking at Jason just picking up different things with a half-open mouth.

    After picking all those things and paying for them, Jason scheduled for everything they bought to be delivered back to the apartment and they left the store and headed to a grocery store next.

    At the grocery store, Jason piled up four trolleys of canned foods of various kinds, paid for them, and scheduled for the groceries to be delivered to their apartment.

    Then they left the grocery store and headed toward an electronics store, but on their way, Mylo could no longer stay silent and finally decided to ask,

    ��Hey, what��s the deal with you buying so many things?��

    ��Is the world about to end or something? Howe I don��t know about it?�� Mylo asked with a little trepidation in his tone.

 Chapter 94: Pre-Lockdown Shopping II

    Chapter 94: Pre-Lockdown Shopping II

    ��Even I wouldn��t know when the world was about to end, so how would you who spends all day chasing skirts know about it?�� Jason asked without so much as a nce in Mylo��s direction.

    If this were a Chinese novel, Mylo would have coughed up blood from the emotional damage, but this was reality so Mylo just almost choked on his own saliva and started coughing hard.

    ��I don��t spend all day chasing after girls,�� Mylo finally managed to breathe out after calming himself down and taking a sip of water.

    ��Is that so?�� Jason asked with a dubious nce at Mylo before returning his eyes to the road.

    ��How audacious of you to assume that all I do is chase after women all day,�� Mylo said in a joking tone.

    ��How dare I not assume that you chase after women all day,��

    ��I��ve witnessed you bring more than ten different women over ever since I moved in. You��ve even had some sexy escapades with that ssmate of yours�� Was her name Sabrina or Melissa?�� Jason stated the facts leaving Mylo��s mouth gaping open and shut like a goldfish.

    ��ssmates my ass�� If everybody had a ssmate like that then there��d be no virgin boys in the world,�� Jason scoffed. It seemed like Mylo wanted to say something to defend himself but there was nothing for him to say as Jason seemed to bepletely correct.

    ��Anyway, I��m buying so much stuff so I don��t have to go out to continually stock up, especially now that there��s a virus in the air,��

    ��As for the gym equipment, I��m buying it so I can train more from home,�� Jason made up a bunch of half-truths to tell Mylo as he couldn��t exactly tell Mylo the truth, could he?

    ��Oh�� But is that really the reason though?�� Mylo asked, still notpletely buying it.

    ��No, it is not�� I��ve actually been sent back in time with the aid of Wakanda technology and I know that there is an uing lockdown due to the coronavirus and that it will extend for a few months, so I��m preparing for the inevitable,�� Jason changed the story again and told another half-truth.

    ��Wha? That can��t be true, right?�� Mylo asked, even more confused.

    ��Well, the part about Wakanda tech isn��t,�� Jason muttered, throwing Mylo��s mind into further disarray as he didn��t know what to believe now and could only mutter a ��Huh?�� in confusion.

    ��Think whatever you will, I doubt it matters that much anyway what I choose to do with my money,�� Jason muttered with a roll of his eyes, having achieved exactly what he wanted by making Mylo drop the topic as it was a very awkward conversation for him and Jason usually wasn��t one to lie and would rather not talk if it was not something he wished to speak about.

    In fact, the only reason why the secret of his traveling back in time was safe with him was because there was no one he trusted who would ask the absurd question of whether this was his first life or whether it was his second.

    Even if they asked him and he spoke the truth, how many people would believe such an absurd tale, thus the matter of him traveling to a parallel reality of sorts was not some kind of secret that he regarded as something to be kept hidden at all cost as there simply wasn��t a point.

    It was a consequentially inconsequential matter�� if there was such a phrase.

    With their conversation over, they headed over to the electronics store in silence, and upon reaching there Jason went all out buying a ystation 4 console and almost twenty different games along with a Sony TV.

    He also bought an MSI GT76 Titan DT gamingptop that he nned to download more games on after he was done with the PS4 games that he had bought.

    Finally, Jason picked up Fyne Audio F302 floor-standing speakers and scheduled for everything to be delivered to their apartment.

    This time, Mylo didn��t have anything to say about Jason��s purchases and he even bought a few things for himself.

    By the time Jason had paid, left the shop, and gotten the car, he felt a significant loss of weight.

    The car didn��t have anything more in it than it had when they left, nor had it lost anything, but Jason could feel the lightnessing from his bank ount that was looking a little t after Jason��s ��binge�� shopping.

    In simple terms, his ount had been heavily injured�� in simpler terms, his ount needed to be taken to the ICU but couldn��t afford it�� in the simplest terms, Jason was broke.

    But despite his condition, Jason didn��t mind as there was not really much he was doing with money at this time, plus being broke didn��t mean he couldn��t survive until his next paycheck came in.

    A few minutes after getting back to their apartment, the things that they had arranged to be delivered were brought over by the delivery guys, each one after the other.

    Jason had the gym equipment arranged in the empty rooms and he took care of everything else himself with a little help from Mylo.

    After finally arranging everything into their appropriate ces, Jason and Mylo snacked on the muffins and gran bars Jason had prepared earlier.

    With everything finally out of the way, Jason got up to open up the PS4, set it up with the new TV, and put in the FIFA 2020 cd.

    Mylo picked up the other pad and they started picking teams.

    Jason picked Juventus and Mylo, thinking he was a guru at the game decided to use the Porto team.

    When they were setting up their game ns, Jason noticed that he wasn��t in the game, but it didn��te as a surprise to him and it was to be expected.

    He��d probably only be able to be present in the uing sequel of the game, FIFA 21, and he didn��t mind, after all, he wasn��t in a hurry to be made as a game character.

    After finishing their game ns, the match began and Mylo quickly got two goals over Jason right off the bat before 20 minutes of in-game time and he began puffing his own ego up andughing at Jason but Jason merely smiled and skipped the celebrations.

    It had been over ten years since he had yed FIFA after all, he used to y the game a lot in his previous reality, but after getting transported into this new reality, he hadn��t bothered as he mostly didn��t have the time.

    Another reason was that, for someone who had yed the game years ahead, the low graphics and wacky movements of the game characters in the earlier years did little to appeal to him, so it had been a while since he yed and thus he was just once again getting the feel of the game.

    Now that he was finally getting a grip once again, a cold smile glinted across his face as he passed the ball again.

    Mylo saw the smile and suddenly got shivers, feeling like something bad was about to happen��

    And he was right��

    Jason��s game literally changed in a split second and before the first half was over, Jason had not only managed to equalize but was now leading 3 : 2, courtesy of a hat-trick from Mr. Champions League.

    When the game finally ended, Mylo was almost in tears as Jason had whooped him 7 to 2 with five of the goalsing from one yer who pretty much single-handedly demolished Mylo and was the cause of Mylo��s tears.

    ��He��s a cheat!�� Mylo almost cried,pletely traumatized from the ass-whooping he had just been served.

 Chapter 95: Europa League Round of 32, Second Leg I

    Chapter 95: Europa League Round of 32, Second Leg I

    **27th February 2020**

    Jason drove into the car park for yers in the Estadio do Dragao and turned off the car engine before hopping out of the car and heading into the stadium.

    The pre-match training for the day��s game had been scheduled to be held at their home stadium instead of at the CTFD Portogaia trainingplex as usual.

    Jason didn��t care about this though as it was all the same to him and he just walked into the locker room to change into the training gear along with the rest of the team.

    After the yers were done changing, they headed out to the field where the team��s manager was waiting for them.

    ��Good morning guys,�� Sergio Conceicao greeted as the team walked up to him together.

    The team greeted him as well and after a few exchanges of pleasantries, the manager started the team meeting.

    ��As you know, we managed to get a win over Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of the Europa League knockout of the round of 32 thanks to our efforts in making aeback from being two goals behind,�� ���� But, I��m not going to lie�� that was only possible because they went on the defensive after going two goals ahead, thus allowing us to get into the driver��s seat and take the reins of the match which luckily ended up with us getting the win,��

    ��Unfortunately, the same thing wouldn��t be happening in this match as they are already a goal behind,�� Sergio Conceicao exined.

    ��It doesn��t take an idiot to know that they wille into this match guns zing, focusing all their attention on getting the first goal before trying to build off of that momentum and try to score another,��

    ��As of right now, they have nothing to lose as they are already behind so there would be no need for excessive caution on their part and they are going toe at us with all they have and we must be ready otherwise, we��ll not only lose our advantage, we��ll also lose our path forward in the Europa League this season,��

    ���� Thus what I need from you guys is simple�� Defend well and while looking for any chances to help us strengthen our lead,�� Sergio Conceicao dered.

    ��It won��t be easy considering our opponents, but I believe you guys can get it done, right?�� Sergio Conceicao asked his yers.

    ��Yes Coach!�� the yers affirmed, determination in the tone and volume of their voices.

    ��Good, let��s show those Leverkusen yers what it means like to y against the dragons in theirir,�� Sergio Conceicao made an attempt at motivating his yers further before letting them begin their training.

    From there, the time passed by rapidly��

    The team did a few hours of pre-match training before heading into their locker rooms to rest and rx while taking a few beverages and food prepared by the club chefs for the yers.

    Time ran by quickly and it was soon time for the pre-match warm-up that the yers quickly did while also noticing the Leverkusen yers who had also arrived at the stadium as well.

    After a few minutes of pre-match warm-up, while the fans filled up the stands, both teams headed back into their respective locker rooms to begin their tactical meeting.

    In the Porto meeting room, Sergio Conceicao was calling out the names of the yers in the starting line-up for the day��s game.

    It came as no surprise to Jason that he wasn��t part of the starting line-up, but he was on the bench which he was contented with�� for now.

    With their tactics already decided and even practiced in the pre-match training, there wasn��t much for the manager to do than to give a few specific instructions to specific yers as the yers dressed up for the game.

    Sergio Conceicao nced at Jason who was currently pulling a bib over his training vest with an impassive look on his face.

    ��It��s really hard to know when he��s happy or sad if he doesn��t show it on his face,�� Sergio Conceicao thought to himself as he nced at Jason��s face that did not leak a single drop of his emotions.

    It was an excellent poker face, but that wasn��t the reason why Sergio Conceicao had nced at Jason.

    He had wanted to put Jason in the starting line-up especially since the current wingers in the line-up have had a bit of a roller coaster ride in regards to their formtely aspared to Jason.

    Shoya Nakajima was still injured, Otavio had to be in the middle of the field despite his adequacy on the wings, Jesus Corona had been quite averagetely, and Luiz Diaz��

    Well, let��s just say, he hasn��t been having the best of lucktely as the blunders he had made in the past few matches were still quite fresh in Sergio Conceicao��s mind.

    Jason on the other hand was currently on a hot run of form despite his debut being only two games ago and having not even gotten his first start for the team, but it did not need to be said that if he started Jason, the Bayer Leverkusen yers would be especially wary against him.

    They��d probably put more men on Jason than Jason could manage and if they still couldn��t stop him, they wouldn��t hesitate to foul him.

    This wasn��t some novel world where people would always have their guards down against Jason and look down on him just because he was a young new yer who was fresh on the scene��

    Nope�� this was real, and the Bayer Leverkusen yers were professionals who knew that it was best to shut down a dangerous yer especially whether he was a prodigy or an established star.

    To them, it held the same importance and with Jason��s showing against them in the previous match, the Leverkusen defenders would probably watch him the same way they would watch yers like Eden Hazard or Mohammed Sh if they were the ones on the pitch.

    Knowing this, Sergio Conceicao had resolved to keep Jason on the bench till the second half when the Leverkusen yers were already quite tired from all the running around.

 Chapter 96: Europa League Round of 32, Second Leg II

    Chapter 96: Europa League Round of 32, Second Leg II

    *Fweeeeeeeee*

    The referee blew his whistle to signify the Europa League��s round of 32 between Porto and Bayer Leverkusen��s second-leg kickoff.

    The Leverkusen team kicked off with Vond sending the ball to Aranguiz in the Leverkusen half and Aranguiz sent the ball to Moussa Diaby on the left wing.

    Moussa Diaby tried to make a run inside the Porto��s half but was quickly blocked by Wilson Manafa and he quickly sent the ball back, not wanting to lose the ball.

    The first five minutes were filled up with situations like this�� the Leverkusen team would try to break through the Porto defense but weren��t able to go far enough and ended up passing back in a bid to retain the ball or losing possession directly.

    Upon losing the ball, the Leverkusen team wouldunch a high press and snatch the ball back before the Porto side could do anything with it.

    Sergio Conceicao��s words to his yers before the match were correct�� Due to them being behind, the whole team was putting all their focus on attack and weren��t really doing much defensively, yet the Porto yers couldn��t create an attack with the ball whenever they managed to steal possession from the Leverkusen team.

    The heavy pressure from the Leverkusen side kept the Porto��s attackers policed in midfield and unable to evenunch an attack for the first ten minutes of the game, but after ten minutes of intense pressing, some weaknesses had begun to show themselves in the Leverkusen tactic as the Porto yers were slowly getting used to the Leverkusen��s intense pressure and the Leverkusen yers themselves couldn��t keep up such an intensive pressure for the whole match. Thus what was happening was inevitable and with the cracks finally showing up in the Leverkusen intense pressure tactic, the Porto team yers were finally able tounch attacks on the Leverkusen goal area, but this also had a negative effect on them as well as the yers who had been staying back to defend against the Leverkusen��s intense pressing tactic had now gone forward to try andunch attacks so there was now more space and lesser obstacles for the Leverkusen yers as well.

    Bayer Leverkusen��s intense tactic finally paid off in the 21st minute when Moussa Diaby made an incisive run into the Porto penalty area, dribbling past Wilson Manafa before passing the ball to Charles Aranguiz who was just outside the Porto penalty area.

    Aranguiz had then made a pass to rio whose back was facing Ivan Marcano, but as he received the ball, he used his body to shield the ball as he turned himself around and got the shot away.

    The shot proved too hot to handle for Augustin Marchesin who despite getting a hand to it, wasn��t able to steer it away from the goal, thus giving the Leverkusen team the lead and bringing the aggregate score of both legs to 3 : 3.

    {It��s Leverkusen who once again, score first and they are equal on aggregate scores!}

    {That being said, Leverkusen cannot stop here as they are still behind by the away goal rule}

    {WIll they be able to hold their lead this match and maybe, even go on to win this?} Thementator as usual wasn��t left out of anything exciting happening in the stadium.

    The match kicked off again, but this time, it was the Porto team with the ball and they quickly put on a disy that showcased their determination to not lose and soon enough they got their opportunity to make good on their intention in the 35th minute.

    The Porto team had just staved off a Leverkusen attack and suddenly burst out on a counterattack, but on getting closer to the Leverkusen penalty area, they realized that the Leverkusen yers had kept up with their pace, somehow staving off the counterattack and Jesus Corona who saw no opportunity to break through on the right wing, passed the ball back to Wilson Manafa.

    Wilson Manafa quickly got the ball under control and pulled away a bit from the Leverkusen penalty area, causing the Leverkusen yers to shift outside of their penalty area after him as well, but then suddenly he noticed Luiz Diaz making an inside run while ncing over at him with his intention clear in his eyes.

    He wanted the ball and he wanted it then!

    Wilson Manafa didn��t disappoint and quickly sent a lobbed pass over the Leverkusen defenders and into the path of Luiz Diaz who was sprinting into the Leverkusen penalty area to catch the ball.

    He managed to make it in time to reach the ball and got the ball to his chest, hoping to bring it down and shoot, but just as he got the ball to his chest, Aleksandar Dragovic stretched out his hand to grasp his shoulder and try to hassle him off the ball.

    Left with no choice but to take the shot immediately, Luiz Diaz didn��t hesitate and immediately let the ball fly.

    The ball zoomed at the Leverkusen goal, seemingly goal-bound, but Lukas Hradecky who had been a source of headache for the Porto team in the first leg still seemed to have some of it in him and he managed to get his hand to the ball, changing it��s path and causing it to bounce across the goal instead of in.

    But before the Leverkusen yers could let out a sigh of relief, a figure in the Porto colors appeared in their sights with his head directed for the ball and catching it before the ball couldpletely go across the goal.

    Tiquiniho Soares had been lucky to be nearby and as soon as he had seen the ball be deflected towards him by Hradecky, he lunged for the ball despite the challenge from his marker and managed to get his head to it and sent it into the back of the Leverkusen goal.

    {GOALLL!!!}

    {1 : 1}

    {Almost a quarter of an hour after going behind and Porto have finally responded to Leverkusen��s challenge with an equalizer}

    {They don��t want to give up their ticket to the next game so easily and are now back in the lead with an aggregate score of 4 : 3}

 Chapter 97: Europa League Round of 32, Second Leg III

    Chapter 97: Europa League Round of 32, Second Leg III

    *Fweeeee*

    The referee��s whistle blew for the end of the first half, bringing y to a halt and the yers of both teams started walking off the field and heading for the locker rooms while the yers on the bench headed to the field to do some warm-up exercises.

    Neither of the two teams managed to score after Porto��s equalizing goal, so the score after the first half was still 1 : 1 and the aggregate score was still 4 : 3, with Porto still in the lead, but Bayer Leverkusen had been doing their best to rid them of their lead.

    {So far, Porto has managed to maintain their lead, but whether they can hold out onto the end of the match still remains to be seen}

    {All in all, one thing is for sure, the second half of the match is a potential decider for the next round of the Europa League and it will definitely be filled with exciting twists and turns, so stay with us to find out which of these teams would have the final say} thementator addressed the fans at the stadium and those watching the match from other locations with the aid of technology as the yers walked off the field.

    The yers headed to the dressing room for a needed break and tactical meeting in preparation for the second half as they still had all to y for.

    Sergio Conceicao didn��t have much to tell his team in regards to their tactics for the second half as they were still doing fine and would win the game if they just pushed a bit harder while making sure they did not stupidly concede any goals.

    So he spent the break motivating the team while pointing out the yers�� mistakes in the first half and giving them specific instructions on how to deal with the Leverkusen team in the second half. Soon the yers were back on the field for the second half, but there was a difference in the line-up of the Porto team with Jasoning off for Luiz Diaz on the left wing.

    Sergio Conceicao had decided that there was no point in holding off on substitution earlier as Luiz Diaz was not able to perform exceptionally due to umted fatigue.

    He also wanted to avoid any injury concerns as the team was already short of one winger, thus he had swapped out Jason for Luiz Diaz on the left wing.

    Sergio Conceicao had been a bit apprehensive about putting Jason on the left side of the field, but he felt that Jason should be able to handle it, plus he needed to cause trouble for the Bayer Leverkusen team and not make them able to focus fully on attacking football.

    Jason could do that by constantly running at them with the ball, hence the change in the line-up.

    Soon the referee blew his whistle and the second half kicked off.

    Porto was the team with possession after the kick-off, but they were not able to keep the ball for long and soon lost the ball to the Leverkusen team, courtesy of the intense pressing tactic from the Leverkusen team.

    Despite being unable to keep the ball for long spells whenever they retrieved possession of the ball, the Porto team didn��t panic as the manager had shifted their tactic for the second half to be more counter-attack oriented, so they soaked up the pressure and burst out on the counter whenever they had the ball.

    Soon their tactic showed returns with the Porto team bursting out counter after counter, but they didn��t manage to trouble the scoreboard operator until the 62nd minute.

    The Porto team had just stolen the ball due to a mistimed pass from Kai Havertz and Wilson Manafa had quickly sent a drilling grounded pass down the right wing of the field.

    Jesus Corona caught the ball deftly with his feet, turned around, and dashed off into the Leverkusen half, the other attackers of the Porto team racing after him to keep up with him and provide support.

    As Jesus Corona inched closer to the Bayer Leverkusen penalty area despite the hot chase from his marker and other Leverkusen yers, he nced around him, looking for the best pass that could lead to something.

    Seeing Tiquiniho Soares and Moussa Marega inching forward while calling for a pass, Jesus Corona was just about to release the ball when he noticed Jason cutting inpletely unnoticed like a ghost from the left wing, staying just slightly behind the other attackers but he waspletely free unlike the two strikers.

    Jesus Corona quickly changed his decision and sent a lobbed pass over the Porto forwards and Leverkusen defenders who followed the ball with their eyes, wondering where Jesus Corona was passing to.

    When the Leverkusen yers finally noticed Jason catching the ball off his chest, they immediately changed their targets and wanted to run at them but Jason��s next move waspletely out of their expectations.

    Catching the ball with his chest just outside the Leverkusen penalty area, Jason wanted to push the ball forward into the box to ensure the highest chance of a goal, but he suddenly got an urge to shoot and Jason didn��t hesitate to follow his instinct.

    Not letting the ball reach the floor, Jason caught it mid-air with a powerful swing of his right foot sending a rocket of a shot at the Leverkusen goal.

    The ball flew powerfully at the top right corner of the Leverkusen goal and Hradecky dived for the ball, but was no match for the shot that mmed past his outstretched palm and sent the bulging.

    Seeing the sent flying, Jason took off down the field and to the sidelines and jumped into a power slide on his knees while making an aiming gesture with his two arms pointed out and one eye closed.

    {My word! My word! What a beautiful goal}

    {Absolutely magical catching the ball off the volley like that and directing it into the back of the, giving the Leverkusen goalkeeper no chance at redemption for his defenders�� mistake of letting him get the shot away}

    {With that goal, they are that much closer to securing a ce in the next round and you can just tell how the fans feel about that} Thementator screamed as the screams of the ecstatic fans tore through the stadium.

 Chapter 98: Europa League Round of 32, Second Leg IV

    Chapter 98: Europa League Round of 32, Second Leg IV

    Jason was surrounded by his teammates who hugged him, gave high-fives, and rubbed his hair in happiness and excitement while the fans cheered at the top of their voices.

    Soon the celebrations ended and the Porto team headed back to their half for the match to continue and the match kicked off again.

    Immediately after the match kicked off again, everyone noticed that the Bayer Leverkusen yers were ying more frenziedly than earlier and had increased their efforts to get back at the Porto team.

    The Porto defense,pletely stunned by this sudden change in tempo was unable to react in time, and for a while, shots were sent flying at the Porto goal from all directions, but thanks to the heroics of the Porto goalkeeper and the inadequacies of the Bayer Leverkusen forwards, the scoreboard remained unchanged.

    The Porto team was no soft persimmon either and alsounched various attacks that despite not resulting in a goal, still managed to trouble the Leverkusen team.

    One thing to note was the Leverkusen yers�� borderline extreme attitude to Jason.

    They were extremely wary of him and at one point had even begun to double-mark him to stop him from getting the ball, and whenever he managed to get the ball, they immediately initiated a press, employing zonal marking tactics to block his passingnes while also staying just far enough from him that he couldn��t attempt to dribble or run past them.

    Whenever he tried to get past them, they made sure he was brought down, not caring if he was fouled by them. Jason was no match for such oppressive tactics, especially as a rookie on the big stages, and his attacking efforts to help the team werepletely shut down.

    Other members of the team quickly realized this and stepped up to try and take the reins of the Porto attack, but none of their efforts resulted in a goal.

    With their attacking methods shut down, it was only a matter of time before disaster struck for the Porto team.

    In the 74th minute, the Porto team had justunched a counterattack, but just after reaching the Bayer Leverkusen penalty area, they lost the ball to the Leverkusen team who wasted no time inunching a counter of their own.

    The ball advanced all the way from the Bayer Leverkusen penalty area to just a few yards away from the Porto penalty area in a matter of seconds courtesy of quick passes and movement from the Bayer Leverkusen yers.

    Kareem Demirbay received a pass from Kai Havertz just outside of the Porto penalty area and instead of trying to work the ball into the penalty area, he decided to take a shot right from where he was despite having no one in his way.

    A thunderous right-footed shot from Kareem Demirbay was all it took for the ball to fly unhindered and crash into the crossbar before smashing into the back of the, to the dismay of the Porto goalkeeper��s efforts.

    {GOALLL!!!}

    {Bayer Leverkusen is making a statement here!}

    {They are not done yet and are now one goal from giving themselves are fighting chance!}

    {Can they get their attempt at redemption in the remaining moments of the game?} Thementator was speaking with unbiased excitement that also disyed his impartiality to the two teams.

    The Bayer Leverkusen team didn��t get carried away and barely celebrated their goal before heading back to their half so that the match could resume quickly.

    With the Bayer Leverkusen team a goal closer to taking the match into extra time and giving them a chance at the ticket to the next round, the Porto yers buckled up and did their best to get another goal topletely shut out the game�� or at least prevent the Leverkusen team from scoring.

    Jason also increased his efforts and incessantly tried to carve his way through the Leverkusen defense, either by dribbling through them or sending the ball past them, but the Leverkusen defenders were proving to be quite the nut to crack and were not giving him any space to create anything and brought him down as soon as it seemed like he would get past them.

    Even when he barely managed to send the ball past his marker into the path of the other yers, the yer usually couldn��t do much with the ball as he was not the only one being marked heavily.

    Seeing that his attempts at breaking through the Leverkusen defense were not working and knowing that if he continued, this could potentially lead to injury as he had already been brought down five times by the Leverkusen team and was already feeling winded, Jason decided to shift his efforts to help the team defend.

    If they could maintain the current score, then their ticket into the round of 16 would be secured, but things did not always go the way one wanted them to go.

    In the 85th minute of the game, just when everyone was thinking that the game was finally slipping away from the Leverkusen team, Danilo Perreira suddenly made a pass that didn��t meet it��s intended target as it was stolen by a Leverkusen yer who darted into the Porto penalty area.

    Lucas rio who had intercepted the pass from Danilo Perreira ran into the Porto penalty area but instead of running at the goal, he avoided the defenders and ran forward as if he was trying to run off the field with the ball.

    Of course, the Porto yers did not buy the fact that such an idiotic action could be done by a professional yer whose team was so desperately searching for a goal so they kept their eyes on him and chased after him to try and retrieve the ball but once they were close enough, rio suddenly released a grounded cross that flew behind the defensive line and flew across the goal.

    Kai Havertz suddenly appeared unnoticed behind the defenders and with the tip of his boot, poked the ball powerfully into the Porto goal before Augustin Marchesin could even react.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Bayer Leverkusen grab on for dear life and have earned themselves an extra thirty minutes to rewrite history should the scores remain like this at the end of 90 minutes} Thementator performed as deserving of his post as he could.

 Chapter 99: Europa League Round of 32, Second Leg V

    Chapter 99: Europa League Round of 32, Second Leg V

    Jason squatted down, his breathing more elerated than normal due to the exertion, and watched as the Bayer Leverkusen team celebrated their goal with a strange look on his face.

    He wasn��t sure whether to feel disappointed or angry at how his team had flopped their lead and were now back on equal terms with the opponents in a match that was almost at its conclusion.

    �� Actually, they were even losing the match but due to their previous results that put them on equal scores on the aggregate scoreboard, they were still in contention for the next round ticket.

    But with the way things were going, the match would probably end up going to extra time, or maybe even penalties, which was not something Jason wanted to happen.

    Penalties were usually taken with skill, but victory in a penalty shootout was more dependent on luck than anything else.

    Even the no. 1 team in the world could lose a penalty shootout to the worst team in the world if luck was not on their side no matter how much skill they had as humans were inherently imperfect beings.

    If the Porto team didn��t want to end up going to penalties with the Bayer Leverkusen team, then they had a lot to do and they must especially ensure that they didn��t concede any more goals as going a single goal behind at this point would require them to score two goals back to gain anything from the game.

    Sergio Conceicao on the sidelines was also thinking the same thing, as was the rest of the Porto team. The emotion of desperation that should never have shown up on the Porto side in this match reared its head and shone in the eyes of the Porto yers as they arranged themselves for the kick-off to resume the game.

    On the sidelines, Sergio Conceicao quickly had Otavio and Sergio Oliveira warm up and prepare toe on, they would being on for Jesus Corona and Danilo Perreira respectively.

    Sergio Conceicao needed his team to improve their attacking efforts and try to get a goal, or at least to keep the Bayer Leverkusen team in check, they had left them to run free for a while, and that had led to their current situation so some things needed to be changed.

    Otavio could help Jason share some of the pressure from the defenders and allow him to run around a bit more while Sergio Oliveira could help with defensive efforts as well as support their attacking endeavors which was not Danilo Perreira��s strong point.

    After the substitutions werepleted the match kicked off again, and Porto immediately burst out on the attack.

    Tiquiniho Soares who had stood over the ball at the kick-off sent the ball to Moussa Marega and Marega immediately sent the ball to the left wing where Jason awaited the ball.

    Probably because their team had equalized, the desperation of the Leverkusen yers had reduced by a lot and Charles Aranguiz carelessly charged at the ball that was headed towards Jason.

    The ball was closer to Jason than Aranguiz so he inevitably got to the ball before Aranguiz, but Aranguiz immediately dived into a tackle hoping to get the ball from Jason before Jason couldpletely control the ball.

    Jason noticed Aranguiz��s actions with a side nce and immediately gave up on controlling the ball and instead flicked the ball up just slightly as Aranguiz��s outstretched foot came flying in.

    The ball flew over Aranguiz��s tackle and Jason himself carefully stepped out of the way of the tackle before pushing the ball that was returning to the ground, forward.

    With Aranguiz out of the way, Jason took off down the left wing but soon had to slow his pace as Lars Bender came at him, blocking his path and intending to steal the ball from him.

    Learning from previous experiences of being fouled, Jason didn��t bother trying to dribble and instead made an inside pass to Mattheus Uribe in the center parts of the field, but he didn��t stop running and ran past Lars Bender, sending a nce at Uribe and hoping he understood his intention.

    Mattheus Uribe received the ball but didn��t immediately send it to Jason toplete a one-two routine like Jason was expecting, and instead passed the ball to Oliveira who was just beside him.

    Oliveira had been watching the whole situation and quickly sent a lobbed pass at the left wing with his first touch on the ball.

    Jason ran for the ball that came his way slightlyter than he expected but still came anyway and he managed to get his leg to the ball and trap the ball with his first touch a few yards behind Lars Bender, but he was still onside due to the presence of the other defenders in front of him inside the Bayer Leverkusen penalty area.

    With the ball at his foot, Jason immediately cut into the penalty box,ing face to face with Jonathan Tah, but he didn��t panic and did a couple of step-overs before cutting right and swinging his leg powerfully to unleash a curler at the Leverkusen goal.

    The ball flew past the Leverkusen defenders undeterred, but just before flying into the back of the, it came in contact with Hradecky��s outstretched gloved palm that pushed it off its original path and the ball flew out of y, deflected by the Leverkusen goalkeeper��s efforts.

    Jason��s hands flew to the top of his head in agony, annoyance, and disappointment as he stared at Hradecky who got up and shouted in a passionate voice as his teammatesmended him.

    With the ball already out of y, there was nothing his disappointment would do, so Jason ignored the Leverkusen goalkeeper��s actions and moved to the edge of the penalty area, awaiting the corner kick.

    Soon the Porto and Leverkusen yers arranged themselves in the Leverkusen penalty area for the corner kick.

    As usual, Alex Telles stood over the ball and a couple of secondster, sent the ball flying into the penalty box.

    The Porto and Bayer Leverkusen yers jumped to catch the ball with their heads but the Leverkusen team with their height advantage got to the ball first and cleared the danger, sending the ball out of their penalty box.

 Chapter 100: Europa League Round of 32, Second Leg: Penalty Shootout I

    Chapter 100: Europa League Round of 32, Second Leg: Penalty Shootout I

    Despite the efforts of the two teams, the match ended up with neither of them managing to score a goal to give their team the instant liberation they so desperately wanted, thus they headed to their locker rooms after the whistle for the end of the 90 minutes, having to rest and prepare for 30 minutes of extra time and potentially penalties.

    Jason poured water on his head from the water bottle given to him as he breathed hard.

    He had over-exerted himself trying to find a goal thest few minutes, continuously running at the Leverkusen defense, sending passes, and even making decoy runs but the goal just wouldn��te and he walked off the field disappointed and exasperated, but his face maintained it��s impassive state, not letting anyone know how he actually felt.

    In the Porto locker room, Sergio Conceicao was addressing the yers,

    ��Although this wasn��t the results we were expecting, we are not out of the game yet and if you can carry on with the way we performed thest few minutes, we can still get our ticket to the next round,�� Sergio spoke in a lighter tone than his face suggested.

    He obviously wasn��t happy with the way his team had conceded two goals and gave away their almost surefire win.

    It was very annoying, but he understood that this wasn��t the time to speak his mind as that could lead to a copse of morale, and at a critical juncture like this, he couldn��t allow that to happen, thus, he��d keep his words till after the match.

    With that said, he focused his efforts on giving the yers instructions for the extra time period. He wanted to get a goal before extra time ended as he didn��t fancy penalties all that much, but he also understood that this wasn��t the time to give up on defense so he gave appropriate instructions that would allow the yers to attack fiercely while not leaving any major holes in the team��s defense.

    Soon the break was over and the yers headed out for extra time.

    The match resumed again with Bayer Leverkusen kicking off for the fourth time in the match.

    Without surprise, both teams yed attacking football, each team not keen on waiting till penalties to settle the match, but despite their efforts and even a few close calls, the scoreboard remained unchanged after the first fifteen minutes and the yers trudged off the field for a five-minute break and instructions from the coach.

    After the five-minute break was over, the match resumed with the Porto team kicking off, this being their fifth kick-off in the same game was not something that happened frequently.

    The second half of extra time was also filled with attacking football, but it had been dialed down a notch as neither team wanted to concede a goal at this juncture.

    Inevitably, the whistle blew after another 15 minutes with the scoreboard still unchanged, thus bringing the match to penalties.

    The noise in the stadium at this point was quite low as the fans all watched from the stands with tension on their faces and hope in their hearts.

    After a few minutes of debate within themselves, the teams decided their sequence for the penalty before both captains headed over to the referee for the coin toss to decide what goalpost would be used and who would be taking the first penalty first.

    After the two coin tosses, the goalpost to be used was decided on, and Bayer Leverkusen would be taking the first penalty.

    With this decided and the penalty shootout about to start, the yers of both teams headed to the circle in the midfield to wait.

    Augustin Marchesin and Kevin Vond headed to the goal for the first penalty.

    Without much trickery, Vond smashed the ball into the left side of the goal, sending Augustin Marchesin the wrong away and putting his team in the lead.

    {0 : 1}

    Tiquiniho Soares and Lucas Hradecky then headed out for the next penalty after Vond and Augustin Marchesin had returned to the circle in the midfield.

    Tiquiniho didn��t disappoint the Porto colors and sent the ball flying into the bottom left corner despite Lukas Hradecky��s attempts.

    {1 : 1}

    Kai Havertz was the next penalty taker for the Leverkusen team and without hesitation, he sent the ball past Augustin Marchesin.

    {1 :2}

    For the Porto side, Moussa Marega was the next up, and with a thunderous shot, he brought the scores level once again.

    {2 :2}

    Lukas rio stepped up to take the next penalty for Bayer Leverkusen and he coolly sent the ball past Augustin Marchesin, once again taking the lead in the shootout.

    {2 : 3}

    Alex Telles headed up to take the next penalty and as expected of him, he sent Lukas Hradecky flying the wrong way with a well-drilled shot.

    {3 :3}

    Kareem Demirbay was up next for the Bayer Leverkusen side and without much of a spectacle, he sent the ball into the top right corner of the goal.

    {3 : 4}

    Mattheus Uribe walked up to take the next penalty for Porto after Demirbay and Augustin Marchesin returned to the center circle.

    With a slightly exaggerated run-up, Mattheus Uribe sent the ball flying at the left corner of the goal.

    Lukas Hradecky dived for the ball but missed the ball, yet just when everyone thought the ball would end up in the back of the, the loud *CLANG* of the ball hitting the bar sent the Porto yer��s hearts into their throat.

    But before anyone could react in disappointment, the ball bounced off the bar, hit Hradecky��s back, and rolled past the goal line, sending everyone in the stadium on a roller coaster of emotions.

    {4 : 4}

    Some Leverkusen yers tried to appeal to the referee that the ball being deflected away from the goal meant that the goal wouldn��t count, but the referee argued that the ball ending up in the back of the was due to the Leverkusen goalkeeper deflecting the ball into the himself and was not due to the Porto yer having another of the ball, thus it was not against the rules and he allowed the goal to stand.

 Chapter 101: Europa League Round of 32, Second Leg: Penalty Shootout II

    Chapter 101: Europa League Round of 32, Second Leg: Penalty Shootout II

    Both sides had yed four penalties and had both scored all their penalties.

    The tension in the Estadio do Dragao was very palpable and everyone unconsciously held their breaths as Nadiem Amiri stepped back from the ball that he had ced on the penalty spot.

    The Porto fans wished that he would by some stroke of luck, flop the penalty, either by the Porto goalkeeper saving it, or by him shooting the ball off target, but Amiri ran up to the ball and drove the ball past Augustin Marchesin and into the top left corner.

    {4 : 5}

    Groans of annoyance and disappointment flew out of the stands where the Porto fans were seated while the traveling fans heaved a sigh of relief before doing their best to cheer for their team.

    Next up was the Porto team and Otavio stepped up to take the penalty.

    Another round of silent prayers filled the stadium as Otavio stepped away from the ball.

    The prayers of the Porto team seemed to have touched the skies as Otavio didn��t disappoint the hopes of his team and he mmed the ball into the bottom right corner. {5 : 5}

    The Porto fans cheered as the ball went in,pletely joyous that their team had survived yet another round of the penalty shootout.

    With a winner still not decided even after five rounds of penalties, they entered the sudden death round.

    At this point, the prayers and the tension in the stadium intensified as the first five penalties were usually taken by the best penalty takers in the line-up so the remaining guys were more likely to lose or miss a penalty and each team��s fans prayed that it wouldn��t be their team��s yer who flopped first.

    For the sixth round of penalties, Paulinho was the one taking the penalty for the Bayer Leverkusen team. He had been brought on as a substitute for Moussa Diaby in the second half.

    Paulinho took five steps away from the ball and took a deep breath as he waited for the referee��s whistle.

    *Fweeeee*

    Paulinho ran up to the ball and swung his feet hard, aiming for the top right corner, but his luck seemed to have deserted him as the ball flew and mmed hard against the top crossbar.

    Unfortunately, Paulinho didn��t have Mattheus Uribe��s strange luck and the ball flew out of y after mming into the crossbar.

    The groans of annoyance, disappointment, and despair of the Leverkusen fans were drowned out by the Porto fans who were in the majority in the stadium.

    The Leverkusen team had missed their first penalty just after they had entered the sudden death round and now, as long as Porto could score their penalty, then they won the penalty shootout, and in extension, the match.

    Coincidentally for Jason, he was the one that had been chosen to be the first penalty taker in the sudden death round�� if that had happened.

    Jason had already been arranged to take the fourth penalty in the ce of Mattheus Uribe, but Jason had argued that someone else should take it as he didn��t have any experience in penalty shootouts.

    Of course, those were only the words he had said outwardly but internally he didn��t want the pressure of the team��s victory to be ced on his neck by being among the first five penalty takers, but then this had happened.

    Having no choice, Jason took the ball from the referee and headed to the penalty box, put the ball on the spot, and took three steps back.

    It was unknown who started it, but as Jason waited for the referee��s whistle, someone started chanting his name and soon the other fans followed and the stadium was soon filled with Jason��s name being chanted.

    ��Jason, Jason, Jason, Jason, Jason, Jason���� the fans continually chanted, unknowingly heaping tons of pressure on Jason��s neck.

    ��This was exactly why I wanted to not be part of the first five penalty takers,�� Jason thought with quivering hands as he bent down to adjust his shoeces that did not need adjusting as he had already adjusted them before heading over with the ball.

    To bepletely honest, Jason actually both craved and feared this kind of attention from the Porto fans.

    The team��s victory was currently on his shoulders and this was one of the things that Jason was aiming for by wanting to be a football legend, thus he was ttered by the attention he was gaining from the fans, but he could also not help but wonder if he was ready to be this kind of yer who decided games for his team.

    By all rights, while his performance since his debut would not be called anything short of dazzling, it was also clear that Jason was too young, too inexperienced, and had too little charisma to lead the team to wins, even with the performances he had under his belt

    Of course, Jason wasn��t as young as he looked�� mentally�� but because of this he also could not help but be nervous as this was not something that he had been able to do in his past life.

    He had never made it to the big stages and even on the little stages where he was, he had never been the best on the team, he had never been the go-to guy, he had never been the main x-factor for his team so the fact that the game was currently on his shoulder and that he could single-handedly lead his team to victory or into the abyss more than just unnerved him.

    He was terrified just standing behind the ball with his name being chanted by thousands of fans who were looking to him for victory from his spot-kick, but he was doing his best to hide it.

    Unfortunately, the referee didn��t have an idea what was going on in Jason��s head and he blew his whistle as soon as he thought both the yer and goalkeeper were ready.

    Immediately the whistle was blown, all his fears, worries, and uncertainty, took a backseat in his mind as everything suddenly became nk and the only things his brain registered were the ball, the Leverkusen goalkeeper, and the goalpost.

    Jason took well-measured and calcted steps as he ran up to the ball, arched his body, and swung his right foot powerfully.

 Chapter 102: First Loss

    Chapter 102: First Loss

    The ball took flight upon contact with Jason��s foot and thundered to the bottom left corner of the goal almost in a sh.

    Hradecky almost couldn��t react, but he had already dived before the shot was taken, but had unfortunately dived in the wrong direction and could only watch from over his shoulder as the ball went past the goal line and mmed into the back of the.

    {5 : 6}

    For all his worries and uncertainty, the moment the ball mmed into the back of the, Jason took off towards the sidelines and jumped into a knee slide with his arms spread out as if to hug the world, a big smile on his face as crowd��s cheers washed over him, wave after wave.

    He wasn��t alone in his celebrations as his teammates soon arrived and jumped on him, piling up on him in jubtion while the Porto fans cheered joyously while jumping in their seats, their joy too much to be expressed on their butts.

    Thementator also got a word in here and there, but no one in the stadium bothered to listen to thementator��s ��expert��mentary at this moment.

    It was merely a round of 32 Europa League match, but the people in the Estadio do Dragao ignored that piece of information and just simply went with the flow and let the joy flow through their bodies as they continued shouting, not caring if their voices were bing hoarse because of the strain.

    Of course, not everyone in the Estadio do Dragao was swept up by happiness and some only had negative emotions coursing through them. Paulinho wished he could find a hole in the ground to bury himself in as he watched the Porto yers and fans celebrate.

    He wasn��t the only one, rather everyone on the Leverkusen side from the yers to the club staff present, and even the fans were not able to hide their negative emotions from showing on their faces.

    The way Porto celebrated was too luxurious for a mere round of 32 victory and it instead made them feel like they had lost out on winning the Europa League final match instead.

    Jason himself who led the celebrations, did not know why he was celebrating so wildly on a game that couldn��t be said to be a ��huge�� one, but he couldn��t stop himself and continued celebrating with the fans.

    Maybe it was his Nigerian blood that wanted to quite typically ��pepper his enemies,�� �� or opponents in this case, but he continued his celebrations, using thest of his self-control to stop himself from doing anything more provocative as all sorts of ideas were popping up in his head and he had to do his best to not let himself slip.

    The celebrations continued for a few more minutes before the yers started heading back to their locker rooms.

    Of course, as the one who scored the match-winning penalty, Jason was ambushed by some reporters before he could make it to the tunnel.

    ��Scoring the match-winning penalty to earn your team a ticket into the next phase of the Europa League tournament despite the pressure on your back was delightful, I��m sure, especially with the way you celebrated,�� a female reporter from CBS that Jason recognized from thest match said with a chuckle,

    ���� But how did it feel to take the reigns and earn your team��s victory all by yourself?�� she asked with a smile.

    ��Firstly, I want to say that we won as a team and everyone did their part, I was just opportune to be the one that had to take thest penalty which ended as the match-winning penalty,��

    ��Of course, I also have to say that I did feel quite the pressure and I was a bit shaken by the stakes that hung in the bnce, especially when I heard the fans chanting my name, but luckily I was able to keep enoughposure to the ball cleanly, so I feel quite good, very ted actually,�� Jason responded, his joy from scoring the match winner still on his face.

    ��Despite your team earning the ticket to the next round of the Europa League, the actual game ended up as a loss for your team, which if I��m correct is also your first loss with the Porto club, how do you feel about that?�� female CBS reporter asked another question.

    ��Now that you mention it, that��s true, haha,�� Jason realized with a littleugh.

    ��Well, I could say we lost the battle but won the war, but nevertheless the manager would always tell us that a loss is something to be improved upon, so I��m sure we��ll revise what caused our loss in theing days in training and will learn from our mistakes to make sure that this situation repeats itself as little as possible,�� Jason answered intelligently with a motivated voice, earning a nod of respect from the reporters present.

    ��This has been a match in which you��ve had a major influence in, just like your other three matches since your debut, yet you��ve not yet gotten your hands on a man of the match award yet despite your exhrating and electrifying performances. Why do you think that is?�� A male reporter from ESPN asked Jason with a mic in his face.

    A hint of a frown appeared on the corner of Jason��s lips, but it was gone as soon as it appeared,

    ���� I mean�� Sure I��ve yed well and have been hitting the targets, but I��m not exactly the only yer on the field, and neither am I the one deciding who gets what award so the matter is beyond me and not even something I had any thoughts about,��

    ��I don��t have any negative feelings for whoever won the awards in previous matches as it was decided by the professionals that the person was the most influential person in the game and I can��t challenge that neither do I want to,�� Jason answered, a bit thrown off by the question as it felt like the question was meant to trip him up and make him say something he was not supposed to say.

    ��Anyway, I have to go,�� Jason started to say, but was interrupted,

    ��One more question!�� the ESPN reporter pleaded.

    Seeing as he had answered two questions from the female CBS reporter, Jason had an inkling of a thought that it would not be fair if he did not answer the same number of questions from this guy as well, even though hisst question was a bit annoying, but Jason was still quite happy from winning the game so he quickly forgave him,

    ��Ask away,�� Jason said after a bit of thought.

    ��Ok thank you,�� the ESPN reporter replied but had a crafty smile on his face that unnerved Jason slightly and made him wonder if he had not made a mistake by allowing this guy to ask another question.

    ��Despite the difficulty, Porto have managed to stand above the Leverkusen team and are the ones who had thestugh despite the unexpected urrences in the second leg of the tie. Do you have words for your defeated opponents or even the Leverkusen fans?�� the ESPN reporter asked, unable to keep his crafty smile that anticipated Jason��s answer eagerly.

    ��Nahhhh�� I��m not falling for that,�� Jason replied with an amused smile on his face as he realized that this reporter really wanted to trip him up.

    Whatever he said here would be misinterpreted and would end up as a controversy and Jason wasn��t going to be falling for it.

    ��Mhm mm, nope, not today,�� Jason said while shaking his head.

    ��Anyway I have to go, I left my cat in the oven and forgot to feed my bread,�� Jason said as he backed away from the reporters, eliciting augh from the other reporters.

    ��Don��t you mean that the other way around?�� the ESPN reporter asked, confused.

    ��However you choose to look at it, you��re correct,�� Jason replied, but did not stop walking away.

    ��Somebody call animal protection services!!!�� Somebody shouted behind Jason, but he didn��t look back and headed down the tunnel.

 Chapter 103: Knock

    Chapter 103: Knock

    *Ring* *Ring*

    The sound of an incessant rm dragged Jason��s consciousness out of thefortable embrace of the goddess of sleep and Jason��s eyes slowly opened up as he grabbed his phone and put an end to the annoying ringing that had him wanting to squash the phone like a pancake.

    Despite the rm having woken him up, Jason closed his eyes to go back to sleep, remembering that he had forgotten to turn off the rm as he had no reason to wake up as early as 6 am on a rest day.

    To be more honest, it wasn��t that Jason wanted to rest more, which he did but because he was forced to rest.

    In the match against Leverkusen the previous day, due to being the focal point of the Porto attack, he had been incessantly fouled and brought down by the Bayer Leverkusen yers whenever he had tried to start an attack.

    Due to the adrenaline high from the match, he had not felt anything during the match but as soon as the match was over and he headed to the locker room, he felt quite winded, a bit light-headed and he had a few aches in his knees and ankles.

    The medical personnel had done a quick check on him and luckily hadn��t found anything more than a few abrasions and bruises, but they had also rmended that he rest well as he had picked up a knock that could potentially turn into an injury if he didn��t allow his body to rest.

    They had also scheduled a massage session to help him with match recovery the following day which was today. Jason was a training freak in all rights, but this time he was going to listen to the medical personnel, especially when he was on the cusp of probably getting his first start for the club, so it would suck if he had an injury at this particr moment that would not allow him to y.

    With these thoughts, he fell back asleep only to finally wake up more than two hourster.

    Despite waking up, Jason still felt quite sleepy as he was really enjoying his rest, but something seemed to have woken him up as he stared around confused, wondering why he was up.

    He knew he was naturally very sensitive to sounds and movements even while asleep and this had been sharpened even further when he had learned martial arts in his previous reality.

    In this reality, he retained that hypersensitivity, so he knew that something had woken him up, but he couldn��t hear or see anything that could have woken him up.

    Not sure what was going on, he rubbed his sleepy eyes and grabbed his phone to check the time.

    ��8:31 am,�� he read internally before moving to get up and pushing off his nkets, getting off his bed and stretching extensively, his eyes sweeping across the room and finding nothing out of ce.

    Seeing nothing strange, Jason walked out of the room, hoping to get a ss of water as his throat felt a bit dry.

    He moved to the door and made to pull the door open and immediately he pulled, he realized what had probably woken him up.

    The door was shut tightly when he had gone to sleep the night before, but now it hadn��t been shut and had only been pulled close.

    Noting that, Jason walked into the hallway and made his way to the kitchen where he met Mylo pouring himself a ss of milk.

    ��Morning,�� Jason muttered, his voice sounding deep and husky since he had just woken up.

    ��Oh, you��re up?�� Mylo asked with a lot of surprise in his tone.

    ��I just came to check if you were asleep just like a minute ago and I thought you were asleep,�� he continued.

    ��I was,�� Jason muttered as he walked to the kitchen counter and picked up a ss cup, rinsed it, and slid it over to Mylo, his intention for Mylo to pour him a cup as well.

    Jason immediately believed Mylo��s words as if Mylo had done more than just checking whether he was awake, he would have woken up, and if by some sort of luck, he didn��t wake up, he would still have noticed Mylo��s presence in the room.

    Such was an advantage of being very organized.

    He would very easily notice if something was out of ce, but luckily it wasn��t needed this time.

    It was in a way, kind of sad that he was so on guard against Mylo, but Mylo himself had caused it with some of his stupid actions and it would take a while before Jason could let down his guard around Mylo ever again�� if it ever even happened.

    Mylo had no idea of what was going on in Jason��s mind as it was usually difficult to tell what Jason was thinking whenever he had his impassive face on and that was Jason��s default face.

    He poured Jason a ss of milk after pouring himself one and slid the ss back to Jason, somehow managing to not let a single drop spill despite his risky actions.

    If Jason didn��t know better, he would have thought Mylo was a professional bartender, but he knew that Mylo��s skill was probably from his many night actions.

    ��He��s probably even better at sliding into DMs, or even pu-�� I don��t need to know that,�� Jason started thinking, but quickly shut down his errant thoughts that threatened to spiral out of control.

    ��So where��s the shawty you brought overst night?�� Jason asked before bringing up his ss of milk to his mouth.

    ��What shawty? I didn��t go outst night,�� Mylo replied almost indifferently while sipping on his milk, but Jason almost choked on his milk after hearing Mylo��s words.

    Mylo��s words weren��t something strange to hear, but it was very strange to hear such words from Mylo��s mouth, hence Jason��s exaggerated reaction.

    ��You know about that corona virus thing you told me about?�� Mylo continued, eliciting a nod from Jason who had calmed down.

    ��I figured there��d be no harm in ying it safe a bit and avoiding crowded areas for now,�� Mylo continued speaking, having no idea how his words were turning Jason��s head upside down as Jason found himself wondering whether aliens had taken over Mylo��s brain and had him acting different.

 Chapter 104: Nicknames

    Chapter 104: Nicknames

    ��Oh? I mean wow?�� Jason said, his words sounding more like a question than a statement since he had a hard time believing what he was hearing.

    Jason may not be an expert in psychology, but even he knew that such a sudden change of behavior was strange.

    Unfortunately, Mylo probably wouldn��t tell him what was causing the change�� if he knew, which he probably did.

    Also, Jason wasn��t really interested in finding out as there were a lot more interesting things to do with his time than to be the greatest detective on earth�� he��d leave that recreational activity to the jealous females.

    After all, it didn��t really matter to him what was causing Mylo��s change as long as it was to his benefit.

    Mylo��s change�� if he kept this up, would drastically reduce the likelihood of either of them contacting the virus, and leaving with Mylo during the lockdown period would be a lot easier.

    Jason was still going to leave the apartment immediately after as he felt like he had already overstayed his wee.

    ��Yeah, man, I still need to live for a long time, you know. I still have many things to do,�� Mylo replied with a cheeky grin as he took out his phone. Jason just nced at him with a wry smile and continued drinking his milk.

    ��Hey, you��re on the news!�� Mylo suddenly eximed as he looked through his phone, his sudden exaggerated shout almost making Jason spit out his milk.

    Jason looked at him annoyedly, but Mylo didn��t seem to notice and showed Jason the phone��s screen.

    Jason��s eyes fell to the screen and he read the headlines aloud,

    ��Porto��s gentlemanly young rose dragon stamps his authority on Leverkusen again,�� Jason read with a weird look on his face.

    ��What do you mean they��re talking about me?�� he asked confused as he didn��t see the link with him despite his picture apanying the headlines.

    ��Of course, they��re talking about you! You��re the gentlemanly young rose dragon!�� Mylo stated with exuberance.

    This time, Jason couldn��t stop himself and choked on his milk, before ending up with a coughing fit as he tried to cough up the milk that had gone to the wrong ce.

    After almost a full minute of coughing Jason asked with a look of confusion and horror on his face,

    ��What?!��

    ��What do you mean what?�� Mylo asked back, holding out a tissue to Jason.

    ��What the hell is that wacky ass name!�� Jason was horrified.

    ��This can��t be the name I��ll be ending up with for the rest of my career, right?�� he wondered inwardly, horrified by the mere thought.

    ��Actually there are many nicknames for you, but most of them have the word ��rose�� in them because of that jubtion you did on your debut,�� Mylo cleared his confusion by plunging him into more confusion and horror.

    ��Ah, shit,�� he muttered almost tearfully while thinking to himself that if knew that that was what was going to happen, he would have thrown away the damned rose the moment he had caught it.

    ��Wait, you said there are many nicknames, right?��Despite his horror, Jason still had a bit of curiosity and asked.

    ��Yeah, some call you ��the gentleman of the rose��, some call you ��the rose dragon��, others call you ��the elusive ck rose��, while some others also call you ��the sapphire-eyed rose��,�� Mylo began listing leaving Jason thinking,

    ��What the hell!��

    ��To be fair, some of the names don��t sound that bad, though some of them feel a bit far-fetched and some sounded like a name one would get in a fantasy novel,�� Jason thought to himself but Mylo hadn��t stopped listing.

    ��There are also other names like; The Rose Knight, Jason Rose, Roux Thorn, Blue Rose Quartz,�� Mylo continued but was immediately interrupted by Jason.

    ��Okay, okay, I get it, that��s a lot of names. You can make it stop feeling like a Nigerian naming ceremony now,�� Jason thought while rubbing his brows and heaving a sigh of relief.

    The names didn��t really sound that bad. Some were a bit cringey, but they weren��t horrific and the name in the news seemed to have been an amalgamation of some of the nicknames which was why it felt weird and horrific.

    Jason was now stuck wondering if the level of journalism was really that bad in Porto that they allowed a stupid name like that to be on the headlines, but then he realized that it was probably meant as a clickbait so it wouldn��t mean much for now.

    Such a long and stupid nickname would probably find it difficult to gain any traction as the people of this generation were toozy to remember such a long-ass name.

    The thought of that caused Jason to heave a sigh of relief only for his relief to disappear the next second when he heard Mylo��s words.

    ��Funny thing is that most of those nicknames were given to you by girls,�� Mylo casually dropped the biggest bomb yet in this conversation.

    If Jason were still drinking milk, he would probably have choked and died on the milk, but he just barely managed to croak,

    ��What?�� A funny look of realization appeared on his face.

    No wonder some of the names felt kind of off as he knew that most men were not romantic enough to think up such a nickname for a fellow man, unless of course they were gay, and even most gay men��s thinking would be more inclined to a more macho nickname for another man.

    Women on the other hand were wired differently and could casually dish out the most ridiculous of nicknames.

    It all made sense now�� No, wait, it still didn��t make that much sense.

    How many women were so interested in football to the point that they would know about an uing yer like him and were already giving him tons of nicknames that weren��t half-bad?

    From this, he could infer that they didn��t hate him, but why were they so interested in him?

    All sorts of cogs were turning in his head and his brain cells were working at full power to try and decode the current situation, but as he was thinking, a question suddenly popped up.

    Something didn��t add up here.

    It was one thing for him to have many nicknames, and it was another thing for most of those nicknames toe from women, but it was apletely different thing for Mylo to know so much about the matter.

    Jason was a major fan of Cristiano dos Santos Aveiro Ronaldo, but even he couldn��t list ten nicknames of Cristiano off the top of his head, yet Mylo literally recited almost ten nicknames for him and he had only had his debut barely seven days ago.

    Something was very wrong here, Jason thought with a shiver.

 Chapter 105: Nicknames II

    Chapter 105: Nicknames II

    Getting over the weird nicknames, Jason took up Mylo��s phone again to read the article about him.

    The article just briefly recapped his performances over the two matches while also adding a few elements that were not exactly true, but then that was a normal thing from reporters and there was nothing Jason could do to stop them, neither did he want to.

    ��You going somewhere?�� Jason asked Mylo who was all dressed up and even had a bag slung over his shoulder.

    ��Yeah, school,�� Mylo replied as he took his phone back from Jason.

    ��Ah��!�� Jason muttered.

    ��I forgot you were still attending high school,��

    ��Final year?�� Jason asked, rinsing out his ss.

    ��Yeah, I��ll be done with school after this,�� Mylo answered back, rinsing out his ss as well. ��Where��s your school at?�� Jason suddenly thought to ask as he began heading back to his room, intending to go have his bath.

    ��Not really far, it��s along the way to the trainingplex,�� Mylo replied as he sat on the couch.

    ��Along the way, huh? Hey, if it wouldn��t be toote, I could drop you off, I have to go to the trainingplex today,�� Jason offered.

    ��That��d be cool, sses start at 10 am anyway,�� Mylo replied gratefully.

    ��Alright,�� Jason muttered and headed back to his bedroom, took off his clothes, and jumped into the adjoining bathroom to wash up.

    Making sure that his mouth received just as much attention as his body and hair, he quickly washed up left the bathroom, and began dressing up.

    Opting for a simple white round-neck T-shirt, sky blue jeans, and his ck and white Nike Air shoes, he quickly dressed up.

    He was merely going to get a massage at the trainingplex and he couldn��t exactly be wearing clothes when he was getting a full body massage so there was no point in wearing anything extravagant.

    He felt toozy to do so anyway.

    Like always, he grabbed his HUGO cross bag that had all his effects and walked out.

    ��Let��s go,�� he called out to Mylo as he through the house, and out the front door.

    ��Coming!�� Mylo called and jumped off his ass, grabbing his bag and running after Jason, not forgetting to shut and lock the front door of the house.

    Jason who was already getting into the car suddenly felt his stomach rumble and realized that he was actually quite hungry.

    The milk had staved it off for a few minutes, but his stomach was already calling for nutrients once again.

    ��I should be able to get something at the trainingplex��s cafeteria,�� Jason thought to himself as he started up his car.

    Mylo finally got in as well, giving Jason his cue and he immediately pulled out of the driveway.

    As Jason began driving, he noticed that Mylo was doing something on his phone, and from the rapid-fire he was hearing, it was either a shooting game or a Rambo movie.

    ��What��s that?�� Jason asked, his curiosity piqued as he quite liked games.

    ��Oh, this, it��s Call of Duty,�� Mylo barely replied,pletely focused on the game he was ying.

    ��They have those on phones already?�� Jason asked in surprise, after all, he knew and had yed Call of Duty quite a bit, but he had only yed it on consoles and PCs in his past reality, but he had never heard anything about the game being on phones back then.

    Well, it wasn��t exactly impossible though as if he remembered correctly, Call of Duty was a multiyer game and Jason was never really into multiyer games.

    He hardly ever yed games against other people and all his skill in games came from ying against the highest leveled AIs.

    This was of course because he didn��t have friends and the only time he had yed games against other humans was whenever his team was on some team-building vacation or something where it waspulsory to y.

    As they were stopped at a red light, Jason asked, ��Lemme see what it looks like,�� and Mylo agreed, but as his hand came in contact with Mylo��s phone he let out a yelp as he pulled his hand back at more than double the speed he had stretched it out.

    ��I asked for your phone, not a hand-held heater, bruh,�� Jason almost shouted as what hade in contact with his hand was hotter than any water he could dare to use to wash his body.

    Mylo burst intoughter before finally saying, ��That��s just how iPhones heat up while ying heavy games,��

    ��What? Is the rose sapphire-eyed ck rose dragon scared of a little heat?�� Mylo teased.

    ��Fuck you. Give it here,�� Jason shot back and snatched the phone from Mylo��s grasp.

    ��Why would anyone subject themselves to such torture though?�� Jason wondered internally as he could feel the heat from the phone almost burning through his hands.

    ��This phone finna melt at this rate,�� he thought as he swiped across the screen, seeing that Mylo seemed to be in an ongoing game, but before Jason could do anything, he was shot countless times by another yer that had just jumped into view and he died.

    ��Haha, you��re wack at this bro,�� Myloughed at him from the sides, but soon shut up as Jason started moving.

    Jason had seen the buttons and quickly understood what they did even without testing them, so the next person that appeared on the screen was shot down before they could even get close and a few more yers were shot down like that as well before, Jason was shot down from behind as well.

    ��Hey, you��re not bad at this,�� Mylo muttered and wanted to take the phone back but Jason pped his hand away.

    Unfortunately, Jason didn��t p it away in time and Mylo had mistakenly touched the loadout 2 button, on the screen changing the loadout so when Jason respawned, it was with a different character, weapons, and score streaks.

    ��Oh, there��s snipers in here,�� Jason muttered as he climbed up the stairs of the house in Nuketown and from the window sniped all the five members of the other team with rming uracy.

    The traffic light turned green at this moment and Jason threw the phone back at Mylo, his hands resuming to their duty posts on top of the steering and his leg stepping on the elerator.

 Chapter 106: Nicknames III

    Chapter 106: Nicknames III

    Mylo almost fumbled catching his phone as it bounced off his hand a few times before he finally caught it and continued ying the game from where Jason left off, but not before saying,

    ��And you say you��re not some kind of secret weapon from Wakanda�� How are you so good at many things, bruh?�� Mylo asked in an exasperated tone.

    ��What��s with you and Wakanda?�� Jason replied with a roll of his eyes.

    ���� Well, ck Panther is probably the greatest movie ever and they��ve got your kind of people in it,�� Mylo answered back, most of his focus on the game he was ying.

    ��You know, If I was a white woman named Karen, I��d find this offensive and racist, even though it wouldn��t be my business because I was white,�� Jason said with augh.

    ��Who��s Karen?�� Mylo asked, his curiosity piqued.

    ��I don��t really know much either, but the legends say she is always lurking around, looking for opportunities to disy her stupidity and unreasonable attitude,��

    ��Her appearance can��t be predicted, and she can��t be controlled, but when you meet her, you��ll just know what she is,�� ��The legends also say she always has a hen-pecked husband who can��t keep her in line,�� Jason exined with an air of yful mystery.

    ��Yeah right, she hasn��t met a real man who��d m her down on the kitchen counter and pump all her stupidity and unreasonable attitude out of her from behind,��

    ��That should keep her bit*h a*s in line,�� Mylo caught on to Jason��s yfulness and added, but Jason was struck with amused horror instead.

    ��Aiyoo, what the fu*k, that��s a pg-18 statement kid,��

    ��You��re fu**ing seventeen!�� Jason responded in a surprised voice.

    ���� But, I ain��t gonna lie, that does seem like a reasonable solution. Back pumping, you called it?�� Jason continued in an amused voice.

    ��Are you up to the task of testing your theory though?�� Jason asked with a raised eyebrow.

    ��If she got a fat as*, and doesn��t look too bad, then sure,�� Mylo half replied, returning his focus to his game, his reply stunning Jason yet again.

    ��At this point, is there anything you wouldn��t stick your dick inside?�� Jason half-joked trying to put this matter away as it escted too quickly for him and he didn��t know where the conversation was going at this point.

    ��Yeah, a blender and a guy�� I don��t mind anything else, depending on my mood though,�� Mylo said with the casualness of saying one��s name.

    ��You monster,�� Jason was thinking, but before he could get his words out, his phone suddenly rang, effectively dispersing all his current thoughts.

    Jason picked up his phone to see who was calling only to see the name ��Sofia�� standing out on the screen and his face involuntarily lit up in a smile that even Mylo who was almost fully focused on his game noticed.

    ��Is that the girl you��ve been trying to backbend?�� Mylo said with a knowing smile as he saw the name of the person calling.

    ��Man shut up,�� Jason shot back as he swiped across the green button and Sofia��s pretty face jumped into view.

    ��What��s up?�� Jason greeted.

    ��I��m doing fine Lord Jason Rose,�� Sofia replied with a nifty smile.

    ���� I was going to say ��not you too��, but I actually quite like that one,�� Jason said with a littleugh.

    ��Drats, I should have called you ��the Rose knight�� instead,�� Sofia said again, a bit peeved that her words hadn��t had the intended effect on Jason that she wanted.

    ��I like that one too,�� Jason replied with augh. Seeing Sofia trying to get under his skin and failing was amusing to him.

    ��Why don��t you call him the ��the elusive, sapphire-eyed, gentlemanly rose dragon��,�� Mylo who was supposed to be a third wheel didn��t want to ept such a relegation and shot into the conversation intending to y wing-man.

    ��Ugh, shut up,�� Jason��s eyelids twitched as he heard the horriblebination of names.

    ��You are?�� Sofia asked as Mylo had caught her attention with his words, but just as Mylo was about to introduce himself, Jaso cut in,

    ��This is Mylo Baumgartner, the one idiotic roommate you can get stuck with, but will never wish for.��

    ��Hey! You could add that I��m handsome as well,�� Mylo shot back at Jason.

    ��Even if you killed me, my spirit wouldn��t say it,�� Jason responded.

    ��You didn��t tell me you had an interesting friend,�� Sofia said in betweenughs as she watched Jason and Mylo bickering with each other over the phone.

    ��Friend? What��s that? He��s just a roommate,�� Jason immediately said, dead serious.

    ��Le Gasp, you traitor!�� Mylo said exaggeratedly.

    ��Is this how you y with my emotions after all we��ve been through together? You are scum!�� Mylo said in a yfully serious tone.

    ��Keep this up and you finna catch these hands!�� Jason shot back, his right hand tightly fisted.

    ��Hold up big fe, let��s regroup! I��m not looking to get beaten up with your Wakanda martial arts,�� Mylo immediately conceded, a shiver going through him when he saw Jason��s fist.

    ��This is so chaotic, I don��t even know whether to keepughing or be jealous,�� Sofia managed to say in betweenughs.

    ��Jealous? Of what? I��m about to throw this dude out of a moving vehicle and hope I don��t get charged for animal abuse,�� Jason replied to her, his eyes on Mylo, looking half serious, but Mylo wasn��t going to back down after Jason��s new attack.

    Thus all the way to Mylo��s school, the car was filled with the loud bickering of Jason and Mylo while Sofia got a word in a few times, but was mostlyughing as she enjoyed the show.

    When they finally reached Mylo��s school, Mylo jumped out of the car as fast as the winged doors would allow him to.

    Jason had won this war of words hands down and Mylo had only managed to keep up by clutching at straws.

    ��Later, Sofie, It was nice speaking with you,�� he called out to Sofia on the call before he ran off.

    ��This bastard is already giving my girl nicknames,�� Jason thought suspiciously as he watched Mylo run off as the door came down automatically.

 Chapter 107: Nicknames IV

    Chapter 107: Nicknames IV

    ��Mylo!��

    Mylo heard his name being called loudly behind him by a voice that he recognized and he turned to check where the voice wasing from.

    Sure as can be, Melissa��s face came into view of Mylo and she was with three of her friends as they walked up to Mylo, but before she could say anything, a low ��meep�� sounded from Jason��s car.

    ��Hold up, gimme a minute,�� Mylo said to Melissa and walked back to the passenger side of the car where the ss window was already sliding down.

    Upon reaching the window, Jason didn��t even give him a chance to ask why he had called as he held out a nose mask to Mylo.

    ��I don��t care if you can��t stand the smell of your own breath, don��t forget to wear the mask next time,�� Jason said as he handed the mask to Mylo and drove off immediately, not waiting to hear a reply from Mylo.

    Mylo had a wry smile on his face that was soon covered up by the ck nose mask that Jason had just given him.

    ��Is that your roommate?�� Melissa asked from behind Mylo, having gotten behind him without him noticing. ��Yeah,�� Mylo responded and put his arm around Melissa��s shoulder.

    ��He could have at least said hi,�� Melissa spat, her mood down a notch for a reason unknown to Mylo.

    ��I don��t think he noticed you, he was on a call with a girl,�� Mylo said with a glint in his eye.

    ��Is she pretty?��Melissa asked as they walked back together to where her three girlfriends waited.

    ��Pretty or not, she��s his, not mine,�� Mylo said with augh as he put his other arm around another one of the girls and they walked through the doors of the school together.

    Inside the BMW i8, Jason continued talking with Sofia as he drove to the CTFD Portogaia, their conversation flowing more freely now that the third wheel(In Jason��s view), was gone.

    Soon Jason headed to the Porto team��s trainingplex and had to get off the call.

    After saying their goodbyes to each other, Jason hung up, got out of his car, and headed into the trainingpound.

    Heading to the medical center at the training grounds, Jason met with Dr. Luis Pinto who had been in charge of his medicals when he hade to the club on trial.

    Luckily, this time, he was only here to get a more thorough examination of his body to determine if he had any hidden injuries, and not here for a physical examination, otherwise, he would already be sweating in anxiety.

    Luis Pinto was of course not privy to his thoughts and greeted him quite warmly before beginning the check-up.

    He made Jason go through a few muscr motions, did an x-ray scan, and a few other tests and after a while, he was able to determine that Jason didn��t have anything more than a knock and just needed to rest a bit while adding calcium-rich foods to his diet.

    With the go-ahead from the doctor, Jason left the medical center and went to the training and recovery center to get his scheduled massage.

    Like before, the massage was soothing and helped him release a lot of the tension and muscr stress from the match, but just like before, a part of Jason��s body was rock hard after the massage and it wasn��t his head.

    Letting his raging blood calm down before he got up, he said his thanks to the professional masseuse, who was quite beautiful and mature-looking.

    After the massage was over, Jason no longer had any reason to be at the training grounds as his priority right now was rest and he wouldn��t be allowed to train even if he was inclined to disobey the doctor.

    Not wanting to wait at the club cafeteria, Jason headed back to his car, and headed back to the apartment, picking a few groceries along the way that he nned to use to conjure up a meal for himself.

    This time, he made to cover up his face well with a nose mask and a baseball cap that barely fit on his head which he had in the car before heading into the grocery store and picking up the ingredients he wanted.

    He made it through all the customers in the store by hiding well, but he was still noticed by the cashier at the counter when he went to pay for what he bought.

    Luckily, he managed to tell her to shush in time before she called attention to him, but after asking her how she managed to recognize him, he realized that he had forgotten to cover the thing that gave him away the most.

    As for what it was, what else could it be but the two blue gems he had for eyes?

    After all, it was not every day one saw a dark-skinned man with such brightly colored eyes, so anyone who knew him and saw his eyes would almost immediately put him together with Jason Bolu, the footballer, effectively blowing his cover.

    One thing that was a bit surprising for Jason was how fast he became famous. It was a bit too fast for him and he didn��t recall fameing so easily to many other young and talented athletes like him, not to mention that even women recognized his face��

    No�� rather he should that women ��especially�� recognized his face.

    ��Since when did so many women be football fans?�� he wondered as he paid for his groceries.

    It was a very puzzling matter for Jason as it was quite unexpected for him to be this famous in barely a week after his debut.

    Sure he had been ying well and all, but he had not even had his first start for the club.

    ��Are my performances that impressive�� I mean, it is three goals and one assist in three games and I haven��t started any of those games,�� Jason wondered as he signed an autograph on the cashier��s Porto jersey that she kept stashed in her bag for reasons unknown to Jason.

    ��Or is my character that likable?�� he continued wondering as he quickly took a selfie picture with her and carried his grocery bags out of the store, managing to stay unnoticed till he got back to his car.

    He got a few looks from the people nearby courtesy of his sporty-looking car, but before anyone could put two and two together and go through their head for a list of likely-looking celebrities like the long-haired, dark-skinned guy in the driver seat, Jason had already driven off.

    His aim for the rest of the day was to eat and rest while watching and analyzing match reys, after all, if he couldn��t train physically, he could at least do image training, right?

 Chapter 108: First Start I

    Chapter 108: First Start I

    **2nd March 2020**

    *3:04 pm*

    At the CTFD Portogaia, the Porto yers were walking off the field after rounding up their pre-match training for their match at the Estadio de Sao Miguel against Santa ra when the manager called for a tactical meeting.

    Sergio Conceicao was going to name the yers who would be in the lineup, both the starting yers and the ones on the bench, as well as address the tactics they would be using against Santa ra.

    The yers gathered in the hall where team meetings were usually held and sat down in the avable chairs, waiting for the manager to begin.

    While waiting for all the yers to gather around and settle down, Sergio Conceicao exchanged greetings with some of the yers, asked about their families, and made some small talk.

    After the exchange of pleasantries with some yers, the rest of the team was already gathered around and Sergio Conceicao started the team meeting.

    ��Good work in trainingds, I��m impressed by your hard work and enthusiasm in training recently and I also like how it is reflecting on your performances on the pitch,�� ��As usual, there is no better evidence than results and it is quite clear right now, as we qualified for the round of 16 in the Europa League and are currently at the top of the table in the league, so I want to first say that good work,�� Sergio Conceicao first addresses the team��s recent performances.

    ��Nevertheless, we have been losing a few games recently that we should by all rights, havee out on top, so while I am happy with your recent performances, I still have to tell you that a lot of improvements have to be made, and we will be starting with fixing those faults in our next match,��

    ��I��ll start with the line-up for today��s match against Santa ra,��

    ��As usual, we��ll be ying our 4-4-2 formation,��

    ��We��ll have our no.1 goalie in between the sticks, Augustin Marchesin. His job doesn��t need any further exnations, I believe,�� Sergio Conceicao started

    ��On the left side of the defensive line is Alex Telles and on the right is Wilson Manafa,��

    ��They��llbine with the center backs to form an impregnable line while also always keeping an eye out to help the team on the attacks by making inverted runs down the wings and sending the ball into the penalty box,�� Sergio Conceicao exined what he wanted from the wing-backs.

    ��In the center back positions, we have our team captain, Pepe, on the right center, and standing beside him on the left would be, Diogo Leite,��

    ��They are the main points of our defense and would be looking to shut down any attacks that manage to make their way past the midfield,��

    ��Our primary defensive tactic for this match will be man-marking, you all should stay on your man and harass them. Don��t give them any space to even think of creating something,��

    ��If snatching the ball directly isn��t working, try to push them out towards the wings and keep them away from the center of the field so that they have no choice but to send the ball into our penalty area from the wings where our center backs will be waiting to clear the iing crosses,�� Sergio Conceicao exined to the team, forgetting that he hadn��t even finished calling out the line-ups.

    ��In central mid-field, we will be having a partnership between Sergio Oliveira and Romario Baro,��

    ��When we are not in possession, I want you hovering between the midfielders and the forwards of the other team, always looking to intercept.��

    ��I don��t want any of their passes to make it through you guys and I believe you can do that,��

    ��When we are with possession or on the attack, I want you guys somewhere in-between the edges of the opponent penalty area and the midfield center circle, supporting the wingers and the strikers with your passes and connecting them if they are too far away from the other,��

    ��Depending on the situation, you can also make decoy runs to confuse the opposition defense,�� Sergio Conceicao gave full instructions to the center mid-fielders.

    He was going above and beyond to make his instructions as clear as possible as he wanted his team to get over their current inconsistent run of form.

    ��On the left wing, Is Luiz Diaz, he��ll bebining a left-midfield and winger role as I want him constantly dropping back to receive the ball from the midfield before driving the ball forward and cutting into the box or releasing the ball forward, depending on the situation,��

    ��On the right wing, I expect Jason to do the same, but I want him to stay forward a bit more and not drop back as much. Only drop back when the ball is being pushed back, is that clear?�� Sergio Conceicao asked his eyes on Jason.

    ��Yes coach,�� Jason responded immediately, a smile on his face after realizing that he would be starting the match.

    ��Ok, good�� Moving on, I want Moussa Marega and Ze Luis upfront as our two center forwards, but I want Ze Luis droppinging to the wings whenever Luis Diaz drops back while Marega stays in the middle, and Jason would stay on the right wing to ensure that there are no holes in our attack.��

    Sergio Conceicao then went on to give out more detailed instructions before calling out the yers who would be on the bench.

    The team meeting ended shortly after and the yers who were part of the line-up, quickly headed over to the locker room to prepare to leave for Estadio de Sao Miguel.

    Quickly washing up and getting into their NewBnce-sponsored track tracksuits and shoes, they packed up their kits and got on the team bus, heading to Ponta Delgada.

    The drive took about thirty minutes before they arrived at the stadium and it was worth noting that the amount of fans at the stadium was quite low.

    As the two teams did their pre-match warm-up routines, Jason quite easily noticed that the number of fans filling up the stadium was quite low and unless a huge wave of fans suddenly arrived, the stadium would probably only be half-filled by the time the match started.

    The effects of the coronavirus on daily life were gradually increasing, but even then, people were still willing toe out to support their football clubs no matter how bad it was, which was something Jason was definitely grateful for as football was always better when the fans were there to support.

    But for now, he ced the matter of the virus aside and focused on psyching himself up as he did his warm-up routines, his major focus of the day being to perform well.

 Chapter 109: First Start II

    Chapter 109: First Start II

    After the warm-up routines werepleted, the yers of both teams headed back down the tunnels to make their final preparations for the match.

    In the Porto dressing room, Sergio Conceicao gave ast-minute revision of the game n and he reminded each yer of their roles and duties in making sure their team came out on top at the end of the match.

    Jason removed his training vest, checked his shin guards, and adjusted his gloves and shoces as he listened to the manager, staving off the little anxiety that rose within his chest.

    Soon enough, the manager was done and the yers headed to the tunnels where they lined up, awaiting their cue toe on the pitch.

    Jason waited while rubbing his hands nervously, and before long, the referees in the lead started walking out, and the yers immediately followed after them.

    Walking out of the tunnel and onto the field to begin the pre-kickoff rituals wasn��t an entirely new experience for Jason, but to him, it signified a new beginning.

    He had risen to yet another milestone after being given a second chance at his dreams and he swore to himself right there and then, thate rain,e shine, he would do his best to be the best no matter what happened.

    Things may not end up in his favor and he may not achieve what he wants despite giving it his all, but as long as he still had enough in him to stand on the pitch, he would keep hauling himself to the top even if he had to crawl to get there. While he casually had this inner monologue that would have a significant effect on his mindset and drive in the years toe, he lined up beside his teammates and shook the hands of the referees and the other yers.

    After they were done shaking hands, the rest of the team left to wait on a side of the pitch while the captains of both teams went to the referee for the coin toss.

    Pepe won the coin toss and chose to pass first before he headed to their side of the field with the rest of his teammates and they arranged themselves ording to their formation.

    After a little wait for the Santa ra team to arrange themselves as well, the match finally kicked off at 7:30 pm.

    Ze Luis sent the ball out of the center circle at Moussa Marega and Marega sent the ball further back to Sergio Oliveira.

    With that, the match between Porto and Santa ra kicked off to an exciting start.

    As the stronger team, Porto was already ying exciting football that promised an exciting match by the fifth minute while managing to keep Santa ra policed at midfield.

    *7th minute*

    Luiz Diaz dropped back to receive the ball and ording to the manager��s instructions, he began driving forward, keeping his eyes peeled for his teammates who were open while making sure he didn��t lose the ball as well.

    The Santa ra team was of course not going to let Luiz Diaz have the ball to himself for as long as he wanted and a Santa ra midfielder who was nearby came at Luiz Diaz and tried to snatch the ball from him, but Luiz Diaz skipped past the yer with ease and sent a ball down the left wing where Ze Luis awaited.

    Ze Luis trapped the ball deftly, but instead of running down the left wing where there was avable space, he opted to try cutting inside and moved towards the penalty box, but he was soon being hassled by a defender while another defender stood in his path and he sent the ball infield to an awaiting Romario Baro.

    Romario Baro controlled the ball��s speed and power with a precise touch and sent the ball flying at the right wing with his next touch, managing toplete his actions in less than two seconds.

    Jason was being tightly marked by the Santa ra left-back, but he still managed to receive the pass and immediately took off down the right wing, his high eleration helping him beat his marker for pace, within a split second, but his marker soon caught up and was trying to tackle him from the side.

    Jason who was finally almost at the Santa ra penalty area suddenly did a ��CR-7-style�� back chop sending the ball behind him and towards his left side, while also stopping his run and stepping back to trap the ball before it ended up with a yer on the opposing team.

    The defender following Jason had been stunned by Jason��s sudden back chop and had been sent flying forward, only barely managing to stop himself from falling and turning back only to see Jason with the ball under his foot and staring at him as if he was waiting for him.

    The loud cheers of the fans let him know he had been humiliated by the young yer and for a second he lost his cool and recklessly charged at Jason, wanting to redeem himself, but Jason suddenly bent his body as if to move to the left and the Santa ra left-back immediately followed his movement, wanting to stop him by any means possible,

    But just as the Santa ra left-backmitted to the tackle, Jason suddenly changed his body movement at thest minute and his whole body surged to the right instead and Jason kicked the ball past him and followed after the ball.

    The sudden change of movement triggered the defender��s instincts and he tried to follow after Jason even though it wasn��t possible with the way his body was positioned, thus he ended up tripping and falling over onto his back after he had just been shot in the head.

    Jason of course wasn��t looking behind him at the yer that fell over and had already picked out Moussa Marega who was running into the penalty box before sending a curling high cross for Marega to meet with his head.

    Moussa Marega muscled his way through the opposition��s center-backs and rose into the air to meet the ball, his head hitting the ball as he tried to direct it goalward.

 Chapter 110: First Start III

    Chapter 110: First Start III

    Unfortunately for Marega, despite muscling his way through the Santa ra defenders, they still managed to disturb him enough that when he met the ball with his head, he wasn��t able to direct the ball properly, thus he could only head the ball just wide of the post, despite his unwillingness to do so.

    Immediately hended back on the ground and confirmed that he wasn��t able to score a goal, he had his hands on his head as he turned to the right wing to send an apologetic look at Jason.

    Of course, thementator wasn��t going to let him off so easily, and he quickly brought the stadium to life with his livelymentary,

    {And Ohhhhh! A potential goal-of-the-season contender, if only}

    {The winger made a splendid run and dribble to send the Santa ra left-back into his grave before he sent the ball in with a beautiful curl, only to have his efforts wasted by a missed header by the striker}

    {The striker is probably going to get a lot of stick from his teammates for that miss}

    Jason was of course not happy about his efforts being wasted away like that, but he understood that these things happened every time in football, thus he didn��t overreact and simply shook his head a bit before reaching out to tuck away a clustered strand of hair that fell in his face as while it would probably make him look good, it would interfere with his vision as his hair was quite long, thus it needed to be tucked away.

    After tucking the errant clustered strand away, he jogged back into the midfield, awaiting the goal kick from the Santa ra goalkeeper, only barely ncing at his marker who was staying a bit closer to him than before. ��That could be annoying,�� Jason thought internally as he was trying to do his best to avoid getting fouled incessantly after getting a knock in thest match.

    He didn��t need such ��intensive care�� from opposing defenders after what he had experienced in thest match against Leverkusen as it was already a miracle that he wasn��t injured when a human tank like Jonathan Tah had made it a mission to keep him off the ball without caring not to foul him.

    The goalkeeper soon sent the ball high into the air from the goal kick and y resumed with both teams trying to outy each other and take the lead.

    The Santa ra team wasn��t toothless and tried to get a shot away at the Porto team whenever the opportunity arose, but they couldn��tpare to the dragons from Porto, so apart from getting three shots away with only one being on target, there wasn��t much else their efforts had amounted to by the 30th minute.

    The Porto team on the other hand had gotten as many as seven shots but perhaps due to luck, or maybe ipetency from the yers taking the shots, they had only gotten two shots on target, and needless to say, the two shots were easily scooped up by the Santa ra team��s goalkeeper.

    In spite of that, it was obvious that it was the Porto team that was currently the team with the reins at the moment as they bested the Santa ra team in every stat.

    They had more possession, more passespleted, more shots, more shots on target, more corner kicks�� even the individual performance of the worst yer on the Porto team was almost better than the best yer on the Santa ra team.

    Porto just hadn��t scored a goal yet, but it was also clear to see that a goal from them wasn��t far off.

    Despite ying as a bonafide forward since a winger was a ��forward�� in all rights, Jason hadn��t gotten a shot away as he had been more focused on supporting the team��s attacks rather than ending them as the final man.

    He had been the connection between the other yers and the forwards from the right side of the field, he had made decoy runs to free up space for other yers when he was not with the ball, and had snaked his way through the Santa ra defender��s when he had the ball, but so far had gotten nothing to show for it other than impressed cheers from the fans.

    Yet despite this, Jason didn��t care as he was deeply enjoying the game, he was enjoying ying, he was enjoying running around in circles, and he was enjoying the crowds�� cheers.

    These were all things that he didn��t get to enjoy in his previous reality, so now that he was being exposed to it, he was finding it hard to think of much else.

    He was just about addicted to football glory at this point, thus when he received the ball again just a few yards after the center circle, Jason began driving the ball forward, ignoring his teammates.

    As he made his way, towards the Santa ra penalty area, he noticed that he was surrounded by four yers, one in front, two by his sides, and one just behind him.

    With so many yers, marking him alone, Jason��s brain immediately clicked and he realized that some other yers would bepletely unmarked.

    Just like he guessed, when he nced around, he saw Ze Luis, Luiz Diaz, and Wilson Manafapletely free as they ran forward into the empty space, but despite this, Jason didn��t release the ball.

    He kept running, constantly changing directions in between the yers so that none of the Santa ra yers could easily tackle him and risk entwining themselves with their teammates, but as Jason approached their penalty area, the yers rapidly lost their cool.

    The yer on Jason��s right was the first to lose his cool and attempt to tackle, yet the moment hemitted to the tackle, Jason suddenly put his leg on the ball and turned himself along with the ball to avoid the standing tackle, skillfully executing a Cruyff turn.

    Getting behind the first yer was only the beginning of Jason��s challenges as the moment he came out of the turn, he saw the yer on his left running at him, about to lunge into a tackle.

    In that split second, Jason suddenly swung his leg back, as if to make a pass, but as soon as the yer lunged into a sliding tackle, Jason suddenly stopped swinging his foot midair, faking a pass and cutting right, just barely managing to escape the second defender.

    At this moment, Jason was already a bit out of breath as dribbling past professional yers wasn��t an easy task, yet there was still a yer standing before him.

    Luckily, the yer that was following behind him previously was now being blocked by the two yers that Jason had just dribbled past, but even then, he didn��t have enough time to wait around as the ball would be snatched from him in seconds if he did.

    Watching the yer in front of him carefully, Jason did a sudden small jump before pushing his left leg forward slightly and then using his right leg to pass the ball into his slightly outstretched left leg, executing his own version of the ��La Crocheta��.

    The ball flew from his right leg before colliding with his left leg which had been slightly angled, before rolling speedily back to his right leg in less than a second, confusing the Santa ra yer just enough so Jason could elerate past him speedily.

    The yer��s hand flew out to grab Jason as he noticed Jason getting past him, but Jason wasn��t going to let him ruin all his good work and pped away the defender��s hand.

    Upon getting past the yer, Jason could finally see the Santa ra goalie as he himself was just a few yards away from stepping into the penalty box, but there was just one weeny teeny problem.

    There were still two defenders between Jason and the Santa ra defenders and Jason immediately knew that he did not have enough energy or precision left in him to get past them at the moment, so he did the next best thing.

    His leg snapped back and he rifled a powerful right-footed shot at the Santa ra goal from 22 yards out.

 Chapter 111: First Start IV

    Chapter 111: First Start IV

    The ball took flight at a thunderous speed and flew at the Santa ra goal at breakneck speed.

    The path of the ball was very direct and wasn��t angled at any of the four corners of the goal, yet despite the Santa ra goalkeeper trying to push the ball away, the ball only barely deflected off its intended path and mmed past the keeper into the back of the.

    Jason watched the ball go in with eager eyes and as soon as he saw the ball go past the goal line, he darted down the sidelines towards the stands where the traveling Porto fans were, dodging his teammates along the way.

    Upon reaching the front of the cheering Porto fans, Jason Jumped high with his right fist pumping into the air as if to give an imaginary uppercut.

    {Goal!!!}

    {Magnificent! Absolutely Magnificent!}

    {It��s his first start for the club and he had to have his say!}

    {He unleashed an absolutely sacrilegious run and went through one, two, three defenders before unleashing a rocket of a shot that needless to say, was too hot to handle} Apanying Jason in his celebrations was thementator disying his expertise and riling up the crowds in the stadium as well as those watching the match in other locations with the aid of technology. The stadium was filled with three kinds of sounds at that moment; some were from the cheering of the Porto fans, another was thementator, while the third was the asional impressed shout from the Santa ra team as even the Santa ra fans knew that Jason��s goal was nothing short of impressive.

    They didn��t even have it in them to boo at the Porto team as Jason��s performance that led up to the goal had absolutely stunned them out of their minds and they were left dumbfounded, impressed, and quite bitter.

    After all, no matter how impressed they were by Jason, it was still a fact that he was by all rights ��pping�� their team, and that was not a matter for them to smile about so they could only content themselves with silence while a scarce few of them let out impressed sounds.

    Despite the beauty of the goal, the Porto team didn��t celebrate for too long and soon headed back to their half for the match to continue, and shortly after, the Santa ra team kicked off the game in the 34th minute.

    The match kicked off again and the Porto yers surged into the Santa ra team��s half of the field, their morale boosted by their first goal of the game.

    Of course, the Santa ra team fought back and they did so quite valiantly, making sure to put an end to any of Porto��s attacks that could potentially lead to Porto furthering their lead.

    For a moment, the match came to a standstill with both sides starting attacks but not able to make it past the defensive line of the opposition team.

    Jason wished to break the match out of a standstill, but his intentions were not shared by the Santa ra team in quite the same way and Jason was currently receiving some special attention from the Santa ra team.

    The yers around him were doing their best to block any passingnes that led to him so he hardly ever got the ball and whenever he got the ball, the whole Santa ra team immediately engaged a press to retrieve the ball while also effectively cutting off all his passingnes, thus he wasn��t able to do much more than retain possession for a few seconds before passing to a teammate.

    The end of the first half rapidly approached while the deadlock continued, but just as the assistant referee on the sidelines held up the board to show that there would be two minutes of extra time Porto suddenly burst out on the attack.

    Jason who was with the ball was being marked by two yers who standing in front of him.

    One of them was trying to prevent him from moving forward while the other stood about 135 degrees just behind the first yer.

    Jason seeing the two yers lining up just like the obstacles in agility drills couldn��t resist trying to get between them.

    He pushed the ball forward towards the first yer, almost as if he intended to collide with him head-on, then he turned his body slightly almost at the right minute as if he wanted to go past the yer��s right side.

    The Santa ra yer immediately tried to block Jason��s path when with a sudden stamp of his foot against the green turf, Jason changed directions and darted to the right, sweeping the ball along with him with his right foot.

    Just after getting halfway past the first Santa ra yer, Jason noticed the second defender��s leg lunging at the ball at an rming pace, but Jason didn��t lose hisposure as he had nned for this and his nned motion hadn��t reached an end.

    Jason��s right leg that was sweeping over the ball suddenly went over the ball and arrived at the other side of the ball, before suddenly flicking the ball to the right, effectively performing a reverse stico and escaping the two Santa ra yers.

    Jason then jumped over the defender��s foot the next second and rushed after the ball.

    Upon reaching the ball, Jason whipped the ball over toward the left side of the pitch with a long cross-field pass.

    The ball flew into the path of a running Luiz Diaz who controlled the ball��s power while pushing the ball forward with a deft flick of his foot, not letting the ball bounce out of control.

    Running after the ball that he had pushed forward, Luiz Diaz left his marker eating his dust as he caught up to the ball and cut right toward the Santa ra penalty box, scanning the area for his teammates before deciding his next move.

    Seeing Ze Luis nearby, Luis Diaz immediately released the ball to Ze Luis who was just arriving into Santa ra��s 18-yard box.

    The ball flew into Ze Luis��s path, but Ze Luis suddenly saw a Santa ra yer appearing in his front view and immediately realized that he couldn��t afford to try trapping the ball as the ball would be swept away from his foot the next moment after he did so.

    Shooting the ball with his first touch wasn��t possible either as firstly, the angle was wrong and secondly, the yer in his front would be able to block the shot even if he managed to get the shot away, but as a professional yer of a team like FC Porto, Ze Luis��s quick thinking was a fair notch above what one would normally expect and he soon came up with a solution that albeit risky was the only possible choice that wouldn��t lead to killing the attack.

    As the ball arrived just in front of him, Ze Luis��s leg suddenly shot forward and he pushed the ball forward past the defender��s left side before running after the ball.

    The Santa ra defender had been surprised by this sudden move of Ze Luis and had been too surprised to react to the ball that suddenly rolled past him before he could react, but he quickly recovered and did his best to hold Ze Luis from going after the ball as whatever Ze Luis��s n was, it could not happen if he could not touch the ball.

    Unfortunately, the yer underestimated Ze Luis��s nning and determination, as Ze Luis easily shook him off and chased after the ball that the Santa ra team��s goalkeeper was already charging at.

    Just barely managing to reach the ball before the goalkeeper, Ze Luis just managed to cross the ball back to the right and across the front of the goal, while he hoped that one of his teammates could manage to catch the ball and slot it into the open before the ball rolled out of control.

 Chapter 112: First Start V

    Chapter 112: First Start V

    The ball flew past the Santa ra goalkeeper��s outstretched hand and flew across the front of the goal, seemingly going out of y when Moussa Marega appeared in everyone��s view and lunged for the ball with an outstretched foot.

    Moussa Marega��s outstretched foot flew at the ball as everyone held their breath and awaited what seemed inevitable but to everyone��s surprise, Moussa Marega��s outstretched foot missed the ball by what seemed like mere inches and the ball continued across the front of the goal.

    Seeing Moussa Marega miss the ball, everyone thought the ball would safely roll away from the front of Santa ra��s goal and the Porto fans were already groaning in exasperation when they suddenly saw Jason appear from behind one of Santa ra��s yers in their 18-yard box and lunge for the ball in the same manner as Moussa Marega earlier.

    But unlike Marega, Jason��s outstretched foot managed to touch the ball this time and changed the direction of the ball rolling across the front of the goal to rolling towards the goal, yet just before the Porto yers and fans could throw up their hands in jubtion, a Santa ra yer appeared behind the ball at thest moment, chasing it down for all he was worth as it rolled toward his team��s goal.

    To the Porto yers and fans�� dismay, the Santa ra yer��s efforts paid off and he managed to swing his leg at the ball just before it rolled onto the goal line and cleared the ball away for a corner.

    The stadium erupted with cheers and apuse for the Santa ra yer who had managed to just barely save his team from falling into a deeper ditch than the one they were already in.

    Jason who had sat upid back down with a hand across his forehead as he rued the missed chance at doubling the team��s lead and doubling up his goal tally in the match.

    To say he was disappointed would be an understatement, but the next moment a big grin appeared on his face, ��I wouldn��t love this sport if things like this didn��t happen,�� he thought with an excited yet wry smile on his face as he sat up.

    Romario Baro who had just arrived in the Santa ra 18yard box walked up to Jason and held out his hand to Jason.

    Jason grabbed Baro��s hand and was pulled up by him as Romario said to him,

    ��Nice one bro,��

    Jason simply nodded and moved between some defenders of the Santa ra team, looking for a good location to await the cross from the corner kick.

    Alex Telles ran over to the left corner and ced the ball on the line before stepping back and awaiting the whistle while intently watching the struggle between the Porto yers and the Santa ra yers in the Santa ra penalty area.

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    Alex Telles ran for the ball and swung it into the penalty box in an out-swinging cross.

    Jason was immediately surprised to see the ball heading for him especially when he was standing as far away from the Santa ra goal and was almost outside the Santa ra 18-yard box.

    Jason had always known that his heading wasn��t his strongest point, thus he had stayed farther away from the goal to allow for other members of the team who were stronger in the air than he was to fight for the ball, so seeing the balling at him was quite surprising and a bit unnerving, especially since he was so far away from the goal.

    But he didn��t lose hisposure and leaped off the ground, intending to direct the ball towards another yer as he did not trust himself to generate enough power on the ball to score a header from how far out he was.

    While mid-air, Jason directed the ball toward the nearest yellow Porto ��Away�� jersey that he could see which happened to be the team captain.

    Pepe trapped the ball that came at him on his chest without skipping a beat at the unexpected pass before he suddenly turned and shot the ball at the Santa ra goal before it could touch the floor.

    The Santa ra goalkeeper was lucky to be close to where Pepe had shot the ball at and quickly put out his hand to block the ball that rushed at him, just barely managing to keep it out of his team��s goal, but the ball bounced back into y just in front of the Santa ra goal.

    Before the Santa ra yers could make an effort to try and clear the ball, Ze Luis whom the ballnded just in front of sent the ball flying back from where it came, but this time the ball mmed past the goalkeeper who was rooted to the spot and sent the bulging.

    Ze Luis didn��t need anyone to tell him before he took off towards the sidelines, his teammates following after him.

    {They��ve done it!}

    {On the cusp of half-time, they��ve doubled their lead!}

    {With that shot, Porto has changed the points of discussion at half-time for both teams and further solidified their lead!}

    {Santa ra now have a mountain to climb and it��s a dangerous one too!} As usual, thementator just wouldn��t stay quiet and did his job ofmenting on the game and stirring up the emotions of the fans, but no one cared at that moment.

    The Porto fans were too busy rejoicing and the Santa ra fans were groaning in annoyance at having gone behind just after pulling off an almost magical on-line clearance, just a minute earlier.

    Was this team trying to give them a heart attack?

    The team had gotten their hopes up after keeping out an almost surefire goal only to concede a totally unexpected goal the very next minute.

    ��What was the fu**ing point?�� The fans thought and had the sudden intrusive thought to grab their team��s yers and give them a few good ps, but they stayed glued to their seats and did not act on their thoughts.

    Some of them even still held hope that their team could pull off aeback in the second half.

    Of course, it wasn��t a usible idea, but a person could at least hope, right?

 Chapter 113: First Start VI

    Chapter 113: First Start VI

    After the celebrations, the match once again kicked off, but immediately after the match kicked off, the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the first half, and y immediately stopped just shortly after it had barely resumed.

    The yers of both teams trudged off the field immediately after the whistle was blown and headed down the tunnel to their respective locker rooms.

    In the locker room assigned to the Porto team, it was needless to say that Jason and Ze Luis were the main characters of today��s story and were sharing handshakes and greetings with the rest of the team as they conversed and analyzed the game joyously.

    ��You guys were impressive out there and you ticked all the required boxes for the first half, I��m expecting more of the same attitude in the second half,�� Sergio Conceicao praised the team��s performances.

    ��The forwards performed well, the wingers made all the right runs to support and even helped the team add to our score tally, the midfielders helped control the midfield and the defenders did well in keeping the opposition as far away from our goal as possible,��

    ��You��ve all performed well, and as I said, I��m expecting you to build on this performance in the second half and continue pressing them so we can extend our lead. I��m sure I don��t need to tell you how important raking up our goal difference currently is,�� Sergio Conceicao expressed with a bit of concern in his tone.

    It was a known fact that despite Porto currently being at the top of the table, Benfica was chasing hard after them and they were only five points apart, but this was including the points that they would gain from winning the current match against Santa ra while Benfica hadn��t yed yet.

    If Benfica won their game in the current match week, they would only be two points behind Porto which for Sergio Conceicao was a bit too close forfort. Especially with his team��s current erratic performances, but he wouldn��t say that out part out loud.

    All in all, the Porto team could not afford to miss out on any of the avable points, while also making sure to rack up as much of a goal difference as possible.

    After all, this was game week 23, and with just 11 games to go, a single slip-up could cost them the league title if they were not careful.

    After reminding the team about their main objective for the second half, the Portuguese manager began to correct the yers that needed correcting while also sharing valuable insights that could potentially help the yers increase their lead.

    Soon, the yers started heading back out to the pitch and Sergi Conceicao suddenly beckoned Jason over and put his hand over his shoulder.

    ��Are you feeling alright?�� he asked Jason.

    Jason was a bit surprised by the question as he wasn��t able to immediately understand what the manager was talking about, but he still responded, ��I think I am, I mean, I don��t think I��m not����

    ��Yeah, well, the medical team said you shouldn��t have a problem ying for up to sixty minutes after your knock in thest match and though it��s a bit risky, you could y the whole match as well,�� Sergio Conceicao exined, seeing that Jason seemed a bit confused.

    ��Since there currently doesn��t seem to be a problem, I��ll leave you on for now, but I will take you off if it seems like there is a risk of injury so don��t be too surprised when that happens,��

    ��I just want to let you know that I have nothing against you and since it is my job to ensure I get the best out of you, my decisions may not always seem pleasant to you but make sure to always keep it in the back of your mind that I have your best interest at heart, �� Sergio Conceicao wanted to make his stance clear and to exin to Jason ahead of time as he knew from experience that talented yers had egos that made it a bit difficult to deal with them.

    When ��youth�� was added to the equation, their egos became almost uncontroble.

    Young talented yers thought they owned the world and that they were always right.

    They alsocked the experience to rein in their egos and thus usually had problems with the conduct which sometimes even led to problems with the club��s management.

    Thus experienced managers usually had to give them a bit of a special treatment to keep their egos from blowing up out of control.

    To Sergio Conceicao, Jason was a young, and exceptionally talented yer, which usually led to him having that much more of an ego and though Jason had been majorly silent, Sergio Conceicao had seen it ring in his eyes more than once.

    Back when Sergio Conceicao hadn��t yet added Jason to the team��s line-up, he had seen the fire and deviant attitude in Jason��s eyes whenever he wasn��t selected, yet unlike he expected, Jason never blew out of control and seemingly kept his cool.

    If he were any other coach, he would simply attribute it to Jason��s exceptional self-control, but as an experienced coach, Sergio Conceicao knew better.

    He knew that Jason was merely stuffing down and covering up his ego which in a way was even worse than a temperamental attitude because continuous umtion and pressure would eventually lead to an explosion one day, wouldn��t it?

    That was why Sergio Conceicao decided to give Jason a whole speech on how he should understand his future actions no matter how they would look to him.

    This was necessary because while Jason couldn��t oppose his decisions, letting Jason��s morale drop would inevitably affect his performance and Sergio Conceicao needed nothing but the best from his yers, hence his decision.

    ��Alright, coach�� I mean�� strange ce and time for this kind of conversation, but I understand,�� Jason didn��t know what was going on in the head manager��s mind and made a little joke due to being in a good mood after his performance in the first half.

    ��You cheeky kid, just y well and be careful,�� Sergio Conceicao said with a littleugh, amused by Jason��s reaction.

 Chapter 114: First Start VII

    Chapter 114: First Start VII

    The second half kicked-off with Santa ra in possession of the ball and as one would expect of a losing team, they passed boldly and surged into the Porto team��s half of the field, trying to find something.

    They were grasping at straws, but if they did not do even that much, then there was no point in them being acknowledged as professional footballers.

    They were already losing anyway and the risk of going behind even more no longer mattered as much as the trying to gain something for the game.

    It was an all or nothing situation and despite being the weaker team, they wouldn��t be giving up that easily.

    But Porto wasn��t going to make it easy for them as they also stepped up their game, their morale bolstered by being in the lead.

    Soon enough, shots were sentflying at both ends of the field, both teams trying to leave their mark on the current scoreboard but despite the efforts of both teams, more than twenty minutes ran down quickly without neither of them being able to make an impact.

    But that was bound to change soon enough with both teams poking at each other.

    In the 70thminute of the game, Porto had just made a substitution and Otavio hade on in ce of Romario Baro. Otavio ran onto the field to and y continued with Porto having a throwing.

    Jason threw the ball to Wilson Manafa, who controlled the ball��s flight and quickly sent a pass back to Pepe.

    The Santa ra yers quickly started to press and charged at Pepe, causing him to look for a teammate as he knew that he didn��t have the agility to get through the Santa ra��s yers alone.

    Luckily, Alex Telles hade a bit closer and was currently unmarked, seeing that, Pepe didn��t waste any time in sending the ball over to him.

    Receiving the ball in the Porto��s half of the center circle, Alex Telles moved past the midfield and passed the ball to the Sergio Oliveira who was standing on his right side before skipping past the Santa ra yer who had moved to mark him and receiving the ball back from Sergio Oliveira behind the yer.

    Upon receiving the ball once again, Telles continued his run towards the Santa ra��s 18-yard box but he soon had to pass the ball to Otavio as he was soon being hassled by some other Santa ra yers.

    The ball rolled to Otavio who flicked it deftly between the legs of his marker with his first touch and escaped his marker��s grasp, quickly chasing after the ball.

    At this moment, he was just about 7-yards away from Santa ra��s penalty area, but he could see more than four yers in his path, covering almost every path into the penalty area.

    Luis Diaz, Ze Luis, and Moussa Marega were in front of him, but they were being tightly marked so he had no option than to pass the ball back to Alex Telles.

    Jason had been standing a fair distance away from the Santa ra��s 18-yard box, but seeing the defensive set-up, he suddenly had an idea.

    Sending a nce at Alex Telles who just received the ball, Jason started moving slowly towards the 18-yard box, doing his best to stay unnoticed by his marker or any other yer, when he was about a yard away from the offside line, he suddenly burst into a sprint, hoping that Alex Telles understood his intention.

    Running past thest yer before ncing back to see the ball flying over the defensive line and into his path, a slight smile appeared on his face.

    It seemed Alex Telles had understood the mission and had sent the ball just as he required and the rest was up to him.

    Jason��s run behind the Santa ra defense had stirred a ho��s nest, and the Santa ra yers who were close by quickly rushed after him, but they were a little toote and the ball had already made it to him.

    Jumping high with his leg stretched forward to catch the ball��s flight, Jason managed to tap the ball just slightly upward to take out all the power from Telles��s pass and push the ball slightly forward, just enough for him to immediately trap it as soon as hended.

    Uponpleting this move, Jason was home free and only had the Santa ra goal keeper ahead of him.

    Since he was already close enough, Jason arched his body and sent a curling left footed shot around the goal keeper who flew at the ball but was unable to get a touch to it.

    Needless to say, the ball found the back of the and Jason ran to the sidelines in jubtion but before he could reach the sidelines, heard a dreaded sound that every goal scorer would never wish to hear immediately after sending the ball into the back of the.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The referee��s shrill whistle put a dampner on Jason��s excitement and joy as he saw the assistant referee on the sideline holding up the offside g.

    ��What the fu*k?�� Jason muttered under his breath as he changed the direction of his run and jogged towards the referee instead.

    He wasn��t a hundred percent sure because even though he had timed his run as best as he could, he wasn��t sure how fast Alex had sent the pass at him, so he needed to ask the referee to at reconsider or, at least check with the VAR.

    But Jason wasn��t the first person to think of that as before he was even halfway to the referee, the referee was already surrounded by half of his teammates, but the referee simply held his right hand up while listening to something from the earpiece in his ear.

    But even after listening to the earpiece for almost a full minute, the referee still hadn��t made a decision and had to head down to the sidelines to check the situation himself.

    It took another full minute for the referee to finish checking with the aid of the VAR and he finally started running back to the field, his decision made.

 Chapter 115: First Start VIII

    Chapter 115: First Start VIII

    The referee headed back to the field and pointed at the Porto side while indicating that no offside would ur and that the goal would stand.

    Immediately, groans of annoyance filled the stadium as the Santa ra fans who were in the majority didn��t agree with the referee��s call.

    They had watched the review process and also the rey of the goal and they knew it was a very close call, which to them automatically meant that it shouldn��t be allowed as it wasn��t their team that scored the goal so hearing the referee give a call that was the opposite of their expectations provoked their unhappy reactions.

    The Porto yers and fans, on the other hand, were joyous that the goal had been given and their celebrations immediately resumed, but the celebrations didn��tst for long as the referee wanted the match to be resumed as soon as possible.

    Thus a few secondster, a Santa ra yer was standing over the ball in the center of the field to kick off the game once again in the 74th minute of the game.

    After kicking off, the Santa ra team yers surged forward with reckless abandon, they knew that at this point, it was almost impossible for them to gain anything from the game as they were three goals behind, but they still weren��t nning to give up.

    They hoped to at least decrease the gap between the two teams.

    Unfortunately for them, while reckless attacks without any regard for defense could aid their team in its attacking endeavors, it also made them vulnerable to attacks from an opponent that wouldn��t waver in the sight of such a situation. Porto was such a team and they found it even easier to break through the Santa ra team��s defense�� but they forgot one thing as well.

    In the 78th minute, Jason received the ball from Otavio and immediately tried to start up a run down the right wing, but before he could even take a few steps forward, he felt a sudden sharp pain in his legs as his legs were pushed off the floor by a Santa ra yer who had slide tackled him.

    Jason was sent tumbling to the floor where he rolled over in pain, his hand grabbing his ankle tightly as if it could alleviate the pain.

    The Santa ra yer who tackled Jason stood up to see the referee holding back Otavio who wasing at him with an angry look on his face.

    After managing to hold Otavio back, the referee immediately pulled out a yellow card that he showed the Santa ra yer.

    Otavio and Wilson Manafa went to check on Jason, but Jason was already sitting up. They pulled him up and Jason rotated his ankle, trying to check if anything felt wrong, but other than the slight pain from the tackle that was already fading away, there was nothing else that hurt other than him feeling a bit winded.

    Seeing that nothing was out of ce and that Jason didn��t need any medical attention, Otavio and Wilson Manafa headed back to their positions.

    Jason picked up the ball, intending to take the free kick, and ced it where the referee had pointed at.

    It was just a bit after the halfway point of the field so there were no objections to him wanting to take the free kick.

    Jason took a couple of steps back and immediately he heard the referee��s whistle, he ran up to the ball and swung hard, sending a cross toward the left side of Santa ra��s 18-yard box.

    The ball flew high undeterred and reached the zenith of its climb, before finally heading down into the Santa ra penalty box where a couple of yers were waiting.

    Luiz Diaz had been running for the ball and jumped to catch the ball with his head and directed the ball towards the center of the box where it was met first time with a thunderous shot by Moussa Marega.

    Unfortunately, Moussa Marega added a bit too much elevation to the shot and the ball flew just over the crossbar and into the stands.

    Though disappointed at not being able to get another goal, the traveling Porto fans still cheered wildly for their team, well aware that they were annoying the home fans, but then, that was kind of the whole point of their cheering, so they increased their volume as they noticed how much they irritated the home fans.

    The Santa ra goalkeeper collected a ball and sent the ball back into y with a hastily taken free kick, as there was no point in wasting any time if they hoped to gain anything from the game.

    The ball flew into the air and dipped towards the right side of Porto��s half of the field where Jason happened to be.

    Seeing a Santa ra yer nearby, Jason knew that he could not try trapping the ball on the ground so he jumped at the iing ball, nning to send the ball back into Santa ra��s half of the field.

    That happened to be a bad idea as the moment he leaped for the ball, the Santa ra yer went through the same motions, but instead of jumping for the ball, it seemed he had jumped at Jason instead.

    Before the ball even reached Jason, the Santa ra yer��s right grabbed Jason��s neck while mid-air and in that moment, the Santa ra resembled a WWE professional instead of a footballer as he all but executed a perfect R.K.O smackdown on Jason.

    Jason could not even express his surprise before he hit the ground and for a split second everything turned ck before they regained their colors once again, but as an after-effect of the ��smackdown��, Jason��s head was ringing loudly and he felt as if someone had decided to give his good ol�� brain ap dance.

    Manager Sergio Conceicao who was on the sidelines did not even wait for the referee to take action as he immediately barked at Jesus Corona who was doing a few warm-up routines to stretch his legs since he was feeling a bit stiff,

    ��Hey, Jesus, get ready toe on, you have thirty seconds,�� the Portuguese manager barked loudly while inwardly thinking,

    ��I don��t know whether they��ll be taking that kid out on a stretcher or in a coffin if receives another hit like that.��

 Chapter 116: First MOTM

    Chapter 116: First MOTM

    Afterying on the ground for more than ten seconds while waiting for the mental roller coaster to be over, Jason sat up to see his jersey number in red on the board that was being held by the assistant referee on the sidelines.

    Jason simply stood up without a hint of defiance and began dusting his clothes before heading to the sidelines because judging by how his vision was squirming as if he was in a sharingan-induced genjutsu, it was safe to say, the match was over for him already.

    He didn��t even dare to jog to the sidelines for that reason as he could currently not trust his sense of bnce, but despite how he internally felt, Jason��s impassive face made it seem like he was okay.

    Somehow, even his slightly wavering steps weren��t noticed as he pped while heading to the sidelines.

    The Porto fans and even some Santa ra fans gave him an ovation as he walked off the field, high-fived Jesus Corona and headed to the sidelines after getting a pat on the back from the team��s manager.

    {And there he is, the yer of the day, getting a much-deserved ovation from the fans as he walks off the pitch}

    {With two goals for the team and an overall impressive performance from the yer, I think it would be safe to say that he is most deservedly the man of the match, but we will see what the ratings say after the match, won��t we?} Thementator, as usual, would not allow himself to be left out of any proceedings of the match andy bare his opinion, which was very simr to the opinions of everyone else watching the match.

    Jason shook hands with the other yers on the bench before sitting down while rubbing his brow and closing his eyes for a much-needed rest as his squirming vision was making him queasy, all whilepletely unaware that cameras were currently trained on him for a few seconds before most of the cameras returned to capture the live game. Jason stayed with his eyes closed for almost five minutes until he felt the throbbing in his head reduce, almost falling asleep from exhaustion, but then a sudden rise in the cheers of the crowd in the stadium made him shoot his eyes open to find out what was happening only to see a powerful shot from the Santa ra center forward deflecting off Ivan Marcano before ending up in the back of the, bringing the score of the game to 1 : 3.

    It was surprising and it had resulted in what could hardly be called a mistake from the Porto defense, but who cared anyway, they were still two goals in the lead, Jason thought as he shut his eyes once again, but barely another five minutester, he heard a sudden spike in the noise in the crowds but this time a lot of the noise was filled with annoyance, thus the moment he opened his eyes, he immediately looked at the Santa ra side of the field where the Porto yers celebrating fell into his vision.

    A smile arose on Jason��s face before he turned to look at the huge screen to see the rey of the goal.

    It was Wilson Manafa who had scored this time, it seemed, Jason noted as the rey started.

    After a period of possession just outside the 18-yard box, Otavio had passed the ball to Jesus Corona who was at the right corner of the Santa ra 18-yard box.

    Holding off his yer while Wilson Manafa ran past him before releasing the ball into his path, Wilson ran on the outside right of the 18-yard box and delivered a cross inside the box that flew at Vincent Aboubakar who had been subbed on for Ze Luis.

    Vincent Aboubakar got his head to the ball and headed it at the Santa ra goal, but the ball hit the crossbar and bounced towards the left side of the box where Luiz Diaz was.

    Diaz had wanted to shoot the ball again but had then changed his mind and sent the ball behind him to Alex Telles who sent a cross back into the center of the 18-yard box.

    This time the ball found Wilson Manafa who had moved into the box after his earlier attempt at a cross.

    Wilson Manafa had simply trapped the ball with his chest in apletely unmarked position and unhurriedly fired the ball into the back of the, giving his team back their three-goal lead in the 91st minute of the game.

    After this goal, there were no more surprises until the match ended a few minutester.

    After the final whistle was blown, Jason stood up with the rest of the yers on the bench and though he wished for nothing more than rest at this moment, he had to go on the field as it had been announced earlier that he was indeed the man of the match.

    No one had performed better than him on the pitch today, both when he was still on the pitch and when he was on the bench.

    He was also a major driving force behind his team��s win and his individual performances on the ball were also amazing so it had to be asked that, ��If not him, who else would dare take the man of the award for the game?��

    Jason was also quite happy that he would be receiving his first personal award in the football world, even though it was just a measly Man-of-the-Match award that many yers would scoff at since it didn��t mean much to them, but to Jason it did.

    In Jason��s past life, he yed almost 800 games, but he had only about a hundred man of the match awards, which in reality couldn��t be considered bad, but when it was in the weakest leagues worldwide, it wasn��t worth sh*t.

    Of course, things were different now and he already had a Man of the Match award after four games which could be considered exceptional�� at least for his age.

 Chapter 117: First MOTM II

    Chapter 117: First MOTM II

    Jason headed over to collect the Man of the Match award and took pictures while holding it in a pose after which he was surrounded by reporters who wanted to interview him.

    As usual, Jason told them to ask away and one of the reporters around him immediately began the interview session with a question,

    ��It��s your first start for the club and you managed to help your team score two goals, impressing just about everyone. How do you feel about that and can we expect more of such performances from you?�� the reporter from RTP(Radio e Televisao de Portugal) asked.

    ��Naturally, I��m happy with my performance and the team got the win so everything went well, I guess. As for whether I can keep up churning out performances like this, I hope so, but one thing that is for sure is that I��ll always put myself out there and do my best to help the team,�� Jason answered with a small smile on his face.

    ��Let��s talk about your goals in this match, the first one especially. You single-handedly ripped apart the Santa ra team before unleashing a screamer from 22 yards away and smashing the open.��

    ��What did you feel at that moment?�� Another reporter from SIC(Sociedade Independente de Communicacao) asked Jason, holding the mic that had the name of his channel boldly printed on it.

    ��Ahh�� about that goal, well I firstly just wanted to escape from the yers around me, but after escaping the only thing in my view was the goal and I just decided to let the ball fly. I didn��t really expect it to go in either,�� Jason replied with a littleugh as he rubbed the side of his head with his index finger.

    ��What about your second goal? Some people think it was a controversial goal, seeing as how close you were to being offside. What do you feel?�� the reporter questioned again. ��I don��t really have anything to say. I timed my run and trusted Telles to send the ball to me just as he has so many times in training and I simply received the ball and delivered it into the back of the,��

    ��As for whether it was offside or not, the referee already decided so my opinion at this moment doesn��t matter much. If anyone still thinks that I was offside at that moment, they can take it up with the referee,�� Jason replied matter-of-factly as he didn��t really care.

    He was simply the scorer of the goal and not a match official and so the question was a bit annoying to him.

    Even if the goal happened to be offside, apart from feeling a little sting that he hadn��t scored a second goal, he wouldn��t have felt much else as they would still have won the game.

    ��After scoring two goals, some fans thought you would have gone on to make it a hat-trick, but they were surprised when the manager decided to take you off effectively cutting off your chances for a hat-trick in your first start for the club. How do you feel about the matter?��

    ��Do you think the manager shouldn��t have taken you off?�� another reporter asked. He was from a channel called TVI.

    ��Okay, hold up for a second there,�� Jason first took his time to think as the question was not something he could answer hastily as rtions between him and his manager could be strenuous quickly if his answer offended the manager.

    ��Firstly, I��m a yer, my job is to get on the field and help my team win, while our manager is the one thatbines me and my teammates in the best way that would help us achieve victory,��

    ��Literally, what I��m trying to say is, the manager always has the best interests of the team at heart and every decision he makes is for the benefit of the team, so when he called for me toe off, I��m sure the manager had thought the situation thoroughly and had considered my interests as well as that of the team so I have nothing against his decision����

    ��Or better to say, I can��t go against his decision, after all, I��m not bigger than the team,�� Jason said with a littleugh and began rounding up the interview, telling the reporters that he wasn��t going to be answering any other questions.

    He was already scared of the questions they were asking and wanted to escape before they asked him any more annoying questions.

    He didn��t know why some of these reporters were so annoying, it was like they were trying to make him slip up and say something he shouldn��t that would blow up into a controversy or drive a wedge between him and the team, which was even worse.

    Well, he actually already knew that a lot of reporters were like this as it was kind of in their job description.

    He had seen many such examples in Los Angeles which was where he had lived the longest in all his life and if there was one thing LA wasn��t short of, it was entertainment stars, and the only thing that was more than entertainment stars was the controversy surrounding each and every one of these stars.

    It was to the point that you could never tell the actual character of any of these entertainment stars and the controversial news had even be a form of media promotion instead of a career-threatening matter like it used to be in the old days.

    Jason was definitely not going to let anyone shit on his reputation with some fake a** news and it was not because he cared about what people thought of him as he wasn��t a media entertainment star, but rather because if someone established that he had a difficult character, it would affect his career greatly.

    Clubs wouldn��t want to sign a troublemaker who caused more damage to their finances than he added to their trophy room.

    It was too early in Jason��s career for any such bullsh*t, so his only option was to run from the media whenever any tricky questions popped up.

    Maybe one day in the future, he would have the right to say what he actually wanted to a reporter without fearing for anything�� Like tan Ibrahimovic, or Cristiano Ronaldo.

 Chapter 118: Ball In Your Court I

    Chapter 118: Ball In Your Court I

    Jason left the reporters behind and headed to the team��s locker room with his Man of the Match award in his hand.

    On reaching the locker room, he was congratted by his teammates on the award and they conversed freely as they changed out of their match kits and got ready to leave.

    Laughter filled the FC Porto locker room as opposed to the Santa ra team who were getting an earful from their manager.

    As soon as Sergio Conceicao was done with the post-match interview, he also headed back to the locker room tomend the yers before the whole team headed out of the locker room and boarded their team bus.

    The bus drove smoothly out of the Estadio de Sao Miguel and smoothly ambled down the road, heading back to Porto that night as it was only half an hour��s drive at most.

    As expected, thirty minutester, the Porto team bus drove into the CTFD Portogaia training center where the yers got down and headed to their cars and started leaving for their respective residences.

    Jason did the same and got into his car, heading back to his apartment.

    Soon enough he was in the driveway of his house. He turned off the car��s engine, putting a stop to the almost silent hum of the BMW i8��s engine, and headed into the apartment.

    First throwing down his sports bag and heading to the refrigerator, he pulled out a bottle of milk, ripped open the cover, and set it to his mouth, gulping down like his life depended on it.

    The cool feeling of the milk rushed through his throat and headed down to his abdomen, also cooling down other parts of his body, one of which was his head, but for Jason, it wasn��t enough so he pulled out an ice pack and held it to his head, letting the ice cool down his head.

    It had already been established by the Porto medical team that Jason had a mild concussion from being mmed into the ground during the match.

    It wasn��t a serious injury and it had the word ��mild�� in front of it, so Jason hoped he would recover from it soon enough as his head was throbbing and he was having a few dizzy spells.

    ��Hopefully, resting would solve it,�� Jason thought to himself as he closed the refrigerator and headed to his bedroom with the ice pack in his right hand while he picked up his sports bag with his left hand.

    Taking off his clothes first, he headed into the shower and washed up before heading to bed, finally falling asleep with the ice pack carefully ced on his head.

    **3rd March, 2020**

    Jason��s eyes slowly pulled open but as soon as he saw the amount of light in the room, his eyes shot wide open.

    He quickly looked for his phone and turned on the screen to check the time,

    *9 :33 am*

    ��Well, shit,�� he half groaned, halfughed, and pushed off the bed covers from his body as he rose from the bed.

    Strangely enough though, he felt a bit more refreshed than he usually did, but he guessed that it could be attributed to him oversleeping.

    Picking up the now melted but formerly ��ice pack��, he put it on the dresser and headed to the bathroom to clean up.

    Almost an hourter, Jason was back in his bedroom, selecting clothes from his closet while typing in a number from a card into his phone.

    After typing in the number, he pressed dial and held the phone to his ear with his right hand while using his left to continue searching in his closet for the clothes he would wear.

    On the third ring, Jason heard a click and a voice rang through the phone��s speaker,

    ��Hello,��

    ��Miami Restaurant, 11 am, I��ll wait for an hour,�� Jason said into the phone without a single word of greeting.

    ��What? Who is this?�� Adele��s voice from the other side of the phone was confused by the whole situation.

    ��You can��t even recognize the voice of a prospective client and you want to be a world-famous agent, how disappointing,�� Jason replied and hung up immediately, a little smile on his face and he continued picking out clothes.

    Surprisingly enough, Adele didn��t call him back which meant that either she knew who was calling after hisst sentence or she waspletely clueless.

    Well either way worked for him.

    He had been getting a lot of calls from Sports agencies who wanted to be his agent and he had decided that it was high time he chose, thus he had called Adele as she was the first one who had contacted him as well as the one that he currently favored the most, but that could change just as quickly.

    His current good impression of her didn��t mean much if she wasn��t good enough at her job to warrant him choosing her to be his agent.

    He wouldn��t care how beautiful she was, or the type of goal she had and even about her determination if she wasn��t up to the task.

    This wasn��t some fantasy novel where willpower was the most important thing, this was the real world where actual skill transcended potential most of the time.

    Jason wasn��t going to hire someone who didn��t even know the basics or couldn��t do the required job that he was going to be paying thousands of Euros for.

    He wasn��t that kind�� or in this case��he wasn��t that stupid.

    Adele had a goal, she had determination, and she probably had skill and potential as she wouldn��t be hired by apany like Gesifute otherwise.

    All that remained was for Jason to decide if he wanted to stick with her or if he wanted to look for someone better.

    This meeting was for that reason.

    This was Jason��s way of giving her a chance to impress him and if by the time the time he had allocated was over and he hadn��t made a decision, then his chapter with the woman known as Adele Joyce would probably be over.

 Chapter 119: Ball In Your Court II

    Chapter 119: Ball In Your Court II

    After hanging up the call, Jason went back to picking out an outfit for the meeting, but even after almost five minutes, he couldn��t make up his mind.

    Suddenly an interesting idea popped up in his head as he remembered how he had been acting like some sort of powerful CEO when he had been talking to Adele, so why didn��t he just dress the part?

    ��Nice,�� he grinned to himself as he pulled out a ck suit from the deepest confines of his closet.

    Luckily it wasn��t dusty nor did it have any creases due to him keeping his closet organized.

    A few minutester, Jason was staring at his now-dressed self in the mirror.

    Wearing a ck shirt that had the top buttons open smoothly tucked into slim-fitted ck trousers and a ck zer hanging on his shoulders, alongside silver chains studded with diamonds, diamond studs, sliver-rimmed owl-like sses, a Franck Mueller watch, and a few rings on his fingers, Jason looked more like a young master of a mafia family than a CEO of a reputable ofpany.

    Of course, any woman whoid eyes on his visage would instantly have a thing for bad boys as Jason currently looked like the main character in those ��abnormal�� handsome CEO romance novels.

    Looking at his image in the mirror that was a bit different from what he had in mind, Jasonughed lightly while thinking to himself that all that remained toplete this ��Handsome Mafia CEO�� look was a big cigar and a couple of bodyguards. Unfortunately, he didn��t smoke and would not be caught dead holding a cigar until he was retired which was at least 20 years away from the current period.

    He also didn��t have bodyguards, nor did he really want them.

    With his dressingplete, Jason headed out of his room, only taking his wallet, car keys, and his phone out of his HUGO cross bag as the cross bag didn��t fit in with his current outfit.

    He headed out of the house, the silence in the house letting him know that Mylo had probably already left for school.

    Shutting the door of the house behind him, Jason headed to his car and got in, but before he could start the car, he heard a sudden bubble pop which was his phone��s notification sound.

    Jason picked up the phone to see what his phone was trying to notify him about only to see a message,

    {Miami restaurant table 7, I��ve made a reservation} the message read and Jason checked the number that had sent the message even though he already had already guessed who had sent the message.

    Sure enough, it was Adele who had sent the message.

    This was probably her form of an attempt at regaining control of the situation as Jason was currently the one pushing her around while expecting her to answer to his beck and call�� which was actually what what she was supposed to do for him as his agent, but she wasn��t yet his agent so she could not allow herself to be pushed around by him no matter what she stood to gain.

    Jason just merely smiled a little before throwing his phone onto his zer in the passenger seat, started up the BMW��s engine, and backed out of the driveway before driving off to the Miami restaurant.

    Unlike usual, he didn��t put on any music and simply drove into silence as even though his head was no longer ringing unlike the previous day, Jason wasn��t willing to take the risk of letting the *Thuum Thuum* bass of rap songs scramble his brains and take his brain on another round of a brainp dance.

    Driving silently for a few minutes until he stopped outside the Miami restaurant five minutes before the appointed time.

    Stepping out of the car and hanging the zer back over his shoulder before adjusting his clothes and finally hanging a ck nose mask on his face, Jason headed into the restaurant and after enquiring from the avable waitress, Jason found table 7.

    Surprisingly, Adele was already there waiting for him to arrive.

    Staying in his ��Mafia CEO�� character, Jason walked up to the table and sat at the empty chair opposite Adele without saying a word.

    Adele stared at him, surprised and not knowing where to start as Jason was the one who had called for a meeting in the first ce, but Jason��s next action stunned her even more.

    Jason took off his nose mask, set it on the table, and then reached out to grab the handle of the cup of tea on the table that she had ordered for herself and he took a sip of the tea, his eyes remaining on her despite all his actions.

    Jason took another sip of the tea before ncing at the watch on his left wrist before saying,

    ��Miss Joyce, I��ll only be here for the next hour so whatever arguments you��ve prepared to convince me to hire you as an agent, you��d better start presenting them,�� Jason said with a grin in between the sips of tea.

    Jason��s words enlightened and annoyed Adele at the same time but she didn��t let her emotions show on her face and asked instead,

    ��I thought I did thatst time?��

    ��You did�� but you see thest few days, I��ve gotten love calls from various sports agencies and from well-established agents,�� Jason began exining.

    ���� Unlike yourself, I might add,�� he added after a pause, knowing that his words would hit hard at Adele��s confidence, but then that was the aim of saying what he said.

    ��So, you see, I��ve been wondering who I should be hiring as I am not especially sold on anyone yet,��

    ��But in respect of your efforts as well as the fact that you were the first agent that contacted me�� I have so graciously decided to give you another opportunity to impress me,�� Jason exined the reason for their meeting.

 Chapter 120: Ball In Your Court III

    Chapter 120: Ball In Your Court III

    ��Impress you? How am I supposed to do that?�� Adele asked, her voice remaining as stable and mellow as ever.

    ��I don��t know, you��re the one being interviewed,�� Jason replied.

    ��Of course, if you can hit a moving target from a distance of over 3 kilometers away with a McMin TAC-50, then you are as good as hired, but I don��t think you can, so I��ll settle for something a bit less impressive,�� He said with a mischievous grin.

    ��I didn��t think I needed to learn that to be an agent, but I can try learning,�� Adele responded in a serious tone.

    ��Hahaha,�� Jasonughed lightly as he ced the cup of tea in his hand back on the table.

    ��Good try, but it��ll probably take you at least five years to reach that level of skill even if you were exceptionally talented,��

    ��I definitely wouldn��t wait that long, especially when this is not some dumb romance story between us,�� Jason said with a smile, but his tone was dead serious.

    ���� In that case, I can only give up,�� Adele sighed defeatedly. ��There��s no way I canpare to well-established agents in terms of skill, experience, or connections�� She soundedpletely defeated because she knew what she was up against and frankly speaking, it was quite despairing.

    She felt like how a team in the relegation zone would feel if they were faced off against Prime Real Madrid which had won three Champions League consecutively.

    The current gap between her and well-established agents was that wide.

    ��Is that you giving up?�� Jason asked with a raised eyebrow.

    ���� I don��t know, maybe, I don��t know exactly what I can do at this point,�� Adele answered in a low tone, a bit annoyed at Jason for calling her here if he wasn��t intending to hire her.

    ��Did he just call me to make fun of me?�� she wondered, but then Jason spoke.

    ��Well, I do, you��re hired,�� Jason said with a grin.

    ��Wha?��

    ��Wait, What?��

    ��You��re hiring me?�� Adele couldn��t believe what she was hearing.

    ��I believe that��s what I said, yes,�� Jason replied,pletely unruffled.

    ��Despite all the other well-established agents avable, you��re picking me?�� Adele asked, her tone filled with disbelief.

    ��I think that��s what ��You��re hired�� means,�� Jason said with a roll of his eyes.

    ��On what criteria? You just said I don��t have the required level of skills, experience, or connections to even be considered,�� Adele shot back.

    ��Those were your words not mine,�� Jason responded and picked up the menu, intending to order something to eat as he was quite famished.

    ��I��!�� Adele intended to respond but then realized that he was right and she was the one who had said all that and not him.

    ��That��s beside the point, you didn��t say it, but you insinuated it,�� Adele finally said.

    ��Well, I wasn��t wrong, was I?�� Jason scoffed, not taking his eyes off the menu.

    ��Aha�� you did mean it!�� Adele almost shouted as he had admitted it.

    ��And so?�� Jason answered as he didn��t understand what she was trying to get across.

    ��So If I don��t meet the criteria, then why did you choose me?�� Adele still wanted to know the reason that Jason had decided to hire her instead of a more experienced agent.

    ��When did I say you didn��t meet the criteria?�� Jason finally took his eyes off the menu and smirked at her.

    ���� You didn��t?��

    ��Wait, you can��t be thinking that I��d do something like sleep with you just because you chose to hire me, did you?�� Adele asked suspiciously, her hands raised defensively around her body.

    ��Drats, wasn��t that supposed to be part of the services you��d provide?�� Jason replied, the sarcasm in his tone heavier than the Titanic.

    ��Of course, they aren��t part of the services I provide, you��d have to take me on at least ten dates,�� Adele shot back,pletely missing the sarcasm in Jason��s earlier sentence.

    ��Get over yourself, Miss Joyce,��

    ��While I can��t deny that the notion of having a young beautiful agent over a greasy old man as my agent was one of the deciding factors that made me choose you, I��d have you know that it��s simply a matter of aesthetics,��

    ��I��m not that interested in you that I��d select you over better options just because of something like sex,��

    ���� Also I��ve got a girl I��m talking with�� a potential girlfriend of sorts,�� Jason stated, his tone dead serious.

    ��Oh���� Adele murmured in realization.

    ���� But, ten dates huh?��

    ��Should I count this one as a first or should I start counting next time,�� Jason said with a very meaningful smile.

    Adele stared at Jason for a long while before she scoffed,

    ���� Men.��

    ��What can I say?�� Jason asked rhetorically with a wide smile.

    ��I got that dawg in me,�� he said with augh, but he was joking as he wasn��t the type of person to cheat in a rtionship, even though he had never been in a serious rtionship due to his ��emotional issues��.

    In his previous reality, he was a ��fuckboy�� of sorts as all he was ever involved in was one-night stands, and in his prime, he was even worse than Mylo, but at the same time, he had never let his nightly activities affect his training�� Since he didn��t have enough of a career for it to affect.

    This was also why he had only ever had an argument with Mylo over Mylo taking his stuff and not about Mylo bringing women to their crib.

    After all, who was him as a ��retired fuckboy�� to criticize Mylo.

    Yet, despite the countless ��genital meets and greets�� that he had had over the course of his previous life, he also understood what loyalty in a rtionship entailed so he wasn��t about to start sleeping around again when he currently had a girl he was in a rtionship with�� even though it wasn��t official yet.

    ��But hold on just a minute���� Adele finally realized something.

    ��If you weren��t going to use my level of experience, skill, or connections to decide whether to hire me or not, then what was the whole interview schtick for?�� She asked incredulously.

    ��Oh, that?��

    ��I just felt like ying around, but if I did meet someone who could hit a moving target from over 3 kilometers away with a McMin TAC-50 wanting to be my agent, then you��d be out of a job, Miss Joyce,�� Jason said with a smile.

    ��Well, Thank God there isn��t anyone like that,�� Adele sighed with relief.

    ��Oh don��t be too sure, there are quite a few strange people with interesting talents in this world,�� Jason said with a sly smile as he knew nothing was impossible.

    After all, who would believe that someone like him was a Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master?

    Or that he was someone that had lived in a supposedly parallel world, or the past�� or whatever it was?

 Chapter 121: Duties Of An Agent I

    Chapter 121: Duties Of An Agent I

    ��Anyway let��s move past all that and get to the motive of this meeting,�� Jason waved off the distractions and put the menu down.

    ��Now that I��ve decided to hire you as my agent, when can we make things official?�� he asked as he called to one of the waiters.

    ��Well, I��ll have to draw up a contract draft and we can adjust the conditions until it is agreeable with both parties, wait, I have a prepared draft here,�� Adele immediately entered a professional mode and pulled out a tab from her bag and operated it for a few seconds before handing it over to Jason.

    Jason collected the tab and began to read through the contract,

    ��Um�� handling fees�� agent fees�� h h h, and whatnots,�� Jason murmured as he read through the document and was already getting annoyed just by reading through and it wasn��t because he was illiterate�� it just wasn��t down his alley.

    He was a footballer, not awyer.

    ��Hey, Miss Agent, shouldn��t you be doing your job and exining all what these Greek and Latin words mean,�� Jason called out to Adele with a bit of a frown in between his brows.

    It had been barely a minute since he decided to hire her as an agent and he was already understanding why footballers needed agents desperately to handle their affairs. After all, their job was to maneuver the ball through yers and score so they could leave all the other stuff like word maneuvering and other suchplications to the superheroes known as agents.

    ��Ah, okay�� so the handling fees percentage mean���� Adele collected the tab back from Jason and began exining the contract to him as well as mentioning all the uses he should take note of.

    Thus they spent the hour discussing the contract as well as about Adele��s future duties as his agent.

    It didn��t need to be said that she would be involved in all issues regarding his contract with Porto from that moment on.

    She would also be in charge of any matters regarding a possible transfer to another club which would definitely be happening in the future as clubs from all over the world already had Jason on their shortlist and he was already being heavily scouted.

    His previous performances warranted at least that much action from the clubs, but for now, he was only being watched and scouted and no actions would be taken for the time being as they had their thoughts that Jason��s performances could just be a burst of good form and that he may dropter on�� but Jason didn��t n for such to happen.

    He also knew that he couldn��t spend his whole career at Porto and had already nned to stay for three seasons at most, though if an opportunity came for him to leave earlier and it was too good of an opportunity to pass, then he was definitely taking it.

    Anyway, Adele would be in charge of any matters rted to a transfer.

    Her other duties would involve helping him negotiate sponsorship deals with reputablepanies around the world as well as helping him grow as a brand which involved a lot of things like media exposure and other stuff.

    Adele was particrly adamant about helping Jason get someone that would help him manage his social media presence and was even more appalled when she heard that Jason didn��t have any social media ounts�� he wasn��t even on chatting apps like Snapchat and the only reason he had a WhatsApp ount was because some important information about the team was usually passed across on the FC Porto WhatsApp group.

    Adele immediately got to work as an agent and started exining how much of an opportunity Jason was missing out on by not being on social media like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

    Numbers meant Ad revenue and Jason had the potential to pull big numbers with his performance, young age, and especially handsome face.

    Also, Jason��s interaction with the fans on social media could gain him more fans and endear him to the club��s fans even more which was definitely not a bad thing.

    Despite being an old-school soul, Jason was not especially averse to social media and he even used to have a Facebook and Instagram ount in his previous reality, but he hadn��t gotten around to opening them in this reality as he was too focused on his training and performance in matches to care about those things at the moment but hearing Adele��s argument, it seemed these things were needed.

    Jason wasn��t some saint who only wanted to y football without caring about anything else, he cared about things like money too as he knew how much more harder life would be if one didn��t have money.

    He loved the fame too for some reason�� After all, it did feel quite good to hear thousands of people chanting your name as it put him in a state simr to a high.

    In Nigerian terms, ��his head swelled up�� whenever he heard his name being chanted by thousands of fans when he scored a goal.

    Also, it would be pretty cool to deal with annoying situations by simply taking off your sses and asking, ��Don��t you know who I am?��

    Anyway, now that Adele had mentioned it, he immediately decided to open an ount on the social media apps that she had rmended, namely; Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

    He didn��t need a YouTube ount unless he was interested in making videos like Jeremy Lynch, but then he was a professional footballer unlike Jeremy Lynch who was a freestyle footballer who doubled as a YouTuber, so Jason obviously didn��t have the kind of time that Jeremy Lynch had neither was Jason really interested in making videos for now.

    Jason immediately took out his phone and started downloading the three apps.

    The downloads finished quickly as the apps weren��t more than a few dozen Mbs in size and immediately after the downloads werepleted, Jason opened up the first app that was downloaded which happened to be Instagram and he started the registration procedures.

    ��Hey, what user name should I use that would let people know it��s me,�� Jason asked after Adele typed his name in the username interface in three different arrangements and neither of them was epted with the prompting that they had already been used.

    ��I don��t know, maybe you could try ��the elusive sapphire-eyed ck quartz rose dragon��,�� Adele snickered.

    Jason looked at her with horror and disgust etched all over his face as he muttered to himself,

    ��Like hell I��d do that,��

    Jason decided to try morebinations of his name until one was epted but surprisingly the first one he typed in was epted, which was ��JasonRose17��

    His date of birth was the 17th of June, so he had added the 17 to the only nickname he could stomach without the slightest cringe.

 Chapter 122: Duties Of An Agent II

    Chapter 122: Duties Of An Agent II

    With the username finally epted, Jason continued with the registration procedure but was soon stuck at another point which was a profile picture.

    Jason wasn��t the type of person who took pictures at every opportunity he got�� in fact, he rarely ever took pictures at all so he didn��t have any pictures lying around that he could use as a profile photo.

    He couldn��t just use any picture either as this was going to be his first profile picture so until he got verified by the app, he had to find a way to let the fans know that he was the one behind the ount as the fact that manybinations of his name was already used let him know that there were probably many simr ounts to his.

    He couldn��t allow people to not be sure that he was the one behind the ount he was about to open otherwise there wouldn��t be a point in opening the ount in the first ce.

    The only way to do that right now was by using a profile picture or posting pictures that no one but him could have ess to.

    ��Should I take a selfie? Or���� Jason started wondering internally when he suddenly realized that he could have Adele take a picture of him.

    ��How good are you with cameras?�� he asked Adele.

    ��I don��t know, I never learned it professionally, but at least I don��t look like a scarecrow in the pictures I take,�� Adele responded in between bites of the Pasteis de Nata that she ordered. ��Hmmm�� Fair enough,�� Jason said after some thought.

    If the pictures she took were too bad, then he��d either take a selfie or maybe look for a professional photographer to take one, he had that much time today.

    ��Don��t worry about it, any picture I take wille out good with that face of yours,�� Adele stated in an utterly convinced tone.

    ��Yeah, right,�� Jason muttered with a roll of his eyes and turned back to his Bacalhau a Br��s, chewing silently while wondering why his agent decided to start saying nonsense.

    They quickly finished up their food while Jason skipped the profile picture part of the registration and continued the registration.

    He managed to finish opening an ount on the three apps but all three of them didn��t have a profile picture.

    After finishing their meals and paying the bill, they headed out of the restaurant, intending to take the picture before they parted ways, with Adele going to report her progress regarding signing Jason to her higher-ups at Gestifute and then dealing with matters regarding the contract, while Jason would be free to do whatever he wanted to do for the rest of the day.

    As soon as they were outside the restaurant, Jason took out his phone, opened the camera app, and held it up, his other hand swinging around Adele��s shoulder,

    ��Smile,�� he intoned and tapped the capture button four times within the next second.

    Adele had somehow managed to get a smile on her face as Jason captured the moment, despite it being a hurried moment, but the moment Jason took the phone away, she asked with a bit of righteous fury,

    ��Hey, what was that?��

    ��My first post on social media. Be grateful you��re in it,�� Jason smirked as he checked the pictures he had taken.

    They weren��t half-bad and luckily, his phone��s camera was sharp enough to capture the moment perfectly, yet despite the picture having an amateur feel to it, it looked quite nice.

    All in all, it wasn��t a bad picture for him to upload as his first post on social media, but before he did that, he needed a profile picture first and this didn��t qualify as one��

    I mean�� it did, but putting a picture of him and Adele as his profile picture would definitely lead to many misunderstandings.

    Misunderstandings that the media would never let go of.

    Who knew what those bastards would cook up?

    No matter how much he tried to exin matters at that moment, no one would listen because there would be too many stories and rumors at that point.

    The most annoying part about doing it though would be Sofia��s reaction to it and he wasn��t exactly keen on finding out.

    Quarrels could be very exhausting, both physically and mentally, thus Jason would try to avoid it as it could affect his performance in training and on the pitch.

    Jason didn��t want that happening so why would he provoke a sleeping bear despite knowing the risks that doing so held?

    Hence, he needed another picture that he could use as his profile picture instead of this one.

    One could argue that he was still going to post the picture anyway so why didn��t he just use this one, but Jason would beg to differ.

    A profile picture and a post were in no way the same thing�� he wouldn��t say more than that.

    ��If you don��t gerrit, then forgerrabourrit.��

    ��Make sure the picture is at least this good, otherwise I might find myself already regretting hiring you,�� Jason said in a joking tone as he gave his phone to Adele.

    ��In that case, I��ll have to send my appreciation to your face for helping me keep my job,�� Adele heaved a fake sigh of relief.

    ��My face? Whatever do you mean by that?�� Jason asked confused.

    ��With a face like yours, it is scientifically impossible to have a bad picture,�� Adele stated.

    ��Are you supposed to be drunk midday?�� Jason questioned with a roll of his eyes.

    ��What are you talking about?�� Adele asked confused by Jason��s question that was questioning her statement.

    ��Girl, I know I��m hot, but it is ��scientifically impossible�� to be that hot,�� Jason replied whileughing, not believing the words that wereing out of her mouth.

    ��My thoughts exactly�� at least, until I saw your face,�� Adele replied immediately.

    ��Miss Joyce, your job as my agent is to help me deal with contractual matters, not to make me blush,�� Jason intoned, his ears feeling hot from embarrassment.

    ��No, part of my job is to tell you the truth, and that is exactly what I��m doing,�� Adele fired back, seemingly not intending to give up until he admitted that she was right.

    ��Girl, just shut up and take the damn picture,�� Jason pushed her away with a smile at the corner of his lips.

 Chapter 123: Investors Dont Cry

    Chapter 123: Investors Don''t Cry

    Chapter 123: Investors Don��t Cry

    Adele moved back and held up Jason��s phone, wanting to take Jason��s picture while Jason leaned sat on the front of his car in an absolutely normal position, after all, how was someone who almost never took pictures supposed to have the shamelessness to pull off one of those cringey positions that other people took pictures in.

    Not that he wasn��t thinking of it though, but no matter how many poses he imagined in his head that weren��t cringe, they didn��t go well with his current outfit.

    As for the few that seemed like they would be alright to do, Jason only had enough shamelessness in him to pull off such a pose within the walls of a studio where no one other than the photographer and a few helping hands would be.

    As he was trying to decide on a pose, he suddenly heard a click sound that sounded like a shutter and his eyes immediately shot up.

    His phone didn��t make sounds when taking pictures so where did that sounde from?

    His eyes first fell on Adele before he turned towards the left where the sound seemed to havee from only to see someone holding up a camera that was pointed at him.

    ��Ah, hell naw,�� Jason cursed internally.

    ��What are you doing?�� Jason asked his tone a bit louder than usual, when he saw the personing towards him instead of running away sneakily�� at least that was the way it usually was in movies. ��Don��t worry, I��m just a photographer/YouTuber,�� the guy with a fade cut and well-carved beard said as he came closer to Jason and Adele.

    ��What?�� Jason couldn��t understand what the guy meant by that.

    ��I take pictures of people and give it to them after printing it and I catch it all on video to show my viewers,�� the guy said while pointing to a small camera that hung on hispel.

    The camera was small enough and coloured the same as the guy��s clothes so Jason almost didn��t notice it.

    ��Oh,�� Jason muttered, relieved that it was just some dude making content and nothing else. He had seen simr stuff like this on YouTube so he wasn��tpletely unknowledgeable about it.

    ��I��m Jason, you are?�� Jason said as he held his hand out to the guy.

    ��Dennis,�� the guy who was a full head shorter than Jason took Jason��s hand with a respectful smile.

    ��Well, Dennis, can we see the pictures?�� Adele asked in a professional tone as she couldn��t just stand by in a situation like this.

    Her client had been captured unawares and she had to assess the situation to see if this was a problem, opportunity, or something she could simply let slide.

    ��And you are?�� Dennis asked, his tone still respectful as he turned to the beautiful woman in a suit beside Jason.

    ��Adele Joyce, his agent,�� Adele immediately introduced herself, gesturing at Jason when she mentioned being his agent.

    ��Oh, are you a model or an actor?�� Dennis asked a bit surprised, but then with how handsome Jason looked and how he was dressed, not to mention the car behind him, it would have been harder to believe that he was a normal person.

    ��Nah, I y football,�� Jason said with a wry smile.

    ��Football?�� Dennis said as he looked at Jason��s shoulders and then his upper body which looked quite fit, but not fit enough to be ying American football.

    ��You mean ser?�� Dennis asked, realizing that Jason might not be talking about what he knew as football.

    ��Americans���� Adele muttered in an annoyed tone with a roll of her eyes, immediately determining what part of the world Dennis came from with that statement.

    ��You do know I��m half-American, right?�� Jason replied to Adele while rolling his own eyes.

    ��Anyway, you��re not incorrect, but don��t say that to any of the residents here or they would look at you like you were an illiterate alien,�� Jason responded to Dennis.

    ��Haha, sorry,�� Dennisughed lightly while rubbing his air.

    ��I��m just a tourist so I don��t know too much about that, or �� football�� that is not American,�� Dennis continued, his tone awkward, but that was quickly put a stop to.

    ��Anyway, the pictures?�� Adele reiterated, not forgetting why she had involved herself in this conversation in the first ce.

    ��Ah, here,�� Dennis quickly took off the camera��s strap from his neck and showed the screen of the camera to Jason and Adele.

    ��These are pretty good pictures,�� Adele murmured as Dennis showed them the few pictures he had managed to take earlier.

    He had actually been able to take quite a few pictures before Jason noticed the clicking shutter sound.

    Jason also looked at the pictures and though he didn��t say anything, he also noticed the evidence of professionalism that wasn��t present in the pictures he had taken earlier.

    ��Hey since you��re a photographer, how about a job?�� Jason��s mind suddenly lightened up with a nice idea.

    ��A job?�� Dennis repeated, confused as to where that suddenly came from.

    ��Yeah, I happen to need a well-taken picture that I can use as my profile picture and I happen to need a professional who can do so�� cue your entrance, so����

    ��How about it?�� Jason asked with a p of his hands.

    ��Hey, I thought I was going to take the picture?�� Adele protested immediately before Dennis could even respond.

    ��You?�� Jason asked in a disbelieving tone like he had just heard the most absurd thing ever.

    ��You can��t even hit a moving target from a distance of over 3 kilometers away with a McMin TAC-50, so how good could you be at taking a picture?�� Jason said sarcastically.

    ���� Um, I don��t think there are more than ten people in the world who can even do that,�� Dennis tried to defend Adele who was looking dejected,pletely unaware that Jason was only joking around even though it should have been obvious.

    ��Why can��t she be one of the ten,�� Jason began in a serious tone.

    ��Don��t make excuses, make winnings. Failure wasn��t written in your DNA, so get up, go to the shooting range, shoot again, and watch yourself miss again,��

    ��Shoot again, and miss again, and when your ount bnce is running low and you are tired, look into the sky and say to yourself,��

    ��Investors don��t cry!�� we go again tomorrow,�� Jason said all at a stretch, turning into a motivational speaker.

 Chapter 124: Profile Picture

    Chapter 124: Profile Picture

    ��What the hell?�� Adele��s mouth was gaping as she was looking at Jason in absolute shock before she burst intoughter with Dennis doing the same as he finally realized that the current situation was a bit too outrageous for it to not be a joke.

    Jason just looked at them with a roll of his eyes as he sat back on the front of his car and waited for them to stopughing not understanding why these two idiots(in his opinion), wereughing.

    What he had said was a modified version of the modified version of a creed that he usually recited to himself whenever he was tired from training.

    The original was an advertisement for a bettingpany, but Jason had modified it to be directed at himself since it was something easy to remember.

    So whenever he was tired or unmotivated to continue training, he recited it to himself and was motivated and since it was also quiteical, it also helped to lift Jason��s mood as he would usually end up remembering funny things that could help him deal with a bit of mental stress, after which he would continue his training.

    Thus he understood�� but also didn��t understand why they wereughing�� if that was a thing.

    All in all, he was a bit confused, but he didn��t want to dwell on it and as soon as he saw that theirughter had reduced, he asked Dennis again,

    ��So, how about it? Of course, there will be ample marypensation should you agree,�� he added. ��Sure, I��ll do it, also you don��t have to pay me, just give me permission to use this on my channel,�� Dennis replied.

    ��What?�� Jason asked confused.

    ��I��m still recording,�� Dennis said while pointing to the mini camera that was hanging on hispel.

    ��Wha!�� Jason and Adele were a bit rmed, but looking back at everything that had happened, neither of them had said anything inappropriate so there shouldn��t be a problem with letting Dennis upload a video of their meeting.

    After exchanging meaningful nces with Adele and a full eye contact conversationter, Jason finally agreed to Dennis��s proposal to use the video of them together as a payment for the photo shoot.

    ��You��d have to hurry up, I don��t want us to be interrupted by someone who recognizes me,�� Jason suddenly mentioned, remembering that it would be a bit of a pain to deal with fans if he was recognized at this moment, especially now that Covid-19 was flying around so Jason was doing his best to stay away from any crowded areas, even if the ce was filled with his fans.

    Speaking of which, it was already a bit strange that he wasn��t recognized by anyone yet even though he was currently standing out in the open without anything to disguise him apart from his sses and his clothing as he had not yet put on the mask that he had taken off inside the restaurant.

    How was Jason to know that his current outfit and his dark sses were all he needed to disguise himself almost perfectly among the crowd and no one would notice him unless they checked carefully?

    Jason��s current outfit fitted a young business mogul more than a young athlete and the dark sses that covered his very distinctive sapphire colored-eyes did more than enough topletely throw off any non-diehard Porto fans.

    Only the die-hard Rose Dragon fans would be able to recognize Jason and even for them, it wouldn��t be so easy.

    ��Oh, you��re famous?�� Dennis who wasn��t a football fan and had never seen Jason before was a bit surprised to hear that Jason had some fame.

    ��I mean, I wouldn��t say that I��m famous, but quite a few people would recognize me if I took my sses off,�� Jason replied, remembering the conversation he had with the cashier at the grocery store a few days ago.

    ��Oh, that��s nice,�� Dennis replied, not knowing what Jason��s words actually meant and simply taking them at face value.

    ��Okay, let��s get it,�� Jason pped his hands, indicating that they should quickly take the picture and get on with their days.

    He didn��t know about them, but he wasn��t about to spend his whole day trying to take a profile picture.

    Dennis and Adele understood the urgency and quickly started moving, with Adele getting out of the way and Dennis getting into position to capture the moment.

    ��Should I be doing some pose or something?��Jason asked, not sure of what he should be doing at the moment.

    ��Just do whateveres to mind, with a face like yours, it isn��t possible to take a bad picture anyway,�� Dennis replied.

    ��See, I told you, It is scientifically impossible for you to take a bad picture,�� Adele said from the side.

    ��Shut up,�� Jason shot back at Adele.

    ��I have to say, I agree with her on this one,�� Dennis said with his eye on the camera lens.

    ��Just shut up and take the fu**ing pictures, dude,�� Jason rolled his eyes in annoyance at these two idiots(in his opinion).

    From then on the sounds of clicking shutters filled the area.

    ��Hey, should I take off my sses to get a better picture,�� Jason asked, suddenly remembering that the sses were covering a quarter of his face.

    ��Sure�� If you want to,�� Dennis replied to Jason.

    ��Okay,�� Jason muttered and pulled off his sses with his right hand, meanwhile Dennis never stopped taking pictures even as he did so.

    After a few more minutes Jason spoke up,

    ��Okay, that��s enough,�� he was already tired from standing so going along with Dennis��s whims that had shown up and was directing him to try different annoying poses.

    ��Here are the pictures,�� Dennis operated the camera and started showing Jason and Adele the newly captured pictures on the camera��s screen.

    The pictures were quite a lot, and at one point, Jason just stopped looking at the pictures and gave his email address to Dennis and told him to send over the pictures and he would pick the one to use as a profile pictureter.

    With the matter of the picture over, Jason said his goodbyes and quickly got into his car before driving off, while Adele and Dennis parted ways despite Dennis��s attempts at trying to get Adele��s contact details.

 Chapter 125: Social Media Storm I

    Chapter 125: Social Media Storm I

    After parting ways, Jason headed back to his apartment and spent most of the day lounging around, only remembering about the social media issue he had discussed with Adele when he saw a notification that let him know that he had an e-mail.

    Dennis had finally sent him the pictures he had taken earlier. It cameter than Jason expected, but maybe Dennis was editing some of the pictures.

    Jason didn��t believe that stupid sh*t about it being scientifically impossible for him to take a bad picture as it didn��t make sense ��scientifically��.

    Anyway, after receiving the pictures, Jason took his time looking through the pictures as he could not afford to be too careful if it was a profile picture he was trying to select.

    After a few minutes of checking pictures, he finally settled for one of the pictures where he had been taken his sses off without focusing on the camera so it like it was taken when he was unaware.

    The way his eyes were seemingly glowing like gems in contrast to the dark-lensed sses he took off seemed to call to him and he immediately decided then and there that that was his current profile picture for the current foreseeable future.

    He immediately went back to the Instagram app and selected the picture as his profile picture.

    After that was done, he went ahead to make a post using the selfies he had taken with Adele. Under the pictures, he wrote, ��Rxin�� but still standin�� on business,�� and then tapped the blue post option.

    Not unexpectedly, even after almost five minutes, there was no like orment on the pic and that was to be expected, after all, he had just created the ount.

    Jason didn��t care too much and went ahead to do the same thing on Twitter and Facebook, selecting the profile picture and making his first post.

    After he was done with that, he immediately closed the apps and went back to lounging around in the living room with the TV at a low volume so as not to aggravate his headache.

    At some point, he even fell back asleep once again despite already oversleeping that same day.

    Yet at this moment, there was a storm brewing on the social media channels which Jason had posted his pictures and even one which he hadn��t been bothered with.

    His posts took a little time to be noticed, but thanks to the social media algorithms, his name would inevitably pop up among people who had either once searched for his presence on social media, or anybody who usually looked at something simr to Jason, Rose or any other things that were rted to him.

    This was where the various nicknames he had came to finally be of use to Jason than cringing him up. Due to them being quite a lot and all rted, there was arger audience that was exposed to anything simr to the name of ��Jason�� & ��Rose��.

    Thus some people soon started seeing Jason��s post on his newly created ount.

    At this point, Jason��s decision and choice of a profile picture that no one other than him had, came to fruition as once Porto fans saw the profile picture and the post that featured Jason��s pictures that weren��t seen anywhere else, they immediately liked the post.

    When they found out that the ount was a new ount with only one post, they followed it immediately thinking that it just had to be Jason��s original ount.

    Of course, some people who were pessimistic still did not follow the ounts, thinking that since it was a new ount, there was no way it could be Jason who was ��18 years old�� and should already have had an Instagram ount for at least a few years, after all, which teenager didn��t have a social media ount on all the major social media tforms.

    Of course, all of Jason��s fans, especially the female fans immediately followed the ount when they saw new pictures of Jason that they hadn��t seen before despite tearing through the depths of the inte.

    Their thinking was, ��even if it wasn��t Jason��s original ount, it was still worth following if it could continue posting information about Jason, that frankly, was quite hard to find.��

    So following it wasn��t much of a loss anyway, after all, what was one more addition to the total number of people who were following?

    While this was happening on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, a different storm was rising up on YouTube.

    Dennis wasn��t an especially famous YouTuber, but he still had over a hundred and fifty thousand subscribers, thus when he posted the edited video of his encounter with Jason, it soon started garnering.

    Contrary to Jason��s thoughts, the reason why Dennis had sent the picturester than Jason expected was that he was too busy editing the video of his encounter with Jason and he had not actually edited any of Jason��s pictures because Jason was just that handsome of a specimen(to everyone but himself, of course)

    Thus when Dennis posted the video that recorded his, Jason, and Adele��s encounter together, along with the funnier scene of Jason turning into a motivational speaker as well as the photo shoot moment, his followers started watching the video and were impressed by Jason��s looks andedic sense of humor that Jason wasn��t actually trying to show.

    Dennis had a lot of female subscribers as the male poption of YouTube was usually more interested in watching videos where unbelievable activities were being performed.

    With such a huge crowd of female fansing into contact with Jason��s picture and video, they were immediately taken by him and started sharing the video with every one of their girlfriends.

    Due to this, more and more people watched the video and soon, the number of views had passed the number of subscribers that Dennis had and was still rising, while Dennis��s subscribers started increasing as well.

    Soon someone who had noticed Jason��s new ount on Instagram watched the video and immediately put two and two together, thus she left ament and added Jason��s Instagram ount details under the video.

    Viewers immediately noticed herment and started liking thement and before long it became a topment among the otherments that included,

    ��So cute,��

    ��These pictures already got me pregnant,��

    ��Spank me, daddy,��

    ��His eyes are so cute?��

    ��Chill bro, my girlfriend, mother, and sister are on this app,��

    ��Isn��t this the Rose Dragon of Porto FC?��

    The effects of all this started showing their effects on Jason��s ounts and his followers on the three social media tforms started growing quickly.

    Growing wasn��t even the right word, flying was more apt.

    Yet while all this happened, Jasony asleep on the couch in his living room, with his phone disconnected from the inte.

 Chapter 126: Social Media Storm II

    Chapter 126: Social Media Storm II

    **4th March, 2020**

    The Porto team was hard at training as usual at the CTFD Portogaia, keeping themselves sharp for the uing matches.

    Some of them were doing passing drills, some were doing shooting drills, some were involved in agility drills and others were doing passing drills.

    Jason was currently doing abination of agility, stamina, and passing drills with Otavio, Telles, Viera, and Diaz.

    They were continuously running in between training dummies and cones and continuously passing the ball among each other within two touches at most.

    There wasn��t an end to the training like scoring a goal, but they were going to be doing it for as long as possible since they were trying to simte something simr to a real match, though the dummies and cones wouldn��t be moving like yers in real matches, the people doing the drill were forbidden from stopping their movements as well.

    As the training was ongoing, Jason��s mind was currently split between doing the training and something else.

    Earlier this morning�� He had turned on his phone��s inte connection this morning out of habit to connect his phone to the car��s stereo system and stream music but no sooner had he put on his phone that his phone started vibrating uncontrobly like a woman��s toy just from the notification.

    Imagine Jason��s surprise when his Samsung S10 Plus even startedgging from all the notificationsing in.

    ��What the hell?�� Jason muttered in an utterly confused tone when he saw how his phone began acting up from mere notifications.

    ��Was someone spamming? Or had his phone been hacked or something?�� Jason wondered in confusion as his phone��s screen wasn��t even disying anything at that point and only the continuous sound of notifications let him know that the phone��s chip hadn��t inadvertently blown up.

    Jason just threw the phone aside and started driving to the training ground, immediately relegating the matter of the phone acting up to the back of his mind as it was currently an unimportant matter, and he wasn��t going to dy his training for even a minute because of a phone that he could easily rece was acting up.

    Thus he had driven all the way to the CTFD Portogaia and was about to get down when he decided to pick up the phone and check if it was still acting up as even now, notifications were ringing about thrice a minute.

    Picking up the phone, Jason swiped it open and unsurprisingly, the phone had stoppedgging, but now, Jason was curious about what had caused such a reaction from his phone, thus he swiped down to check his notifications only to see that the notifications were from the apps he had just downloaded the day before.

    Wondering what was going on, Jason clicked on the first notification which was from Instagram and the Instagram app immediately opened up and took him to the notifications where he saw a long string of notifications that weren��t there yesterday no matter how many times he had refreshed.

    ��Oh,�� he muttered in understanding after seeing that there were quite a few notifications of people following him, but even then, notifications from a few followers shouldn��t cause his phone tog, so what was going on?

    Deciding to check the number of followers he had managed to umte within thest day, Jason closed the notification panel, went to the user profile, and immediately cussed out loud when he saw the number of followers he had.

    ��Holy mother of Fluff? What the Ffff,�� he just barely caught himself from cussing too much.

    ��4 million followers!?��

    ��What the hell?�� Jason��s surprise and confusion werepletely warranted for a person who had just opened an Instagram ount just the day before.

    ��Does Porto even have that many followers on Instagram?�� The question suddenly popped up in Jason��s mind, but as soon as it popped up, it aggravated Jason��s curiosity and Jason immediately couldn��t resist typing in FC Porto in the search bar.

    ��Let��s see�� F. C. Por�� to,�� Jason murmured as he keyed in Porto on the keypad and tapped search.

    ��2 million followers?�� Jason was stunned but not that surprised and could not help but smile wryly to himself as he remembered that just two days ago, he had made a small joke after the match that he wasn��t bigger than the club.

    As of now, he still wasn��t bigger than the club, but he already had more followers than them on Instagram just a day after opening an ount while they had had their Instagram ount for years at least.

    Suddenly Jason remembered that he also had notifications from Twitter and Facebook and his face became even funnier.

    On Twitter, he had just over 600k followers whichpared to his Instagram following was actually quite meager, but everyone knew that though Twitter may be the same animal as Instagram, it was a different type of beast whenparing them side by side�� If, you know what that meant.

    As for Jason��s Facebook following, Jason couldn��t be bothered to check it and just threw his phone into his sports bag and jumped out of the car.

    It was too early in the morning for him to give too much of a sh*t about something that wasn��t currently as relevant as his training.

    But despite thinking that, Jason��s mind had not been able topletely push the matter aside and his mind kept swinging back to the issue because no matter how he thought about it, it wasn��t a normal urrence.

    He wasn��t some famous entertainment star whomanded such respect and fame and he hadn��t even been in the spotlight that long as a football yer to gain such a following so quickly, so why had it happened?

    This was constantly floating through his mind for the whole day.

    Unfortunately, he had been in too much of a hurry to read thements under his post, so he waspletely in the dark at the moment.

    Thispletely annoyed him as it was like an itch he couldn��t scratch, and he was not going to stop his training just to go and check people��sments under his post.

    That would be the epitome of unseriousness and indiscipline, and Jason was neither of the two, so he stifled the itch and channeled the motivation into his training instead, focusing on preparing for the next match against Rio Ave.

 Chapter 127: What Is Handsomeness?

    Chapter 127: What Is Handsomeness?

    **7th March 2020**

    The yers of the Porto team jugged up and down the field of the Estadio do Dragao as they warmed themselves up in preparation for the match that would be starting in less than an hour.

    Jason was among the yers who were warming up, but unlike the previous match, he had a bib on over his training vest which indicated that he would not be starting the game.

    Of course, Jason had his reservations about the manager��s decision to not have him on the starting line-up despite his performances in the previous matches, but he wouldn��t dare to say it out loud.

    The Manager was probably watching his condition because of the concussion he had gotten in thest match, but he felt that such worry was unwarranted, yet he also knew that it was the manager��s way of watching out for him.

    Also, despite his performances in thest few games, Jason was still far away frommanding a position in the starting line-up so every now and then he would have to sit on the bench.

    That was inevitable and unavoidable so he just did his drills withplete peace of mind and focused on preparing for the match instead of going on an internal debate with himself about why he should be in the starting line-up.

    He had other matters upying his mind too, like the unnatural rise of his followers on social media among other things. Apparently, most of the fans were there because he was�� in their words ��hot��, ��cute��, and ��devilishly handsome��.

    Those were words that Jason would have a hard time attributing to himself.

    After he saw theirments, he had spent almost an hour looking at himself in the mirror, trying to find the ��handsomeness�� that these people were seeing.

    In the end, the only thing he had been able to decide was that he wasn��t bad-looking.

    Since using the mirror wasn��t working, he had opted for something else, which was to search for ��handsome men�� on Google and spent another hour looking at their pictures and that was when he realized what was happening.

    No matter what picture he sawe up, he only thought of them as mildly good-looking�� he didn��t even see them to be as good-looking as he thought he was.

    This meant that he was the one who was the problem because he was the one downgrading himself as he didn��t know the scale and he had only just realized that he stood on top of the pyramid when it came to looks.

    It wasn��t that he wasn��t handsome�� he was the one who didn��t know that he was too handsome.

    That realization had hit him like a freight train and all of a sudden things began to make a lot more sense.

    It was hard for Jason to ept that he had always been this handsome, but this was the only way a lot of things made sense.

    In his previous life, he wasn��t even the best among the��wack��yers yet he somehow always ended up getting transferred to another team when there wasn��t exactly anything that they should be gaining from the deal.

    Could it have been that they treated him like a walking advertisement?

    This also exined why he always got so many looks, especially from women�� it seemed it wasn��t that they were surprised by his bright eye color.

    It was probably also the only reason why he was able to score so many women without even trying back then, because looking at how he was back then, his personality was shit, so there had to be something that always had girls running up to him and evening back for more like they couldn��t get enough of him.

    Only now did he realize that he had the infinity stone of handsomeness and charm so there was no wonder that he was able to pull all that off with almost no effort.

    This was mind-blowing and he had spent thest few days in a daze trying to ept that about himself.

    He had even called Daphne to ask her if he had always been that handsome, to which she had answered in an annoyed tone, wondering why he was asking something so obvious but after hanging up, she had spent the whole afternoon trying to wonder why it sounded like he didn��t know the answer to his own question.

    She always knew that Jason was a bit too handsome.

    He was handsome enough that if she hadn��t been present at his birth and had seen that he had the same eye color as her brother, she would never have believed that he was from their family because none of their family members was that handsome.

    But then it wasn��t too unnatural as Jason��s father was also quite handsome and his mother was also a beauty.

    Jason was just an oddity who had somehow taken the best points from both of his parents, modified them perfectly, and then multiplied them by a hundred.

    There was no other way to exin Jason��s attractiveness.

    Of course, Jason didn��t know her thoughts, and if he did, he would be in even more of a shock than he already was.

    Even now, he was stuck thinking about his life, feeling that a huge part of his life was a lie�� well, not as much of a lie as it was blurry, but that didn��t help him lighten up.

    Luckily, he had the game to focus on, so he didn��t spend too much time thinking about it.

    He had put his full focus on the game and had gotten around to turning off notifications from all his social media apps except WhatsApp as that was the only one that wasn��t constantly gued with notifications.

    Annoyingly enough, he had not stopped gaining followers on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

    The rate at which he gained followers had decreased, but it was still climbing quite quickly, and he had gained another 1.5 million followers on Instagram alone in the past few days.

    Part of this was because ording to Adele, he had to constantly interact with his followers or at least post something, so he had been posting pictures from his daily training every day since he had opened the social media ounts.

    Some were pictures of him alone, some were pictures of him and other members of the team which he was only able to get his hands on thanks to the club��s photographers.

    He had posted those and it seemed like they were well received.

    At this rate, he would soon add ��social media celebrity�� to his resume.

 Chapter 128: Vs Rio Ave I

    Chapter 128: Vs Rio Ave I

    The yers of FC Porto and Rio Aves marched onto the field with the referees walking ahead of them and the pre-match formalities began.

    The line-ups of both teams were called out by thementator in the box, while the coin toss was ongoing on the pitch.

    Soon the yers were in their positions and the match kicked off with Porto being the first to kick off.

    The Porto yers passed the ball around skillfully and advanced into the Rio Aves��s half of the pitch.

    They made use of the full length of the pitch to keep the ball away from their opponents and Rio Aves��s three midfielders were no match for Porto��s four yers in the midfield in skill or pedigree and for the first few minutes of the game, Porto enjoyed dominance in the midfield.

    Yet before the Porto yers could record a shot, the Rio Aves team suddenly changed their tactics and the two wingers of the Rio Aves team suddenly dropped back, immediately transitioning from a 4-3-3 formation to a 4-5-1 formation.

    With the extra legs in the middle of the park, Rio Aves took dominance of the midfield and left the Porto yers chasing shadows whenever they tried to retrieve the ball.

    Afterpletely taking over the midfield, they didn��t stop there and started advancing deeper into Porto��s half of the pitch. At every opportunity they sent the ball forward to the lone striker, Mehdi Taremi to try and start something, but luckily for the Porto team, their defense stayed alert and did their best to prevent the ball from sessfully reaching Taremi.

    Seeing this, the Rio Aves team settled for taking shots on sight or trying to build the attack from midfield instead before letting the final ball fly over to their striker, but apart from getting a few shots away, they didn��t gain anything else.

    And then in the 23rdminute, the unexpected happened��

    Rio Aves had just been repelled once again from cracking the Porto defense and were currently passing the ball around between their defenders when suddenly Tiquiniho Soares and Moussa Marega double-teamed the defender with the ball and sessfully managed to make him lose the ball.

    Tiquiniho didn��t need anyone to tell him before he chased after the loose ball, controlled it and advanced through the space left in the Rio Aves defense, bearing down on the Rio Aves goalkeeper.

    Unfortunately for him, despite being a striker with above-average agility, he wasn��t able to outrun the Rio Aves defenders for long and they soon caught up to him and began hassling him from behind.

    Not wanting the attack to end with him, he quickly looked for the nearest pass and saw Fabio Viera running alongside him on the right side of the field and he immediately sent a through pass forward and across into the right side of the Rio Aves 18-yard box.

    Fabio Viera immediately chased after the ball with all his might as the ball was going a bit too fast and was likely to end up out of y if he didn��t hurry up.

    Luckily, he was quite free and was able to put his full focus on chasing after the ball.

    Behind him, Tiquiniho Soares who had made the pass was finally pulled down by the Rio Aves defender that was hassling him.

    The referee immediately raised his hand and called for an advantage, not stopping the game and letting the attack y out.

    Finally, just before the ball rolled out of y, Fabio Viera caught up to the ball and brought it under control.

    Quickly shifting his body along in a series of well-practiced movements, he shifted the ball deftly from his left to his right and escaped the yer who had just managed to catch up to him and was trying to block his path.

    Managing to create enough space with his movement, Viera didn��t get greedy for glory despite being quite close to the goal and instead opted to pass the ball into the path of the arriving Moussa Marega.

    Moussa Marega arrived behind the ball with his leg already swinging and he caught it first time with the side of his foot, sending it at the Rio Aves goal.

    The Rio Aves goalkeeper was close by and immediately jumped into the path of the shot, but was toote and only managed to deflect it slightly.

    *ng!!!*

    The ball mmed against the inside of the crossbar before finally rolling across the goalline and uplifting the whole Estadio do Dragao.

    {And it��s a goal!!!}

    {What pace! Whatmitment! What joy!}

    {They took their chance and they made something out of nothing with it leaving the opponents to rue their mistake} Thementator��s voice was there as usual to apany the ball going in, while Moussa Marega had taken off towards the sidelines.

    Reaching the sidelines, he pped the corner g with his hand, but before he could do anything else, he was jumped on by his teammates as celebrations ensued in the Estadio do Dragao.

    On the sidelines, Jason could see Sergio Conceicao pumping his fist silently with a relieved smile on his face and it was understandable.

    After all, the Porto team had only barely managed to keep out the Rio Aves team thest few minutes, yet they had somehow managed to turn things around by grabbing the opportunity that came their way with both hands.

    ��Hopefully, with this, we can build on our momentum and go on to get afortable win,�� Sergio Conceicao hoped as he watched his yers celebrate.

    As the yers rounded up their celebrations, the head manager called the team captain and gave him instructions for the team, reminding them of their roles and instructing them on how they should y going forward.

    He wanted the yers to remain focused and not allow for the Rio Aves team to continue their free reign in the midfield and he gave instructions to help the team counter this.

    After receiving instructions that he was supposed to share with the rest of the team, Pepe headed back to the field, rying the manager��s instructions to his teammates and soon the match kicked off again and Sergio Conceicao watched from the sidelines.

    He had done his part and now it was time for the yers to do their part while hoping that things fell in ce, but things scarcely ever went as one hoped, did they?

 Chapter 129: Vs Rio Ave II

    Chapter 129: Vs Rio Ave II

    Mehdi Taremi kicked off for the Rio Ave team, resuming the match with a pass into his team��s half and immediately moving into the Porto team��s half of the field.

    The Rio Ave yers immediately took control of the ball and began passing it cleverly around between themselves, showing no signs of trying to immediately regain their lead, but the Porto yers didn��t care and ran at them all the same.

    Soon the Rio Ave team was dispossessed of the ball and Danilo Perreira immediately sent a pass back towards Ivan Marcano.

    Instead of falling back after losing the ball to try and cover for any holes in their defense, the five midfielders immediately surged forward past the Porto midfielders and ran at the four Porto defenders, each yer covering one member of the defense with two yers chasing after the ball that was heading toward Ivan Marcano.

    Ivan Marcano received the ball, but seeing the two yers charging at him, he didn��t dare to keep the ball with him and he immediately wanted to send the ball back to the goalkeeper since all the other yers were being marked tightly.

    Mehdi Taremi had been sneaking around just behind the Porto defenders ever since he had kicked-off a minute earlier so he was close enough to suddenly pop out and snatch the ball from Ivan Marcano much to the surprise of all the other Porto defenders.

    The Porto defenders led by Porto immediately charged at Mehdi Taremi who had just stolen the ball from Ivan Marcano, but Taremi hung onto the ball like his life depended on it and ran at Augustin Marchesin before chipping the ball over his outstretched arm, sending the ball into the back of the and bringing his team back on equal terms with Porto just a minute after they went behind.

    {What a turn of events!} {Opportunistic, quick, decisive and he��s brought his team back with him} Thementator who lived for moments like this didn��t waste any time and began spitting bars but the silence in all but one side of the stadium showed that the majority of the Porto fans were unhappy with this development.

    Mehdi Taremi didn��t care though and instead ran down the sidelines celebrating with his teammates.

    On the sidelines, Sergio Conceicao��s face remained impassive apart from the slight frown that had appeared on his forehead for a few seconds after the goal, but the yers on the bench could feel the tension from where they sat and they did their best to remain silent and unmoving.

    It would not be the best of ideas to gain the manager��s attention at this moment, so they did their best to stay out of his view, but Sergio Conceicao��s attention was on the yers who were on the pitch instead of the yers on the bench.

    In the end, he didn��t do anything other than simply watch in silence, but all that needed to be said was in his eyes and the yers on the field didn��t need any reminding of what he wanted from them.

    The celebrations continued for a few more seconds before the yers started heading back to their halves of the field for the match to resume.

    Less than a minuteter the Tiquiniho passed the ball back to Fabio Viera to resume the match once again.

    With both teams back at the starting line, they put their full efforts into trying to one-up the other and take the lead in the game, and for a while, the ball flew from one end of the pitch to another with both teams taking shots at each other, and then in the 35th minute of the game��

    Rio Ave had just survived an attacking attempt by Porto that had ended with the goalkeeper holding the ball while curled up on the ground.

    Confirming that they were out of danger, the Rio Ave goalkeeper stood up and moved toward the edge before sending the ball back into the field with a high punt.

    The ball flew into the air beforeing down into the middle of the pitch where yers from both teams jumped for the ball, but it was a Rio Ave yer who got his head to the ball and directed it towards a nearby teammate.

    Receiving the ball on the right side of the field, just a bit past the halfway line, the Rio Ave right winger controlled the ball with his chest, before letting it fall to his leg, but instead of trying to run at the Porto team as one would expect, he suddenly made a sweeping through pass forward and past the Porto defensive line.

    The Porto defenders watched the ball fly past them, wondering who the Rio Ave yer was making a pass to only to be shocked out of their minds when they saw Mehdi Taremi somehow squeeze past Pepe and Ivan Marcano and appear in the path of the ball.

    For the second time in the match, the Porto yers began chasing after the Rio Ave striker, but just like before, Mehdi Taremi continued unhindered and unworried about what was happening behind him, bearing down on the Porto goal like a homing missile.

    Once again, Augustin Marchesin had no other option but toe off his goal line and try to throw off the Iranian striker, but the striker seemingly had ice in his veins as he curled the ball around the goalkeeper, watched it go in, and then headed towards the sidelines to celebrate his goal.

    {He did it once and now he��s done it again, but this time he��s put his team in the lead!}

    {An exhrating run and a wonderful finish from the striker and he has for a moment silenced the Porto fans with his disy} Thementator was loving his job at the moment, despite the silence in most parts of the stadium as the Porto fans were too busy groaning in annoyance with their hands covering their heads and faces.

    Sergio Conceicao wasn��t able to keep his annoyance bottled up this time and immediately kicked away the bottle of water beside him, his face a perfect expression of his anger.

    The yers on the bench seeing this disy of annoyance from the manager shivered in their seats.

 Chapter 130: Vs Rio Ave III

    Chapter 130: Vs Rio Ave III

    After the Rio Ave team took the lead, the Porto team had done their best to try and get back on level terms, but the Rio Ave team wasn��t budging and even sent some shots at the Porto side,ing dangerously close to extending their lead two times.

    This kept the Porto team on tenterhooks and they weren��t able to fully focus on the attacking side of their game due to the fear of going further behind.

    In the end, neither of the two teams was able to trouble the scoreboard operator any further until the referee whistled for the end of the first half.

    The yers of the two teams walked off the field and down the tunnel and headed for their respective locker rooms.

    The Porto yers filed into the locker room where Sergio Conceicao and the bench yers were waiting.

    Sergio Conceicao waited for the yers to all sit down, drink some water, and getfortable, but the yers could hardly swallow the water down their throats with the way the manager was ring at them.

    ��I��ve spent quite a while thinking and I want to ask, which one of you is going to exin to me what happened out there?�� Sergio Conceicao finally opened his mouth and let his words flow out.

    His words grated against the yers�� ears like scratching ss against ss, and they shrunk in their seats, none of them wanting to be the one that would have to do the duty of exining. ��Nobody?�� Sergio Conceicao asked, seeing no one speak.

    ��Nobody wants to tell me how we bottled a lead just 11 minutes after taking it and against a weaker team for that matter?��

    ��Nobody wants to tell me how you conceded a goal just a minute after I gave you very clear instructions on how to avoid such a situation?��

    ��Nobody wants to exin to me how Mehdi Taremi did not score only once�� but TWICE within the span of 11 minutes and would have added another if not that he didn��t get another chance to do so, huh?��

    ��Nobody?�� Sergio Conceicao asked again in a questioning tone, his tone dangerously low.

    ��My instructions were for you to stay focused and wrestle back the control of the midfield from them, but what did I see you doing out there?��

    ��You almost didn��t bother marking your man and let them dictate the game��s pace while also graciously giving them the lead,��

    ��You know, when I became the manager of this great club, I thought I would be coaching Dragons who had enough pride to not let what just happened, happen,��

    ��But instead, you guys make me feel like I��m managing a team filled with Santa us��, especially with the way you keep giving away goals like it was Christmas!��

    ��Pffft���� Danilo Perreira could not control himself and almostughed, but he quickly covered up his mouth, unfortunately, it was toote as Sergio Conceicao��s eyes had locked on him the moment he slipped up.

    ��Oh, you think this is funny?��

    ��Do I look like aedian to you?�� Sergio fired question after question at Danilo Perreira, his voice dangerously low.

    ��Well, the joke��s on you,�� the manager stated with his head slightly tilted and a scary smile appearing on his face.

    ��Sergio!�� Sergio Conceicao called out to Sergio Oliveira.

    ��You��reing on for Danilo, he can go watch aedy show if he wants tough,�� Sergio Conceicao stated in a tone that let everyone in the room know that there wasn��t any room for reconsideration.

    Danilo Perreira wasn��t amused by the manager��s decision though and was going to make his objection known as he felt like the manager was using him as a scapegoat, but before he could get any words out of his mouth, he felt a firm grip on his shoulder.

    He looked over to see Pepe��s hand on his shoulder while shaking his head at him, indicating that he shouldn��t do anything for now and stay silent.

    Fuming as he was, Danilo Perreira listened to the team captain whom he had great respect for, and bottled up his anger and objections, choosing to stay silent.

    ��As you head back out there for the second half, I want to see better from you than that sorry excuse of a performance that you guys disyed earlier,��

    ��Pepe, Ivan, keep that Taremi guy away from our box by any means possible, I don��t care if you foul him as long as you don��t get a red card or give away a penalty,��

    ��I don��t want to see him take away the match ball at the end of this match,�� Sergio Conceicao instructed and warned.

    ��Wilson, Alex, I want you guys to follow the two Rio Ave wingers into the middle of the park and mark them everywhere they go,��

    ��You��ll both be adopting an inverted full-back position for this match, but if you see an opportunity to get the ball forward or to send the ball forward, then make sure to take it����

    ��Otherwise, focus on keeping those two wingers from helping the midfielders control the midfield,�� the Portuguese manager continued giving instructions.

    ��Fabio, Sergio, I don��t think I need to mention that your job in the middle of the park is to make sure that the opponents don��t have the luxury of making the passes they want,��

    ��As for Luiz and Jesus, I want you guys to help the midfield as well, but whenever we are on the ball, I want you guys to overload the opponent��s penalty box,��

    ��You have to help the strikers out a bit more,�� Sergio Conceicao instructed, pping the back of his right palm onto his left palm.

    ��As for you guys, I want your full efforts on getting us an equalizer. This is not the time for fancy flicks of the ball,�� Sergio Conceicao intoned, his eyes on Tiquiniho Soares and Moussa Marega.

    ��I don��t care if you have to squeeze the ball past the goalkeeper, but I want to see the ball in the back of the before the 70th minute,��

    ��Stay ready for any ball��sing your way, and don��t be scared to bulldoze your way through their defense, especially you, Moussa,��

    ��We need to quickly equalize the game so that we can have enough time to go even further and take the lead,��

    ��Is that clear?�� Sergio Conceicao asked in a loud voice.

 Chapter 131: Vs Rio Ave IV

    Chapter 131: Vs Rio Ave IV

    The Porto yers filed out of their locker room and headed back out to the field in a somber and determined.

    Coming out of the tunnel, the yers in bibs headed to the bench while the rest of them headed to the field, making different motions to prepare themselves for the second half both physically and mentally.

    On the bench, there was a new appearance in the form of Danilo Perreira who had a less than pleased look on his face as he was obviously not happy being on the bench, but there was nothing that could be done to change that situation now.

    A few secondster, the second half kicked off with Mehdi Taremi being the one to kick off the second half.

    The Porto yers immediately rushed into the Rio Ave half of the field, taking their positions as instructed by the manager and trying to steal the ball back from the opposing team.

    Of course, the Rio Ave team wasn��t just going to let them have the ball just like that and they quickly started passing the ball among themselves, trying to make sure they retained possession, yet their passes still had an adventurous nature to them.

    It was clear what their manager had told them to do in the second half.

    The Rio Ave manager had told his yers to not stop attacking the Porto side as sitting back against a team as strong as F.C Porto was the same thing as inviting trouble over and sitting down without putting up a fight as Porto was more likely to equalize even if they tried to park the bus. But if they kept the pressure on and kept the Porto team from fully focusing on the attacking side of their game, they were more likely to not only keep the Porto side from scoring against them�� there was also the chance that they could further their lead.

    This was what the Rio Ave manager was banking on, and it seemed to be working because even when the Porto team gained the ball, they were being a bit too cautious with the ball and only trying to make sure they didn��t lose the ball.

    Yet, even with how cautious the Porto team was ying, they were still slightly overpowering the Rio Ave team and were able to keep them from building up their attack, but they were only able to do so for so long and soon enough the dam burst as Rio Ave finally found enough space tounch an attack in the 59th minute.

    The Rio Ave left winger had received the ball from one of his teammates and with his first touch had sent the ball to Mehdi Taremi who hade deep to receive the ball.

    Immediately he sent the ball Taremi��s way, he immediately dashed into the Porto half, trying to escape from Wilson Manafa who wasn��t letting him just run away and stayed on him.

    Taremi received the ball with his back to Ivan Marcano and trapped the ball deftly with his first touch before sending a chip pass over Pepe into the path of the sprinting left winger.

    The Rio Ave left winger headed the ball forward as soon as it came into his path and chased after it as fast as his legs could carry him, doing his best to beat Wilson Manafa for pace.

    The Porto defenders were unwilling to let be scored against thrice within the same match and immediately gave chase, but the Rio Ave left winger managed to stay just ahead of them as he ran down the left wing, unable to cut inside due to the presence of Pepe running alongside him on the more central parts of the field.

    Reaching the side of Porto��s penalty box, he immediately sent a ball towards an awaiting Mehdi Taremi.

    The Iranian striker jumped up to meet the ball, but before the ball could reach him, Ivan Marcano who had been watching carefully had jumped earlier than he did and caught the ball with his head first, sending the ball out for a corner kick.

    All the Porto yers and fans heaved a sigh of relief as they watched the ball go out of y instead of the back of their, but they didn��tpletely let go of their tension as there was Rio Ave had gained a corner in exchange for missing that opportunity.

    The yers of both teams quickly arranged themselves in the Porto 18-yard box, both of them with different intentions.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The referee��s whistle sounded shrilly and the Rio Ave yer who stood over the corner whipped the ball into the Porto 18-yard box.

    The yers crashed against themselves as they tried to ce themselves into the path of the ball, and then finally rose into the air.

    Despite the efforts of the Porto team��s yers, it was one of the Rio Ave center backs that got his head to the ball first and he directed the ball at the Porto goal.

    Fortunately for the Porto side, Augustin Marchesin was up to the challenge and he immediately lunged at the ball and got his hand to it, managing to keep it away from the ball, but the ball didn��t head out of y and bounced back into y just a yard away from the right post of the goal.

    Before the Porto yers could get to the ball and clear it a figure they knew and dreaded appeared behind the ball with his leg swinging hard and smashing the ball back where it came from.

    This time the Porto team wasn��t as lucky as the ball smashed past Augustin Marchesin who hadn��t even gotten back up and into the back of the.

    Mehdi Taremi almost didn��t wait to see the ball fall into the back of the before he took off down the sidelines.

    {It��s happened yet again and to everyone��s surprise as well}

    {Porto not only bottled their lead, they are now two goals behind, and it is all thanks to this one man who has finally gotten his hat-tric�� Oh wait, the referee has something here} Thementator was already speaking in a voice filled with ecstasy when he noticed the referee on the sidelines holding up the offside g.

    *Fweeeeeeeee*

    The referee��s shrill whistle put an end to all the Rio Ave team��s celebration and all the Rio Ave fans who were jumping up in joy and excitement at the thought of utterly destroying the league leaders at their home ground immediately paused their celebrations and stared at the ongoing situation in slight surprise, while waiting for rity of the situation.

    After all, it wouldn��t be toote to celebrate a few minutester, right?

 Chapter 132: Vs Rio Ave V

    Chapter 132: Vs Rio Ave V

    The assistant referee had his g raised and the referee had already whistled to signify a hold on the match proceedings as he headed to the sidelines to check the situation with the aid of the Video Assistant Referee(VAR).

    The Porto yers could not help but hope that the decision was in their favor and some of the yers were already praying.

    On the sidelines, Sergio Conceicao watched the situation with a grim look on his face.

    Nothing was going right for the Porto team in this match.

    They had taken shot after shot and kept their opponents under pressure for most of the second half, yet they had not been able to find an equalizer, but the opponent had only burst out once and they already had the ball in the back of the.

    He had told his yers that he wanted to see in the back of the before the 70th minute, but this was obviously the wrong, he rubbed his brow in annoyance, deep in thought.

    ��Tell Jason to begin warming up ande to me for instructions, he��ll being on into the game anytime from now,�� Sergio Conceicao said to his assistant, Vitor Bruno, who stood beside him.

    Vitor immediately went to ry the manager��s message to Jason and Jason immediately stood up and began warming up despite the whole stadium waiting for the referee��s decision. Just after Jason began his warm-up, the referee began heading back to the field, his decision already made.

    Making a gesture towards the assistant referee who had called for offside, the referee made his decision known to the crowd.

    The goal was going to be disallowed.

    Mehdi had his leg offside when the center-back from his team had sent the ball at the goal the first time, so the goal wasn��t going to count.

    The Rio Ave team, fans, and the manager were all disappointed, but no one was more disappointed than Mehdi Taremi who had just experienced the feeling of the hat taken off of his hat-trick and now he could not help but feel like he had been tricked.

    With a wry smile on his face, Mehdi Tarem walked out of the Porto 18-yard box as Augustin Marchesin picked the ball out from the back of the goal and put it down at the spot he had been offside.

    Whipping the ball high up and back into the pitch, Augustin Marchesin resumed the game with a kick.

    yers of both teams immediately jumped for the ball as usual, but this time Oliveira got his head to the ball ahead of the Rio Ave yer who was contesting with him for the ball.

    Oliveira sent the ball towards Alex Telles who quickly trapped the ball and began advancing down the left side of the field, but soon had to pass the ball back to Oliveira because the Rio Ave team yers weren��t just going to let him advance past them without putting up a fight.

    For the next few seconds, the Porto defensive line exchanged the ball among themselves while doing their best to keep the ball from falling into the hands of their annoying opponents�� or in this case, their legs.

    Finally, Wilson Manafa sent the ball to Jesus Corona who hade deep to receive the ball.

    Upon receiving the ball, Jesus Corona who had his back to his marker, smoothly turned around him towards the right while using his left hand to hold away the yer.

    Managing to escape from his marker with that little trick, Jesus Corona set off down the right side of the Rio Ave half of the field, his objective being to make it all the way into the opponent��s penalty area.

    As he took off down the right side of the field, the left-back of the Rio Ave team immediately came at him, wanting to retrieve the ball, but Jesus Corona immediately sent a ball infield to an awaiting Fabio Viera while hopping past the Rio Ave left back himself.

    Fabio Viera had been following Jesus Corona to support him and immediately the ball came his way, he understood what Jesus Corona wanted and not even bothering to trap the ball, sent the ball behind the Rio Ave left-back where Jesus Corona had already appeared.

    Jesus Corona received the ball back from Fabio and continued his run towards the Rio Ave box, but just before he made it into the box, his leg was swept away from under him due to a slide tackle from the Rio Ave left-back that he had just managed to get past.

    Jesus Corona went tumbling onto the floor, grabbing his ankle as he was in pain.

    The referee immediately ran over and without a word showed the Rio Ave left-back a yellow card.

    Jesus Corona sat up, and with the help of Fabio Viera was pulled up.

    He began to rotate his ankles to check if there were any issues, but he didn��t feel any lingering pain.

    Meanwhile, on the sidelines, Jason was already in his jersey, listening to the manager��s instructions, but the moment Jesus Corona was fouled by the Rio Ave yer, the manager changed his instructions slightly.

    ��You areing on for Diaz, but tell Jesus Corona that I want him to switch wings with you,��

    ��I want him on the left, and you on the right,��

    ��That left back of theirs is now on a yellow card and can no longer be as reckless as before, I want you to take advantage of that and do what you do best,�� Sergio Conceicao instructed.

    ��Your full focus is to help the team up front,��

    ��Make a nuisance of yourself and see if you can score a goal, if you can��t, then send the ball to someone who can,��

    ��We need something to stay in this game and time is running out, so do your best,�� Sergio Conceicao gave thest of his instructions to Jason who listened intently as he waited for Luiz Diaz toe to the sidelines as the substitution board was already being held up by the assistant referee.

    {Oh, the manager is making a change here}

    {Luiz Diaz will being off for Jason Bolu}

    {The talented youngster has put out a good run of performances ever since his debut and maybe the manager is banking on him to pull his team back to equal terms}

    {It seems the fans are also hoping for that as well} Thementator said with a littleugh as the Porto fans hadn��t given up on the match yet and were doing their best to cheer for their team and lift their morale.

    When they saw Jason standing on the sidelines, they started cheering even louder while some of them started chanting his name with hope in their hearts that he could at least help the team equalize the game.

 Chapter 133: Vs Rio Ave VI

    Chapter 133: Vs Rio Ave VI

    Luiz Diaz approached the sidelines where his number was held up in red by the assistant referee.

    Some of the fans pped for him and cheered for him as he made his way off, and Luiz Diaz pped as well until he reached Jason.

    High-fiving Jason, he stepped past him and walked off the field, headed to the bench as opposed to Jason who ran onto the field, his face a picture of determination, despite the fans cheering and calling his name.

    This was not the time for that, Jason thought to himself as he ran down the field to where Jesus Corona was, high-fiving Fabio Viera on the way to him.

    On reaching Jesus Corona, he told him the manager��s instructions and Jesus Corona nodded his head in understanding and headed toward the left side of the Rio Ave penalty area.

    While this was going on the Porto team was readying themselves for the free kick thanks to the foul from the Rio Ave left-back on Jesus Corona earlier.

    Telles stood over the ball and stepped back, waiting for the referee to blow his whistle while his teammates arranged themselves just outside the penalty, awaiting a cross�� of course, that would only happen if Telles decided that doing that was the better option in this situation.

    Jason stood just a bit to the left of Telles and waited, not involving himself in the scuffle going on between the yers of both teams as he knew that Telles was definitely going to take the free-kick directly. As for how he knew�� well, it was pretty obvious.

    The foul had happened just outside the right corner of the Rio Ave 18-yard box and Telles was especially dangerous with free-kicks from this angle as he was a left-footed specialist.

    The free kick was also close enough for him to be able to take it directly, so what else would he do but that?

    After arranging the wall, the referee stepped out of the way and finally blew his whistle.

    Upon hearing the whistle blown, Telles took a deep breath, ran up to the ball, and whipped the ball skillfully with his left foot.

    The ball took off from the spot and curved around the wall, heading for the bottom corner of the Rio Ave goal.

    The Rio Ave goalkeeper immediately lunged into a dive with his hands outstretched toward the ball and just barely getting enough of his finger to the ball to deflect it off its intended path and sent it crashing against the left post and out of y instead.

    The Porto fans who were already on their feet to cheer had their hands fly to their heads and faces in disappointment, but after a second they cheered for their team as if Porto kept this up, then an equalizing goal wasn��t too far off.

    Telles immediately headed towards the left corner g as he was the one who would take the corner.

    It didn��t take long for the Porto and Rio Ave teams to arrange themselves in the Rio Ave penalty box as they were already close by.

    Within seconds the referee��s whistle was blown and Telles sent an out-swinging cross into the Rio Ave 18-yard box.

    The yers squeezed among themselves and tried to reach the ball, both of them with different intentions, and in the end, it was a Rio Ave yer who only barely managed to reach the ball first with his head and try to head it out of y, but the ball headed towards the right side of the Rio Ave penalty box due tock of power on the header.

    As someone who didn��t join the scuffle among the yers in the Rio Ave 18-yard box, Jason was able to quickly chase after the ball, but as he ran for the ball, he heard a set of footsteps behind him despite the noise in the stadium.

    Immediately realizing that he was being followed, he continued running for the ball, not looking back so the yer wouldn��t realize that he was informed about his actions.

    The moment Jason reached the ball, he didn��t try to stop it and turn around, but instead got his leg under the ball and flicked the ball upward and backward before turning.

    The Rio Ave yer who had been chasing after Jason was stunned by this sudden turn of events and tried to stop himself, but he had been fully focused on chasing Jason and couldn��t immediately stop himself so he slipped and fell to the ground on his back, sliding past Jason as the ball flew over him.

    The fans in the stadium immediately went into a cheer of ��oohs��, ��aahs��, and ��yehs�� as they enjoyed the scene that was guaranteed to spread all over social media in theing days.

    Jason didn��t lose hisposure despite the sudden spike in noise from the crowd, but instead became even more focused as he could feel everyone��s eyes on him.

    He deftly tapped the ball that came back down to his feet, bringing it under control, and pushed it forward a little while looking for the safest pass.

    He soon noticed a presence in the white and blue stripes just outside the Rio Ave 18-yard box and Jason didn��t hesitate to send the ball rolling in that direction as he could immediately recognize that person anywhere.

    His favorite training partner and somewhat friend, Fabio Viera ran to meet the pass that Jason sent his way and immediately whacked the ball first time at the Rio Ave goal.

    The ball immediately took off at high speed and flew at the top right corner of the Rio Ave goal, somehow making it past the crowd of yers and mming into the back of the, the keeper unable to react as he hadn��t seen the balling his way until thest moment.

    Fabio Viera immediately ran at Jason with his hand posted at him and hugged him.

    The other members of the Porto team soon joined the two of them in celebrations as the Porto fans flew through the roof.

    {A stunner! An absolute stunner of a goal!}

    {He sent the ball smashing into the top corner from more than 18 yards away and the goalkeeper,pletely unsighted by his yers wasn��t able to react at all}

    {The pass that leads up to the goal is also worth taking not�� Oh what��s this here, the referee has blown his whistle and it seems he is suspecting foul y}

    The celebrations in the stadium came to a pause for the second time that day as the referee blew his whistle while standing over a Rio Ave yer who was on the ground clutching his face as if he was in great pain.

 Chapter 134: Vs Rio Ave VII

    Chapter 134: Vs Rio Ave VII

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The referee��s shrill whistle put a stop to all the celebrations going on at the Estadio do Dragao.

    Standing beside a Rio Ave yer who was curled up on the floor with his hands clutching his face, the referee held his hand up.

    Immediately the Porto yers who were engaged in celebration, disengaged and changed the target of their engagement to the referee.

    But the referee held his hand up to them as he considered the situation.

    It was clear that a foul had happened somewhere, but he hadn��t noticed it until the ball went in.

    Seeing as he hadn��t noticed it earlier, it seemed like the foul hadn��t directly caused the goal and that was enough grounds for the goal to stand, but he couldn��t just decide on that as the Portuguese Football Federation would have his head if he was wrong.

    Deciding to check clearly, he put his hand to his earphones and told an assistant referee that he wasing to check the situation. Quickly heading off the field and moving to the sidelines to check the situation with the help of the Video Assistant Referee(VAR).

    On reaching the screen, the rey of the situation yed out.

    The foul had happened just after the corner was taken by Telles and it seemed that Moussa Marega had hit the Rio Ave yer hard on his chest while trying to push him away when they fought to reach the ball earlier.

    ��Wait, hit on the chest?�� The referee wondered to himself for a split second as he recalled that the Rio Ave yer had been clutching his face in pain.

    ��How shameless,�� The referee sighed in annoyance, he was not amused by the Rio Ave yer��s antics.

    Clearly, he was trying to make a mountain out of a molehill and use that opportunity to get the referee to cancel the Porto team��s goal.

    The problem was that it was hard to determine if the foul had been a major cause that led to the goal, but any form of slight favor the referee had for the Rio Ave team had just been washed away by the shameless act of the Rio Ave yer.

    Also, looking at the fans of the Porto team, he feared that he would not be able to leave the stadium in one piece if he dared to cancel the goal, especially since it was a beautiful goal that was guaranteed a ce in the hearts of the Porto fans if it stood.

    Quickly making a decision in his heart, the referee headed back to the field, made a box-shaped gesture with his fingers, and pointed at the Rio Ave goal, making his decision known to everyone.

    The goal would stand.

    The referee didn��t think that shameless yer would have been able to stop the goal even if he hadn��t been touched by Marega earlier.

    If he was going to be focused on defending against the goal, then he would have stood up earlier as it was clear that he was not really hurt from Marega��s hit on his chest if he was clutching his face instead.

    Those were the referee��s thoughts as he allowed the goal to stand.

    On hearing the referee��s decision, the Porto fans�� cheers shook the stadium and the Porto yers regained a happy expression on their faces.

    The Rio Ave who had seemingly been fouled still walked up to the referee, wanting to convince him, but the referee waved him off.

    Less than a minuteter, the ball was back in the center circle, awaiting the Rio Ave team to kick off.

    The kick-off was a bit dyed as the managers of both teams were making substitutions.

    On the Porto side Vincent Aboubakar and Mattheus Uribe would being on for Moussa Marega and Wilson Manafa respectively, while on the Rio Ave team, the right-winger and one of the midfielders were being reced by their counterparts on the bench.

    It seemed that not only was Sergio Conceicao intent on going on to win the game after getting their equalizer, the Rio Ave manager seemed to have simr thoughts of taking back the lead instead of going on the defensive to preserve the draw as any other manager in his shoes would think to do.

    It was clear that the remaining minutes left in the match would be fric with both teams wanting to take the lead.

    There would definitely be shots flying at both ends of the field as there was all to y for in this match, especially for Porto who would not want to lose any points as Benfica was already too close behind them for them to make any such mistakes.

    After the substitutions were made, Mehdi Taremi kicked off for the Rio Ave team.

    The Rio Ave yer who received the ball from Taremi immediately sent the ball to the new right-winger and the Rio Ave right-winger immediately took off into the Porto half at great pace with the midfielders and forward of the Rio Ave team surging into the Porto half after him to support and open his passing options.

    The Rio Ave right winger soon came face to face with Jesus Corona and he immediately passed the ball to Taremi, intending to initiate a one-two routine with him, but the ball that Taremi had sent behind Jesus Corona was immediately intercepted by Telles.

    The Porto defensive line was no longer going to allow the Rio Ave team to just easily get past them like they had been doing previously.

    After intercepting the ball, Telles quickly sent the ball back to Augustin Marchesin as there were already too many Rio Ave yers advancing at the Porto defenders, thus making their half of the field somewhat of a hot spot.

    The best option was to give the ball back to the goalkeeper for him to clear and that was exactly what Telles did.

    The ball rolled to Augustin Marchesin who quickly came out to meet the pass, controlled the ball��s pace so that he could really get his foot under it, and then sent it flying to the midfield,pletely bypassing the Rio Ave yers who were surging forward in attack.

 Chapter 135: Vs Rio Ave VIII

    Chapter 135: Vs Rio Ave VIII

    The clock was slowly running down and there were only 15 minutes left of the 90 minutes for the match, but neither of the two teams had managed to cause any changes to the scoreline.

    That was not to say that the two teams were in a boring deadlock�� in fact, it was quite the opposite.

    They had been charging at each other and the constant shots they sent at each other did not just have the yers under constant tension, this extended to everyone else within the stadium.

    The fans of both teams were not even able to sit down due to how fast and how often the ball flew from end to end and they were already certain to wake up tomorrow with sore throats as they were shouting themselves hoarse already and this was almost guaranteed to continue till thest minute.

    The managers of both teams were watching intensely from the sidelines, but needless to say, neither of them was enjoying the current situation where it seemed like either of their teams could go behind at any moment.

    Their hearts had almost leaped into their throats countless times already so how could they enjoy it when it felt like they were just mere inches from a cardiac arrest?

    The only person enjoying this situation was thementator who was having the time of his life as he did his best to intensify the pressure and emotions floating around in the stadium.

    The noise in the stadium suddenly spiked up once again just as it had already done so many times in thest few minutes, but this time it was Jason who had caused the crowd��s volume to spike. Jason who had his back to a Rio Ave yer had gotten a pass from Mattheus Uribe but instead of receiving the ball, Jason had made a feint to confuse the yer while letting the ball pass between the legs of the defender while he disengaged the yer and went behind him to collect the ball.

    As Jason chased after the ball, he saw the Rio Ave left-backing at him, wanting to clear both the ball and himself.

    Jason increased his pace and managed to get to the ball first and he immediatelyid it off to Vincent Aboubakar while taking off down the right wing, speeding past the Rio Ave left-back.

    At this moment, Jesus Corona was also making a simr run down the left wing like Jason, and Vincent Aboubakar immediately decided to send the ball to him as he did not want to waste any time shifting his body so he could send the ball back to Jason.

    Sending a chipped pass that fell into Jesus Corona��s path, Jesus Corona deftly flicked the ball forward as it came into his path and advanced undeterred into the Rio Ave penalty area since he had already made it behind the Rio Ave defensive line.

    Advancing into the Rio Aves penalty box, he immediately took the shot, curling it past the keeper and into the back of the, but he had barely turned towards the sidelines to celebrate when he heard a shrill whistle and saw the assistant referee on the sidelines holding up the offside g.

    The crowd that had gone wild with excitement almost went mad with disappointment the very next second, but the assistant referee was pretty confident about his offside call and the referee agreed with him.

    Jesus Corona had been slightly offside due to making his run a bit too early since his pace wasn��t exactly the fastest on the field and he wanted to cover for that, so he had moved a bit too early.

    The assistant referee who was trained to spot the slightest movements quickly noticed this and already had his g up immediately the ball left Aboubakar��s feet, but Jesus Corona had managed to score before the referee blew the whistle anyway.

    For the Porto team it was more annoying this way, but arguing with the referee would get them nowhere, especially when they needed all the time they could get as they still had to get a winning goal.

    The Rio Ave goalkeeper soon took the free kick and sent the ball back into the Porto��s half of the field, but it didn��t stay long there and less than a minuteter, the Porto yers were passing the ball around in the Rio Ave half of the field making the Rio Ave yers chase after the ball.

    For the next few minutes, this was the situation of the match as the Porto yers continued passing the ball around in the Rio Ave half, but were unable to break through the Rio Ave defense.

    The disallowed goal that Jesus Corona had scored had seemingly shook the Rio Ave team and their manager who immediately changed his decision and told his yers to stay back and focus on the defensive.

    Porto already had the upper hand in terms of momentum and yer quality and if the Rio Ave team had stubbornly decided to continue attacking, they may have ended up conceding instead and losing the game, so the Rio Ave manager had opted for his team to go on the defensive and hope that they could keep out the Porto team for the few remaining minutes left in the game.

    That way, they could at least gain a point from the game and regarding that it was against F.C. Porto, a point was already a good result to have.

    Of course, the Porto team had different ideas and the moment the attacking pressure from the Rio Ave team disappeared, every yer moved further up the pitch and took part in the team��s build-up y.

    The Porto team wanted a goal and they wanted it soon as time was running down quickly.

    The ball flew around between their yers as they tried to break through the Rio Ave defense but time did not stop running down and soon there were only about 4 minutes of the 90 minutes left, but they focused on the game and not the rapidly running down clock and their next attack finally seemed to have the potential to help them to find the light.

 Chapter 136: Vs Rio Ave IX

    Chapter 136: Vs Rio Ave IX

    Telles received the ball from Pepe just a few yards after the midfield line on the left side of the pitch and looking around for the best option for a pass, he locked eyes with Jason on the left side of the pitch and just about three meters away from the Rio Ave box.

    In that moment, he immediately noticed and understood Jason��s intention to run into the box so he waited for Jason to make his move.

    Jason who was being tightly marked by the Rio Ave left-back suddenly made a run as if to run back towards the midfield and the Rio Ave left-back immediately made to chase after him, but immediately, Jason changed his direction and darted toward the Rio Ave box, surprising the Rio Ave left-back and almost making him slip.

    Luckily for the Rio Ave left-back, he managed to keep himself on his feet and immediately tried to chase after Jason, but there was already a bit of a distance between them which was Jason��s intention and Jason was now free to receive a pass from Telles.

    Telles who had been waiting immediately sent the ball Jason��s way, but he slightly miscalcted the distance as he whipped the ball in Jason��s direction.

    Jason who was advancing into the Rio Ave 18-yard box while keeping his eyes on the ball suddenly noticed that the ball wouldn��t drop into his path just as he was expecting, but would probablynd just behind him considering the pace he was running at.

    Unfortunately, it was a bit toote to change his pace as that would throw off the whole attack, so he could only find a way to improvise on the attack, or the goal-scoring chance would disappear just as quickly as it appeared.

    Suddenly, Jason noticed Fabio Viera advancing towards the Rio Ave 18-yard box and quickly calcting that Viera would be close enough when the ball reached him, he immediately came up with a daring idea, an idea that was only possible because of his expertise in the martial arts field. He kept advancing while the ball approached him and when the ball finally was close enough, he made his move.

    Lowering his center of gravity, he smashed his left foot into the ground and used his momentum to spin himself as if he was going to make a roundhouse kick despite the fact that he was still in motion, this sudden move threw him off bnce and it was clear that he would fall once the momentum from the spin was over, but that didn��t matter as he had already achieved his aim.

    Still in the spinning motion, he slowed slightly his pace to match the ball and then used the undersole of his ser boots to kick the ball toward Fabio Viera.

    He fell on his back immediately after and tumbled over, but the ball was already on its way to Fabio Viera who caught the ball on his chest despite his surprise at Jason��s sudden pass and the way he even managed to pull it off.

    Catching the ball on his chest, he pushed the ball slightly forward with his chest and then caught the ball with a thunderous volley before the ball could reach the floor.

    The ball smashed past the Rio Ave goalkeeper who despite having managed to make a dive for the ball, was not able to prevent the ball from going.

    {UNBELIEVABLE! JUST UNBELIEVABLE!!!}

    {What a move!}

    {What a pass!}

    {What a goal!}

    {A potential Goal-of-the-Season contender and with it Porto have once again smashed themselves into the lead in the dying minutes of the game!} Thementator went wild with his words just like the crowd went wild with their voices, their noise tearing through the roof and shaking the stadium.

    Fabio Viera himself was wild as he jumped to his feet and ran at Jason and jumped on him, despite the fact that Jason himself was just standing up.

    Jason didn��t even have the time to protest before other members of the team began piling on them, squeezing out thest of the air in his lungs, but for the moment he didn��t care as he was also happy and had an even greater enthusiasm than they did.

    The only reason why he wasn��t running down the sidelines to celebrate with the fans was because he wasn��t the one who scored the goal�� and well, the fact that he was currently being used as the foundation for the ��Tower of Babel�� made by his teammates.

    For the next few seconds, everyone who was a supporter of the team in blue and white disyed their joy and excitement at going ahead and how they had done it.

    This wasn��t happening only in the stadium, but in other ces in the city of Porto as well as over Portugal.

    Porto fans all over the world were screaming in front of their TVs and phones�� of course, there was also another set of people who were screaming in happiness as they watched the Porto team take the lead.

    Those people were the ��Sport games analysts�� who risked their sries every day while predicting sports games, so Porto taking the lead in a game that seemed destined to destroy their betting slips was guaranteed to make them ecstatic, so they joined the celebrations.

    Back at the stadium��

    No matter how ecstatic the yers were, they still had to break up their celebrations as the game was still not over and they still had onest hurdle to clear before they could head home happily with the win

    They had to protect their lead against the Rio Ave team for the next few minutes and this was not going to be an easy task, but the Porto team was up for it.

    The two teams were soon back in their halves of the field and the match kicked off once again.

    The Rio Ave teampletely gave up on defending and attacked the Porto team in droves.

    They were already losing so why bother trying to defend?

    It was clear that the Porto team was under pressure, but they managed to hold on till the assistant referee held up the board on the sidelines, but the number of extra minutes to be added didn��t make the Porto yers able to breathe a sigh of relief and they put more focus on keeping out the desperate Rio Ave team as they had been given four extra minutes to cope against their desperate opponents.

    Unfortunately for them, disaster soon struck in the form of a miscalcted challenge on a Rio Ave yer in the Porto 18-yard box.

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    The referee��s whistle immediately let them know that their blunder had not gone unnoticed by the referee and he was already running at them with his hand pointed at the spot.

 Chapter 137: Vs Rio Ave X

    Chapter 137: Vs Rio Ave X

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The shrill sound of the referee��s whistle threw the stadium into a turbulence of oppressive emotions.

    The Rio Ave team had been desperatelyunching attack after attack in a bid to break down the Porto defense and they had finally managed to sessfully step into the Porto 18-yard box.

    While trying to prevent the situation from being more dangerous, Ivan Marcano had immediately made a challenge on the yer.

    The Rio Ave yer had tried to escape Ivan Marcano��s tackle and managed to move the ball out of the way of the tackle which led to Marcano��s tackle sweeping him off his foot without managing to touch the ball.

    Ivan Marcano had desperately hoped that the referee didn��t notice the foul, but his hopes were immediately blown when the referee blew his whistle with his hand pointed to the penalty spot.

    Before the Porto yers could even try to convince the referee, he pulled out a yellow card from his breast pocket and showed Ivan Marcano the yellow card.

    Of course, the Porto yers remained undaunted and still ran up to the referee to try and argue that the penalty shouldn��t be given, but the referee turned a deaf ear to their arguments, staying with his decision. He didn��t even bother checking with the VAR because he had seen the whole situation clearly and was a hundred percent sure that it was a penalty.

    The Porto yers and fans�� faces fell when they saw Mehdi Taremi take up the ball to take the penalty.

    Their victory was about to be reduced to a draw and there was not going to be enough time to try and take the lead again after this as the time had already run out.

    The time on the clock was ��94:16�� which indicated that even the added time had run out and the whistle would likely be blown immediately after the penalty was taken.

    Immediately realizing that there was only one way out of this predicament, the Porto yers went to their goalkeeper and tried to hype him up as he was the only one who could save the team.

    As long as Augustin Marchesin managed to save the penalty, then the Porto side was almost guaranteed a win�� of course, the same thing would happen if Mehdi Taremi missed the penalty, but the chance of that happening was even lower than the chances of Augustin Marchesin saving the penalty.

    The referee didn��t give the Porto team much time to hype up their goalkeeper as he immediately started shooing them out of the 18-yard box so that the Rio Ave team could take their penalty.

    With all the other Porto yers apart from their goalkeeper outside the 18-yard box, Mehdi Taremi ced the ball on the penalty spot and took five steps back, regting his breathing to calm down his tension as he awaited the referee��s whistle.

    The whole stadium was filled with tension-filled mumbles and everyone watched and waited with eager tension.

    Augustin Marchesin could almost feel the tension and the pressure as well, but as an experienced goalkeeper who had been in simr situations, he recalled hisposure from deep within himself and stared down Mehdi Taremi, trying to impose his presence in Taremi��s mind but Taremi stared back at himpletely unfazed.

    *Fweeeeee*

    The referee��s whistle blew loudly and could be heard in every corner of the tension-filled stadium and it was immediately followed by Taremi��s first step at the ball.

    Advancing at the ball at a steady pace, Taremi ran up to the ball and swung hard.

    The ball took flight immediately and flew towards the left side of the Porto goal at an rming pace, yet the ball also seemed to be moving in slow motion in the eyes of everyone watching the penalty kick.

    The ball flew unhindered at the Porto goal, but at thest minute, Augustin Marchesin��s figure appeared in sight and his hands managed to reach the ball and deflect it slightly.

    *CLANG!!!*

    Due to the slight deflection, the ball smashed against the left post of the goal, but to the dismay of the Porto yers and fans, the ball flew back at Taremi after smashing against the crossbar.

    {What a save! But the chance isn��t lost yet!} Thementator squealed in excitement.

    Having not managed to score the penalty from the spot kick, Taremi lost his cool and immediately smashed his foot at the ball to catch it on the volley and send it back at the goal but before the ball managed to make it into the Porto goal, Augustin Marchesin appeared yet again and got his hand to the ball and pushed the ball upward and over the goal.

    {And it��s saved yet again by Marchesin!!!}

    {A double save when his team needed it most!!!}

    {With that, he has sessfully made up for his team��s earlier blunder and joined the ranks of heroes for today��s game}

    {His teammates are joyous and the fans, ecstatic�� he��ll definitely be getting a pat on the back from the manager after the game!!!} Thementator couldn��t keep his voice down despite the fact that he was already speaking into a microphone.

    *Fweeeeeeee* *Fwweeeeeee*

    The referee immediately blew the final whistle, not even giving the Rio Ave team a chance at taking the corner kick and the Porto yers ran at Augustin Marchesin and jumped on him, celebrating as if they had just scored a goal.

    The fans weren��t left out and even the yers on the bench as well as some of the technical staff joined the post-match celebrations.

    The Rio Ave team on the other hand was devastated and Taremi wasying on the ground listlessly, not believing that he could and had squandered his team��sst chance at redemption.

    The Rio Ave fans were also very disappointed and had half an inkling to let loose their tongues on the Iranian striker for wasting their team��s clear-cut chance at equalizing with Porto, but they also realized that the striker had already done his best for the team.

    He was the only reason why they were even able to do this much against the league giants, F.C. Porto�� their not being able to equalize against Porto was just not meant to be, it seemed.

    Unknown to the Rio Ave team and their fans, their striker had managed to catch the eye of the Porto team manager, Sergio Conceicao.

    ��Put his name on the list and scout him,�� Sergio Conceicao muttered to Vitor Bruno who responded with a nod.

 Chapter 138: Liga Portugal Bwin: Post Match Discussion

    Chapter 138: Liga Portugal Bwin: Post Match Discussion

    The post-match celebrations continued for a while as neither the fans nor the yers wanted to stop celebrating, but in the end, the yers started leaving the field one after the other.

    Some of the more impressive yers were ambushed by reporters for interviews while the manager went off to do the post-match interview.

    Among all the yers who were interviewed, Augustin Marchesin, Fabio Viera, and Jason had the most reporters focused on them.

    Augustin Marchesin��s was because of the incredible double save he managed to pull off in the dying minutes of the game to ensure that Porto held on to the lead.

    Fabio Viera was the man of the match as he had an assist and two goals in the game and was somewhat of the driving force behind Porto��seback, thus he had to deal with quite a few number of reporters as well.

    Jason could be said to be the inspiration behind theeback and the most important cog in the wheel that spun Porto around as he had created the two goals that put Porto in the lead out of almost nothing.

    Also, he was currently a fan favorite so featuring him in their channels would definitely ensure more clicks so the majority of the reporters were trying to interview Jason.

    As usual, Jason stayed polite and answered a few questions from the reporters before heading into the tunnel and going to the team��s locker room to freshen up and get ready to leave the stadium. Soon, the manager came to the locker room and addressed the yers and while he was happy that they had managed to win the game, he still pointed out their faults and where they needed to improve to ensure that this situation didn��t be a regr urrence or even worse,e back to bite them in the a**.

    After the address, the yers quickly finished freshening up and headed out of the stadium and onto the bus that would take them back to the CTFD Portogaia.

    As the bus headed out of the Estadio do Dragao, a sports show that aired on the Sport TV was about to go live again with its main focus being the match that just ended between Porto and Rio Ave.

    The Liga Portugal Bwin was the main program that covered the Primera Liga in the Portuguese hemisphere.

    It featured pre-match analysis, livementary of the matches, and post-match discussions with pundits dissecting the game��s key moments, yer performances, and tactical decisions.

    The pre-match analysis and the livementary of the matches were already over and the post-match discussion was finally about to start.

    The main hosts and the guest pundits were seated behind a ss table while awaiting the moment for the show to go live.

    For the show, Pedro Sousa, a veteran sports journalist, and Joao Salgueiro, a former Portuguese footballer and current sportsmentator were the main hosts while they had two guest pundits who would be featuring in the day��s program.

    Nuno Gomes, a former Portuguese footballer, and Manuel Fernandes, who was also a former Portuguese footballer were the guest pundits for the show.

    ��Going live in 3���� a cameraman began the countdown.

    ��2,��

    ��1,��

    ��Wee back to Liga Portugal Bwin,�� Pedro Sousa immediately began speaking as soon as the cameras started rolling, showcasing his experience in such situations.

    ��We are now in the post-match section of the show and I am sure I speak for everyone here in the studio when I say we are dying to get into the details of today��s match day,�� Pedro Sousa continued in an inviting tone.

    ��I am Pedro Sousa and with me in the studio are Joao Salgueiro, Manuel Fernandes, and Nuno Gomes���� Pedro Sousa then went on to give an extensive introduction of himself and the others in the studio while the cameramen trained the cameramen on the people being introduced.

    ��Now that the introductions are done, I suppose we��ll get right to it,�� Pedro Sousa said with a smile, and his words were immediately echoed by his colleagues hosting the show with him.

    ��The first matchup for discussion today is between the current league leaders, F.C. Porto and Rio Ave who sitfortably in the middle of the table, though this loss may have shaken their position a bit,�� Pedro Sousa began.

    ��Yeah, things may be difficult for a while, but I think they have what it takes to bounce back from this loss,�� Nuno Gomes responded to Pedro Sousa, offering up his view on the subject.

    ��Let��s forget Rio Ave��s current position in the league for the time being and focus on the game they just yed, yes?�� Manuel Fernandes joined in on the conversation.

    ��That��s what we��re here to do and I have to say, the match was exciting�� almost too exciting,�� Joao Salgueiro also popped in as well.

    ��Well, if you were a few years older, I don��t know if you would be in the studio or in a hospital by now, trying to calm your raging blood pressure,�� Pedro Sousa made a joke and elicitedughter from the colleagues.

    ��I already checked my blood pressure�� it��s a little on the high side, but thank God the match is over now,�� Joao Salgueiro responded with a chuckle, not taking offense because of the joke as he knew that it was part of the job to keep the viewers entertained.

    ��Please be alright and try not to faint on the set, I don��t know how to or wish to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for a boomer,�� Nuno Gomes chimed in on the conversation with a jovial tone.

    ��Don��t worry, I won��t faint, after all, my team won�� at most, I��d faint from happiness,�� Joao Salgueiroughed.

    ��Hahahahahahaha,�� everyone in the studio had a round ofughter.

    ��Let��s talk about the game, what do you think happened in the first half that the Porto team was left clutching at straws?��

    ��Can I say it was ack ofmitment, focus, or enthusiasm?�� Pedro Sousa started the conversation with a question.

    ��Well, after scoring their first goal, I think the defense let down their guards for a second there and Rio Ave somehow found a way to punish them for it,�� Manuel Fernandes began the discussion byying out his view.

 Chapter 139: Liga Bwin Portugal: Post Match Discussion II

    Chapter 139: Liga Bwin Portugal: Post Match Discussion II

    ��Let��s talk about the game, what do you think happened in the first half that the Porto team was left clutching at straws?��

    ��Can I say it was ack ofmitment, focus, or enthusiasm?�� Pedro Sousa started the conversation with a question.

    ��Well, after scoring their first goal, I think the defense let down their guards for a second there and Rio Ave somehow found a way to punish them for it,�� Manuel Fernandes began the discussion byying out his view.

    ��Yeah, Mehdi Taremi somehow found a way behind the Porto defense not just once but twice and managed to punish the Porto team twice in the same game, perfectly disying the skills that have helped him maintain his lead as the league��s goal scorer,�� Nuno Gomes chimed in.

    ��A bit of ate bloomer, isn��t he?�� Joao Salgueiro said.

    ��We can say that, after joining Rio Ave from Al-Gharafa just this season he has put out excellent performances that have taken the league by storm and he is currently the league��s highest goal scorer with 13 goals,�� Pedro Sousaid out his analysis.

    ��Needless to say, the first half of the game was a difficult one for Porto because of this man and he would have gotten away with it too had Porto not found it within themselves to pull out enough of the performances that made them league leaders and manage to take the game back,�� Joao Salgueiro.

    ��That is one of the main things, but I��m pretty sure that the manager bringing on Jason Bolu was the best decision he made during the match,�� Manuel Fernandes added from his side of the table. ��For once, I don��t disagree with you,�� Nuno Gomes chimed in and everyoneughed.

    ��Let��s talk about that kid for once. Ever since his debut, he has continually disyed excellent performances that have taken the Porto fans to a new level of joy and probably has clubs around the world salivating while waiting for the transfer season to be opened,�� Pedro Sousa said with an impressed tone.

    ��I can��t deny that Porto may have a tumultuous transfer saga in the uing transfer window and will have a hard time trying to hold on to the kid,�� Joao Salgueiro added.

    ��Absolutely, ever since his debut in the Europa League round of 16 first leg game against Bayer Leverkusen where he helped the team to stage aeback, he has continuously disyed exciting performances, racking up five goals and three assists in five games,�� Manuel Fernandes stated.

    ��The crazy part about all this is that the kid has only started one game and even then he didn��t y the full ny minutes, and he was still able to do this much,�� Nuno Gomes added, his tone expressing how impressed he was by Jason��s performance.

    ��How did that kid even manage to stay under the radar until now with this much talent? There is literally no information about him on the professional stage before that match he yed with the Porto juniors where he led the Porto U-19 squad to absolutely trash the Familicao U-19 squad by 9 goals to 2,�� Nuno Gomes asked out of curiosity since he had no information about it.

    ��Exactly! We don��t even know what football academy he trained at,�� Manuel Fernandes added in disbelief.

    ���� That��s because he didn��t train at any football academy,�� Joao Salgueiro said after a pause.

    ��What? What do you mean?�� Nuno Gomes asked in surprise.

    ��I managed to get information that he was signed from a football trial in the United States earlier this year. He wasn��t at an academy before that,�� Joao Salgueiro exined.

    ��Football trials? Isn��t that for washouts?�� Manuel Fernandes couldn��t believe his ears.

    ��Wait�� are you trying to tell me that that he isn��t from any football academy and can y like that?��

    ��That makes no sense�� not only is he good at dribbling and has a very good eye for goal, he also has an uncanny ability to read the game and always manages to be in the right ce at the right time, not to mention his ability to be a team yer is phenomenal despite how he tends to go solo on the defense every time,�� Nuno Gomes listed out in confusion.

    ��Considering theck of other information about him, this is the only one that checks out,�� Pedro Sousa finally butted in.

    ��I have also heard the story and considering that Jason lived in the USA till early this year and theck of any information on his file about him being from any academy apart from the one he was in before he stopped at seven years old�� there is no other exnation,��

    ��The only way we can confirm the authenticity of the story is either by asking Jason, the manager, or the scout who happened to sign him, which, funnily enough, no one has thought to ask,�� Pedro Sousa said with augh.

    He was a journalist, but the main part of his job was about anchoring shows and it had been a while since he had done some field work to find out information so the information he had about Jason was not much.

    ��If that story is true, somebody needs to give that scout a raise,�� Joao Salgueiro said whileughing lightly.

    ��I��m sure all the other Porto fans agree with you, the female fans especially,�� Manuel Fernandes added, alsoughing.

    ��I don��t know about that, but I do know that every Porto fan was happy with his performance today that helped the team stage aeback,�� Pedro Sousa said.

    ��Which of the goals in that match do you like best?�� Nuno Gomes asked the group.

    ��To be honest, that��s quite a difficult choice to make as they were all exceptional goals�� but I think I��d go for thest goal scored by Fabio Viera,�� Manuel Fernandes was the first to speak.

    ��I can��t choose, the touch of ir in Porto��s second and third goals make it difficult for me to make a choice,�� Joao Salgueiro made known his own opinion, even though he was quite indecisive.

    ��Well, for me����

    The show went on and all the matches yed on that day were discussed.

 Chapter 140: Breakfast Meeting I

    Chapter 140: Breakfast Meeting I

    **8th March 2020**

    Jason climbed out of his bed drowsily and picked up his phone to check the time, his eyes gradually regaining focus.

    {7:23}

    After checking the time, he stood up and took up a yoga mat from a corner of the room andid it out on the empty space in the bedroom.

    From then, he spent the next half hour going through various yoga poses to try and reduce his muscle exhaustion and help with match recovery.

    By the time he was done, he was sweating a bit, but he immediately jumped into the bathroom to have his bathe before he started feeling sticky all over.

    After having his bath, he went back into his room and wore a simple t-shirt and a pair of shorts before he packed up the yoga mat and then headed out of the room, the kitchen being his destination.

    Thest time he ate anything substantial was before the game. There had been a few snacks in the locker room for the yers for the match, but Jason had only eaten a bit and now he was feeling the consequences of that decision.

    *Grrrrrrrrrr*

    His belly rumbled in a way that was reminiscent of a dog��s growl and Jason��s first move was to rectify that by pouring a whole bottle of milk down his throat.

    He didn��t even bother to take a ss and simply poured the cold milk down his throat, even squeezing the bottle a bit so he could gulp it down even faster.

    ��Phwwaaaaah,�� He let out a sigh of relief and contentment after downing the milk, but the feeling of contentment flew out the window when he saw the ingredients in the fridge and he immediately started grabbing ingredients and throwing them onto the kitchen counter.

    Jason��s original n for the day was to meet with Adele so that he could sign the agent contract.

    He hadn��t had the time to sign it earlier since he was almost always at the CTFD Portogaia,pletely indulged in training.

    Thus he had previously arranged with Adele that they would meet to have to sign the papers and have breakfast while they were at it.

    The problem was that the meeting had been arranged for 11 am and the time was barely past 8 am at the moment.

    There was no way in hell that Jason was going to wait till 11 to eat with how hungry he was feeling, so some changes had to be made and the first thing that would have to be changed would be the status of his stomach from almost empty to full tank.

    Picking out ingredients for what he wanted to cook, Jason realized another problem��

    There was no way he would want to take a step out of the house immediately after he had stuffed himself full of food, in fact, he would no longer want to do anything other than lounge on the couch all day so the meeting would have to be rearranged.

    Immediately taking out his phone, he called Adele and after two rings she picked up the call,

    ��Hello,�� Adele��s voice came through the phone.

    ��How are you this morning, Miss Agent?�� Jason spoke cheerily into the phone, but his hands didn��t stop rummaging through the refrigerator.

    ��Why are you calling me now, it��s not yet time for our meeting,�� Adele wasn��t buying Jason��s sudden positive and cheery attitude.

    ��Ah, about that, can we reschedule our meeting?�� Jason said, not asked, because, despite his words sounding like a question, he was simply telling her and not actually asking.

    ���� Okay, but before I ask for when, can I ask why?�� Adele was already a bit more familiar with Jason so she ignored his antics and asked the pressing question.

    ��Well, we can say I��m not feeling up to it�� in more basic terms, I feel toozy to take a step outside of my residence,�� Jason stated with augh, not caring to streamline his words.

    ���� You��re feelingzy?�� Adele asked as if she couldn��t believe her ears, and she actually couldn��t. it was not impossible nor was it strange for someone to be feelingzy to do something, but it was strange to be so brazen about it.

    Every time she thought she had finally gotten used to Jason��s brazen attitude she realized that he wasn��t even disying all of it yet.

    ��Yes, I��m feelingzy, but since a home delivery service is among the services you offer as my agent then you wouldn��t mind bringing over the contract, would you?�� Jason continued speaking, oblivious to her thoughts.

    ��Okay�� when?�� Adele couldn��t even be bothered to be annoyed at this point, she was the one that needed to sign Jason if she didn��t want to wallow at the bottom of the pyramid for all her life, not the other way around so she had to be able to put up with this much.

    ��Let��s say 9:30 am���� Jason replied.

    ��Okay then,�� Adele noted and was about to end the call.

    ��To reward your efforts, You may have breakfast with my esteemed self this morning,�� Jason said with the demeanor of a Lord, but he was just joking around.

    ��Wait�� you��ll cook? And I��ll eat?�� Adele asked, her breath quickening and her mouth immediately salivating.

    ��I mean, I wouldn��t exactly order takeout this early in the morning, would I?��

    ��I might be feelingzy, but not thatzy,�� Jason replied.

    He knew that suddenly changing the time of the meeting would throw her day off a bit and that it would make things a bit inconvenient so he already nned to cook extra�� but was he going to tell her nicely?

    Hell to the No!

    Acting high and mighty towards her was more fun than he cared to admit so he wasn��t going to spoil the fun for himself just because he wanted to act nice and considerate.

    F*** that.

    Acting like a king was more fun than acting like a normal guy��

    ��Wait�� am I mentally correct right now?�� Jason suddenly had a brain-shocking thought and began to doubt his own sanity.

 Chapter 141: A Breakfast Meeting II

    Chapter 141: A Breakfast Meeting II

    {The Bluetooth Device Is Connected Sessfully} a funny robotic-like feminine voice said as Jason connected his phone with a Bluetooth speaker that he had bought on the day he had done a mass ��acquisition�� of resources.

    With the Bluetooth speaker connected, Jason opened the music yer app on his phone and tapped on ��shuffle all��, essentially leaving his ylist in the hands of the music yer��s algorithm.

    Of course, if the song yed by the music yer didn��t go with the flow, then he would just skip to the next song, but the music yer didn��t disappoint and the intro to Juice Wrld��s ��Hear Me Calling�� flowed out of the speaker.

    ��Do you hear me calling?��

    ��Do you hear me calling?��

    ��Me no want no drama,��

    ��Not a fighter, a lover,�� Jason sang along as he went back to throwing out ingredients on the counter.

    Deciding to have Pasta with pesto sauce topped with chicken and vegetables, he began to take out the ingredients. Since he didn��t have prepared pasta or pesto sauce, he would have to make his pasta and pesto sauce from scratch so he took out eggs and flour for the pasta, then also took out garlic, European pine nuts, salt, basil leaves, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil for the pesto sauce.

    Taking out some chicken and vegetables as well, Jason started cooking, but just after measuring flour and cracking eggs into the mix, the first song ended, but immediately the next song started ying, Jason couldn��t stay still.

    ��Traphouse Mob,��

    ��Huh, roll another one,�� Jason rapped along with the artist with his head bobbing.

    ��Said I��m neverckin��, always pistol packing, with them automatics we gon�� send him to heaven,��

    ��Wait, wait, wait, wait, aye, aye, wooo,�� Jason continued, his voice sounding as deep as the original artist of the song.

    He did all this while not stopping mixing up the egg with the flour, but he continued rapping,

    ��She like the way that I dance, she like the way that I move, she like the way that I rock, she like the way that I woo,��

    ��And she let it p for a ni**a,��

    ��And she throw it back for a ni**a��

    ��Mike Amiri, Mike Amiri,��

    ��Billie Jean, Billie Jean uh,��

    ��Christian Dior, Dior,��

    ��I��m up in all the stores,��

    ��When it rains, it pours,�� At this point, Jason wasn��t even bothering with the flour and egg mix and was busy getting sturdy, not caring about much else as he danced and rapped along with Pop Smoke��s Dior.

    *God bless his soul*

    Only after the song was over did Jason remember that he was supposed to be cooking instead of getting sturdy, but here he was just jumping around with his hands and leg in the air following the song��s rhythm.

    *Click*

    An almost silent click that sounded like a door being shut silently made its way to Jason��s ears, but due to the music ying he ignored it and refocused his attention on preparing food, only singing along to the songs that yed from that moment on.

    Soon he was done with the pasta dough and he covered it up and moved to make the pesto sauce.

    That didn��t take long either, so he soon moved on to preparing the chicken and vegetables, slicing them up before stir-frying them lightly while also cing the pasta on heat.

    Midway through his cooking, Mylo came out of his room, fully dressed, and headed out of the house while saying he was headed to school.

    Jason thought it was a bit odd that he didn��t even try to attempt to move to the kitchen to get a bottle of water to drink.

    If Jason didn��t know any better, he would have thought Mylo was avoiding him for some reason, but for the moment Jason didn��t care.

    He wouldn��t have cared much even in another situation, but, oh well��

    A couple of minutester just as Jason turned off the heat under the pasta, he heard a knock on the door.

    Guessing who was at the door was pretty simple, and Jason immediately threw off the oven mitts on his hands and headed to the door, unraveling his and letting it flow down his back.

    He had tied it up to avoid it getting into the food, but now that he was done, there was no point in keeping it up.

    Jason swung open the door and was met face to face with Adele��s pretty face, but Adele immediately pushed past him and headed straight towards the kitchen.

    ��I think you are supposed to offer greetings first in this kind of situation,�� Jason said in an amused tone with one of his eyebrows raised above the other.

    ��Where��s the food I was promised?�� Adele sat at the kitchen counter with a cheeky smile on her face.

    If Jason was going to act as brazenly as he wanted, then she would do the same, she had decided on her way and her current behavior was a result of this decision.

    ��Hahahaha,�� Jason first burst intoughter, not understanding what she was trying to do by acting this way, but he was not about to lose in this battle of brazen attitudes.

    ��Good efforts, but this attitude of yours will only end with you having an empty belly when you leave my quarters,�� Jason saidughingly.

    ��You promised!�� Adele shot back indignantly, a bit irritated because of her hunger.

    Because of work, she had not had time to have breakfast this morning so she was looking forward to the breakfast meeting with Jason at 11 am, but when Jason called to reschedule and said that she could eat at his ce at an even earlier time, she had rushed over, salivating from the mere thoughts of eating.

    It didn��t help that she knew that Jason was a great cook and that she had eaten his food before and it was absolutely delicious, thus she had rushed over and had not even thought to buy a snack or anything for that matter, but here was Jason saying that she may not get to eat so how could she not be irritated.

    ��I promised nothing�� in my words, I said you ��may�� have breakfast with my esteemed self this morning,��

    ��It is still up to me to allow you to do so�� Did they not offer Englishnguage courses at whatever school it was you went to?�� Jason said, almost in a mocking tone, with a victorious smile on his face.

 Chapter 142: A Breakfast Meeting III

    Chapter 142: A Breakfast Meeting III

    ���� I apologize for my impolite behavior, I was a bit muddled up because of my hunger, I will not repeat such behavior,�� Adele said apologetically while rolling her eyes at herself.

    She had lost the moment she had tried to stand up to Jason, what did she even expect�� she had never gotten the better of him in a battle of words so why did she suddenly believe that she could one-up him in her brazenness?

    ��Good that you��ve seen the light, breakfast will be served shortly�� that is, if you��re still interested in eating,�� Jason said, his victorious smile not leaving his face, as he headed to the kitchen and began to take out a few fruits from the refrigerator, intending to make a smoothie.

    ��So where��s the contract?�� Jason asked as he washed the fruits and sliced them into the blender.

    ��Here,�� Adele said as she pulled it out of her bag.

    ��Any amendments I should know about?�� Jason asked again, turning on the blender, immediately drowning out Adele��s answer.

    After almost a minute of continuous juicing, Jason turned off the blender, poured the blended juices into two tall sses, and threw a straw into the two sses.

    Picking up the two sses, he held the one in his right hand to his mouth and took a sip before holding out that same ss to Adele. Adele looked at him strangely when she saw what he did, then she looked at the ss, then she looked back at him, the weird look not leaving her eyes.

    ��Do you want it or not?�� Jason asked, ignoring the weird looks he was getting.

    Finally stretching her hand out to collect the ss, Jason swiftly moved the implicated ss away from her grasp and put the other one in her hand,ughing as he did so,pletely ignoring the dirty look he was getting from Adele.

    ��Why do you keep messing around?�� Adele intoned in slight annoyance.

    ��So about what I asked earlier, any amendments I should know about?�� Jason tantly ignored Adele��s question.

    ���� No, thepany has no problem agreeing to your terms, and neither do I, we can sign the contract anytime,�� Adele answered after a pause, noting Jason��s obvious side-brush of her question.

    ��Alright then�� I��ll sign it after we��re done eating,�� Jason nodded and ced his ss of smoothie on the table before going to the pot and dishing out healthy portions of the Pasta onto the tes and serving everything else before cing the tes on the table.

    ��There are some things we have to discuss regarding my role as your agent,�� Adele said, picking up a fork.

    ��Okay, I��m listening,�� Jason answered, picking up a fork as well and dipping it into the pasta.

    ��Alright�� Do you have any personal preferences for the type ofpanies you wouldn��t mind signing an endorsement with,��

    ��Like for example someone like Cristiano Ronaldo wouldn��t endorse something like a carbonated drink, or an energy drink,��

    ��Are there any things you would be averse to endorsing,�� Adele asked, exining the question in the simplest terms possible.

    ��Hmmmm���� Jason mumbled while chewing, thinking about the matter.

    He knew that endorsements were sure toe, especially with how well he had been yingtely, not to mention his face, that he had only just recently realized how handsome it was.

    Even in his previous life, he had endorsement deals, not to mention this life where he was currently hailed as a football prodigy.

    Yet he had to be choosy as he had an image to maintain and epting endorsement deals from just anypany could result in his reputation being ruined if thepany ended up caught in some trouble.

    There was also the part where somepanies would literally have a chain around his neck�� for example, signing a deal with an automobilepany would be good and all, but he would have to represent their brand all while he was on contract which meant he wouldn��t be able to drive a car from another automobilepany.

    Jason didn��t think he would like to be put in that kind of situation��

    ��For now, just inform me of whicheverpanyes calling, I��ll think about it then,�� Jason decided.

    He would take things as they came. There was no point in overthinking now when there was nothing that was happening.

    ��Okay�� What about endorsement deals that would require you to make an extended appearance, like maybe they want to shoot an advert or something and they want you in it?�� Adele moved to her next question.

    ��Oh�� well, I wouldn��t mind as long as they can take into ount my schedule,�� Jason answered.

    ��Appearing on TV for something other than football would be nice,�� he murmured with a slight smile.

    ��Alright then�� finally, onest question,��

    ��You know how a lot of shows are now featuring sports stars and all sorts of people on them, even those bloggers and YouTubers bring on sports stars and other famous stars on their shows�� ��

    ��Since it��s a good way to grow your brand and expose yourself to another group of fans, do you mind receiving those kinds of offers to be on those kinds of shows, or you wouldn��t fancy it?�� Adele asked again.

    She was taking her time to know Jason��s preferences so that they could build a better rtionship and not waste any time going back and forth on endorsement deals.

    ��I don��t think I��ll mind appearing on shows and stuff, of course as long as my schedule happens to be free enough to fit them in there,�� Jason replied in between mouthfuls.

    ��Okay, ah wait, onest thing�� Do you have ns to leave Porto by the end of this season, I can start helping you to look around for concrete offers, though I wouldn��t advise it as there could be concerns and rumors starting up about your loyalty,�� Adele told Jason.

    ��Concerns regarding my loyalty, how?�� Jason was a bit confused.

    ��It��s not strange to leave a club after only ying with them for a full season, but by the end of this season, you would have only been here for half of a season, not to mention that Porto is your first club, and the club that discovered you���� Adele began exining.

    ��Not everyone would have a problem with it, but some rumors could arise about how you only care about money and this could trante into problems with future transfers,��

    ��Some football clubs would feel less inclined to make you an offer if they think that you would want to try to gain as much money from them as possible����

    ��There are even grounds for such rumors as your sry is a bit on the high side for an upstart at Porto����

    ��Of course, you are already proving that you are worthy of such a paycheck�� but mouths will still run,�� Adele shrugged her shoulders to show more meaning to her words.

    ��Oh�� I see, there was that matter,�� Jason murmured in understanding and could not help but curse at Rico Gz internally.

    ��Anyway, I didn��t really n to leave in theing transfer window unless a big offer came, so it doesn��t really matter,�� Jason nodded in understanding.

    ��Alright then, I��ll keep you updated,�� Adele answered and turned her full focus to eating.

    Jason picked up his phone to change the song being yed by the Bluetooth speaker, but the next moment he cursed loudly,

    ��What the fu*k!��

 Chapter 143: A Breakfast Meeting IV

    Chapter 143: A Breakfast Meeting IV

    Jason had picked up his phone to change the song ying out of the music speaker as it didn��t fit the mood.

    What the hell was his music yer trying to do by ying ��Work�� by Rihanna and Drake when he and Adele were the only ones in the apartment?

    There were definitely some shifty and diabolical forces at y, but Jason wasn��t going to sumb and quickly picked up his phone to change the song.

    Unfortunately in his haste, he had ended up clicking the wrong icon and had opened the Instagram app instead.

    He immediately wanted to close the app, but he suddenly saw a notification pop up,

    {MyloBaumgartner69 has tagged you in a post}

    Seeing the notification, he immediately clicked on it wondering why Mylo would tag him in a post, but the moment the post opened up and a video started ying, Jason almost choked on his food.

    ��What the fu*k!�� Right there on Jason��s phone was a video of himself getting sturdy to Pop Smoke��s ��Dior�� and the video was obviously taken this morning and without his permission.

    ��What happened?�� Adele asked, seeing the look of bewilderment on Jason��s face.

    ��So that was why he was acting all shifty this morning, huh?�� Jason was suddenly enlightened,pletely ignoring Adele��s question.

    That clicking sound of the door that he thought he heard was probably Mylo making his escape aftermitting the crime, and the way he was acting this morning was his criminality acting up as he tried to flee the scene of the crime.

    ��What happened?�� Adele asked again, seeing Jason not responding.

    ��Something that wouldn��t have happened if you knew how to hit a moving target from over 3 kilometers away with a McMin TAC-50,�� Jason sighed with a roll of his eyes.

    ��Are you still on that?�� Adele asked in surprise.

    ��Yes, I��m still on it,��

    ��If you had such skills, I would no longer have a roommate as he would have been sleeping with the fishes long ago instead of having time to capture videos of me secretly and posting them on Instagram so that the whole world can see them,�� Jason shot back.

    ��Wait, what? Sleeping with the fishes? How?��

    ��Also, secret videos?�� Adele shot a barrage of questions back at Jason in a confused tone.

    ��Which of your questions can I even answer first?�� Jason asked with a raised eyebrow.

    ��Uh, let��s start with the secret videos part then�� did that roommate of yours somehow get your sex tape and post it online?�� Adele asked, almost sweating at the possibility of such a situation, especially with Jason��s reaction to the issue.

    ��Sextape?�� Jason spat out, balking at Adele��s choice of words.

    ��Bit*h, I��m a fuc*ing virgin!�� Jason shouted at her internally, but outwardly he said,

    ��I wouldn��t mind if that was the case, instead of this,��

    ��This is worse,�� Jason sighed in annoyance.

    ��Let me see it, we can still work on damage control or something���� Adele said as she took the phone from Jason��s hand to check the video out, wondering how bad the situation was, but when she started watching the video, the slightly scared look on her face disappeared and was reced with bafflement.

    ��What��s wrong with the video?�� Adele asked, not understanding the reason behind Jason��s exaggerated reaction.

    ��That is not the question you should be asking�� What you should be asking is why a video of me in my living quarters is out on the inte without my knowledge and consent and why the guy that put it there doesn��t have a bullet hole in his head?�� Jason stated darkly, the aura around him intensifying all of a sudden.

    ��A bit morbid, but I understand your concerns,�� Adele said slowly.

    ��You should be putting a bullet in him from over 3 kilometers away with a McMin TAC-50 instead of just understanding,�� Jason scoffed.

    ��Okay okay, I get it�� I��m sorry I disappointed your expectations so can we stop with the morbid talk,�� Adele burst out.

    ��Even you can��t hit someone with a McMin TAC-50 from over 3 kilometers away, can you?�� Adele scoffed.

    ��Who said I couldn��t?�� Jason suddenly replied with a smile.

    ���� You can��t, right?�� right?�� Adele was repeating her words like a broken record as she stared at Jason who didn��t look like he was joking around.

    ��You��d be surprised by the things I can do, let��s leave it at that,�� Jason said with a smirk as he took out his phone from Adele��s hand and clicked on the video again,pletely ignoring her baffled look.

    Watching the video again, Jason realized that the video wasn��t embarrassing or anything at all as he had perfectly eaten up the dance moves and had even incorporated some moves that weren��t yet present in this timeline at this point.

    Another thing was that the video seemed to be gaining likes quickly but looking at thement section, Jason soon understood why.

    Pop Smoke had died on the 19th of February which was justst month so he was kind of a hot topic right now, and Jason had been caught unawares going sturdy and eating up the dance moves of thete OG.

    Pop Smoke fans had somehow managed to find the video and thus the video was gaining quite a bit of traction.

    Jason didn��t mind gaining traction and was almost feeling thankful to Mylo, but he also did not like being recorded unaware.

    It gave him all sorts of chills and it would be annoying if this continued.

    Today it was only a video of Jason getting sturdy, tomorrow it could be an even more private video and Jason didn��t like the thought of that.

    The thought of ack of privacy was a bit annoying to think about.

    ��Now that I think about it, you should know a few real estate agents, right?�� Jason suddenly remembered something.

    ��I don��t know any personally, but there are a few that the agency has rtions with so I can check with them,�� Adele answered.

    ��Are you looking to get a new house?�� she asked as that was the only thing that could warrant such a question.

    ��Quite frankly, yes,�� Jason nodded in affirmation.

    ��I��ll ask around then, what are your specifications?�� Adele immediately went into agent mode.

 Chapter 144: Chronicles of Lockdown I

    Chapter 144: Chronicles of Lockdown I

    **10th March 2020**

    The previous two days had been filled with training for Jason as was his usual schedule and he had not had time for much else.

    Despite Adele already getting back to him that she had found a real estate agent who had helped him select a few houses, Jason had been too busy with his training to go and check out any of the houses.

    Three days ago, his desire to move out of the apartment he shared with Mylo had been reinvigorated due to Mylo��s mischievous action of recording him unaware and posting it on Instagram.

    Of course, Jason had given him a piece of his mind, but that hadn��t stopped Jason from going on with searching for a new ce to set his bed, yet his schedule had made him unable to follow up with this, and today his ns had been dealt a blow.

    The Portuguese Football Federation had suspended all football activities indefinitely for the time being due to Covid-19.

    Major offices and businesses also closed down reducing activities in the Portuguese hemisphere by almost 40 percent.

    Since Jason was expecting it, this didn��t shake him much and he simply continued with his life, not paying attention to much else as he already knew that this period would pass and all he had to do was make sure he did not pass away along with the period. **13th March 2020**

    Almost all the major football leagues around the world had been suspended indefinitely at this point and even the UEFA Champions League and Europa League had also been suspended.

    Almost all other sports events all over the world had been suspended as well, all this were the after-effects of the COVID-19 virus breaking out.

    It did not only affect professional sportspetitions, but also literally every other part of the world, and the world was slowly moving towards total lockdown to curb the outbreak of the virus.

    Of course, despite this, Jason still made his way to the CTFD Portogaia every day to train despite allpetitions being suspended.

    For him, it was a matter of discipline, he wouldn��t stop doing what he loved and was paid to do just because an opportunity toy back and rest had appeared.

    He simply regarded the COVID-19 lockdown period as an extended training period.

    **16th March 2020**

    Orders for a total lockdown of the Portuguese hemisphere were finally given on this day and the Portuguese citizens quicklyplied, reducing human activity by about 80 percent in the country.

    For Jason, this meant he could no longer go to the club��s trainingplex to train and instead had to make use of the equipment in the house to train.

    It was quite cramped and annoying, but Jason soon got used to it and focused on his training.

    A few days earlier, the real estate agent that Jason had hired via Adele had been able to help him select a house that fulfilled his specifications and Jason had even taken a bit of time out of his schedule to check the house and he was quite satisfied with it, but then a problem had arose.

    Due to the effects of the Coronavirus, despite the whole city not having entered a state of full lockdown, they were already behaving like it and a number of businesses were already closing their gates to customers and the movingpany happened to be part of thepanies that had closed.

    Thus Jason was in a situation where he had gotten a house and could pay the bills, but could not move houses.

    It was annoying, but Jason had to live with it�� of course, that was after trying like five different movingpanies and getting the same reply from all of them.

    Thepanies could not send their employees to ces that might be unsafe since no one could ever really tell where they could contract the virus.

    Luckily he had been originally not so intent on moving and had been prepared to stay in the apartment during the lockdown period so there wasn��t too much of a problem.

    **24th March 2020**

    It had been a week since the lockdown began and many people were finally epting the fact that the virus would not be sorted out as quickly as they imagined.

    The capabilities of humanity were always exaggerated in movies, but in reality, things weren��t as simple as a barely two-hour movie.

    In a movie, a zombie virus that could literally threaten humanity could have a cure created in as little as two days in the movie but in about 30 minutes to those watching the movie.

    In reality however, the coronavirus which didn��t even have as high of a mortality rate as mria was having a lot of difficulty being curbed.

    The inconsistency of the government towards the pressing issues was also a cause of concern to all the citizens aged 25 and above.

    As for those aged 24 and below who were still living under their parents�� roof, this was the time for them to discover all forms of entertainment.

    Some began watching anime, some watched countless movies and series, some yed games�� multi-yer games especially, some spent all day on social media, and very few like Jason focused on work.

    Most of Jason��s day was filled with training with all sorts of equipment to develop his muscles further as due to theck of space, that was the only type of training he could do.

    The rest of his day was spent ying games, watching movies, listening to music, reading, and chatting with Sofia either on call or by social media.

    Mylo had also joined Jason in training and made use of some of Jason��s training equipment which Jason wasn��t using at that moment and he also spent the rest of his day ying games, watching movies, chatting up girls on social media, and watching blood stirring videos of girls moving their backside in different motions.

    He had also started streaming and usually streamed various parts of his day, thus he was almost always moving around the apartment with a camera which was a bit annoying to Jason as he didn��t want to be caught on video unexpectedly again, not to mention that this would be worse as it was live.

 Chapter 145: Chronicles of Lockdown II

    Chapter 145: Chronicles of Lockdown II

    **28THMarch 2020**

    *BRRRRIIIIINNNNGGGGG*

    Jason��s rm rang loudly at 7 am and that was his cue for him to get out of bed.

    As he had been doing for thest few days, Jason��s eyes shot open and he climbed out of bed.

    Jumping straight into his arranged schedule for the day, Jason started by grabbing a yoga mat,ying it out, and jumping into a yoga pose.

    After doing yoga for about half an hour, he put away the mat and got into the shower to wash himself off before heading out to prepare breakfast for himself.

    Nothing too fancy, just some oats and other stuff��

    After he was done with his breakfast, he had a thirty-minute rest before he headed to the room wherehe was to begin histraining. Connecting his phone to his speaker, Jason put his music yer on shuffle as usual.

    He had not bothered to create a ylisttely because he had noticed something.

    In this new reality, he didn��t know if it was because of him or not, but there had been a few changes in the music industry.

    Some songs that should have been sung by this time in history didn��t exist and some artists that should exist here didn��t�� or maybe they did but didn��t blow up like in his previous life and they were still unknown.

    It didn��t need to be said that there were also a few artists that he had never heard of in his past life singing good songs that he had never heard of.

    He didn��t know whether it was due to him existing and having changed something in the timeline, but it wasn��t too far-fetched if he believed so, after all, he did live in Los Angeles for most of his life which wasliterallythe star kingdom for entertainment stars.

    He may have inadvertently changed some things unknowingly since he didn��t do the same things he did in his past life, but he didn��t think he would ever know even if he was the cause behind the change.

    Anyway, the point of the matter was that there were a lot of songs that existed in this reality that he hadn��t heard and as a music lover, it was only right for him to listen to as many as possible, hence why he always left it up to Spotify to select his songs for him.

    ��Lately, Lately I��ve been thinking,��

    ��I want you to be happier, I want you to be happier,�� Jason sang as he began to stretch himself to warm up his muscles for his training.

    In another part of the apartment��

    Mylo also started his day by waking up at almost 9:00.

    He had stayed upte the night before, ying games, chatting up girls, and doing all other stuff, and had barely gone to sleep at almost 4 am, so it stood to reason that he was quite tired.

    Barely dragging himself out of bed because he couldn��t sleep any longer thanks to the lights, he dragged himself through his room and wound his way through the winding paths between the piles of cloth and other stuff that he left hanging around since he was toozy to put them away.

    No girl wasing over any time soon anyway��

    Of course, it couldn��t be helped that he had been bing hornier these days, but thanks to his goodol��friend, lotion, and his other friend, P*rnhub, he was able to satisfy his urges somewhat.

    Grabbing his phoneandhis first friend, Mylo entered his bathroom, but it wasn��t until almost thirty minutester that he finally started having his bath.

    As for what he was doing for those thirty minutes, it was a secret between three friends��

    After finally having his bath, Mylo headed out of his bathroom and threw on some clothes before pushing the piles of clothes aside and hiding them away.

    Immediately his room was clean enough, he took out his phone and opened the Instagram app, before going to the store option and choosing to go live.

    ��Hey guys�� It��s Mylo Baumgartner again and I��m here to once again take you through my fun lockdown story, hopefully, you can learn something fun and have fun,�� Mylo spoke into the camera with a charming smile as he moved to the mirror in his room and took the selfie-stick that he left there as well as the phone stand.

    They were his tools and he needed to carry them around, but first, he put the phone down and it stood straight with the aid of theselfie-stick��send.

    Angling the phone well enough so that it could easily record what he was doing in front of the mirror, Mylo took up a jar of hair gel and opened it.

    ��Good morning to you too, Jessica,�� Mylo said in response to ament greeting him from a user namedJessicaBrine19.

    ��Why don��t I use a hair dryer?�� Mylo read out loud from anotherment fromthe ones that popped up on his screen.

    ��Well�� because I��m a man, hairdryers are for women�� unless of course, if you��ve gotreallylong hair�� like my roommate, Jason,�� Mylo suddenly remembered about Jason mid-sentence and quickly changed his words.

    It wouldn��t be fun for him if Jason somehow found out what he had said and gave him personal instructions on how to escape a choke hold, or if Jason decided to practice some of his martial arts on him�� that was even worse.

    {Why don��t you get your roommate to join you in streaming?} Ament from a user namedBridgetAkindale269appeared among thements and caught Mylo��s eye.

    ��Bringing Jason in on a stream�� been there, done that�� he doesn��t want to,�� Mylo answered smartly, already getting used to this streaming thing.

    {Why???}ments with this word filled the screen for the next few seconds.

    By now it wasn��t a secret that the rising football star and Instagram sensation, Jason Bolu orJasonRose17, was Mylo��s roommate and it was a major booster for Mylo��sownpoprity and hisownfollowers had greatly increased and were currently nearing a million.

    Even now, the number of viewers on Mylo��s stream was already nearing five thousand despite it being only a few minutes since he started the stream.

 Chapter 146: Chronicles of Lockdown III (Mission file 47: Unveiling the Dragon)

    Chapter 146: Chronicles of Lockdown III (Mission file 47: Unveiling the Dragon)

    Chapter 146: Chronicles of Lockdown III(Mission file 47: Unveiling the Dragon)

    Jason��s poprity had boosted Mylo��s poprity and it could be even said that Mylo was enjoying some of Jason��s spotlight.

    Of course, the facts that almost everyone was home and didn��t have much to do, and that Mylo��s livestream was bing a daily thing added to why he had so many viewers this early, yet it still couldn��t be denied what Jason��s show buzz effect had on Mylo��s Instagram page.

    Normally, there was no way in hell a mere U-18 yer of the Porto team coulde anywhere close toeven a hundred thousand followers, but Mylo was enjoying a different case.

    Due to that, most of his followers were also followers of Jason and would often ask about him a lot and Mylo usually answered as best as he could.

    ��The question about bringing Jason in on a live stream hade up the first time he had live streamed during the lockdown, and he had asked Jason about it once, but Jason wasn��treallykeen on answering the question which usually meant, ��No��.

    Of course, it could have meant something different this time, but Mylo wasn��treallyinterested in asking again.

    He was past the age of pestering someone to do anything�� or at least that was how he thought.

    ��Why�� I don��t know, but he didn��t seem all that keen on it,�� Mylo responded as he took up the selfie stick that held his phone and began making his way out of his room. ��I obviously can��t know the reasons why he doesn��t want it, but he keeps me fed with delicious food so I don��t have to poke my nose around�� and yes, he can cook,�� Mylo said with augh as he made his way.

    ��He cooks way too well for someone just a year older than me, he also knows martial arts and can easilyturn me into a wad of waste paper in half a second�� he��s done that before,�� Mylo reminisced about that one time Jason made him experience a WWE smackdown in real life, but he kept his eyes on the path to the kitchen as he didn��t want to end up running into anything.

    ��He ys ball better than me, and now that I think about it, he��s even more handsome than I am,�� Mylo suddenly had a moment of realization and came to aplete stop mid-step.

    {Bro��s thinking about his whole life till this point} a user namedTrevorJacksomented in response.

    {Now that you think? Were you blind before?} another user namedBussinbarbie7mented, adding a fewughing emojis almost in mockery.

    {I meannnn�� It stands to reason that you can��tpare with a dragon} yet another usermented, this one namedDarwinRevolt365.

    {Awnnnn�� }AngelinaJuly07��sment popped on the screen as well.

    {He��s got the power, he��s got the looks, he��s got the skills, he��s got the girls�� and you�� have nothing, sad, but that��s the story of my life} a user namedLevonJohnson9mented.

    ��Alright guys, you��re not helping,��Mylo said in mock sadness and resumed walking.

    ��Ignoring thest few seconds, the fact remains that Jason doesn��treallywant to be on a stream as of yet, so I��ll just stick to eating what he makes and follow orders,�� Mylo said with augh as he reached the kitchen.

    Uncovering his portion of the breakfast, Mylo took a spoonful and was about to speak when he noticed ament that had just popped up.

    {Do you have to ask for his permission though?} a user namedDark_Shadow009asked.

    ��Do I need permission?�� Mylo almost choked on his oats as he asked.

    ��Did you not listen to anything I said earlier? He can fold me better than the mostpactwn chair you��ve ever seen!��

    {How do you expect us to believe that?}Davina_Jonemented.

    {Yeah, he��s a football yer, not a martial artist, bruh}Alexander_Johanson7mented as well.

    {I believe him, but I want to see it happen}Captain_Jack_Sparrow188alsomented.

    {Yeah, thatwn chair folding sounds quite interesting,don��tit Captain?}LugardSkull15replied to Captain_Jack_Sparrow188��sment.

    ��You may not believe it, but I have had the pleasure of having myself being thrown over the shoulder of a half-asleep Jason�� and now that you mention it, I wanna do it again,�� Mylo��s words suddenly took a strange turn that surprised everyone watching the live stream.

    ��Less painfully of course,�� Mylo added after a second.

    {Attaboy!!! Now bring me the bloody rum!}Captain_Jack_Sparrow18mented again.

    {Let��s Fu**ing Go!!!}Dark_Shadow009alsomented again.

    ��Alright, this is going to be termed as ckopps mission file 47: Unveil the Dragon,�� Mylo suddenly started acting in a serious somber mood that was funny to see and thrilled a majority of the audience.

    ��Time of departure�� after I finish this meal,�� Mylo suddenly went back to his normal way of speaking mid-speech and started wolfing down his breakfast while hoping he wouldn��t have to spend a part of his morning cleaning up wherever he syed it over if Jason was not in the mood to y.

    He quickly cleaned up his te while conversing with the viewers about the mission that was about to take ce.

    {Finish up your grub and suit up soldier! The mission awaits} Dark_Shadow009mented to hurry up Mylo just as Mylo was finishing up.

    ��Okay okay, I��m done,�� Mylo put thest spoonful into his mouth and even showed the viewers the empty te for confirmation.

    Throwing thete into the dishwasher, Mylo held up the camera and read thements popping up on the screen.

    ��I wish I could suit up like you all want me to do, but Portugal is a civilian-friendly country and the best I could do in terms of defense is to use a pot for a helmet,�� Mylo saidughing.

    {If what you say about Jason��s martial skills are true, then don��t you think any weapons you carry along will end up being used against you?} a user namedProfessor_BeLecroimented.

    {The Professor has spoken!!!} another user namedJohnsonWeah7mented.

    {Dayummm, Professor Be thick asf} a user namedRighthandedandHornywho hadobviouslytaken the liberty to check Professor_BeLecroix��s profile picture.

    {Does the Professor want the soldier to go into danger unarmed?} a user namedNecroPinaasked.

    ReadingProfessor_BeLecroix��sment, Mylo answered, ��Now that you mention it, being hit by fists will probably be better than being handled by a pot,��

    ��No choice then, I��m going in unarmed, wish me luck guys, and if the screen goes ck for a few minutes and then someone with a swollen facees resumes the livestream�� don��t worry, it��ll be just me if the mission goes sideways,�� Mylo��s sentence started with determination, but halfway to the end, his voice faltered and dropped.

 Chapter 147: Chronicles of Lockdown IV (Mission Failed... Return to Base)

    Chapter 147: Chronicles of Lockdown IV (Mission Failed... Return to Base)

    Chapter 147: Chronicles of Lockdown IV (Mission Failed�� Return to Base)

    Jason had just finished doing a set of push-ups and next on his training schedule was a 30-minute run on the treadmill.

    As he started setting up the treadmill for the run, the song that was ying ended and a booming beat came on next.

    Jason recognized the beat as the beat of the song called Act Up by the City Girls and even though he wasn��t a major fan of the song he recognized the beat because he knew that a rapper called Dababy had made a freestyle with the beat that was fire.

    He used to listen to it quite a lot back then.

    ��Good times,�� he thought to himself and expected the song to start but after waiting for more than ten seconds only the beat was still ying so it dawned on him that it was the instrumental of the song that was ying and not the actual song.

    Leaving aside the treadmill, he went to pick up his phone to check, and just like he thought, it was the instrumental version of the song that was ying.

    Jason was about to skip to the next track when he suddenly got an idea��

    If the beat was ying but there were no vocals, why didn��t he do the vocals himself? Of course, Jason wasn��tactuallygoing to freestyle, but would just rap Dababy��s version of the song to the beat.

    He wasn��t a rapper and had never tried to be one so he knew that he probably would wreck the beat if heactuallytried to freestyle�� and he didn��t mean that in a good way.

    Training alone daily was getting monotonous and a bit boring, so this should be a good way to liven up the training.

    With that in mind, Jason sent the track back to the beginning and headed to the treadmill ready to rap,

    The beat started with its slow melodious boom and the moment it reached the entry point, It was Jason��s cue to start rapping and he immediately got to it,

    ��Who shot your homeboy? Ni**a with a diaper on,��

    ��Got on the city girls beat and got the cipher on,��

    ��Your girl said she fuc*in with Dababy, right or wrong,��

    ��Just gave me head in a rental car while the lightswason,��Jason rapped as the beat dropped, but with the next verse came a change of pacewhile he jumped on the treadmill while running and rapping.

    ��You know me,I be chillin�� and cooling,��

    ��Know I��m the shit with the music,��

    ��Since youinlove withputers,��

    ��Go look my name up ongoogle,��

    ��And please don��t turn to no groupie,��

    ��Other ni**as begoofin,��

    ��Might as well get some popcorn, we finna make this a movie,��Jason continued without even taking a breath, as he got to the next change of pace on the rap.

    ��Somewhereid up with the stallion and let them haters hate,��

    ��Eating jumbo shrimp with the steak up on a paper te,��

    ��Balling on them like Michael Jordan back in 88,��

    ��Got my di*k sucked before a flight it almost made mete,��

    ��I��m in a different bracket than rappers these ni**as can��t rte,��

    ��Don��t make me get to pping these rappers, give them a change of face,��

    ��There so many ckers for rappers, they say I��m nging weight,��

    ��Put the weed down and start eating, they say I��m gaining weight,��Jason continued rapping, but changed a few lines from the original freestyle as he never understood what Dababy said in that part of the freestyle whenever he listened back then�� It sounded better this way, he thought and immediately continued rapping as he ran on the treadmill.

    ��Who shot you? That Lil ni**a with the pamper baby?��

    ��With 20 pounds of Cauli weedinside the hamper baby?��

    ��The girl said she wants a har har har,��

    ��I pull up with the ball fade like the camper,��

    ��Who shot you? That Lil ni**a be on Instagram,��

    ��Do what the fu*k hewantto do like hedon��tgive a damn,��

    ��Just got some head outside the show inside a sprinter van,��

    ��They say I��m a fool cuz I��m cool and smooth as a ceiling fan,��

    ��You need to get your boss I ain��t tryna talk to no middle man,��

    ��I��m not trying to talk something personal cuz I��m abusiness man,��Jason finished rapping Dababy��s lines on the freestyle and was about to try to cook something up as there was still about a minute left on the beat, but at that moment, Jason heard a crashing sound.

    His head snapped in the direction of the noise as a crashing sound in a room of gym equipment was a cause of rm and could lead to something life-threatening.

    Imagine his surprise when he realized that it wasn��t a gym equipment that had fallen, but instead a phone stand, and his surprise turned to annoyance when he realized that it had fallen from Mylo��s hand.

    The phone stand falling wasn��t the reason for his annoyance, rather it was the fact that Mylo was holding a selfie stick that held his phone and it was pointed in his direction.

    The silence from Jason was unnerving and Mylo shriveled as he stood there unmoving like a deer caught in headlights.

    Tapping on the digital screen of the treadmill to stop the run, Jason��s legs slowed along with the treadmill until he finally came to a stop and stepped off the treadmill.

    Jason headed over to the side and picked up a bottle of water that he snapped open and took a sip, all while his eyes not moving in Mylo��s direction, but the eerie glow in them was rming enough for Mylo and his viewers.

    ��Phwaaaah,�� Jason sighed audibly as he put the bottle away from his mouth, feeling refreshed.

    ���� So, Mylo�� what are you doing with a camera pointed at me, huh?�� Jason asked, moving towards the dumbbells that were nearby.

    ��Uh, what camera? I was just walking around and practicing for when I��ll go live,�� Mylo sweat-dropped, his hands trembling slightly as he watched Jason caress the dumbbells.

    ��Practice, huh?�� Jason asked, finally looking at him with a dangerous smile.

 Chapter 148: Chronicles of Lockdown V (Consequences of Mission Failure)

    Chapter 148: Chronicles of Lockdown V (Consequences of Mission Failure)

    Chapter 148: Chronicles of Lockdown V(Consequences of Mission Failure)

    ��Practice, huh?�� Jason asked, finally looking towards Mylo with a dangerous smile appearing on his face.

    ��This one can��t crush the skull well enough,�� Jason sighed in disappointment as he put down the dumbbell he was holding as it was too light for what he wanted to do with it.

    ��Mylo, your camera is still pointed at me,�� Jason continued, his eyes falling on the camera that was snugly held by the selfie.

    ��Oh, this, it��s just a workout to prepare my hand for holding the selfie stick for the hours I will be streaming,�� Mylo said, trying to y off the situation even though he knew the chances were low.

    ��Holding the selfie stick?�� Jason asked, his voice taking on a tone of disbelief as his eyes fell onto the phone stand that was by Mylo��s feet.

    ��Holding a phone for hours when you have a phone stand?�� Jason wondered internally, trying to figure out whether Mylo thought he was dumb enough to believe that or if Mylo was just stupid.

    Coming to a conclusion, Jason sighed and opened his mouth,

    ��You know, Mylo, your skull is the only thing preventing your brain from floating away, unburdened as it is by any meaningful thought to anchor it.�� ���� What?�� Mylo asked in confusion, as Jason��s words were taking a while to sink in and they hadn��t registered.

    ��Don��t try thinking about it, you don��t have enough mental facilities to pull that off,�� Jason stated as he stood up, slightly disappointed with himself for using such aplicated y of words when it was obvious that Mylo didn��t have enough thinking capacity to understand the insult.

    ��You said you want to practice holding up a selfie stick for hours, right?��

    ��I can help you with that,�� Jason said with a charming, harmless smile, but in his left hand was the heaviest dumbbell that he could find.

    The contrast of the ��weapon�� that Jason was holding to his harmless smile was ringing all sorts of rms in Mylo��s head and he immediately wanted to run away.

    ��Never mind, I��m sorry for interrupting your training, I��ll take my leavean���� Mylo spat out at a faster pace than Jason��s rapping earlier.

    ��Oh, no, you can��t do that, I��ll be helping with your training for today,�� Jason wasn��t letting Mylo get away this time and quickly lunged at him with high agility and hugged Mylo��s neck.

    Unsurprisingly, as Jason looked at the screen of Mylo��s phone, he saw himself and Mylo on the camera being recorded andments popping up from the bottom of the screen.

    ��Oh, you��re live, huh?�� Jason��s voice turned dangerously cheery as he stared at Mylo who didn��t dare to look him in the eyes.

    ��Why didn��t you tell me? I would have wanted to say hi?�� Jason continued speaking in a warm tone, but Mylo was finding the temperature of the room to be anything but�� it felt like everywhere was freezing.

    ��You can rap as well?�� Jason read out loud ament fromDark_Shadow009.

    ��Me, rap? Oh, you saw?�� Jason asked a bit confused at first, but immediately got enlightened.

    ��Seems, Mylo has had me on camera for a while,�� Jason��s tone turned even cheerier and he patted Mylo on the shoulder, but Mylo felt like he could hear his heart thump in the fear of death with every tap of Jason��s palm on his shoulder.

    ��Why are they still talking,�� Mylo almost wanted to cry as he read thements from the viewers who snitched on him and told Jason about everything that had urred earlier.

    Theirments came one after the other with such perfect uracy that one would think that they nned to snitch on him from the very start.

    Jason��s smile grew wider for everyment that he read and when he finally understood the situation, he turned towards Mylo with a huge smile that didn��t feel like a smile.

    ��Let me help you with that,�� Jason said as he released his vice-like grip on Mylo��s neck and held out his hand for the selfie stick.

    Despite being freed from the vice-like grip, Mylo didn��t dare run because he would at best be postponing whatever Jason had in mind for him.

    He couldn��t exactly run out of the house and then have himself arrested for failing toply with the lockdown orders, could he?

    It was better to face the problem like a man and then live to cause more trouble on another day.

    ��Hand it over,�� Jason repeated his request but didn��t wait for Mylo��s response as he grabbed the selfie stick out of Mylo��s hand.

    Firstly switching the camera to back view so that it captured Mylo instead of him, Jason started speaking,

    ��Earlier, Mylo mentioned that he was practicing holding the selfie stick for the hours he would spend streaming,��

    ��How many hours does he usually stream for at a stretch?�� Jason asked the viewers and in less than 5 seconds he started seeing replies.

    {2 hours}Professor_BeLecroimented.

    {3 hours}Dark_Shadow00mented as well.

    {about an hour and a half}Davina_Jonemented.

    {Maybe like 6 hours}Alexander_Johanson7mented with a sly smile, seemingly understanding where Jason was headingtowith this question.

    ��Hmm, so about three hours���� Jason murmured while nodding.

    ��You see guys, as the kind roommate that I am, I can��t have my roommate being incapable of holding a mere selfie stick for just three hours,��

    ��Thus I will make sure to have him train to be able to do so by holding something equivalent for three hours����

    ��This dumbbell���� Jason said and held up the dumbbell in his hand.

    ��What? Bro, you said equivalent!?�� Mylo couldn��t believe his ears.

    ��That dumbbell is like five kilograms!�� he squealed as he knew that while holding something of five kilograms wasn��t hard, holding it up straight for three hours was�� quite difficult.

    ��It seems Mylo thinks it��s too light�� unfortunately this is the heaviest dumbbell I have�� it seems he wants to hold up the treadmill instead,�� Jason ignored Mylo and spoke to the viewers on the camera, his cheery smile getting bigger.

 Chapter 149: Chronicles of Lockdown VI

    Chapter 149: Chronicles of Lockdown VI

    ��Too light!?��

    ��Even the strongest man in the world can��t hold up a treadmill for an hour, not to mention three!�� Mylo almost shouted, but his voice was still louder than normal.

    ��You��re a man, Mylo, we don��t make excuses, we break records,�� Jason said in a motivational tone with a serious look on his face.

    {The record is about to break him}TrevorJacksomented.

    ��Why do I even need to hold a selfie stick for hours when I��ve got a phone stand?�� Mylo suddenly remembered the phone stand that was on the floor.

    ��I don��t know, maybe the same reason you weren��t using it earlier somewhere else that is not here,�� Jason retorted with a slight tick in his tone.

    ��But���� Mylo tried to argue but Jason immediately shut him down with his next words,

    ��You either hold up the dumbbell for three hours, or you hold up the treadmill for the same amount of time,�� Jason immediately cut him off with a hard smile. ���� Are there any other options?�� Mylo asked, sweating profusely as it seemed that he was in deepsh*t,and no thanks to those viewers who had led him into a trap.

    ���� Hmmm, there is one other option���� Jason said after a few seconds of thought.

    ��What is the other option?�� Mylo asked the dreaded question as he could already tell by the smile that appeared on Jason��s face, that it wasn��t any better than the other options he already had.

    ��You could practice Muay Thai with me�� but, it��s been a while since I��ve practiced, so it would be a bit hard to hold back,�� Jason said, not doing much to cover his intentions.

    If Mylo dared to pick thest option he would not leave without having two ck eyes and a few other spots that marked his pain.

    ��Muay Thai�� Please hand me the dumbbell, sir,�� Mylo immediately epted his fate and chose the least painful out of the punishments.

    He didn��t dare to think that he could face off against Jason in any form of physical battle as despite their simr sizes, Mylo believed that Jason could easily wipe him across the floor at any moment should he wish to.

    He had already experienced pain from a half-asleep Jason and he didn��t want to know what a fully alert and non-holding-back Jason could do.

    He didn��t even need to guess that he would be in for a world of pain if he dared to choose that option so the only feasible option was his immediate choice.

    Of course, this option would probably render his arms useless for a little while and he wouldn��t be able to calm down ��little Mylo�� for a while, but what option did he have?

    He couldn��t run away so he could only face the punishment for his actions�� it was his fault for listening to the viewers and poking the tiger disguised as a human named Jason.

    Swearing internally to learn from this mistake, Mylo collected the dumbbell from Jason.

    ��Hold it like you would a selfie stick,�� Jason said with a slightly satisfied smile.

    {He should hold it with one hand}BridgetAkindale26mented.

    {Hold that bi*ch up like that statue in New York}AngelinaJuly0mented as well.

    Jason who was reading thements from the viewers suddenly felt that these guys weren��t so bad.

    They gave him a perfectly good reason to punish Mylo and let out some of his grievances and now they were even egging him on.

    Since he was in a good mood, he decided to do a bit more before he went back to his training,

    ��Since Mylo is currently training, I��ll take over for a while,�� Jason spoke as he turned the camera back to the front and his face showed on the screen.

    ��What do you guys usually do on the live stream?�� Jason had to ask as while he had experience with stuff like live streams, he was by no means a live streamer and wasn��t exactly a people person either.

    He could usually interact with fans which was why he wasn��t balking yet, but that was just about where his expertise with people peaked.

    He was a footballer, not a show host, so it was normal.

    {We do just about anything?}BridgetAkindale26mented.

    ��Anything, huh?�� Jason murmured, thinking a bit beforeing to a decision.

    ��Alright then, let��s do a question game,��

    ��Somebody asks a question and then Mylo and I answer, you guys can answer some of them as well,�� Jason concluded, throwing the ball back into the court of the viewers because if there was anything he knew, it was that crowd work never got boring.

    Of course, he wasn��t someedian who was trained in crowd work, but he had enough confidence to keep a conversation going�� he wasn��t sure how interesting it would be for the viewers though.

    ��Let��s start, what��s you guy��s first question?�� Jason immediately asked, taking the reins of the show.

    A few secondster, questions flooded the screen, along with a few otherments that had nothing to do with the questioning part of the stream.

    Quickly scanning through the questions, Jason picked the first question he saw that looked fun.

    {If you could have three of any superpowers, what would you have?} Davina_Jonesmented.

    Jason read the question out loud with a thoughtful look,

    ��Frankly, I don��treallyknow�� let��s have Mylo answer first,�� Jason threw the question to Mylo as he wanted to take his time thinking about an answer.

    ��I know what I would get,�� Mylo who wasn��t tired yet from holding up the dumbbell, immediately answered.

    ��I want invisibility,�� Mylo stated first.

    ��Hmm, invisibility is a good option, but what does he wanna use it for?�� Jasonmented, not saying it loud enough to interrupt Mylo, but the viewers could hear his voice anyway.

    ��Uhm, X-ray vision�� and yes, mind control,�� Mylo answered with a smirk on his face.

    ��This dirty���� Jason couldn��t even finish the sentence and simply stared at Mylo in disgust.

    ��Hedefinitelyain��t saving people with those abilities���� Jason finally said.

    To be fair, invisibility, x-ray vision, or mind control weren��t bad abilities to have.

    Of course, mind control was a bit on the viinous side and wasn��t usually used by people portrayed as heroes, but it was still something that could be worked with.

    The problem arose when these three abilities were brought together as it was obvious that whoever wanted these three abilities together wasdefinitelynot up to something good.

    These three abilities were especially reminiscent of the more ��cultural�� side of anime and Jason immediately knew that Mylo was up to no good by selecting those abilities.

    Mylo��s character was also not helping matters.

    {Jasonreallywent ��I know what kind of man you are��}TrevorJacksomented.

    {Bro went for the starter pack} A user namedHentaiSpecialist6mented as well.

    {Teleportation, telekinesis, and toon force}CelestialLayjay568mented.

    {What is toon force?}MartyMacflyxxxreplied to CelelestialLayjay5680��sment.

    {Bro went for the most devious set of superpowers}user-ei8ih5bx2mented.

    {Jason ��Are you gonna use your powers for the good of the world���� Mylo ��Nah, Imma do my own thing��}littlejokes748mented.

    Jason read all thements and just said,

    ��I��m not even gonna say nothing, but what the hellcuh?�� Jasonughed disappointedly.

    He wasughing at himself for expecting Mylo to pull off something that was not stupid.

    Fair enough to say, his expectations were disappointed and he decided to move on,

    ��For me, I��ll just take time travel,�� Jason decided on what kind of power he wished he had.

    Sure enough,ments asking why he had chosenonly time travel.

    ��Well, I feel that having the power to change a lot of one��s regrets and mistakes is an invaluable ability to have. I��ve changed a lot of things, but there are still a few things in my life that I wish to change or make as if it never actually happened,�� Jason answered thements with a cryptic smile.

    If one was listening carefully, they would notice that a part of Jason��s sentence sounded strange and as if he hadactuallyexperienced time travel but hadn��t been able to change everything, but the moment anyone thought this, they would easily ignore the thought and think that he meant something else.

    In reality, Jason didn��t mean anything else and he wasactuallytalking about his experiences, but no one but him and whoever or whatever was responsible for his regression/ time discement would know what he was talking about.

    Jason still asionally got a bit angry and peeved that despite getting another chance in life, he had not been able to change his biggest regret.

    All that talk about how not bing a legend only came second to the regret from losing his family and it was something Jason wished he could change, but despite getting another chance at life, he had not gotten the chance to change that part of his life hence his heartfelt decision.

    His choice and reason hade from deep down in his heart, but he quickly put it aside and moved on with the live stream.

    This was not the time to be thinking about such things.

    ��Okay, next question guys,�� Jason asked the viewers with a smile that covered up his internal feelings at the moment.

    Soon a barrage of questions filled up the screen asments from the viewers and Jason quickly started looking for an interesting question that he could answer.

    ��Oh, this one looks interesting,�� Jason noticed a question that looked interesting and to him only had one answer, but he wanted to hear Mylo��s answer.

 Chapter 150: Chronicles of Lockdown VII

    Chapter 150: Chronicles of Lockdown VII

    ��Okay, next question guys,�� Jason asked the viewers with a smile that covered up his internal feelings at the moment.

    Soon a barrage of questions filled up the screen asments from the viewers and Jason quickly started looking for an interesting question that he could answer.

    ��Oh, this one looks interesting,�� Jason noticed a question that looked interesting and to him only had one answer, but he wanted to hear Mylo��s answer.

    ��What would be the first thing that you buy if you discover that your neighbor is a vampire?�� Jason read out a question from a user named SteveHardy173.

    ��Maybe some garlic, a silver knife, or a wooden stake,�� Mylo quickly responded, not giving much thought to his answer.

    ��What would you buy?�� Mylo asked Jason.

    ��A new house,�� Jason replied within the next second like it was the most obvious answer possible.

    Jason had watched The Vampire Diaries and The Originals movie series and knew that despite his martial skills, he would not even be able to cope with Elena when she turned vampire, not to mention more dangerous vampires like Katherine, or the Salvatore brothers. {The horror movie ended immediately after it began} Tommy_Schoenithmented.

    {This is without doubt, the option that would be chosen by hood ni**as}bigangieofficiamented.

    {My bruh ain��t even taking a chance with his life} King_drillmonger

    {Jason is so smart} JadaAdamsmented.

    ��God forbid that I meet a life-threatening situation like Nius Mikaelson in the flesh. I��m packing out ASAP, no questions asked. It��s not even a debate,�� Jason reaffirmed his decision

    ��But you could just kill this Nius Mikaelson guy with some garlic and a wooden stake,�� Mylo countered, not sure who the person Jason was talking about was, but if he was a vampire, then he could be killed by some garlic, holy water, and a wooden stake, right?

    ��This is exactly why you would be the first person to die in a horrormovie,or any movie that required someone to die for that matter,�� Jason facepalmed in annoyance.

    ��Hey! What do you mean by that?�� Mylo asked, not understanding what was causing Jason��s exaggerated reaction.

    ��You��re stupid! That��s what I mean by that,like what the fu*k, bro?��Jason spoke in an exasperated tone.

    ��You want to stab Nius Mikaelson, one of the original vampires who is not only immortal but is also a hybrid who has the werewolf gene�� with a stick and some garlic?��

    ��Are you crazy?�� Jason asked in exasperation.

    ��Well, I mean�� he��s a vampire, it only stands to reason that he can be killed by a wooden stake and some garlic, younno?�� Mylo still wasn��t giving up.

    ��Not us Mikkaelson, garlic, and holy water don��t work on him. The only wooded stake that can kill him is from a thousand-year-old ash tree�� which he already burnt down,�� Jason stated with a roll of his eyes in annoyance that he had to be exining something so basic to Mylo.

    ��Aiyoo what the fu*k? Who is that guy?�� Mylo asked in surprise after hearing Jason��s exnation.

    ��The same guy you were thinking of getting rid of with a fuc*ing stick and some garlic����

    ��More like us would skewer you with yourownstick and spice you up with the garlic before feeding you to some fish as us never had a habit of eating idiots,�� Jason stated with annoyance.

    {I can��t say Jason��s wrong on this one} A user namedtherealjosephmorgansuddenlymented and thisment immediately gained Jason��s attention because of the blue tick behind the username.

    ��Crazyyyyyy,�� For a moment Jason couldn��t say more because of his surprise and amazement at that moment.

    Joseph Morgan was the actor who yed the role of Nius Mikaelson in The Vampire Diaries and The Originals.

    The shocking coincidence that Jason was talking about him and that Joseph Morgan happened to be watching Mylo��s livestream was unreal.

    ��What��s a movie star like Joseph Morgan doing watching Mylo��s livestream?�� Jason internally wondered, but no answers were forting from his head as there was no way he would know the reason for such a thing in the first ce.

    ��You got us Mikaelson watching you now, are you happy?�� Jason said to Mylo with augh.

    ��What? Where? I don��t want to be fed to fish?�� Mylo obviously couldn��t see the screen of the phone so he had no idea what was going on and was confused and even slightly scared by Jason��s words.

    ��Don��t worry, you��ll survive for now,�� Jason was saying when Mylo suddenly interrupted him, no longer seemingly scared by Jason��s earlier statement.

    ��Let��s y truth or dare,�� Mylo said with a smile.

    ��Truth or dare? While on live stream?�� Jason was stunned by Mylo��s choice for a game.

    He wasn��t scared of ying truth or dare, but the game could easily go sideways and it would not be fun if they had thousands of people watching them while it happened.

    ��Don��t worry about it, there are no girls around anyway,�� Mylo scoffed.

    ��What is that supposed to change?�� Jason wondered internally but didn��t bother saying it out loud.

    ��Okay then, in that case, let��s go like this. One of us would select either truth or dare, and then the other person would choose from one of the truth or dare requests made by the viewers,�� Jason decided, as this was the best way for it to be fun while still involving both of them as well as the viewers.

    ��Let��s do it! You go first,�� Mylo quickly replied and pushed the ball into Jason��s court.

    ��Aren��t we supposed to decide that with a coin toss or something?�� Jason asked in surprise.

    ��It doesn��treallymatter though, I��ve already answered first in thest two questions,�� Mylo said, his hand dropping a bit due to him already feeling a slight pain from holding the dumbbell for so long.

    ��Up!�� Jason��s voice snapped like a drill sergeant and Mylo��s arm involuntarily flew back upwards.

    ���� I suppose I can go first this time then,�� Jason finally decided after a pause, but he kept his hand on the dumbbell in Mylo��s hand and the position of Mylo��s hand.

    ��Argh�� Okay then, Truth or Dare?�� Mylo asked Jason, his arm already getting sore.

    ��Truth,�� Jason replied within half a second, as for him he would always prefer truth over dare as he had nothing to hide and was not willing to be a guinea pig at the whims of the viewers if he chose ��Dare��.

    ��Okay okay,�� Mylo nodded and walked over to Jason and checked the screen to check and select a question for Jason.

    ��Hmmmm�� Okay this one,�� Mylo finally selected a question after sifting all sorts ofments from the viewers.

    ��What is something about yourself that you think would be very interesting to know?�� Mylo asked Jason the question that was posted as ament by a user named EaziTems56.

    ��An interesting truth about myself, huh?�� Jason murmured, not sure if there was anything about himself that would be considered interesting by other people, but then an issue that had popped up a few weeks ago popped up in his head and he decided to go with that.

    ��Uhm, an interesting truth about myself is thatapparently�� I��m very handsome,�� Jason said with a straight face.

    ���� What? We said interesting truths, not facts,�� Mylo stated in an annoyed voice that had a tinge of envy.

    {What Mylo said!} Davina_Jonesmented.

    {Bro casually just decided to say the most obvious point about himself} CelelestialLayjay5680mented.

    ��I don��t think you guys understand what I��m trying to say���� Jason had to begin exining himself when he noticed Mylo��s reaction as well as thements flying in.

    ��I��m saying that I didn��t know that I was ssified as handsome ording to you guys untiltely����

    ��I have kinda always been used to my face and was never judgemental about other people��s faces so it was only like a few weeks ago when I was receiving so many ��How cute��ments on Instagram that Idid a search ofsorts����

    ��The conclusion is that I couldn��t find anybody who I could ept to be more good-looking than me�� I think it��s my scale that��s broken,�� Jason exined with a wry smile.

    {�� Sh*t�� I guess, looking at a face like that in the mirror every morning can do that to ya} Efritinwearsmented.

    ��What the fu*k?�� Mylo couldn��t keep mute and even uttered a cuss word on the livestream.

    ��Didn��t your parents tell you that you were handsome or something?�� Mylo asked in surprise.

    ��Not since I was seven,��Jason answered, the wry smile not leaving his face.

    ��Why though?�� Mylo asked again, confused and curious as to why Jason��s parents stopped telling him that he was handsome when Jason was seven years old.

    ��Cuz they in heaven,�� Jason answered, still maintaining the wry smile on his face, but all the warmth in his smile was no longer present as if it had been sucked out.

 Chapter 151: Chronicles of Lockdown VIII

    Chapter 151: Chronicles of Lockdown VIII

    The room went silent for a few seconds after Jason��s wordsand even thements stopped for a split second.

    ��You didn��t tell me about that���� Mylo finally said after a few seconds of pause.

    ��I didn��t think you needed to know,��Jason immediately replied, the wry but cold smile on his face seemingly frozen in ce.

    ���� That��s fair, but I��m a little hurt that you didn��t tell me,�� Mylo answered after a pause.

    ��Don��t be, we��re not that close,�� Jason fired back.

    ��Okay let��s move on,�� Jason immediately moved to change the topic as talking about his family wasn��t something he wanted to do with Mylo or any of the viewers.

    Ignoring thements that contained condolences and all sorts of depressing-sounding messages, Jason quickly started speaking as if he didn��t see any of thements on the screen.

    ��Anyway, It��s Mylo��s turn now, right�� so, Mylo, Truth or Dare?�� Jason asked Mylo. ��Uhhh�� Dare,�� Mylo replied after a slight pause to think.

    ��Oh, okay, let��s see what the viewers have nned out for your demise,�� Jason said with a smirk, immediately deciding to pick something that should hurt.

    Hopefully,there were some diabolical viewers who didn��tmind Mylo getting hurt a bit, Jason hoped, but when he started reading thements, he realized that some of the dares were a bit too much.

    ��What the hell?�� Jasonughed out, stunned by some of thements he was seeing.

    More than half of the dares were indecent and a couple of them even had Jason in it�� Of course, Jason easily skipped over all the indecent ones, not because he wouldn��t like it if Mylo made a fool of himself on the inte, but rather because he didn��t want to dirty his own eyes.

    He had to at least pardon his eyes from seeing the horror of Mylo dancing to a nursery rhyme in his underwear�� which was one of the less indecent requests from the viewers.

    ��Can��t you guys make a dare that is a little less�� intense, you��re going to kill my eyes if Mylo has to do any of these,�� Jason had to speak up at one point because the dares he was seeing were bing increasingly ��morous��.

    The viewers, of course, didn��t listen as they were here for fun, and what greater fun was there than having somebody tough at�� or at least that��s how they thought.

    Luckily, there were still a few less intense viewers who sent a couple of milder dares and Jason didn��t hesitate to pick thoseonesout.

    ��Well, Mylo, I��m kinda stuck in between making you do a hundred push-ups at a go asAuntieMayarequested, or making you have a three-minute martial exchange with me which is a request fromangiestewart,�� Jason selected two of the mildest choices�� though the second choice was a bit more due to personal bias.

    Jason had been looking for an opportunity to beat up Mylo, or as some of his countrymen would say, ��To wear him better 500��, but Jason couldn��t be obvious about it as there wereobviouslya lot of issues that could arise from beating up his roommate.

    The media would have a field day if Jason made such a move and he would probably never hear the end of it.

    Even without doing anything, they were already trying to trip him up at interviews, so he could just imagine what they would do if they got a wind of Jason ever beating up Mylo with or without reason.

    This game of truth or dare would invalidate that and Jason would have a perfect excuse to beat up Mylo.

    His expertise with martial arts would also help him to reduce the visual effects of the fight and he could make Mylo feel pain while making others downy the fight as something not hurtful.

    Unfortunately for Jason, he still couldn��t be so obvious with something like pulling Mylo into a fight with him, or the media would have something to grab on to and Jason would see ��Talented young football star beats up his roommate under the guise of a truth or dare game�� as an headline the next day.

    That was the actual point, but Jason didn��t need the media to know that, especially now when they were on lockdown and wereobviouslystarving for stories and had all the time in the world to construct bullshit in the name of news.

    In the end, Jason could only give Mylo a choice and hope that he was stupid enough to pick the option to have a fight with Jason over doing a hundred push-ups.

    ��You make a choice�� or you can pick both and have your dumbbell holding exercise waived off,�� Jason threw a bait as he knew that there was a very high chance that Mylo would pick the hundred push-ups choice over a fight with Mylo.

    Mylo was already about to pick the hundred push-ups option when he heard the first half of Jason��s sentence, but hearing the second part of Jason��s sentence, he paused before he opened his mouth and began to think about it.

    An opportunity to get rid of the three-hourtraini�� punishment wasdefinitelya tempting opportunity for him as his hand was already feeling sore and he had not even held it up for ten minutes yet.

    All he would have to do was to survive against Jason for three minutes, which wasdefinitelypossible, and even if it was a bit too much for him to survive in a fight against Jason, dodging and running away for three minutes wasdefinitelypossible.

    It would be difficult, but it wasdefinitelypossible, right?

    As Mylo was deliberating on whether to y it safe or to go all in, the viewers didn��t stopmenting,

    {What a boring choice of dares�� but a fight does sound interesting}TrevorJacksomented.

    {How interesting can a fight between two footballers be? Not like they��re going to be dribbling around themselves}NecroPinmented.

    {If it��s about dribbling themselves, Jason wouldobviouslywin}DarleneThomson11replied toNecroPina��sment.

    {Time to see if all that stuff Mylo said about Jason��s fighting skills checks out}Alexander_Johanson7mented as well.

    ��Okay�� I��ve decided�� I��m going to do����

 Chapter 152: Chronicles of Lockdown IX

    Chapter 152: Chronicles of Lockdown IX

    ��Okay, I��ve decided, I��m going to do the hundred push-ups,��

    ���� And the three-minute martial exchange,�� Mylo said confidently while thinking to himself that he had probably overestimated Jason��s skill in martial arts and that there was no way Jason would be able toreallybeat him up that much.

    Thest time was probably a fluke because he hadn��t expected Jason to react so suddenly when he thought Jason was sleeping.

    ��I probably overestimated his talent because I was a little shaken by how suddenly it happened,�� Mylo unknowingly tried to convince himself, trying to attribute hisst defeat to Jason to how sudden it happened and him being off guard.

    Anyway, there wasn��treallya way that Jason was that skilled at martial arts, otherwise, he would be a martial artist, not a footballer, or at least there would be evidence that Jason practiced martial arts seriously, but there was none.

    Jason wasn��t excessively jacked up and was even on the lean side, though his muscles were solid and firm because of how much effort he put into his physical conditioning, but this wasn��t reminiscent of a trained martial artist.

    Martial artists didn��t have to be excessively big, but Jason didn��t look like even the small martial artists�� unless of course, one counted the martial artists that one saw in movies, like Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, or Jet Li.

    All this worked to convince Mylo��s faltering mind, that he had given Jason a bit too much credit, and that Jason wasn��t even halfway anywhere near as dangerous as he was thinking, because if he was, then Jason would be anything but a professional footballer. ��Oh�� you really wanna do both?�� Jason spoke in a questioning tone, but inwardly he was pumping his fist in joy.

    ���� You know it��s not necessary for you to try and fight against me�� I��ll even waive off your dumbbell training if you do just the hundred push-ups at a go,�� Jason continued, sounding a bit apprehensive, but he knew what he was doing.

    This was the second part of his n�� after making Mylo think that he could somehow survive fighting against him without harm, or even making Mylo overthink and make him think that he could fight Jason, then Jason would try to avoid the fighting part and make it seem like he didn��t want to fight against Mylo.

    Knowing Mylo, Jason knew that this wouldn��t go down well with his pride, and just like he expected,

    ��Really? I mean, no�� I already epted, I won��t be going back on my word,�� Mylo said and tried to sound confident while thinking to himself.

    ��I knew he wasn��t that confident in fighting against me. Did hereallythink I would back off if he tried to reduce the requirement,��

    ��Why was I even scared of this guy?�� Mylo started thinking over confidently.

    ���� You do know that I would not hold back, right?�� Jason asked, his eyes narrowing and his tone low and fear-inducing, but Mylo seemed to be on a high and did not notice any of these dangerous signs as he replied confidently.

    ��Bring it on broski.��

    ���� You��re treading on a very dangerous path here, Mylo�� It��s gonna be three minutes of hell if youreallychoose to do this,�� Jason sighed, staying in character.

    ��Yeah, three minutes of hell for you, bro. Bring it on I say!�� Mylo retorted with confidence brimming from his tone.

    Jason sighed again, this time for real, as despite all this being half of his own doing and it being what he wanted, he could not help but feel a bit of pity for Mylo who walked into the trap confidently, not knowing he was about to get more smoke than he had ever seen his whole life.

    ��It seems like you really wanna catch these hands�� alright then, don��t say I didn��t warn ya,�� Jason said for good measure.

    His n wasplete and it was a sessful and wless wrap.

    He had tricked Mylo into getting into a fight with him and helped him puff up hisownconfidence so he wouldn��t immediately run away the moment the fight started.

    He had also disyed concern and issued a few warnings to Mylo so even ifthere were some jobless reporters who still decidedto feature this matter in their reports, Jason would be as innocent as an angel, and would only be said to be merely going along with the game.

    Even if the reporters decided to lie, there was clear evidence that put him in the clear.

    Now that the n wasplete, it was time to reap his return.

    ��You��re in for a world of pain kid,�� Jason finally put down the act and a wicked grin shone on his face as he cracked his knuckles.

    Mylo was a bit stunned by the sudden change in atmosphere, but his newly built confidence helped him hold out and stay almost unmoved by the sudden change.

    The viewers on the other hand immediately felt it��

    Mylo was in hot soup and he didn��t know it yet, but what were they going to do about it?

    Get their popcorn ready and wait to watch the show while staying ready to banter and take pics that would be memes in the future.

    Such was the life of a viewer, and it was spectacr.

    Of course, they did not forget toment,

    {Things just gotrealserious}TseTse_Eadlmented

    {Where are they even going to fight?}Bro_is_Boredasked.

    {Are ambnces going to be allowed tepicksomeboriup, cuz that Mylo dude suddenly be looking like dead meat}LandinoChrimented.

    {Hold for a minute and let me prepare some popcorn}Daoist_BlowingUmented.

    Jason ignored thements from the viewers who seemed to be smarter than Mylo as they could see the situation clearly�� or felt it��

    ��So, do you want to start with the push-ups or the martial exchange?�� Jason asked with a smile.

    ��It wouldn��t be toote to do a hundred push-ups after beating your ass up,�� Mylo answered with bravado, his tone brimming with confidence.

    ��Hahahaha, this kid���� Jasonughed in surprise at Mylo��s confidence.

    ��Seems like you need an attitude adjustment, and I wouldn��t mind giving it to you,�� Jason said with a smile, but his smile was devious rather than warm.

 Chapter 153: Chronicles of Lockdown X

    Chapter 153: Chronicles of Lockdown X

    ��So, do you want to start with the push-ups or the martial exchange?�� Jason asked with a smile.

    ��It wouldn��t be toote to do a hundred push-ups after beating your ass up,�� Mylo answered with bravado, his tone brimming with confidence.

    ��Hahahaha, this kid, seems like you need an attitude adjustment, and I wouldn��t mind giving it to you,�� Jason said with a smile, but his smile was devious rather than warm.

    ��Let��s get it then,�� Mylo answered back confidently.

    He was on a roll and very high on confidence and that was pushing him as he stood against Jason.

    ��Hold up, we can��t exchange blows in a congested ce so we need space,�� Jason stated the obvious, but what he didn��t mention was that if he fought Mylo in a ce filled with heavy gym equipment, there was a possibility of heavy injury or something worse�� a lot worse.

    Jason didn��t have enough annoyance against Mylo to want to send him sleeping with the fishes, especially not on a live stream, so he needed to get that rectified ASAP.

    Luckily, most of the equipment could be moved aside to create enough room for them to be able to exchange blows and for Mylo to fall over without mming his head into heavy�� brain-damaging objects. ��Okay, let��s move some of this stuff and see if you can survive three minutes against me,�� Mylo agreed, though his words had Jason reeling on the inside.

    Jason removed Mylo��s phone from the selfie stick, fastened it to the phone stand instead, and ced it at an angle where it could record the whole room.

    After putting the phone down, Jason wanted to join Mylo in moving stuff, but his phone went off at that moment and started ringing loudly.

    It was only at this moment that Jason remembered that his phone was still connected to his Bluetooth speaker and the phone��s ring tone was being broadcasted especially loudly due to this.

    ��It��s Sofie,�� Mylo who was closer to the phone picked it up and saw the name disyed on the screen.

    ��Throw it,�� Jason said to Mylo and without hesitation, Mylo immediately threw the phone at Jason.

    The phone flew at Jason, and he immediately stretched out his right leg to catch the back of the phone before carefully drawing his leg backward and decreasing the speed to take out all the velocity from the throw.

    He soon flicked the phone up into his hand and caught it smoothly before swiping across the screenlikehe had just performed a perfectly normal action.

    ��Hey Jason,�� Sofia��s voice came out of the Bluetooth speaker before Jason could switch the phone back to the phone microphone.

    ��Hey what��s up,�� Jason answered smoothly, not holding the phone up to his ear as it was a video call and he could see Sofia��s face through the phone.

    He also did not forget to switch back to the phone mic as he didn��t want his conversation with Sofia broadcasted to the inte.

    ��You��re notreallygoing to fight Mylo, right?�� Sofia asked, a bit of concern in her voice.

    ���� Huh, and how did you know that?�� Jason asked, in a weird tone.

    ��I��m watching the live stream, you know?�� Sofia immediately answered back.

    ��Why are you watching Mylo��s livestream in the first ce?�� Jason asked again.

    He did not know what had prompted Sofia to be watching a livestream by his dork of a roommate.

    ��Well, I watch it every day, and���� Sofia attempted to exin, but Jason cut her off with a well-timed,

    ��Excuse me?Youwatch it every day? For what? To watch this idiot roommate of mine perform like a circus monkey every day?�� Jason fired off question after question.

    ��It��s not like that, my roommates areactuallythe ones that watch it and I just join them since I don��treallyhave much to do anyway,�� Sofia exined.

    ��Why are you sounding so insecure?�� Sofia asked in surprise.

    ��Me? Insecure?�� Jason asked back with the weirdest look on his face.

    ��The word ��insecure�� and I cannot be in the same sentence, Sofia,�� Jason scoffed with disdain, and it was true.

    Jason was normally not a person who was big on the emotions between the male and the female species and he had had more girls pass through his hands and end up with another guy than he could count, especially since he was never interested in a serious rtionship back then.

    He may have feelings for Sofia that hehimselfwas having a hard time keeping in check, but he had not deteriorated into the kind of person who would be insecure because of stupid stuff like his girl watching somebody else on TV oronher phone.

    The recent enlightenment about how handsome heactuallywas had further solidified his emotional strength and confidence so insecurity could not be further away from him, after all, he was THE catch, not just A catch.

    Jason��s problem was why someonewho wasclosely rted to him was watching a dork��s live stream, and by dork, he meant Mylo�� that didn��t change even though Jason was currently on the live stream, after all, even the worst of news channels could have Cristiano Ronaldo on TV, can��t they?

    That didn��t decrease Cristiano Ronaldo��s status as one of the greatest to ever grace the game, did it?

    For Jason, being on Mylo��s livestream was the same thing�� Doing it wouldn��t make him an idiot like Mylo.

    ��If you��re not insecure�� then why all the questions?�� Sofia asked, and Jason couldclearlysee her rolling her eyes.

    ��Well, you��re watching Mylo��s live stream���� Jason repeated and then paused.

    ��And���� Sofia asked, not understanding what Jason was getting at.

    ���� I thought you said you didn��t like idiotic animals?�� Jason said with an eye raised.

    ��What?�� Sofia��s eyes widened before she burst intoughter.

    ���� You know, you��re also on the live stream, right?�� Sofia finally said afterughing for a bit.

    ��That��s different,�� Jason argued.

    ��Different how?�� Sofia asked.

    ��Well, you can consider me sort of like a human visiting the zoo,�� Jason stated with a straight face, but that only sent Sofia into another round ofughter.

 Chapter 154: Chronicles of Lockdown XI

    Chapter 154: Chronicles of Lockdown XI

    ��Anyway, let��s get back to your original question about whether I��ll be fighting Mylo or not���� Jason quickly brought the conversation back on track before they spent the next hour just talking about meaningless stuff.

    Jason didn��t want to waste that much time and let Mylo escape from the beati�� martial exchange that he had managed to set up with much difficulty.

    ��The answer is yes�� this is what you guys wanted,�� Jason said.

    ��You guys?�� Sofia almost coughed out, stunned.

    ��I mean, I didn��t exactly choose the options and these were the mildest and least embarrassing ones among the ones that you guys sent,�� Jason retorted.

    ���� Okay, I can��t deny that wanting to make Mylo dance on the street in his underwear is a little out of hand,�� Sofiaughed.

    ��A little out of hand��? Like seriously?�� Jason didn��treallycare, but an actor had to stay in character at every moment, so he couldn��t act like he was nonchnt about it all this while after seemingly caring about it earlier.

    ��Ugh�� Anyway, forget that, will you be alright if you fight with Mylo?�� Sofia asked, concern returning to her voice. ��Don��t worry about it, Mylo��s the one in danger, not me,�� Jason stated with ease in his words.

    ��Danger? It��s just a little fight, right? There should be no danger involved, right?�� Sofia asked question after question, Jason��s answer having seemingly increased her anxiety.

    ��There wouldn��t be an issue with it, trust me,�� Jason reaffirmed his point and reassured Sofia that there wouldn��t be a problem�� at least for him, there wouldn��t.

    Itstillremained to be seen if Mylo would still have enough in him for him to even think of doing the next part of the dare after Jason was done with his venti�� after they were done with the martial exchange.

    ��Okay, I gotta go,�� Jason said, wanting to hang up the call and get to venting out on Mylo, but Sofia called out,

    ��Hey wait! My roommates asked if they could see you,��

    ��See me?�� Jason worked out and looked over at Mylo��s phone that was being used for the live stream and saw that it hadn��t fallen over.

    ��I mean, they can see me on the livestream, can��t they?�� Jason asked, not understanding what she meant by saying her roommates wanted to see him.

    ��I mean, they wanna say high,�� Sofia corrected herself and had a funny smile on her face.

    ��Oh�� I mean sure,�� Jason intoned, finally understanding what her previous words meant.

    ��Alright.��

    ��Emilia! Stephanie!�� Sofia called out in a low and slightly harsh tone.

    ��Here, here,�� Jason heard two other voices before a couple more faces appeared on the screen and the two of them started waving at him while trying to introduce themselves all at the same time, but their voice all sounded like a babble to Jason due to how chaotic the situation was.

    ��I have no idea what either of you is saying and you guys talking all at the same time ain��t helping,��

    ��One at a time please,�� Jason said when he still couldn��t make heads or tails out of anything they were saying after a few more seconds of listening.

    ��See, I told you guys not to overreact,�� Sofia said and pped one of the girls on the head.

    ��Hey! It��s not my fault that Stephanie is interrupting me when I��m trying to talk to your boyfriend,�� the girl who was hit on the head by Sofia cried out.

    Emilia and the other girl whom Jason confirmed to be Stephanie both had dark hair like Sofia and could be said to be beauties like Sofia�� they were not extravagantly beautiful, but they were still eye-catching, though the girl named Emilia seemed to be the most beautiful among this group of friends, even more than Sofia.

    Jason of course noticed this as while he liked Sofia, he wasn��t exactly blind nor romantic enough to believe that one��s girlfriend was the most beautiful in the world.

    That wasobviouslybullsh*t!

    Men just said that bullshit because they were stuck with what they had and did not want to lose the little peace they had left in their lives after letting women in.

    The girls re-introduced themselves to Jason, in a more orderly manner this time, and Jason learned that they shared the room with Sofia at Lisbon as well as a few other things about them.

    After chatting for about two more minutes with the two girls dering their support for Jason in his fight against Mylo, Jason finally ended the call, put down his phone, and turned around to see that Mylo was already doing the push-ups.

    It seemed that Mylo had finished creating space in the middle of the room, and when he saw that Jason was still on the call, he took over the stream once again and started doing the push-ups.

    By the time Jason was done with his call, Mylo had already done over forty push-ups and was still going at it, though he was already slightly wheezing.

    Jason didn��t try to interrupt and simply watched on as Mylo went at it, push-up after push-up, reducing the number of push-ups he had to do with each pump of his muscle.

    A whole minuteter, Mylo had already crossed over the eighty push-upsndmark and was heaving, already finding it difficult to move his hands anymore, yet Jason just stared on.

    Jason didn��t even bother trying to hype him up because he wasn��t exactly rooting for him like those dime-a-dozen gym bros that one would find at any gym in the USA.

    The only thing Jason wanted from Mylo was for him to quickly finish up so that Jason could get to venting on that annoying face.

    Mylo was oblivious and continued pushing himself, finally managing to reach ny-five push-ups with a lot of effort, but he didn��t stop and kept pushing,

    ��Ny-six,�� Mylo groaned as he pushed himself up, but he soon went down again,

    ��Urgh, Ny-seven,�� he huffed, but didn��t stop and was soon pushing himself back up,

    ��Nyyyyy-eight,��

    ��Ny-nineee!�� Mylo held himself up after the ny-ninth push-up, not daring to go down immediately as it felt like his arms would copse immediately if he did so.

    ��AAAAAHHHH, one hundred,�� Mylo pushed himself hard andpleted thest push-up before allowing his arms to give way and he fell to the ground to rest for a while.

    ��Why��s he making so much noise like he were some anime protagonist?�� Jason wondered in annoyance as he picked up a towel and a bottle of water for Mylo.

    The water was for Mylo to get rehydrated ASAP, and the towel was because Jason wanted Mylo to clean off his sweat as he didn��t want more body fluid than necessary to be present on Mylo while he was been pummeled.

    One had to set up a good meal if they wanted to eat nicely, right?

 Chapter 155: Chronicles of Lockdown XII (A Martial Exchange)

    Chapter 155: Chronicles of Lockdown XII (A Martial Exchange)

    ��Thanks,�� Mylo muttered as he caught the towel and bottle of water that Jason tossed to him one after the other. With a quick snap of his wrists, he opened up the water bottle and began gulping down.

    Jason headed over to the phone on the stand, intending to read thements made by the viewers about Mylo��s push-ups, but to his surprise, all thements seemed to be directed at him.

    {We heard the girl��s voice, rose dragon. and we demand answers!} a user namedTsettmented.

    {Bruh pulled away from the live stream to answer a woman friend}xBumented.

    {Now we know he ain��t gay}thegame2mented.

    ��Gay? What would make you even think that?�� Jason immediately asked as that particrment stood out to him among all the others.

    With a face as handsome as his, who would dare to doubt his manly integrity?

    He was the one to give the back shots, not the one to receive them�� also he only gave the back shots to females who were born as females. {Well, you��re American, are handsome, and no one has ever seen you with a girl�� }thegame2mented in reply to Jason��s question but other questions that shouted him down soon arose.

    {Bruh, that wasn��t even up for debate in the first ce�� he��s called the rose dragon for Christ��s sake}Ryeballemented in reply tothegame26��ment.

    {I know why he��s called that�� but let��s not forget that he gave the rose to a young girl that��s not even ten}thegame2mented back unwilling to give up on his argument.

    {�� so ording to your reasoning�� Jason��s a pedo?} A user namedFour9mented in response tothegame26��testment.

    ��Ok, hold up, hold up, hold the hell up,��Jason immediately spoke up before anybody else said anything worse than what they were already saying.

    ��Don��t these guys minds have a filter?�� Jason thought tearfully as he was currently being the one dissected by these guys.

    ��First and foremost, I do not swing that way, I never have and I am very confident that I never will���� Jason immediately began speaking, not intending to give these viewers any more opportunity to nder his good name�� on Instagram for that matter.

    ��Second, the jubtion that led to me being called the�� rose dragon, and whatever other names you guys cooked up, was a spur-of-the-moment thing,�� Jason paused a little while saying the nickname that had been given to him as it still gave him quite a bit of cringe to say it out loud.

    ��Hell, I don��t even know who threw the rose, but as soon as it was in my hand, I just did whatever came to mindAlso, I gave the flower to Selina, the little girl, because I remembered her from a meeting with the fans before the Portimonense match,��

    ��As for why I gave it to her specifically when there were other girls in the crowd�� well, it��s cuz she bears the same name as my sister who is now in heaven���� he exined, but after this statement, he immediately realized that the conversation could go back to his family, so he opened up his mouth again.

    ��Also, I have a girlfriend that would make sure that my head didn��t stay connected to my body if Iactuallygave a rose to another girl on live television,�� Jason added for good measure, trying to change the attention of the viewers from little Selina to his ��girlfriend�� which in reality, Jasonactuallydidn��t have yet.

    Of course, he was talking with Sofia and they were already more than friends, but Jason hadn��t made things official, neither had he had ns of doing so anytime soon�� though part of it was because he wasn��t sure he could pull it off.

    To be clearer, it wasn��t that he was scared that Sofia would reject him, rather, the problem was him�� Sofia would be his first ��girlfriend�� in both of his lives, so it was obvious that he did not have any expertise in dealing with it.

    His expertisey in football, cooking, martial arts, ��genital meets and greets��, shooting, and a few other things�� but none of those things would be of any help inthe emotional problems he was having.

    ��Anyway, since, all that is clear, then we��ll put that matter aside for now and focus on something more pressing���� Jason immediately continued speaking, not wanting to leave any space for the viewers toment��

    Also, Mylo seemed to have rested up well enough and was staring at him hard for some strange reason.

    ��No matter how hard this kid looks at me, he still gonna get an ass-whooping,�� Jason thoughtughingly to himself.

    ��Hey, do you still want to do the second part of the dare��?��

    ��There are no issues if you stop now and you don��t even have to continue holding up the dumbbell,�� Jason seemingly stressed, making it seem like hereallydid not want to fight with Mylo.

    ��Then what would we have made all this space for?�� Mylo replied with a question, gesturing with his hands towards the room.

    ��We aredefinitelydoing this,�� he continued determinedly and stood up.

    Mylo was already at the point of no return,pletely drunk on his overconfidence and thinking that he could win against Jason in a fight.

    He hadpletely forgotten hisownarguments to the viewers that Jason could ��fold him better than the mostpactwn chair in seconds�� and he now thought that fighting Jason couldn��t be that hard of a chore.

    The fact that he hadpleted a hundred push-ups in a go, which was something he had never done before, was boosting his confidence even more.

    ��Are youreally, really, really sure you wanna do this bro?�� there wouldn��t be a ce for you to cry after things go sideways���� Jason still made it seem like he was trying to convince Mylo.

    ��Trust me�� me saying you can��t win is an understatement�� you��re in for a lot of pain is more apt for me to say����Jasonid bare his true feelings about the oue of the match.

    ��And I still say, let��s do this, throw your hands up,�� Mylo said with confidence and threw the towel and bottle over to the side

    ���� Don��t say I didn��t warn ya,�� Jason said with a wry smile on his face as he put the phone stand and adjusted it back so that it could record the uing ��martial exchange��.

 Chapter 156: Chronicles of Lockdown XIII (A Martial Exchange II)

    Chapter 156: Chronicles of Lockdown XIII (A Martial Exchange II)

    ���� Don��t say I didn��t warn ya,�� Jason said with a wry smile on his face as he put the phone stand and adjusted it back so that it could record the uing ��martial exchange��.

    ��Do you need to rest for a few more minutes?�� Jason asked as he picked up his phone to set a timer of three minutes.

    He needed the rm to remind him to stop beating up Mylo in case he got carried away pummeling Mylo�� though that was unlikely.

    Beating up Mylo for a minute should be enough, but the rm was there in case Mylo tried to run away.

    ��I��m okay�� I have enough fuel in me to wipe you all over this ce,�� Mylo replied, his overconfidence pushing him to even begin trash-talking Jason.

    ��Oh, I see,�� Jason muttered as he put his phone down, picked up a tape, and began wrapping his hand with professional speed and efficiency and he soon wrapped his two hands in tape in less than thirty seconds.

    ��Do you need any protective equipment, I wouldn��t mind you taping a few pillows to yourself���� Jason said to Mylo, though a wordless part of that sentence remained at the back of his throat.

    ��It wouldn��treallymatter anyway,�� Jason thought but didn��t say that part out. ��I don��t need it to deal with you,�� Mylo said with a smile as he stepped into the middle of the room.

    ��Hehhaah,�� Jason��s bottom lip went in between his teeth and he licked his lip while doing his best to hide a wicked smile that threatened to burst out.

    Jason tapped on his phone to begin the countdown and removed his shoes and socks before stepping into the space in the middle of the room with Mylo.

    Jason did the ��Palm Hold Fist�� salute before going back into a normal posture and his mouth opened,

    ��Let��s go then, show me whether you��re all talk or not,��

    ��Don��t worry, a ck eye should convince you,�� Mylo still replied confidently, which was a contrast to the viewers who were already writing Mylo��s obituary.

    {That was a martial arts greeting that Jason just did now, wasn��t it? But I��ve never seen anyone do it and then not get into a stance}pandapants_10mented.

    {Mylo��s dead, isn��t he?}tankman134mented as well.

    {He was a funnyd�� a bit of an idiot, but then, idiocy does lead to death, doesn��t it?}VisineAnmented, hisment sounding like Mylo was already past tense.

    {The Palm Hold Fist salute�� I��ve seen it used a lot by martial artists, but for someone to not even get into a stance after it must mean he doesn��t even see the opponent as a threat}PathOfZenreplied topandapants_101��s earliement.

    {Hey, don��t give up on Mylo yet, he could stun us with some beginner luck, also, Jason��s probably not that good of a fighter}Chukwualukmented, but before anyone else couldment Mylo charged at Jason with stupid bravado.

    Jason watched the approaching Mylo to try and determine his intentions.

    As opposed to the overconfidence in his tone, his eyes carried a hit of wariness that let Jason know that Mylo was probably going to try to run the moment he realized that the fight was beyond him.

    Jason couldn��t have that, so he waited for Mylo to lunge into his attack.

    As soon as Mylo was close enough, he immediately threw a left jab at Jason��s face with a force that he considered to be impressive, but to Jason was no more than a breeze.

    Jason��s right hand flew up and curving his elbow to cover the whole of his face, Jason blocked Mylo��s jab which surprised Mylo, but there were other surprises toe.

    Without skipping a beat, Jason��s left hand curled up in a fist and flew at Mylo��s face at blinding speed.

    All Mylo saw was a blurry movement and his head snapped back, but before he could recover, Jason��s left leg snapped forward at an even faster speed and collided with his right thigh.

    On collision Mylo��s right leg immediately gave way and Mylo crumbled to the floor.

    All of Jason��s movement had urred in less than two seconds.

    From blocking Mylo��s jab to punching Mylo��s face, and then attacking Mylo��s thigh, it had all happened in one smooth chain movement.

    Not to mention, that every one of Jason��s movements had a clear objective.

    The first block was to prevent himself from being hit by Mylo��s jab as it would have probably thrown him off a bit, the second move, which was the punch to Mylo��s face was to stun him and throw his senses into disarray by attacking the cranial nerve.

    Thest kick to the thigh was to prevent Mylo from being able to run away and everything had hit the mark.

    ��Seems I still got it,�� Jason muttered to himself, but his voice was loud enough to be picked up by Mylo��s phone��s microphone.

    {Ohshittttt!!!}WayTooBimented.

    {I just got wet}SluttyLettmentedNSFWcontent.

    {��You still got it?���� Ni**a you finna kill somebody with those moves}CorneliusJohnsomented.

    {I said it already but�� Mylo��s dead, isn��t he?}tankman134mented again.

    {I wish the rose knight coulesave me from bad guys with those moves, then he��ll spend the rest of the night showing me his other moves}DreamyAngelica6mented.

    {Horny women in the chat!!! I��m one of them!!!}VeronicaLecroimented.

    {Mmm mm youngdy, you are grounded for 2 weeks!}Professor_BeLecroixreplied toVeronicaLecroixand from the content of the message, there seemed to be a familial connection between the two users.

    {Mum!!!??? Why are you watching this kind of stuff?}VeronicaLecroixreplied toProfessor_BeLecroix��sment and exasperationand embarrassment could be noticed from the tone of her message.

    {Do you know how many years it��s been since your dad went to get some milk? It��s not my fault I��m thirsty}Professor_BeLecroixgave a sound argument in reply toVeronicaLecroix��sment.

    {I left cuz your freaky ass was always thirsty and woulda wrung me dry of my milk, so I left to get more milk}OndLecroimented in reply toProfessor_BeLecroix��stestment.

    {Dad? Where are you? I miss you��}VeronicaLecroixreplied toOndLecroix��sment.

    {Hm Hm, nope�� I ain��t yet drank enough milk for your momma to wring out, you ain��t got no daddy}OndLecroixreplied toVeronicaLecroix��sment.

    {�� O��K�� Can somebody tell me what the fu*k is happening right now???}Tsettmented in utter confusion at this sudden turn of events.

 Chapter 157: Chronicles of Lockdown XIV (Attitude Adjustment)

    Chapter 157: Chronicles of Lockdown XIV (Attitude Adjustment)

    While the chat descended into chaos, Jason and Mylo remainedpletely unaware as they were still in a fight and didn��t have time to check the chat, though they would have been just as confused as the rest of the chat if they had seen what was going on.

    Mylo shook his head to try and clear his stabilize his vision which seemed to have been detached from its scope and was bouncing around quite freely.

    Jason who had thrown away all forms of pretense stood before Mylo, waiting for him to get back up, though he had some doubt that Mylo would be able to get back up.

    Unfortunately for him, Mylo found enough determination and energy somewhere within himself to get back up even though his vision was still bouncing around.

    ��You were lucky that time,e on,�� Mylo said in a tough voice as he put his hands up and started moving cautiously towards Jason, his movement a lot slower than his earlier reckless charge at Jason.

    He seemed to have learned from the earlier attack, that Jason was a lot tougher than he expected, but he still had not given up on winning the fight.

    Unfortunately for him, all his movements were already shaky in Jason��s view and were no problem at all. The only problem Jason had was choosing how to counter against him.

    Jason had to use moves that would counter him perfectly, would not look too dangerous, and would still feel satisfying for him who was beating Mylo up. ��Tch���� Jason clicked his tongue in annoyance as he thought about how to deal with Mylo.

    He was running out of options as he had realized that while Mylo may look quite sturdy for a striker, he was in no way resistant towards blows and was already very dis-coordinated from an indirect hit to his cranial nerve.

    Earlier, Jason hadn��t directly targeted Mylo��s cranial nerve as it would have been too obvious and he had instead covered up his intentions by hitting a wider area with his fist which should have lessened the effects of the blow, but Mylo was still affected quite a bit which Jason could easily notice from his slightly woozy movements and unfocused eye pupils.

    The problem Jason had was that Muay Thai was too aggressive for Jason to ��carefully�� take Mylo out as any roundhouse kick, axe heel kick, or knee kick would instantly take Mylo out, and it would look very dangerous.

    Annoyingly enough, Jason couldn��t use Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu as it was in a way just as dangerous as Muay Thai, if not more harmful.

    Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu targeted joints and was intended to be used to make opponents submit which would be quite dangerous in this situation as he could end up disjointing some of Mylo��s bones, especially since Mylo was already dis-coordinated at the moment and could end up worsening the situation if Jason got him in a lock.

    Unfortunately, Mylo wasn��t willing to stay down, so Jason needed to find a way to put him out ofmission before someone said that he was bullying Mylo with martial arts when he could have easily ended the fight.

    Luckily, it seemed like the stars had aligned for Jason today as Mylo kicked out clumsily when he came at Jason and it wasn��t even a side kick or a sweeping kick, but rather a very straight and direct kick.

    Immediately a few countermoves appeared in his mind and Jason��s face suddenly widened into a smile when an interesting idea popped up in his head.

    Not getting out of the way, Jason let kick at him, but at thest minute, Jason moved back and let Mylo��s legnd on his thigh instead, but before Mylo could rejoice in his mind that he had managed tond a hit on Jason, Jason suddenly moved.

    Jason��s arm shot forward, grasped Mylo��s wrist, and pulled Mylo forward with amazing force.

    With Mylo��s leg on Jason��s thigh, Mylo didn��t have any choice but to be pulled into a pivoted movement using Jason��s pull and thigh and he soon found himself on Jason��s shoulder.

    With Mylo on his shoulder, Jason called out,

    ��Hey, Google,��

    Jason��s phone beeped in response, awaiting Jason��s nextmand.

    ��y The Time is Now by John Cena,�� Jason said with a devious smile.

    Mylo who was on Jason��s shoulder didn��t understand what was happening, but he recognized the name John Cena,andwhen he heard John Cena��s theme song begin ying from the Bluetooth speaker he started trying to throw himself off Jason��s shoulder, but Jason had a death grip on him and his dis-coordinated movements weren��t helping matters.

    Even the chat that was watching the fight while arguing could not help squinting their eyes in surprise when they realized where the situation was going.

    Their surprise onlysted for a second though and in the next second anticipation filled their hearts to see Jason��s ��attitude adjustment�� which he had promised to deliver to Mylo earlier, though when he had said it, they hadn��t thought he meant to do it ��John Cena Style��.

    Of course, Jason wasn��t paying any attention to them and was more interested in keeping up with the song, and at the right moment before the intro of the song, Jason executed a perfect ��attitude adjustment��.

    With surprising strength, Mylo found himself being thrown over Jason��s shoulder and his vision turning in a way that let him know that it wasn��t caused by dizziness before it finally ended with a bang as his back was mmed onto the wooden floor of the room.

    Mylo couldn��t even scream in pain as his back hit the floor as he simplyy there, the pain having shocked all the fighting spirit out of him and his wooziness increasing even further.

    However Jason didn��t stop after mming him down, he quickly grabbed Mylo��s leg, held it up in a pin, and mmed his hand down the first, second, and third time, before standing up and spreading his hands out with a huge smile on his face as if he had just won the Wrestlemania.

    {Following the most perfect attitude adjustment I��ve seen after John Cena��s, the Rose Dragon has sessfully won the Wrestlemania Quarantine}CorneliusJohnsonturned into a WWEmentator and unleashed amentary level that was just as good as other WWEmentators.

    {Aiyooo, somebodygetmy man in the ring with John Cena for a tag team match ASAP}Dark_Shadow00mented in ecstasy

    {Tears innameeyes right now�� there has to be a follow-up match, right?}Tommy_Schoenitmented with fervor.

    {Yesssss�� Maybe he can do a knuckle shuffler or an RKO in the next match}TrevorJacksomented, saying things that would cause Mylo to have a heart attack if he knew.

 Chapter 158: Chronicles of Lockdown XV

    Chapter 158: Chronicles of Lockdown XV

    Jason didn��t stop at just spreading his arms out to the sky, he also went back to Mylo and leaned over before waving his hand across his face, doing the ��You can��t see me�� schtick.

    Mylo didn��t react as he was way too dizzy to even care about it and Jason didn��treallycare about his situation at the moment as he was enjoying having mmed down Mylo.

    ��Maybe I should do thiseverynow and then, it does wonders for my mental stress,�� Jason thought to himself with a lopsided grin, but Mylo would be rmed to hear the thoughts going through Jason��s head.

    ncing at Mylo who was just staring at the roof��s ceiling,pletely silent since the attitude adjustment, Jason scoffed internally and went to pick up the phone stand.

    ��Anyway guys, it was fun interacting with you all, but I gotta get back to training now, and I don��t think Mylo is in any condition to continue the livestream,�� Jason said to the viewers while turning the camera in Mylo��s direction so they could see Myloclearly.

    {And whose fault is that?}Chukwualukmented.

    ��Uh, it��s you guys�� fault, I just chose one of the avable options�� I��m sure Mylo would pick a fight with me over dancing to Gangnam style on the street in his underwear where he could be arrested due to breaking quarantine rules,�� Jason shot back with an argument that left no room for aeback.

    ��As I was saying�� the current physical and mental state of my roommate makes it a little difficult for him to continue the live stream, while I have something else to do, so see you guyster, kapiche?��Jason asked and without waiting for their response, ended the live stream. Since the live stream was over, Jason first removed Mylo��s phone from the phone stand, took the selfie stick, and took them all to Mylo��s room and put them on the bed.

    Then he returned to the training room and half carried, half dragged Mylo to his room and put him on his bed, not exerting too much effort.

    If he was ever going to lift Myloup, it was so that he could m him down with the aim of an attitude adjustment, but any more than the one Mylo had already received today was overdoing it, so Jason just left him on his bed before heading back to the training room.

    On getting back to the training room, Jason clicked y on the Spotify app and went back to the treadmill, setting his run back to start all over again.

    To be honest, the livestream was fun, and he had gotten the chance to legally beat up Mylo, but he couldn��t get carried away.

    He was back in time for no reason known to him.

    He didn��t know how, or why he was brought back, but so far, it was his life to live andhis aim wasto be the best at what he loved which was football, and he couldn��t do that by having livestreams all day no matter how fun they may be.

    The greats of any sports or activity were probably training and bettering themselves at that exact moment�� Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Lebron James, Steph Curry, Rafael Nadal, etc would all be training and doing their best to improve their game and these guys were already at the top.

    How would he even be worthy ofpeting at their level if he didn��t do at least as much as they did, especially when he didn��t have as much talent as most of them did?

    Thus he had to end the livestream and get back to work as that was what mattered to him the most.

    Jason didn��t know what happened after death, though there were different stories about what happened after death.

    Since Jason��s parents were Christians, Jason tried to believe that they were probably in heaven and that hopefully he could meet them someday and be able to tell them that he had made sure that they hadn��t died in vain because he had be the best anyone could ever be in football.

    Of course, whether that would turn out to be the truth or not remained to be seen, but Jason wasdefinitelygoing to try.

    With the beat to the song ��Writing on the Wall�� by French Montana, Post Malone, and Cardi B starting up, Jason began his run while singing along with the song to keep his vibe up.

    ��From the block, now we snipin�� on their ass like Somalians����

    ***********

    The days rolled by one after the other while the world remained on quarantine lockdown, but as the days progressed, efforts were being made by major medicinepanies andbs to find a cure or a vine for the virus�� whichever could be made faster.

    The world itself didn��t stay still and soon began to regain its vibrancy and people were now allowed to work from home while students moved to online learning to keep their studies going.

    Literally,everything that could be done online began to be done online, but those more physical activities were still being held under hold.

    Of course, none of these mattered to Jason who was already experiencing the quarantine lockdown for the second time.

    He instead kept his focus on improving his physical condition and he constantly increased his training burden.

    He especially tried to improve his strength, stamina, eleration, and top speed, since they were attributes he could focus on even in theck of space in his apartment.

    His eleration was his major talent so it only stood to reason that he needed to improve it the most, his top speed also needed to be improved as it was a very important factor in the current football world.

    The need for stamina didn��t need to be said as it was a factor that could not be ignored in a taxing game like football, the reason for strength training for Jason however was so that he could increase his resistance to injuries.

    He wasn��t trying to bulk up or anything, but in his previous life, he had ignored strength training as he had opted for a speed-focused build,butin the end, he ended up as a speedy ss cannon and became injury-prone.

    He needed to avoid that in this reality, especially now that he was so close to the big stage that he always longed for.

    Jason also began to practice martial arts again as he felt that it could increase his reflexes, flexibility, and ability to read people a lot more. He also watched a lot of videos and learned a few new skill moves that could be of help in a game.

    Finally, he engaged in a lot of match analysis to try and improve his ying style and he engaged in mental training for this aspect as he didn��t have ess to a field at the moment.

    All in all, he continued preparing to unleash a high-octane style of y as soon as he got back on the pitch.

 Chapter 159: Back to Training (Post Lockdown)

    Chapter 159: Back to Training (Post Lockdown)

    **24thMay 2020**

    Jason drove through the gates of the CTFD Portogaia and made his way to the parking lot, a slight feeling of nostalgia hitting him.

    It had been almost three months since he had been here after all, but now he was back.

    The world was slowly getting back to its feet after the threat of a virus that had the potential to spread to every corner of the world.

    The lockdown period was nowhere near an end, but more people were allowed to move around now and the world was trying to pick up where it left off.

    This of course affected the sports world as well as Germany was the first to allow for the resumption of the major football league and that had happened a few days prior on the 18thof May, 2020.

    Everyone interested in football had been paying attention to the Bundesliga for a while to see whether this was a sign for the footballing world to get back on track, and for now, the answer to that question is yes.

    The other major leagues in the world had begun scheduling their return after seeing the sessful resumption of the Bundesliga and the FPF(Portuguese Football Federation) had first dered a potential return of the Liga NOS on the 28thor the 29thof that same month. It hadter been determined that the Liga NOS would return on the 3rdof May.

    Unfortunately, only major leagues in the world were looking to resume already and other second-tier leagues of most countries weren��t scheduled for resumption at all as they did not have the facilities to follow the given safety regtions, nor were they ready to resume at all.

    Of all the information flying around however, the only information that Jason was interested in was that he was soon going to be on the pitch again�� unfortunately, there wouldn��t be any fans at the stadiums which took a lot of thrill out of the game, but Jason could live with that.

    He just wanted to y, so when he received the message to be at the CTFD Portogaia for training, he made sure to ensure his presence at the training grounds as early as possible.

    Just like before the lockdown period, Jason arrived early as usual, just before 8 am in fact, and just when he was thinking that he may be the first person at the training grounds, his eyes fell on a familiar visage.

    ��Hey Fabzy, how you been bro,�� Jason called as he threw his sports bag to the side and walked onto the green where Fabio Viera was already juggling the ball.

    Fabio Viera caught the ball with his foot and brought it to the ground, no longer juggling as he turned in the direction of Jason��s voice and Jason��s face came into view.

    ��Jayyyy, my bro, what��s up�� Jason walked up to Fabio and they pped their right palms against each other.

    ��You know we��re supposed to be doing that social distancing thing?�� Jason said with a funny smile.

    ��If that was gonna do any good, then we might as well not have resumed training at all,�� Fabio replied with a funnier smile and they bothughed loudly because though it sounded quite irresponsible, it was also true.

    Football was a very physical sport and collisions were an inevitability, so if the yers were going to be ��socialdistancing��, then how were they going to regain possession of the ball from the opponent?

    Also, every yer who was toe to the training grounds today had taken Covid tests a couple of days prior and they were already cleared to be ��Covid free��.

    Thus the training grounds were already as safe as can be, but the safety regtions still had to be held.

    Anyway, after greeting each other warmly and talking about some stuff, they got right into training.

    There wasn��t much they needed to talk about as they had stayed in contact even during the lockdown period, so they got straight to doing a little training before the rest of the yers and staff arrived.

    Thus just like before the lockdown, Jason and Fabio engaged in some pre-training in the early hours of the morning, and before long, other members of the Porto squad began arriving.

    The new arrivals greeted each other warmly as it had been a while since they had seen each other and some of them began doing warm-ups while the rest sat and waited for the manager��s arrival while discussing among themselves.

    Since they had been away from training for months, it only stood to reason that the manager would want to address them on one matter or the other, thus it had been mentioned in the memo that the yers had received that the manager wished to address them before training began that day.

    Of course, the more diligent yers like Jason, Fabio, Pepe, Telles, and a few others began doing warm-ups and a few training routines that didn��t require any equipment other than a ball.

    As the training ground became livelier with every passing minute, Sergio Conceicao finally arrived along with his team of technical staff.

    They were all kitted in NewBnce-sponsored Porto tracksuits, and all of them wore face masks.

    There were also quite a few cameramen and videographers that followed after them, with the cameramen taking pictures and the videographers recording the scene.

    Seeing the arrival of the head manager, the yers didn��t need to be told to gather around before they all started moving towards the manager.

    In less than a minute, both the yers on the field already doing a bit of training, as well as the others who were just sitting around all, gathered around the manager, waiting for the manager to begin addressing them.

    Sergio Conceicao first took a look around at all his yers and his eyes noticed both the obvious and the slight changes in his yers since thest time he saw them.

    Some of the changes seemed to be positive, some were not, and some didn��treallymatter, but for now, he couldn��t point out the changes since the cameras were rolling, but he did make a mental note to address themter, though they were alreadyin ordance withhis ns.

    ��It��s been a while guys���� Sergio Conceicao began his address,

    ��So�� are you ready to get back on the title race?��

 Chapter 160: Scent of Unprofessionalism

    Chapter 160: Scent of Unprofessionalism

    ��It��s been a while guys���� Sergio Conceicao began his address,

    ��So�� are you ready to get back on the title race?�� Sergio Conceicao said with a meaningful smile, but it was hidden under the nose mask.

    ��Yeaaaaaahhhhh!!!�� The yers cheered in agreement with the head manager��s question, their morale greatly lifted by the manager��s words, attitude, and support.

    ��Then let��s get to training like the champions we are hoping to be!�� Sergio Conceicao said in response to the yers�� positive answer and attitude.

    ��Yeaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!�� The yers cheered in agreement again.

    Though the manager��s address wasprised of just a few words, the intention of the manager had been achieved.

    He had sessfully increased the yers�� morale after a long period of break and even made it look good on camera, but now that that was done, it was time to do some actual work.

    Making a gesture to the videographers to stop recording, the manager got right down to business, ��Before we get into training, I need to first address something that I think requires addressing,��Sergio Conceicao began speaking again, but this time, he didn��t have to care about looking good on camera.

    ��I believe that you all know that you are professional athletes, right?�� Sergio Conceicao asked rhetorically, notreallyexpecting an answer, but a few murmurs from the crowd let him know that some of them still answered his question.

    ��Since you are all professional athletes, then it only stands to reason that even in the face of an unexpected urrence like the lockdown period of thest few months���� he paused for a moment to let his words sink in.

    ����You should still have ensured that you maintained your match fitness during thatperiod of time, right?�� he continued, his tone falling a little low.

    At this point, some of the yers on the team already knew where the conversation was heading toward, but they didn��t dare to let out any sounds.

    ����So can somebody tell me why that doesn��t seem to be the case?��

    ��Some of you seem to have put on some extra weight!�� extra weight that doesn��t look to be muscle���� Sergio Conceiao��s words were no longer calm, but now had a bit of a fiery ze in them.

    ��*Sniff* *Sniff*�� Sergio Conceicao sniffed the air a few times with annoyance on his face before he asked,

    ��Can anybody smell that?��

    ��It reeks of unprofessionalism, and I will not have that on my team, especially when we are supposed to be challenging for the title!��

    ��Do you think you can end this season as the league leaders if you are this unprofessional!?�� At this point, Sergio Conceicao was already fuming and every word that came out of his mouth reflected that and also incensed him even further at the same time.

    ���� Hmmm? Nobody wants to give me an answer?�� The Portuguese manager looked at his yers with fire in his eyes, but none of them dared to speak up and have the manager��s full attention brought on them.

    ���� Well then, here��s what��s going to happen,��

    ��The first order of today��s schedule will be a match fitness test for all of you. Those of you who aren��t up to the fitness level required will be penalized ordingly����

    ��Not only that�� before our next match, another fitness test will be done and if you haven��t managed to regain your fitness levels to the required level, then I can assure you that you will not be seeing any of the four corners of the Estadio do Dragao or any other stadium apart from on the television until you are match fit,�� Sergio Conceicao stated firmly, informing the yers and staff of his decision on the yers fitness.

    ��I believe this team is a verypetitive environment and that there shouldn��t be ack of match-fit yers so forget about the fact that you used to be a part of the starting line-up�� if you arecking, you will be reced,�� the head manager stated, his words meant for the more experienced yers on the team and the yers who were usually a part of the team��s starting line-up.

    ��You will be divided into batches and each batch will take turns to go for the fitness tests to avoid overcrowding while the remaining batches will stay back to continue their training,�� the manager gave instructions to the yers on how the day��s proceedings would go.

    After addressing the yers and giving them instructions regarding the day��s training and the fitness tests that were scheduled to happen, Sergio Conceicao stepped aside and spoke with his assistant coaches and gave the task of dividing the yers into batches to Vitor Bruno while Siramana Dembele would stay behind to assist him in setting up the training schedule for the remaining yers.

    Vitor Bruno soon got to work and began segregating the yers�� names into different batches of 7 yers each, while Sergio Conceicao, Siramana Dembele, and a few other technical staff began discussing the types of team training the yers would be subjected to in theing days.

    They purposely left out individual training from their nning for the time being because they would have to wait for the results from the fitness test to pick out the best individual training for the yers that would need it.

    While all this was going on, the yers were free to do whatever they wanted until the assistant began calling out the batches.

    Some of the yers went back to training while some of them gathered around each other and engaged in various conversations.

    Soon enough, Assistant Coach Vitor Bruno finished segregating the yers into batches and called out the names of the yers in the first batch.

    ��Pepe, Alex Telles, Danilo Perreira, Jason Bolu, Fabio Viera, Moussa Marega, and Mattheus Uribe are batch A,�� Vitor Bruno called out to the yers, before going on to call out the names of all the other yers and telling them their respective batches.

    After calling out the names of all the yers in their respective batches, Vitor Bruno had the yers who were in batch A gather around and had them leave for another field to go and get a fitness test done.

 Chapter 161: Batch A Fitness Test

    Chapter 161: Batch A Fitness Test

    The yers in batch A, including Jason moved to one of the other fields in the trainingplex where the equipment needed for the fitness test was being set up.

    While they waited for the cones to be set up, the yers wore innerwear that had been modified to be able to track their vitals and their location which would help the staff determine the distance covered by the yers and their movement patterns.

    The use ofthe innerunderwear that looked like sports bras allowed for more than one yer at a time to undergo the fitness test while being able to monitor their vitals and record their results.

    Before the lockdown, more than seven people could do a fitness test at the same time, but due to the current safety regtions that regted the poption of the avable staff at the training center, this was the current best that could be done.

    Setting up for the fitness test didn��t take too long with the help of the staff and soon a section of the field was filled with cones and other stuff.

    Another part of the fitness test would take ce indoors as well.

    The fitness test for yers consisted of quite a few routines, all with different aims to test the yer��s ability to perform in a match.

    The things that needed to be checked were Aerobic Endurance, Anaerobic Capacity, Agility and Speed Drills, Strength and Power, Recovery, and Injury History. The yers would start by checking their aerobic endurance by doing the Beep Test and the Yo-Yo intermittent Recovery test.

    The Beep Test isprised of yers running between cones at increasing speeds with short rest intervals until they can no longer maintain the pace.

    Jason and the other yers immediately got to it, shuttling back and forth between cones as fast as their legs could carry them, and by the time they were done with the first training exercise to check their fitness, their legs were already feeling like they had been dropped into the 9thlevel of hell.

    Unfortunately, they had barely just started the fitness test and they soon had to get into the second exercise which was the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test.

    It was quite simr to the Beep test as it alsoprised running between cones at progressively increasing speeds with short recovery periods, testing their ability to recover between bursts of activity.

    By the time they were done with the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test, Jason was kinda annoyed as it felt no different from the Beep test and the vitals being monitored were almost the same thing, so it was strange that they were doing the same sort of test twice.

    He was going to ask what was the point of the second assessment when he noticed Dr. Luis Pinto overseeing the medical team that was monitoring the vitals of the yer and he immediately shut his mouth.

    He knew what this sadistic doctor was capable of and did not want to be noticed and given some ��special tests��.

    Jason could only bury his grievances and move to the next fitness test which was the sprint test and was used to check the yers�� Anaerobic capacity.

    The yers were to perform timed sprints over short distances(e.g., 30 meters, 50 meters) to measure their eleration and short-distance speeds.

    There was also another test to measure anaerobic capacity called the Wingate test where yers would cycle at maximum effort for a short duration(usually 30 seconds) to determine their peak anaerobic power output, but since this test required cycling, it would be der when the yers went indoors for the fitness tests that needed to be done indoors.

    After doing the sprint tests, the yers had a few minutes to rest before they headed into the next phase of the fitness test which was agility and speed drills.

    For the speed and agility drills, the yers would be doing cone drills where they would weave around cones in various patterns, testing their footwork and agility.

    They would also do shuttle runs where they would sprint back and forth between lines, mimicking the side-to-side movements during a game.

    By the time they were done with the speed and agility drills, Jason was feeling like how one would feel after seventy minutes of a Champions League knockout game.

    Of course, Jason had never actually yed a game in the Champions League, not even a yoff round, but he strongly believed that what he was feeling would be how would be feeling if he had yed seventy minutes of a Champions League knockout round.

    Unfortunately, they weren��t done yet as the medical team had decided to incorporate a few more exercises to assess the yer��s lower body strength and explosive power even though it was not usually a part of the fitness test.

    It seemed the coachreallywas pulling out all the stops to reevaluate his squad for their return to professional football.

    The yers headed indoors to one of the gyms where equipment for thest drills would be done.

    The yers first underwent the Wingate test before moving to the strength drills whichprised of squats with weights and a vertical jump test.

    Jason and the rest of the yers in his batch did their best to finish the drills before finally copsing to the ground to rest.

    They were finally done with the fitness test and could finally rest for a bit.

    Performing all the fitness drills had left them more exhausted than how they would feel if they had yed a normal ny-minute match.

    As the injury history of this batch of yers was pretty clear, there weren��t any specific fitness exercises that the yers had to do, thus, at this point, all they could do was wait for the results.

    For some of them however, it wasn��t really necessary as they knew that they had done their best to keep their match fitness even while on break, and thus they were probably as match fit as possible(Jason included), while a few others could only hope that they met the requirements as they had been enjoying their break a little too much and had been called to resume all of a sudden, thus they had been caught off guard.

 Chapter 162: Fitness Test Results And Managers Decision

    Chapter 162: Fitness Test Results And Manager''s Decision

    Chapter 162: Fitness Test Results And Manager��s Decision

    **24thMay 2020**

    **4:56 pm**

    Training for the day was already over and all the fitness tests that the manager had madepulsory had beenpleted and the yers had left the trainingplex.

    In the head manager��s office, Sergio Conceicao was doing some work on hisputer when he heard a knock on his door.

    ��Come in,�� he called out, hardly taking his eyes off theputer to nce at the visitors.

    Vitor Bruno, Siramana Dembele, and Luis Pinto walked into the room one after the other, and in Luis Pinto��s hand was a tab.

    ��Are those the results of the fitness test?�� Sergio Conceicao immediately put aside his work when he saw the people who came inside and realized what was probably going on.

    ��Yes, these are the results,�� Luis Pinto said as he held up the iPad in his hand. ��Let me see it,�� Sergio Conceicao said as he held out his hand to collect the iPad from Dr. Luis Pinto.

    ��How is it?�� Sergio Conceicao still asked even after collecting the tab from Luis Pinto.

    ��Well�� a few yers had higher numbers than they did before the break, some managed to maintain their match fitness, some deteriorated a bit�� and some deteriorated sharply,�� Dr. Luis Pint said in response to the head manager��s question.

    ��Deteriorated sharply?�� Sergio Conceicao��s ears particrly picked on that part of the sentence.

    ����I guess they wouldn��t be ying then,�� he concluded after a pause even though he didn��t yet know who the yers who had deteriorated sharply were.

    ��For the yers who deteriorated sharply, fine them for two weeks of wages, and for the yers who deteriorated a bit, fine them for a week��s wages�� Also after their punishment is over, they shall be subjected to another fitness test and if they still aren��t match fit, then repeat the punishment���� Sergio Conceicao fired out orders to Vitor Bruno who would make his decision known to the club��s financial department.

    ��Sir�� do wereallyneed to go that far on the punishments, it may cause some discontent and friction among the yers,�� Siramana Dembele tried to convince his boss to reduce the punishments but was immediately countered by the head manager.

    ��That friction and discontent is their own business,��

    ��If you are not fit, then you do not y, it��s as simple as that�� the other yers who stayed fit and the ones who improved are also members of this club and some of them may be earning a lot lower than those that deteriorated����

    ��It is true thatlife is not always fair, but if someone has the results to show for their efforts and then another one chooses not to cherish their opportunity, then I��ll go with the option that would give me the best results at any time,��

    ��There��s nothing to discuss further, change is inevitable,�� Sergio Conceicao spoke harsh words, but he also knew that this was what he had to do.

    He had to put his foot down or the title race would slip out of their grasp, especially now that they were in a tight spot.

    He would not let indiscipline from a couple of yers ruin his title run, and if the only way to curb it was by performing harsh actions like this, then he was all for it.

    ��Make a new list of yers and add only the yers that maintained their fitness and the ones who improved�� that is where I will pick out the provisional squad for the next game,��

    ��Oh�� also make sure to highlight the ones that improved,��

    ��I want to know who they are,��

    ��Get that done quickly,�� Sergio Conceicao instructed Siramana Dembele as he had already given Vitor Bruno an assignment.

    After doling out responsibilities, the head manager got back to work while the visitors left his office and went to do their respective tasks, apart from Dr. Luis Pinto who went to pack up to leave the training grounds, already feeling hungry for whatever his wife would be cooking for dinner.

    Thus the day rolled by and the yers came back for training the next day.

    The conversation between the head manager, assistant coaches, and head of the medical department remained oblivious to them, but the results of the fitness tests were made known to the yers and the yers who were punished were punished.

    Of course, murmurs of discontent could not be prevented, but the head manager had only announced their names in a pass-or-fail context.

    He had not specifically gotten into the details as firstly it was unnecessary and secondly, it would cause a lot more friction between the yers as they would have targets to pick on.

    After announcing the results of the fitness test, the manager said a few more words before personally heading the yers training for that day as well as for the days that followed, though he also made sure to segregate the yers who were already fit and had them focus more on tactical training while the unfit yers focused more on fitness exercises.

    He wanted the fit yers to get used to working with each other since he nned to pick his squad from among them and the yers were not the usual ones who he usually yed.

    Looking at the list of fit yers, he already guessed that he may even have to change the formation from the usual 4-4-2 holding formation that he usually used, but that was a minor issue that could be solved easily, though he would have to work on it soon as the team had an uing match on the third of June and they were rapidly approaching that date.

    The Porto head manager didn��t want his first game after the Covid lockdown to be a loss or even a draw, and he was going to pull out all stops to make sure it became a reality�� or at least, he will do so on the training ground, he wasn��t going to do anything illegal or something of the sort.

    He was an honest man.

 Chapter 163: New Formation Training

    Chapter 163: New Formation Training

    **29thMay 2020**

    **10:52 am**

    ��Gather around guys,�� Sergio Conceicao called out to the yers who were doing various training drills on the training field.

    The yers soon started gathering around the manager who was holding a notepad in his hand which was quite unusual, unless he had something to announce or implement.

    After all the yers gathered around, the Portuguese manager finally began speaking,

    ��Today, we��ll be having a training match,�� Sergio Conceicao began

    ��I��m sure you all know that our current major formation is the 4-4-2 holding formation where we use two strikers up upfront, two wide midfielders who majorly function as wingers bute back to help in the midfield, as well as two holding midfielders who help us hold the line and control the midfield,��

    ��The four defenders do what they are supposed to do at the back as well,�� ��Now that is all well and good, but in the footballing world, anything can happen at any given moment, so I want us to work on another formation,��

    ��A formation that I believe should go well with our current squad,�� Sergio Conceicao continued speaking, his eyes surveying his yers.

    ��The 4-1-2-3 formation�� this formation would still have four defenders but this time we��ll have three midfielders and forwards instead of the 4 midfielders and two forwards that is a stable of our previously used formation,��

    ��This formation would have one midfielder who works with the defenders to keep out the opposition while the team is on the defensive, he��ll also work with the other two midfielders to control the midfield and set up attacking opportunities with passes behind or over the defense when we��re in possession,��

    ��The other two midfielders will function as attacking midfielders who will work closely with the three attackers to create chances, make decoy runs, and maybe even function as a forward if the other forwards are being too tightly marked,��

    ��As for the three forwards, I don��t think I need to exin what I want from you, the wingers would make incisive runs towards the box and cut in when they get the opportunity, if not, then they send the ball into the box instead and the striker, or whoever is in the box,��

    ��The striker must be able to finish well when the balles in his direction, but cannot remain stationary, he must keep moving and be ready to even join in the build-up y for an attack,��

    ��With that said, I will be selecting two teams and both teams will be ying against each other while using that formation, we��ll rotate the squads at ten-minute intervals,��

    ��Also note that while I did mention what I expect from each of the positions in the formation, I am not against you trying your luck at another y style that you think would fit that position more, after all, we��re still in the development stages of the formation, so I wouldn��t chew you out for trying to work something out,�� Sergio Conceicao added after all his instructions as the essence of the training was after all to improve on ws and better oneself.

    His being the manager didn��t mean that he would instantly be able to create a ground-breaking tactic with a new formation and then carry on into matches and then mow down the opponents.

    He was not Pep Guardi, he knew his limits, hence why he had brought up this formation in training five days to an actual match and if he didn��t see the results he was looking for, then he was junking the new formation immediately.

    ��Is everything clear, or do you have any questions?�� the head manager asked after his inner dialogue, but none of the yers indicated that they had anything to add to his words.

    ��Okay then, the first team��s line-up will be like this,��

    ��Diogo Costa will be in goal, Pepe and Diogo Leite will be the center backs, Alex Telles and Tomas Esteves will be the left back and the right back respectively,��

    ��Mamadou Loum will be the defensive midfielder while Shoya Nakajima and Otavio will be the two attacking midfielders, Otavio will be on the right and Shoya will be on the left,��

    ��On the right wing, we��ll have Fabio Viera, and on the left wing, Jason Bolu,��

    ��The striker for the first team will be Ze Luis,�� Sergio Conceicao listed out the line-up for the first team before going on to list a simr line-up for the second team.

    After the yers for both teams were picked, they went to prepare for the scrimmage match, some wearing bibs, some adjusting their equipment and some changing their equipment.

    While they all did this, no one but Jason noticed a strange point in the line-up selection.

    Due to his extended period of training without seeing the field for a while, as well as the fact that other yers were constantly picked over him even when he was performing better in training, coupled with his past life experiences, Jason had begun to unintentionally pay a lot of attention to names he heard in the training room.

    He also developed a habit of scrutinizing everyone on his team which wasactuallyborn from his negative emotions back then, but due to it, Jason had noticed that everyone on his team had passed the fitness test five days earlier while everyone on the opposite team didn��t pass the fitness test.

    Jason didn��t think it was a coincidence.

    It was one thing for the manager to rotate yers on the team during the training, but such a clear distinction was strange, especially after his words that the yers who didn��t pass the fitness test wouldn��t y.

    ��The manager can��t be thinking of using this line-up in the next game, right?�� Jason wondered to himself as he looked at the yers on his team.

    He couldn��t call line-up a raggedy one, but there were a few yers on the team that he hadn��t yed with apart from at training so he didn��t trust them to do well on the pitch in a professional.

    Jason wasn��t looking to lose his first game after the lockdown, but Diogo Costa, Mamadou Loum, Tomas Esteves�� like really?

    This wasn��t some domestic cup game where the opponent would be from a lower league, but rather it was a match against Familicao and was also the first game since the lockdown.

    Jason wasn��t underestimating those guys, but before the break, they were not ready for first-team football and whileit was possible that they couldhave gotten better during the break, their improvement couldn��t be that drastic unless of course one of them went back in time as he did, or got a system, but Jason doubted those possibilities.

    ��Anyway, it��s still training anyway, if they don��t y well, the manager will take them out of the squad,�� Jason thought to himself, and for this, he had no doubt.

    Every manager was obsessed with winning, especially when the win was crucial.

    The match against Familicao wasdefinitelya crucial one as Porto was only 2 points ahead of Benfica on the league table so if they lost and Benfica won their game, then they would go behind, and if they drew, then they would have the same number of points as Benfica.

    Of course, they would still be ahead of Benfica because of the goal difference, but if they floundered once more, then they would go behind Benfica, irrespective of their goal difference.

    With just about ten games to go till the end of the season, any slip-ups could lead to the title slipping out of their grasp and the manager wasn��t about to have that.

    In all this though, all Jason had to do was do his best on the field while trusting his teammates to do the same, all the other tactical matters were his manager��s problem.

    Soon the yers of both teams were on the pitch in the arranged formation, waiting for the assistant coach Siramana Dembele, who was acting as the referee for this internal scrimmage to blow the whistle.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    Jason��s team which was the team wearing red bibs over their training attire kicked off first, with Ze Luis sending the ball to Shoya Nakajima.

    Shoya quicklyid off the ball to the left side of the field where Alex Telles awaited, doing his best to keep the ball away from their yellow-bib opponents.

    Alex Telles received the ball and quickly passed it to Jason who received the ball smoothly with his first touch and smoothly sent the ball back to Shoya Nakajima in the mid-field with his second touch, continuing the chain of quick passes.

    Shoya received the ball smoothly despite the presence of his marker and he partnered with Otavio and Mamadou as they slowly began advancing up the pitch, exchanging the ball with themselves smoothly and avoiding their opponents with quick and clever ball movements among themselves.

    Despite Mamadou��s obviousck of ability in the mid-field, he worked well with Otavio and Shoya to advance the ball and soon they were bearing down on the opposition��s goal.

    Soon, Shoya found Jason open on the left wing and sent a curling pass between the right-back and the right center-back, aiming for Jason��s path behind the defenders.

 Chapter 164: Moving Targets of Flesh and Blood

    Chapter 164: Moving Targets of Flesh and Blood

    Jason��s exceptional eleration allowed him to burst past Wilson Manafa who was ying as the right back for the second team.

    After easily escaping Wilson Manafa��s attempt at trying to hold him away from running the ball, Jason caught up with the ball and flicked it forward with his first touch on the ball, seemingly intent on charging into the penalty area but Wilson Manafa didn��t n to let him do so easily.

    Wilson Manafa immediately gave chase and soon drew closer to Jason, but when he was about to catch up to Jason and clear the ball, Jason suddenly made as if to cross the ball into the box with his left foot.

    Seeing this move from Jason, Wilson Manafa immediately jumped into a tackle, hoping to stop the cross, but as soon as he dived into the tackle, Jason caught the ball with his left foot, but instead of crossing the ball into the penalty area, Jason flicked the ball back instead, faking the cross.

    Wilson Manafa could only watch in surprise as he flew out of Jason��s way, but instead of allowing himself topletely fly out of the way, he stretched out his hand, grabbed Jason��s right ankle, and pulled Jason along with him.

    Wilson Manafa��s momentum was enough to pull Jason off his feet, especially when Jason was already a bit off bnce from faking a shot just a split second earlier, thus Jason was sent tumbling onto the ground, much to his surprise and dismay.

    ��Hey, what the hell, man?�� Jason blurted out as he pushed himself off the ground, doing his best to hold in his annoyance.

    ��You didn��t think I��d let you just get past me that easily, did you?�� Wilson Manafa said with a grin, but his teeth being all out in the open after pulling Jason off his feet only made Jason want to punch all his teeth out. ���� Man, fuck you,�� Jason muttered quietly after staying silent for a few seconds and being unable to think up an appropriate reply that wouldn��t be a cuss word.

    While Jason pushed himself off the ground and got back to his feet, Assistant coach Siramana Dembele ran up to the site of the ident and warned Wilson Manafa to keep his tackles from being too rough and also not to repeat the stunt he just performed as they could not afford to have injuries ur during training.

    ��Hey coach, are we taking a free kick, or continuing with the training?�� Jason asked Coach Siramana after he was done warning.

    Jason wanted to know whether they would directly continue with the training or if he would have to take a free kick.

    The manager hadn��t mentioned anything regarding this before the training began, but seeing as the free-kick was within shooting distance, Jason wanted to try taking it since it had been quite a while since he had taken a free-kick, either in training or in a match.

    ��Hmmmm�� Since we are trying to simte a real match, then maybe you should take the free-kick,�� Coach Siramana concluded after thinking for a bit.

    *Fweeee*

    Blowing for a free kick, Coach Siramana told the yers of the yellow bib team to arrange a wall while Jason set the ball down and backed away from the ball.

    Alex Telles who was the main free-kick taker of the team was on Jason��s team, but since it was a training match, he didn��t step up to take the ball from Jason to take the free-kick, thus Jason was free to take the kick.

    When the yers of the yellow bib team finished arranging the ball, Coach Siramana blew the whistle that gave Jason the go-ahead to take the free-kick.

    Slowly approaching the wall, Jason watched the yers shift against each other and prepare to block the ball, but midway to the ball, he noticed the calf muscles of two of the yers tense up and they squatted slightly.

    Immediately realizing that they were about to jump, Jason immediately changed his target and unleashed a powerful carpet shot under the legs of the yers who leaped up.

    Augustin Marchesin did not even see the balling and the ball smashed into the back of the before he could react.

    ��Nice!�� Jason pumped a fist with a smile on his face.

    High-fiving Fabio Viera who stood nearby, Jason jogged back to the other half of the field with his red bib teammates while thinking back to the free kick earlier.

    He had been able to score the free kick because he noticed the yers in the wall��s subtle actions, predicted an oue, and changed his target midway through his run-up to the ball.

    What was impressive about this action was the fact that he had been able to notice and urately predict the opponent��s next course of action as it was not something that could be done easily.

    Jason had only been able to do it because of his time spent practicing martial arts and now that he was practicing again�� even though he wasn��t serious with it, his previous life��s hard-trained instincts were awakening.

    A major part of martial arts was in the observation of the opponent so that one could perfectly counter the opponent��s attacks, and as a master in two forms of martial arts, especially ones with two distinct styles, Jason used to be an expert in reading people, but his instincts had long since deteriorated.

    The reason for this was that he had not bothered practicing martial arts inthis lifeeven though he was quite good at it.

    One might wonder why he hadn��t bothered practicing something that he was goodat,because knowing Jason, most of the decisions he made were well-calcted decisions with the most favorable oue for himself being the driving force behind his decisions.

    Jason hadn��t stopped practicing martial arts because it was useless, or that he was bored of it, but rather because of the damage that he had caused using martial arts in the football world.

    It had to be known that while football was a physical sport, all physical encounters that happened in football were because yers were fighting for possession of the ball��

    However martial arts were very straightforward and Muay Thai was especially straightforward.

    It aimed to get rid of an opponent in any way possible and Jason happened to be a martial master in Muay Thai.

    Back in his previous life, Jason was a winger, but he wasn��t a very good yer thus he had resorted to trying to help his team in other ways than trying to score goals, so he tried defending and pressing the other team for the ball, thus bing a pressing forward of sorts.

    The problem arose when Jason came close enough to the opponents and they tried to escape him�� Jason who initially started out trying to just steal the ball from the opponents would end up having his martial instinct take over and he would target the yer instead of the ball when the yer was proving to be slippery�� though he usually made sure to hold back.

    Unfortunately, as a martial master, Jason��s blows were naturally very dangerous as he would instinctively target weak points of the body and in one unfortunate match he hadn��t been holding back as much as he thought and he had harmed an opposing yer in a hard tackle.

    The damage Jason had caused to that yer was unrecoverable and the yer had to hang his boots after realizing that he would neverpletely recover.

    Somehow Jason was lucky enough to only end with a ten-match ban, but ever since then, he had avoided anything defending-rted apart from trying to intercept passes and pushing yers off the ball.

    He had also stopped practicing martial arts after that as it was making him too dangerous to be on a field full of moving targets.

    Moving targets with flesh and blood, but moving targets to Jason nheless.

    Jason had carried thatmitment into this new reality, which was why his defensive skills were seemingly bad, but during the lockdown period of thest few months when he had had a bit too much time on his hands, he had thought back to the matter.

    It was only then that he realized that he was no longer in his past reality where he had hurt someone with his skills and that he could start on a new te and only use martial arts as a means of releasing stress�� and self-defense�� but now he was realizing another use of his martial arts skills and experiences.

    His reflexes, judgment, observation skills, and instinctive adjustments were all attributes that would potentially help him to be a better football yer�� as long as they were used right.

    Now that he thought about it, it was probably these attributes that had helped him to be a much better dribbler than he could ever hope to be in his past life.

    He had long been wondering why he seemed a lot better at things than he was in his past life, especially when his experiences were not exactly top tier, and he had even once wondered if his body was a bit different from his past reality, but this was also a usible reason, right?

 Chapter 165: New Formation Training II

    Chapter 165: New Formation Training II

    The training match continued after Jason scored the free-kickandthe yers tried to get used to ying different roles on the pitch withdifferentforms of support from their teammates.

    By the end of the first ten minutes, Jason��s influence on the formation��s effectiveness had bequiteapparent.

    His evasive skills and positioning always left him as a first choice for the midfielders�� passes, and after receiving the ball, he either drove the ball down the field personallyusinghis dribbling skills to make his way through the opposition defense before linking up with the other forwards for a pass or even taking the shot himself.

    If the midfielders of his team were on top of their game, he could move closer to the opposition box and y as a shadow strikerof sorts, always staying ready for any chance to burst past his marker to catch any inside balls that came his way.

    Thiswas not to say that the formation would copse without Jason, but his presence in the formation increased theeffectiveness of the teamby a few dozen percent.

    It was more like Jason��s high-octane ying style helped his team greatly and fit in quite well with the other yers in the line-up as they all fitted each other well, which was quite surprising for both Jason and the manager who had set up the game n which included the formation and the yer line-up.

    By the end of the first ten minutes, the red bib team hadbeen able to scoreanother goalwhichcame from Fabio Vierawhowas assisted by Jason.

    They had also managed to record five shots with three of them ontarget,while alsokeeping the yellow team from getting more than two shots at their own goal within that ten minutes. It seemed that training for the formation had gotten off to a good start, and it was time to begin experimenting with the yers to see how the formation could be more effectivesothe first thing the manager did was take Jason off the red bib team and bring on Luiz Diaz to the red team.

    Jason was toldto go off the field to restalongwith a couple of other yers while the coach rearranged bothof theteams.

    Soon the next ten-minute cycle beganandimmediatelythe manager noticed the difference in the momentum of the red bib team.

    Luis Diaz was alsoa very goodleft winger and could match up to Jason��s capabilities, but hiseffectiveness wasn��t the same as Jason��s on the formationwhichwas quite strange to the other staff members, but the manager immediately chalked it down to the differences in their ying style and habits in the game.

    Jasonwas the type of yer whowould not hesitate to take on up to five yers at a time, even if he couldn��tactuallydo it, but Luiz Diaz would at most take on two yers at a time before searching for the nearest pass.

    Their positioning on the pitch was also different from each other as Luiz Diaz preferred to stay forwardand onthe left side of the field, but probably due to Jason��s ability to y on the right, the center, and the left, he wasalwaysswitching positions and took on the best position to receive the ball and to start an attack.

    Ze Luis and Fabio Viera were also very versatile yers,thustheyeasilytook on the open space that Jason would have left open while running around,thusthe three of them were very fluid in movement and were constantly flying around which made their attacking optionspletely unpredictable.

    Luis Diaz was a more straightforward yer, so the other forwards stayed in their roleswhichmadepredicting their movements and passingnes a lot easier.

    Jason and Luiz Diaz��s passing abilities and choices were also different from each other, not to mention their attitude towards the goal.

    All these differencesadded up to differentiatingclearlythe difference in their ying style and the influence this had on the team as they yed.

    After the second ten-minute cycle, the manager recorded some things he had noticed and nned to address before rearranging the teamonceagain, thistime he sent Jason into the yellow bib team.

    After rearranging the team until it wasquitesimr to the first match-up, the manager allowed the training to continueonceagain and noted Jason��s performance on the yellow bib team.

    Noting down how Jason yed on the right wing on the yellow bib team, as well asother yers and things he deemed to need addressing, the manager oversaw the training for the new formation.

    After two more rotations, the manager ended the new formation training and let the yers go and do other drills as the formation training was very physically exhausting since they mimickeda realmatch and thus could lead to over-exhaustion and injuries if it went on for too long.

    Leaving the assistant coaches and the other technical staff to oversee the rest of the yers�� training, Sergio Conceicao left the fieldand headedto his office at the training groundwithhis aim beingto work on improving the game n for the new formation.

    On reaching his office, he turned to a new page on his notepad and drew out the formation on the page, using small circles to signify the yers and putting the names under the circles.

    Shockingly, the namesthatwerewritten downby the Portuguese manager under the circles that signified the yers were the names of the yers he had called out to be in the first set of the red bib team earlier.

    Jason��s thoughts had been right and Sergio Conceicao had picked these yers as his first choice for the next match, but he had thought that the line-up would need a lot of adjusting, yet the performance of the yers had impressed him and now he was thinking of going along with the initial line-up.

    He might still change some of the names in the starting line-up in theing days after seeing how they performed during the training session, but for now, he wasquiteimpressed with the current line-up and needed to work on the game n to see how best to bring out the best of the yers and the new formation.

    With these thoughts in mind, Sergio Conceicao began devising a game n against his team��s uing opponents.

 Chapter 166: Liga NOS is Back I

    Chapter 166: Liga NOS is Back I

    **3rdJune 2020**

    **7:25 pm**

    The Porto team bus drove into the grounds of the Estadio Municipal de Junho, arriving for the scheduled match.

    It had been about three months since the Liga NOS was suspended due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, but today, the league was going to be resuming its matches.

    The stadiums wouldn��t be able to have fans and everyone could only watch the matches from within the safety of their homes, which was an unfortunate oue both for the yers and the fans, but at this point, everyone was just d that Primera Liga football was resuming.

    The yers got off the bus and entered inside the stadium grounds, heading for their locker rooms.

    Each one of them was dressed smartly in dark blue New Bnce tracksuits and they all had nose masks on their faces.

    The yers of the Porto team were led towards a locker room where half of them entered to get changed and ready for the warm-up while the other half of the yers were led to another locker room where they would do the same as the first group. This was done as a way to avoid overcrowding of the yers, and it was a part of the safety regtions added due to the COVID-19 virus.

    The yers didn��t waste any time dawdling around and quickly changed into the training kits that they would use for the warm-up and headed out to the green.

    Everything that needed to be addressed regarding the game n and the line-up had already been discussed by the manager earlier in the day back at theirowntraining grounds, after which they had headed out.

    The yers walked through the interior of the stadium and headed to the green, some of them waving and making all sorts of gestures at the camera being pointed at them by the cameramen while the rest ignored the cameras.

    Jason headed out with an air of seriousness around him, though he still smiled at the cameras whenever he came face to face with the camera, otherwise, he just ignored the cameras and stayed impassive, doing some mental psyching up to improve his mentality in preparation for the match.

    On reaching the field, the yers began their warm-up routines with the aid of the equipment that had been arranged on the field, each team taking one-half of the field.

    The warm-up exercises didn��t take too long and the yers soon headed back to their respective locker rooms to make their final preparations for the match.

    Sergo Conceicao had ended up not making a single change to the first choice of the line-up of yers he had picked for the new formation and the line-up consisted of,

    Diogo Costa in between the sticks,

    Alex Telles and Tomas Esteves y as the left back and the right back respectively,

    Pepe and Diogo Leite were ying as the two center backs,

    Mamadou Loum was ying as the defensive midfielder,

    Shoya Nakajima and Otavio were both ying as center attacking midfielders, but Otavio would drop back every so often to function as a center midfielder which made it easier for them to exchange the ball among themselves,

    Jason was ying as the left winger, while Fabio Viera was ying as the right winger,

    Ze Luis was the only striker.

    A lot of the major names in the team were left out as they had not been deemed to be match fit and the manager had decided to not y them.

    It had also helped that the training for the new formation went exceptionally well and they were as effective as the manager wanted them to be, so he had decided to go ahead with his risky decision.

    By 9:05 pm, the yers of both teams began marching out into the stadium and doing their pre-match formalities, exchanging, elbow touches instead of handshakes.

    The silence in the stadium at this point was very unusual, but the yers didn��t have the luxury to care.

    Finally��

    *Fweeeeeeeeee*

    The referee��s whistle blew for the start of the match at exactly 9:15 pm, bringing the three-month break of Primera Liga football to an end with that singr whistle sound.

    TheFamilicaoteam passed first and quickly began exchanging the ball among themselves, doing their best to keep possession of the ball for the first few moments of the game.

    They did not want to allow the Porto team to steal the ball from them and build off that momentum, but the Porto yers didn��t care about their opinions or thoughts and rushed at them with vigor in their every step.

    Soon, the Familicao��s passingnes began to be cut off one by one due to them being taken by surprise andbeingunprepared for the change in the Porto team��s formation.

    It was well known that the Porto team usually yed in the 4-4-2 formation so a huge amount of their match preparation had focused on how to deal with the Port team��s formation, thus they were unprepared for the change and were unable to respond quickly to the press from Shoya and Otavio.

    They couldn��t even try passing back as an option because the three forwards were always shadowing the defenders of the Familicao team always waiting to intercept the ball should ite their way.

    Soon, the inevitable happened and the Familicao team lost the ball to the Porto team, and they immediately pulled back and got on the defensive.

    The Porto team immediately took control of the midfield and started exchanging the ball smoothly among themselves, while Jason, Fabio, and Ze Luis took turns running at the Familicao box, teasing them every so often with a run behind the defense.

    In the 9thminute of the game, the Porto team was once again in possession and were passing the ball around in the final third, just outside the Familicao 18-yard box.

    Jason suddenly moved towards Shoya and asked for the ball to feet.

    Shoya wasted no time in sending the ball his way and Jason trapped the ball with his feet and turned towards the Familicao box, immediately shooting a look at Fabio, but not moving for a second.

    After seemingly surveying his surroundings, Jason pushed the ball forward and seemed about to run at the defenders like he so often did, but then all of a sudden he swung his leg and sent a chip pass over the defender that wasing at him.

    The ball flew into the Familicao penalty box and Fabio Viera suddenly appeared behind his marker on the right side of the field, charging for the ball.

    The Familicao defenders and their goalkeeper moved, all intent on stopping the ball from reaching Fabio Viera, but thanks to his head start, he reached the ball first, but unlike what the Familicao yers were expecting the ball, he didn��t volley the ball at the goal.

    He instead opted to catch the ball with the side of his right foot and send it across the face of the goal and out of the reach of the keeper��s gloves.

    Before the ballpletely rolled across the face of the goal, Ze Luis appeared from behind one of the Familicao team��s center backs and poked the ball with his feet, sending the ball into the back of the.

 Chapter 167: Liga NOS is Back II

    Chapter 167: Liga NOS is Back II

    {GOALLL!!!}

    {Magnificient! Absolutely Magnificient! A perfect disy of unshakeable teamwork, skillful passing, and ssy finishing finishing!}

    {I can almost hear the cheering of fans in their houses watching the Primera Liga return with a bang!}

    {The Porto team seems to be intent on making up for lost time and are already disying the demeanor of league leaders}

    {This is what I missed! What we all missed!}

    Thementator went wild despite the absence of fans to liven up the stadium with their cheers while Ze Luis headed towards his teammates with a smile and they shared handshakes and hugs, after all, there was no point in a wild celebration since there weren��t any fans at the stadium anyway.

    Quickly getting their celebrations over with, the Porto team returned to their half of the field and the Familicao team kicked off again, just ten minutes after they had kicked off the match earlier.

    After kicking off, they once again began passing the ball among themselves and trying to keep the ball away from the Porto yers, and just like before, the Porto yers charged at them, intent on retrieving the ball. Possession was exchanged between both teams many times in the following twenty minutes and some attacks ended up with a yer being able to get a shot away, but by the 30thminute of the game, the scoresstillremained at 1 : 0 in favor of the Porto team.

    #33rdminute��

    The Porto team had just retrieved possession of the ball and quickly began a counter, trying to break through the Familicao defensive line before the yers regained their shape and were able to keep them out.

    Otavio who had just stolen the ball off a Familicao yer quickly began charging at the Familicao 18-yard box, but before moving more than three yards, he sent the ball flying forward with a quick grounded pass towards the left side of the Familicao 18-yard box where Jason was waiting.

    Jason received the ball just a few yards outside the left side of the Familicao 18-yard box with his back facing the penalty area, but in one swift movement after stopping the ball, he dragged the ball with his right foot as he turned and sent it between the legs of a defendering at him from behind, executing a clean nutmeg.

    Quickly running behind past the defender to catch up the ball, Jason didn��t waste any extra touches and instead performed arabonapass, his right leg swinging behind his left to catch the underside of the ball andsendingit high across the face of the goal for Ze Luis who was approaching.

    Ze Luis approached the flying ball and leaped up to catch it with his head and send it at the Familicao goal.

    The ball contacted Ze Luis��s head and changed direction, flying towards the inside of the goal, but the Familicao keeper reacted quickly and punched the ball upward, sending it flying narrowly over the crossbar.

    {What a chance, and what a save!}

    {TheFamilicaogoalkeeper has done his best to keep his team from conceding another and making equalizing an even harder task than it already is} Thementatormented about the goal-scoring chance while the Porto and Familicao yers arranged themselves in the box for the corner kick.

    Soon, the yers were done arranging themselves and Alex Telles swung in the corner from the left after hearing the referee blow his whistle.

    The cross swung outward as it came into the Familicao penalty area and the yers of both teams shuffled against each other, trying to push their way towards the best area to jump for the ball.

    When the ball was finally almost overhead, yers from both teams jumped for the ball, but it was Pepe, the Porto team captain who got his head to the ball first and he brutishly headed the ball at the Familicao goal.

    TheFamilicaogoalkeeper dived at the ball but missed the ball by a few inches, yet when everyone thought the ball was about to go in, a Familicao yer who was standing at the corner of the goal, managed to throw himself in front of the shot to keep the ball from going in.

    The ball bounced back into y and went towards Shoya Nakajima who immediately wanted to volley the ball back into the Familicao goal, but before his leg reached the ball, another Familicao yer appeared and pushed at him to prevent him from kicking the ball.

    Shoya Nakajima went down immediately and the referee��s whistle blew immediately after he went down.

    Blowing his whistle and pointing at the penalty spot, the yers of both teams immediately knew what was going on.

    The Familicao yers immediately went to the referee to try and convince him that Shoya had just been lightly touched and that the penalty should be revoked, but the referee did not listen to their pleas as he had seen that it was a clear denial of a goal scoring and he was already being lenient enough by not giving the Familicao yer a red card on the spot.

    In the end, the penalty was decided and the Familicao yers couldn��t get the referee to change his decision, thus Telles took up the ball and headed to the spot after a discussion with his teammates.

    cing the ball on the spot and taking four steps back, Alex Telles took a deep breath and waited for the referee��s whistle while staring down the Familicao goalkeeper.

    *Fweeeee*

    The referee��s whistle was followed by Alex��s first step at the ball, followed by the next, and the next, slowly advancing towards the ball before finallying into range and whipping the ball towards the right corner of the goal while the unlucky Familicao goalkeeper dived down the left side of the goal.

    {He��s put it awayfortably and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way}

    {Porto are now two up and Familicao would have a hard timeing back from this score, but it��s not an entirely impossible task either as there is still time for them to gain something from this game} Thementator got on the mic, and did his job while the Porto yers celebrated amongst each other.

 Chapter 168: Liga NOS is Back III

    Chapter 168: Liga NOS is Back III

    With theFamilicaoteam pegged down even further by the Porto team, their ying style turned aggressive as they tried to find a chance that could revitalize their hopes.

    They didn��t hesitate to push the Porto yers off the ball to regain possession even if it would result in a foul and within the next ten minutes after conceding, they had added four fouls and a yellow card to their match statistics.

    At this point, a weakness of the Porto team��s midfielders started showing up which was that apart from the defenders, every other yer in this formation was a bit on the physically weaker side.

    Shoya Nakajima was Asian, and not to be racist or anything, but most Asians were a bit on the smaller and shorter side, and so was Shoya who stood at 1.67m which was just about 5 feet and 5 inches.

    Otavio wasn��t much different with his small stature of just about 1.72 meters

    Fabio was 1.7 meters, and while Jason and Ze Luis were quite tall, they weren��t exactly strength-based yers either so it was easy enough for the Familicao defenders and midfielders to bully them off the ball.

    Of course, the yers could try dribbling past the defenders or passing the ball instead, but the fact remained that they were physically unmatched and it showed in their attacking prowess.

    Thus they weren��t able to keep the pressure on the Familicao team and the Familicao team started sneaking more balls past the Porto defense line. Luckily, the Porto defenders were up to the task, and the other yers assisted in defending against theFamilicaoteam��s incessant attacks, managing to waive off most of their attacks, but then the unexpected happened.

    #44thminute��

    The Familicao teamwereon the attack andwerepassing the ball among themselves from the midfield while the Porto team was pressing hard, trying to retrieve the ball, but the Familicao yers kept the ball moving and made sure it stayed out of their reach.

    Suddenly one of the midfielders pushed the ball forward past Mamadou Loum and swung hard at the ball, intending to have a long-range effort at goal.

    Tomas Esteves saw what the Familicao yer was trying to do and jumped in the way of the shot while twisting mid-air to block the ball with his backside.

    The ball flew at him, deflected off of him, and flew up and out of y, but the next second, the referee��s shrill whistle called the attention of everyone to the referee only to see him pointing at the penalty spot.

    The Familicao yers who were just about to go to the referee toin that the ball had deflected off Tomas Esteves��s hand no longer had to bother with the effort as it seemed like the referee had seen what happened.

    The Porto yers however, couldn��t stay still and ran at the referee to try and convince him that the ball hade at Tomas��s hand and that it wasn��t a deliberate foul, but the referee didn��t care as Tomas Esteves��s hand was a bit high and for him that meant a penalty.

    The Porto yers did not give up easily and in the end, the referee was forced to check with the VAR, but even after doing so, his decision remained the same and the Porto yers could only grudgingly keep theirments to themselves before they were penalized by the referee.

    Pedro Goncalves of the Familicao team was the one who stepped up to take the penalty, cing the ball on the penalty spot and stepping back.

    *Fweeeeee*

    Goncalves ran at the ball and swung hard, sending the ball towards the bottom left corner of the Porto goal.

    Diogo Costa who had dived based on a guess had guessed right and pushed the ball mid-dive, trying to push it out of y but,

    *CLANG!*

    The ball collided hard on the left goal post and flew back at Goncalves who immediately swung at the ball to send it back to the goal, wanting to make up for missing the penalty, but Diogo Costa managed to recover from his dive and jump into the face of the ball again, just barely managing to push it towards the right.

    Unfortunately, the Porto yers could not jubte at the double save from Diogo Costa because another Familicao appeared out of nowhere and mmed the ball into the back of the, instantly invalidating the efforts of the young Portuguese goalkeeper.

    {Despite the splendid efforts of the Diogo Costa, Familicao have gotten one back atst and now they can work on equalizing the game}

    {I��m sure the question going on in the young Portuguese goalkeeper��s mind is ��Where were my defenders?��}

    {I��m sure the manager and the fans are wondering the same thing}

    {They didn��t make any effort to lighten his burden andpletely hung him out to dry} Thementator did his work while the Familicao yers quickly headed back to their half of the field, hoping to try and build off this momentum and see if they could still do something in the few minutes left of the first half.

    The assistant referee on the sidelines held up the board to let the yers know that there were an added three minutes of injury time.

    The Porto yersforted the goalkeeper and headed back to kick off the match again.

    The Porto team quickly kicked off again with ZeLuis passing the ball to Shoya Nakajima who passed the ball to Otavio who quicklyid the ball off to Fabio Viera on the right.

    Fabio Viera tried to head into the opponent��s half, but saw two yersing at him and quickly turned back and sent the ball to Tomas Esteves.

    Tomas sent the ball to Mamadou Loum in the midfield with his first touch and Mamadou quickly trapped the ball before sending a low pass to Telles.

    Telles watched the ball that came his way and nced at the yer who was running at him before chipping the ball deftly over him with a smooth tap on the underside of the ball, sending the ball at Jason.

    Jason caught the ball off his chest and let the ball fall to his waist level, juggling it on his knee twice, before flicking it over the yer who hade at him and escaping from him.

    Going behind the yer to catch the ball as soon as it touched the ground, Jason started running into the Familicao��s half of the field, not bothering to check if there were any teammates around him as he knew he was currently in a closed situation and the only way out was by either holding the ball long enough for his teammates to arrive or running at the defense by himself.

    Jasonobviouslychose thetter.

 Chapter 169: Liga NOS is Back IV

    Chapter 169: Liga NOS is Back IV

    Jason charged directly in the direction of the Familicao goal, not bothering to try going down the wing, because even if he somehow managed to reach there and his teammates didn��t arrive on time, then all his efforts would have been for nothing.

    By going straight at the Familicao penalty area, he would even have the chance to take a long-distance shot if it was impossible to make it through all the defenders.

    Of course, the disadvantage of going through the center was that there would be more yers to deal with, but Jason wasn��t the kind of person to allow that to stop him, and would rather find a way to turn that into an advantage.

    Having made up his mind, Jason quickly moved, his pace increasing with every step until he stabilized at a speed that wouldn��t make it too difficult for him to dribble or change directions midway.

    Soon he came across the the first yer in his way, but he did not change his pace, instead, his shoulder dropped towards the right making it seem like he was going to change his direction and try to skip past the right side of the yer.

    TheFamilicaomidfielder reacted immediately he noticed Jason��s intentions but at that moment, Jason��s whole body shifted back to the right and Jason��s right leg pushed him towards the right while he used his left leg to take the ball along with him as moved past the defender who was still leaning towards the right.

    Just after getting past the first yer, Jason noticed that one of the center backs had been approaching ever since Jason had faced off the earlier yer and was already only about a yard away.

    Jason quickly stretched out his right leg, poked the ball between the legs of the approaching defender, and quickly ran after the ball once again. At this point, he had already made his way through two Familicao yers but there were still three yers in his way, making him wonder If he should just hit the ball with as much power and uracy as he could manage.

    He still felt that it was a bit too far for him to ensure enough uracy and power to make it past the goalkeeper, so he could only try to get even closer.

    With this in mind, he kept moving, and two defenders came at him, realizing thating at him one by one was not going to do anything, thus they came at him at the same time, arranging themselves across each other.

    Seeing that the defenders had spread themselves out and seemingly left a space in between them, be understood what they were trying to do.

    By spreading themselves, out, if he tried to go around either of them, he would waste time and even if he managed to get past them, he would be at an odd angle where it would be hard for him to take an urate shot, but if he tried to go through their middle, he would be double teamed and would probably end up losing the ball.

    Considering his options, Jason made his decision and moved, not pausing his movementsallthroughout the thought process.

    Jason turned towards the defender on the left and did a couple of step-overs, but the defender didn��t move as he believed that the only option a sane person would make was to take on one person alone, but then Jason suddenly changed directions and tried to elerate through the space left between the two defenders.

    The two defenders were stunned by Jason��s audacity as they couldn��t believe that he had chosen the most difficult way out, but they were only stunned for a split second and they reacted in the next second and closed in the space.

    Jason also reacted quickly and tried to jump in between them after pushing the ball through, but he only managed to get past the first defender before he was knocked to the ground by the other Familicao defender.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The referee��s whistle went off immediately Jason went down and the referee ran over, pulled out a yellow card from his breast pocket, and booked the defender who had brought Jason down.

    Fabio Viera also headed over and pulled Jason up while Telles took up the ball, intending to take the free-kick.

    Jason took Viera��s hand and stood up, feeling disappointed that he hadn��t been able to make it through the defenders.

    ��Seems I still wasn��t agile enough and gave away my intentions too quickly,�� he thought to himself, trying to dissect his failure and learn from it so he could avoid such a situation when next he came up against this tactic.

    The spot where Jason had fallen was about 27 yards away from the goal but was a bit on the left side of the Familicao 18-yard box.

    ��Hey Jason,e over,�� Telles called over to Jason who was already moving away.

    Hearing Telles call him, Jason walked over, wondering what Telles wanted from him.

    ��I want you to join me for this free-kick, I want to cross the ball into the box, but I want you to run at the ball like you want to take the free-kick directly,�� Telles whispered to Jason while making a hand signal to the other yers who were arranging themselves inside the penalty area.

    ��Oh, okay,�� Jason muttered, ncing at the Familicao goal, before going to stand behind the ball as if he was the one to take the free-kick, while Telles stood a bit on the right.

    The two of them waited while the yers arranged themselves, buteverynow and then, Telles made a few hand signals at the yers which they understood and arranged themselves ordingly.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The referee finally blew his whistle for the free-kick and Jason started moving towards the ball while keeping his eyes on the wall, but to his surprise, the yers who were arrangedasthe wall didn��t move at all as if they already knew that he wouldn��t be the one taking the free-kick.

    The reason he was running over the ball was to confuse the Familicao yers into thinking he would take the free-kick, but it seemed that the n had failed because almost everyone knew that Telles was the dead-ball specialist for the Porto team.

    It had also not helped that Telles had been giving all sorts of hand signs since earlier which was almost as good as telling the Familicao team his n directly.

    The Familicao yers had probably guessed by now that Telles probably wouldn��t take the shot directly, because if he was going to take the free-kick directly, then who was he signaling to?

    ��Why would one signal to his teammates if he was going to take a direct free-kick?�� Any sane person would ask this question.

    At this moment, Jason could already tell that their n had been seen through, and he didn��t like it.

    He had worked extra hard to get the ball this close to the box and had already failed at getting a goal the first time�� he was not going to fail again.

    If the Familicao yers thought of him as harmless, then he would make them pay for underestimating him��

    ��Hopefully, this works, or Alex is going to kill me during the break,�� Jason thought to himself with a wry smile as he changed his motion mid-step and swung at the ball instead of stepping over it.

    Everyone on the field was stunned and couldn��t react in the slightest as the ball took flight and curled beautifully over the yers who stood as a wall.

    After going over the wall, the ball dipped slightly and continued unhindered until it mmed into the top left corner of the Familicao goal.

    TheFamilicaogoalkeeper could only watch the ball fly past him in surprise as he stood there rooted to the spot.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Stunning!Absolutelystunning!}

    {A wonderfully taken free-kick, a beautiful curler, and a stunning goal!}

    {Who would have imagined?!}

    {He��s kept his fangs sharp, added more skills to his arsenal, and unleashed them at the opportune moment} Thementator went wild as he spoke.

    On the pitch however, Jason had a smile on his face as he watched the ball go in, but he turned around with his hand in surrender with an apologetic smile towards Telles.

    He may have ended up scoring the goal, but he hadliterallydeceived even his teammates and wasted all their efforts at preparation.

    Their n may have already gone awry, but what did it matter anyway, he had to at least look apologetic, but his teammates didn��t overthink as much as he did.

    Telles was even the first to throw his arm around Jason��s shoulder while holding out his other hand for a high-five.

    ��Nice kick, man,�� Telles said with a happy smile, not having the slightest negative feeling since Jason had already scored from the free-kick.

    He wasn��t even nning to score the free-kick directly so what did it matter if another member of the team had scored a direct free-kick?

    The other Porto yers also surrounded Jason to celebrate the goal.

 Chapter 170: Liga NOS is Back V

    Chapter 170: Liga NOS is Back V

    *Fweeeeee*

    The referee��s whistle blew loudly for the first half to end, and y immediately stopped and the yers trudged off the field.

    {The curtains have been pulled on the first half of the match and what a first half it was}

    {We are already four goals in and we look to be heading for a cricket score at this rate}

    {Both teams have shown that they have goals in them, but who would end up on top at the final whistle remains to be seen} Thementator gave a quick description of the match��s score while the yers of both teams headed off the field and into the stadium.

    The Porto yers headed to their locker room where they met the manager waiting for them.

    After waiting for the yers to settle down, Sergio Conceicao began dissecting the match��s proceedings so far,mending the yers who needed to bemended andmenting on the yers whose performances needed work.

    Overall, there wasn��t a lot to pick on about his yers�� performance as they had done quite well and were two goals up. Soon the break was over and the yers headed back out to the field with no changes to their line-up, quickly arranging themselves back on the field in preparation for the second half of the game.

    Soon the referee blew the whistle for the start of the second half and Jason who was standing over the ball sent it to Ze Luis the moment he heard the whistle.

    With the Porto team in possession, they smoothly exchanged the ball among themselves and tried to start an attack, but before long, they lost the ball.

    The ball flew back and forth across the field for the first five minutes of the second half until the Familicao team suddenly broke through the Porto team��s defense.

    A Familicao midfielder had sent a lofted pass over Pepe towards the left wing and Pedro Goncalves had chased after the ball, somehow beingpletely open.

    The Porto defenders had immediately raised their hands to try and call to the assistant referee that Pedro Goncalves was too free to be onside, but the assistant referee��s g stayed down and Pedro Goncalves continued running down the left wing and began cutting in.

    Seeing that the assistant referee wasn��t raising the offside g, the Porto defenders did their best to elerate after Pedro Goncalves who was closing in on their goal.

    Pedro Goncalves didn��t care about the defenders chasing him and kept his focus on making sure he reached the Porto goal and he soon broke into the Porto 18-yard box.

    At this point, Diogo Costa couldn��t stay still and ran out at Pedro Goncalves, trying to throw him off from getting an urate shot away in the least, but when he was just about a meter away from Pedro Goncalves, the Familicao left winger suddenly passed the ball to the right.

    Diogo Costa couldn��t react and could only watch the ball fly to the right and roll in front of the Familicao team��s right winger, Fabio Martins.

    Fabio Martins didn��t waste any time in slotting the ball into the open.

    {What a goal! What a goal!}

    {Familicaoaren��tnning to do down quietly! They still believe and their belief has gotten them a step closer to an equalizer!}

    {Can they do the unthinkable!?} Thementator went crazy after seeing Familicao score a goal so early in the second half while the Porto defense looked to bepletely asleep.

    The Porto fans watching the game from thefort of their houses couldn��t believe that Pedro Goncalves was onside and left unmarked like he was.

    Sergio Conceicao wasn��t pleased either as he had seen the goal clearly and knew why the goal hadn��t been offside.

    Telles had been a bit behind the defensive line and had yed Pedro Goncalves offside when the first pass was made, thus leading to the goal being onside, hence the assistant referee hadn��t reacted when the defenders wereining that the goal was offside.

    The Familcao yers didn��t waste any time celebrating their goal as they were still behind, thus the match soon resumed.

    Immediately after the kickoff, a change in the tempo of the game could be noticed as the ball was moving around the field quicker than before as both teams were doing their best to score the next goal.

    TheFamilicaoteam was doing their best to get an equalizer while the Porto team was trying to increase their lead back to two, thus both teams were ying hard and fast football, doing everything possible to try and score first as the next goal had the potential to reshape the game.

    #64thminute��

    The Porto team was defending against a Familicao attack and had just stolen the ball back from the Familicao team.

    Mamadou Loum was the yer that had regained possession and he immediatelyid the ball off to Telles who chipped the ball over to Jason.

    ncing across the field before catching the ball on his chest, Jason struck the ball with as much strength as he could over to the right side of the field with a volley.

    Jason��s crossfield pass sent the ball flying over everyone before appearing in Fabio Viera��s path and dipping towards the ground.

    Jumping to catch the ball, Fabio Viera dispersed most of the ball��s power and flicked it forward with his first touch beforending and chasing after the ball.

    Fabio Viera��s pace as he moved the ball forward made it hard for his marker to catch up to him and he made his way down the right wing undeterred before immediately sending a curling cross into the penalty box where the newly subbed-on striker, Fabio Silva, was arriving.

    Leaping into the air, the young striker connected with the ball headfirst and directed it towards the Familicao goal.

    TheFamilicaogoalkeeper reacted immediately, not wanting his team to lose any more ground against the Porto team, but despite his efforts at reaching for the ball mid-dive, he couldn��t reach, yet the stars seemed to be on his side,

    *CLANG!*

    The ball crashed loudly against the crossbar and bounced back past Fabio Silva and the Familcao defender that was his marker, neither of them being able to react fast enough to get to the ball as it flew past them, but before the ball reached the ground, a white and gold Nike ser boot collided against the ball and sent it flying back towards the open Familicao goal.

    Jason had been trailing behind Fabio Silva immediately after making the crossfield pass and he had just reached the Familicao 18-yard box when Fabio Silva had gotten his head to Fabio��s cross, thus Jason��s eye was on the ball as it hit the crossbar and somehow bounced back in his direction.

    He didn��t even have to start moving as he was still moving.

    He hadn��t found the ball, but rather the ball had made its way to him and as the gentleman of the rose, it was his obligation to send the ball back to its rightful ce.

    The bulged as the ball flew in, but Jason had already turned away with a smile on his face as he jumped up and pumped his right fist with a smile on his face.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {The dragons draw further away and the Familcao teamarenow back where they started the second half with a two-goal deficit to make up for}

    {Can they still make their way back and find something in this game against the ruthless dragons who seem to not be done punishing them for their defiance} Thementator unleashed his poetry skills in full force as he made known his mboyant presence to assist the fans in their homes at cheering for their team.

    The Porto team also celebrated joyously at the stadium despite the absence of cheering noises from the fans.

    Soon enough, however, the match resumed again and the Familicao team became even more aggressive in their tackles.

    They yed faster and more ferociously than ever before, but the Porto team yed like their nickname and kept the Familicao team under a lock, not allowing them to gain any momentum no matter how hard they yed.

    Rather the Porto team edged closereverynow and then to increasing their lead even further and finally in the 77thminute of the match, they did.

    Porto had been keeping the pressure up and keeping possession for the majority of the game and they had been passing the ball around in the Familicao half.

    Finally, Otavio had passed the ball towards Jason who was standing just outside the left corner of the Familicao 18-yard box.

    Not wanting to do any dribbling, Jason had decided to try his luck and had tried a sort of curling chip shot from just outside the left corner of the Familicao box.

    The ball had flown high while curling inward, reached its zenith, and dipped towards the top right corner of the Familicao goal, all while still curling in the air.

    TheFamilicaogoalkeeper who had reactedte due to the strange way the ball was shot was no match for the ball as it flew into the side of the.

    {What a Goal! What a Curler!}

    {Stupendous! Exhrating! Ruthless!}

    {He has been the standout for his team, the apple on top of the tree, and the final nail of the Familicao coffin}

    {He has personally hammered Familicao into oblivion and he has done it with his first hat trick}

    {With a performance like this, this day will surely go down in history!}

 Chapter 171: Liga NOS is Back VI

    Chapter 171: Liga NOS is Back VI

    Jason had watched the ball fall into the and a smile had blossomed on his face when he realized that he had scored, but when the realization set in that he had just gotten his first-ever hat trick on the professional stage, the smile bloomed fully and he wanted to run off to celebrate but before he could even move Otavio jumped on him, and the rest of his teammates who were nearby followed suit.

    The whole Porto team celebrated Jason��s goal while the Familicao yers looked distraught as they had lost even more footing and the game was practically over.

    There was no way in hell that the Porto team would allow them toe back from a three-goal deficit so it was pretty much over for them and every one of them knew it.

    They could only watch as the Porto team celebrated their victory over them and could only stare with respect in their eyes at the yer who was most instrumental in their defeat.

    Jason of course did not know about their thoughts as he was too deep in hisownthoughts at that moment.

    This was his first-ever professional hat trick after all.

    He had never scored a hat-trick in his past life, not even by luck, after all, even if he got one or two lucky goals in a match, it was already quite difficult for weaker teams to get three goals in one match, especially when every other team they yed against were much stronger teams.

    Thus this was another milestone that he had never sniffed in his past life and now he had finally gotten his first hat trick, so how could he not be happy? In fact, at this moment, he was boiling and felt like he could even score a couple more goals as long as the ball got to him, but before he could think even further, he noticed the manager on the sideline saying something to the assistant referee who held the board on the sideline.

    ��Does the coach want to make a substitution?��Jason wondered to himself, his smile not leaving his face as he and his teammates made their way back into their half of the pitch after their celebrations.

    The manager had only made one substitution earlier, thus he still had two chances to make a substitution, so it wasn��t unexpected that the manager would make a substitution.

    What was unexpected to Jason was when he saw his jersey number in red on the board and realized that the manager was trying to substitute him just after he scored a hat trick.

    His mood instantly soured, but he kept his smile on his face to hide his displeasure as he headed down to the sidelines while pping slowly as he walked off the field.

    High-fiving Romario Baro and giving him a half hug, Jason stepped off the field and was reced by Romario Baro.

    ��Good performance out there,�� Sergio Conceicao patted Jason on his shoulder as he headed to the bench.

    Jason was a bit incensed by the Portuguese manager��s touch as he didn��t understand why he was being taken off, nor did he want to be taken off.

    There wasn��t even a discussion of something like this when the manager was discussing the game n before the match, so Jason could not be more confused at the moment, but his displeasure was a bit more than his confusion.

    Unfortunately, he knew that the Portuguese manager was not the kind of manager who exined most of his decisions so his annoyance slowly filtered away when he realized that there was no point in getting angry at the manager.

    The happiness from scoring his hat trick helped him to get over his displeasure quickly and he sat on the bench with a smile, joking andughing with the guys on the bench as they watched the match and waited for it to be over.

    It seemed that the manager had opted for a more defensive approach for reasons unknown to the yers, but their job was to y ording to the manager��s instructions, which they did and the clock slowly ran out until the final whistle was blown.

    The score remainedFamilicao2 :5 Portoat the end of the match.

    After the match, Jason headed to the field to receive the match ball and the man of the match award all while taking pictures with the award.

    After collecting the match ball and the award, he gave them to Shoya who helped him take them to the locker room because Jason had to wait behind for an interview.

    He didn��t even try to sneak away as he knew that it wasn��t avoidable and he headed to where the interview was to be held and sat behind a table filled that had a few microphones ced on them.

    The reporters were well-kitted with nose masks, while some of them even wore gloves, and soon the interview began with a question from a female reporter from Sport TV.

    ��It��s your first hat trick ever, how did you feel watching the ball go in?�� the reporter asked.

    ��I was ecstatic, I feel happy, and I��m d that I helped the team win. Other than that, it feels good to cross this milestone, you know?�� Jason replied cheerily.

    ��Speaking of milestones, you also managed to score a stunner of a free-kick, which is also your first free-kick attempt for the team, Did you n to score the free-kick from the moment you stepped away from the ball?�� the reporter asked again.

    ��Ah, about that, it��sactuallyquite funny cuz I wasn��t meant to take the free-kick,�� Jason said with augh.

    ��What do you mean?�� the reporter asked, a bit confused by Jason��s answer.

    ��Well, if you check the rey, you��ll probably see that I wasn��t even there until Telles called me,��

    ��Heactuallywanted me to just step over the ball as part of the free-kick routine, to confuse the other team as he wanted to cross the ball into the box instead of taking the free-kick directly, but as I ran at the ball, I saw that none of them seemed to want to move so I just took the shot,��

    ��Luckily it went in, or I��d have had a lot of exining to do,�� Jason exined with augh while the other reportersughed as well when they finally understood what hadactuallytranspired.

    ��It��s been about three months since the Liga NOS was suspended and today the league is finally back, do you have anyments about the matter?�� Another reporter asked Jason.

    ��Well, as you��ve said, it��s been a while since the Liga NOS was suspended and though we were not happy with it, we also understood that it was for the safety of everyone,��

    ��Luckily, we have moved past the worst and the league is finally resuming. Of course, things aren��texactlythe same, the fans aren��t at the stadium and the silence is quite disconcerting, but in all this, the truth remains that the Liga NOS is back and I��m sure everyone is happy about it,�� Jason answered honestly.

    After this question, the interview continued and Jason answered a few more questions before he finally stood up to end the interview.

    His exhaustion was finally setting in and announcing to him that if he didn��t find a bed toy on within the next hour, wherever he was where he would wake up the next day.

    Leaving the interview, Jason quickly headed to the locker room where his teammates were already cleaning up and preparing to leave.

    Jason joined them, but while clearing up, he suddenly remembered something, took out his phone, and snapped a picture of the locker room, before taking a picture with Otavio, Fabio Viera, ZeLuis, and Shoya Nakajima.

    He also took pictures with a few other yers after which he continued packing up and went to clean up when it was his turn to shower.

    The team finally left on the team bus for the hotel where they would spend the night as it was already quitete, so the team would only be leaving V Nova de Familicao the next day despite it not being more than an hour��s drive back to Porto.

    On the bus, Jason pulled out his phone and opened the Instagram app.

    Selecting all the pictures he had taken earlier, he added the caption,

    ��First game since the lockdown and first hat-trick�� wish you guys were here with us,��

    After carefully typing in the caption, adding a few emojis, and triple-checking what he wrote, he finally clicked ��post��.

    After posting it on Instagram, he closed the app and went to do the same on Facebook and Twitter as well.

    With that done, he slid into Sofia��s DMs to reply to some messages she sent earlier.

    Surprisingly, Sofia was online at that moment, so she replied to him barely a minute after he had texted her.

    Jason chatted with Sofiaall the waytill they reached their hotel, and checked in, but beforeying down, he sent Sofia a good night text and then hit the sack.

    Less than a minuteter, he was already asleep with a smile still on his face.

 Chapter 172: I am Him

    Chapter 172: I am Him

    Jason woke up to the sound of his rm that he had forgotten to turn off before going to sleep due to his exhaustion.

    Blinking tiredly, he had been a bit surprised at his environment, but then the memories came rushing in and then he remembered that he was at the hotel where the yers lodged for the night.

    Quickly turning off his rm to not wake up his roommate, Jasonyzily in his bed, still feeling tired from the previous day��s match.

    He wanted to go back to sleep, considering it was just 6:00 am, but thinking that he would still have to wake up about an hour from now and then go through all the annoying motions of getting ready at that time,

    ��Fuck it,�� he muttered with a groan and got out of bed and headed into the bathroom, his brain havinge up with the idea that would allow for maximum sleeping time.

    Quickly cleaning up and having his bath, Jason headed back into the room and dressed up in everything but hisshoes,then packed up his stuff and put them by his bedside before jumping back into bed.

    Quickly ripping out a piece of paper, he wrote a note that said,

    ��Wake me up when we��re about to leave.�� He had gone ahead to wash up and pack so that he could go back to sleep until the time they wouldactuallyleave for Porto which was more than an hour away from now.

    The calction checked out as he would be sleeping while the others were falling over themselves to get ready, and then while they waiting for everything to be done, he would still be sleeping.

    Nothingmuch to see there, just perfect Carlo Ancelotti tactics for getting the most amount of sleep possible.

    Jason fell asleep once again, not caring about the world around him.

    When he was finally shaken awake by Fabio Viera, he yawned and stood up, feeling more refreshed than when he had first woken up.

    ��Are we leaving already?�� Jason asked Fabio while he started putting on his shoes.

    ��Nah, we��re supposed to have breakfast before we leave,�� Fabio responded.

    ��Tch�� you shouldn��t have woken me, I wouldn��t have minded skipping breakfast for today,�� Jason muttered in a voice that only he could hear.

    ��Well, let��s go,�� Jason said as he stood up after wearing his shoes.

    The two of them joined the rest of the team for breakfast before finally getting their bags, heading to the team bus, and heading back to Porto.

    Arriving in Porto, they headed for the CTFD Portogaia where the bus stopped.

    The yers got off and headed for their cars and began leaving for the various homes.

    Jason said his goodbyes as well before jumping into his car and driving out of the training ground.

    Cruising through the streets of Porto, Jason first stopped by a grocery store andpulled on his nose mask and dark sunsses before getting out.

    Looking at himself in the reflective sleek body of the car, he realized that he was still wearing the New Bnce sponsored kit for the Porto yers and that would cause people to raise an eyebrow�� if they noticed.

    Unfortunately, there was nothing Jason could do as he did not carry along any more normal clothing with him at that moment.

    All he had were clothes that would give him away if anyone was observant enough to notice him.

    ��Maybe I should start keeping some extra clothes in the car from now,�� Jason wondered to himself as he started heading into the store.

    Reaching the doors of the store, Jason sanitized his hands with the sanitizer that the grocery shop had so graciously provided at the entrance of their store.

    Normally the people allowed in the store would be regted to avoid overcrowding, but business was a bit slow at the moment so there weren��t many people around anyway so Jason just walked right in and picked up a trolley.

    Soon he was scouring around the store and throwing all sorts of fruits, vegetables, spices, and cans into his trolley.

    It could not be helped, he had to stock up his refrigerator which he had been meaning to do.

    A few days ago he had finally moved into his own house which was the same one he had selected before the lockdown.

    Luckily, no one else had decided to buy it, but then it was kinda hard to buy something like a house when one could be arrested just for stepping outside one��s house.

    Thus the house had been waiting right where he had left it and Jason had finally put pen to paper and taken the house.

    He had moved in a few days ago, but he hadn��t taken anything from the refrigerator back at the apartment he and Mylo shared, thus he had nothing in his new refrigerator.

    He had also not had time to bother with the matter for thest few days as he had been fully focused on preparing for the first match after the lockdown so now that he was finally free enough, he had to at least stock up a bit on thebasecessities.

    Thus Jason raided the grocery store and only stopped after filling up the trolley he was pushing around.

    He would have bought more stuff if it wouldn��t have been a problem to move the stuff he would be buying, and at the moment, all he wanted to do was get back to his sleep as soon as he got back to his ce, also, there wasn��t any more space in his car.

    Quickly heading to the counter, Jason started pulling out stuff from the trolley and dumping it on the counter, prompting a look of surprise from the guy behind the counter.

    ��That��s a lot of stuff,�� the guy said with surprise as he started scanning the stuff and racking up Jason��s bill.

    ��Yeah, just moved to a new ce, the fridge needs some pampering,�� Jason responded with a smile, but it was hidden under the mask.

    ��Oh, that bit*h probably hasn��t been filled with milk in months,�� the guy at the counter said with a smile, his hands not stopping as he continued to scan and pack up the stuff Jason was buying.

    Coming to a pause, Jason asked,

    ��Just to be clear, we��re still talking about my refrigerator, right?�� Jason asked with a weird-looking smile, but it was also covered up by the mask, but his intention was present in his tone.

    ��Noment, Noment,�� the guyughed and continued his work.

    ��Speaking of which, you look kinda familiar,�� the guy at the counter suddenly said, something clicking to ce in his head.

    ��You don��t say?�� Jason muttered a reply, still majorly upied with pulling stuff out of the trolley.

    ��Man fuck this lockdown stuff, life was so much easier just months ago, now we have to wash our hands almost every minute, racking up the damn water bills and wearing stuffy nose masks that make people so difficult to differentiate,��

    ��I mean, I can��t tell if you��re Jason Bolu or just some guy that looks like him parading around in our team��s tracksuit,�� the guy spoke in a distracted tone as his major focus was still working the counter.

    ��People do that?�� Jason asked in a surprised tone, pausing again in his trolley unloading.

    ��You��re doing that right now���� The guy at the counterughed at Jason��s question, but the next second, he was surprised.

    ��I don��t think I��d have to make any effort to look like me, after all, there��s only one of me going around and that��s me,�� Jason replied with a littleugh of his own.

    ��You are him?�� the counter guy asked in surprise and slight disbelief.

    ��Yes�� I am him,�� Jason reiterated with augh and pulled his sses to show off his gem-like eyes.

    ��Crazyyyy,�� the counter guy was pleasantly surprised as he immediately recognized Jason��s eyes.

    Every Porto fan recognized those eyes and he immediately realized that his earlier spections were correct.

    As for the thought that the person before him was some Jason lookalike who was wearing contact lenses�� it never popped up in his head.

    With his excitement bubbling over, his work rate doubled and he quickly packed up Jason��s stuff.

    ��Hey could you give me an autograph or something,�� the counter guy asked as Jason took out his card to pay for the stuff he was buying.

    ��Sure, I don��t mind giving you an autograph. I can��t take a picture with you though, you know, cuz of social distancing,�� Jason replied with a smile.

    ��Of course, we can��t have you being suspended or anything,�� the counter guy quickly nodded in agreement and grabbed his bag to pull out his Porto jersey that he always kept in his bag.

    ���� that��s quite touching, and I agree,�� Jasonughed a little as he swiped his card.

    After paying, Jason and the counter guy packed the stuff back into the trolley and Jason pushed the trolley out of the store.

    The counter guy offered to help, but Jason refused and told the guy to stay back and answer the other customers as he didn��t want to be the reason the counter guy received aint that could make his life harder.

    After packing the stuff from the trolley into his car, Jason returned the trolley, then got in his car and drove off with his home being his destination.

 Chapter 173: Operation Rob the SharkTank

    Chapter 173: Operation Rob the SharkTank

    A blue BMW i8 drove through a modern-looking neighborhood until it turned into the driveway of one of the houses in the neighborhood.

    The house was modest lookingpared to the other more extravagant looking houses, but even though it was modestpared to the other houses, it was still a beautiful looking house that looked to be worth its monthly rent of four thousand Euros per month.

    It was a bit expensive, considering that Jason only made about forty thousand Euros per month before tax, but Jason didn��t mind paying that much of a price for a house like this one that even had a small pool in the back as well as other nice features, but the thing that Jason loved the most about it was its privacy.

    The neighborhood the house was set in was one for the high earners in Porto so it would be a lot more private than the apartment he shared with Mylo before, not to mention that there was no Mylo here anymore.

    Also, there wasn��treallymuch he was spending on anyway so he wouldn��treallyfeel the pinch, not to mention that he had taken advice from Adele to begin investing so he already had growing funds in a fewpanies.

    A lot of the funds were loans though as Jason himself didn��t have that much liquid, so he had taken a loan and invested in a fewpanies that he remembered to have blown up a fair bit due to the COVID virus and had stayed up after the lockdown.

    He would be paying the loans for the next couple of years, but the original amount of money he had borrowed had long since quadrupled and was still growing so Jason didn��treallyhave a problem with money.

    He might even have to hire an ountant soon to help him manage his assets as the growing number of zeros were already enough to make him dizzy. Jason already had a n to sell all his shares soon enough as one thing he knew was that it was almost impossible to guess whichpany would continue growing, and if he left his money in, it would at most stay stable, or grow over a longperiod of timewhich while was nice, Jason wasn��t too interested in it as of now.

    Rather he had another idea, a daring one, but a good idea nheless.

    The best avenues for growth through investment were start-uppanies as they were quite literally starting up from the bottom and then could grow to be multi-million dor or even billion-dorpanies.

    Even an idiot knew the math, but the problem with investing in startuppanies was that one was never sure whichpany would make it through the test of time and grow to be a business giant, or at least be stable in the business world.

    Jason��s answer to this problem was a little American TV show called Shark Tank.

    The show epted people with good business ideas and then they had toe on TV to present their business ideas to a few millionaires who would then decide whether to invest and how much to invest.

    Jason��s targets weren��t the ideas that were invested in by the multi-millionaire judges on the show, rather, his targets were those ideas that either required too much capital, or that were unepted by the judges because they wanted a bigger share of the pie, but the owner of the idea wasn��t ready to give that to them.

    Jason would then give them a call after they were thrown out of the show, and then invest, and then watch his money grow, after all, he wasn��t a businessman and didn��t have the same reservations that the multi-millionaire judges had.

    All he cared about was that his money grew past its original value at a rate that already establishedpanies could not manage.

    Luckily he already had the money to invest, although it was still growing and it was still sometime before he began his operation ��Rob the SharkTanks��.

    To bepletely honest though, there were quite a few risks with his idea, and not everypany he ended up investing in would give him the returns he was expecting and some may even lead to him losing his investment�� but then, what was life without a little risk?

    There would always be wins and losses, but all that mattered was that his wins had more value than what he lost.

    As long as that was settled, then his business n was an overall sess.

    Not thinking any further, Jason pulled into the driveway of his new ce and came to a stop.

    Grabbing his keys from his sports bag, he grabbed his sports bag and a lot of the groceries that he had just bought and moved to the entrance of the house.

    Managing to somehow open the door, he took the stuff in and ced them all in the kitchen which wasn��t too far away from the entrance of the house, then he went back to get the rest of his stuff.

    Normally, Jason was a one-trip from the car to the house kinda guy, but even he couldn��t carry a trolley full of groceries and stuff in just one trip, to his annoyance of course as that was already cutting into the sleeping time that he nned for the day.

    After a couple more trips, he was done packing all his stuff from the car into the house and then began a new struggle of arranging all the groceries into his refrigerator as there was no way he could leave the fresh groceries just lying around and having his kitchen look like some sort of grocery storeroom with all sorts of produce lying everywhere.

    As soon as he was done with arranging his refrigerator, he grabbed his sports bag and headed for his bedroom where he threw his sports bag into a corner of the room with a n to rearrange his stuffter.

    He quickly pulled out a yoga mat and began doing various stretches to help with his muscle exhaustion after which he went on to have another shower to wash away all his sweat from doing yoga.

    The matches that would being up would be in a bit of a rush, so he needed to always maintain tip-top shape or it��d be easy for him to get injured, so as soon as he was done with his shower he jumped into his bed and went to sleep.

 Chapter 174: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 I

    Chapter 174: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 I

    Porto��s next match was held on the 10thof June 2020 and they weed the Maritimo side to the Estadio do Dragao for their match.

    The formation for the Porto side remained the same 4-1-2-3 formation as their previous time out, but due to more of the yers from the pre-lockdown first team achieving match fitness, there were some changes in the line-up.

    Their line-up for the match against Maritimo was as thus,

    Goalkeeper: Augustin Marchesin,

    Left-back: Alex Telles,

    Right-back: Mattheus Uribe,

    Center-backs: Pepe, Ivan Marcano,

    Center Defensive Midfielder: Sergio Oliveira, Center Attacking Midfielders: Otavio, Fabio Viera,

    Right winger: Jason Bolu,

    Left winger: Luiz Diaz,

    Center Forward: Tiquiniho Soares.

    The match began at the anticipated time, and as expected it was the Porto side that dominated the proceedings of the game, as they kept possession of the ball most of the time, and took most of the shots, but were unlucky to score in the first half.

    The second half however got off to a banging start when Jason cut through his marker on the right wing as well as another yer before sending a cross into the box which Soares immediately got his foot to and sent towards the goal.

    The Maritimo goalkeeper however did the impossible and got his hand to the ball, but before the Maritimo side could celebrate that they managed to not go behind, Luiz Diaz appeared behind the ball and smashed their hopes with the way he smashed the ball into the back of the Maritimo goal.

    {They��ve done it! We wondered when it wasing and they didn��t disappoint!}

    {They have begun the second half with a bang!}

    {A daring run from Jason on the right wing as he danced circles around his marker before finally sending the ball into the box for the team��s striker}

    {He��ll be a little disappointed that his run and pass weren��t rewarded with an assist stat, but he��ll be joyousthat his team is in front thanks to the opportunistic attempt of Luiz Diaz} Thementator did his job while the Porto yers on the field celebrated their goal while the Porto fans jubted in their homes in front of the TV.

    The celebrations soon ended and the match resumed, but the ease in the movements of the Porto team that was brought about by their confidence in their lead was easy to notice and they began to press the Maritimo team even more than before, looking for a second goal.

    In the 74thminute, a clear chance to do so finally appeared.

    Otavio passed the ball to newly subbed-on Jesus Corona who was on the left side of the Maritimo 18-yard box and Jesus Corona quickly passed the ball to Alex Telles who was making a run past him down the left.

    After controlling the ball with his first touch, Alex Telles whipped the ball with his left foot, sending the ball curling outward into the Maritimo 18-yard box from the left side.

    The ball was heading towards Jason who was in the box and Jason wasted no time in jumping for the ball.

    He had no confidence in his heading skills, but he could at least try to direct the ball with his head�� as for where the ball wouldactuallyend up, he didn��t know, but he would at least try, thus he jumped in a way he had watched Cristiano Ronaldo do so many times on TV and put his head on the ball, making sure to not take his eyes off the ballthroughout his flight.

    Whether by a stroke of luck, or whether he had copied Cristiano Ronaldo��s header perfectly he didn��t know, but the ball bounced off his head, flew past the goalkeeper, and into the back of the, surprising even Jason himself, but he didn��t stay surprised for long and was soon running down the sidelines to celebrate.

    His teammates followed after him while thementator got on the mic and began to unleash award-worthy poetry.

    {After his hat-trick in thest match, he has once stamped himself on the score sheet with authority from the skies}

    {It��s been said that the air is a dragon��s territory and this holdstruefor thisd!}

    {He took to the air and dominated from the air, sending the ball past a stunned goalkeeper who had stayed rooted to the spot}

    With this goal, Porto was two up and they yed like it, continuing to bite at the Maritimo defense, but they were unlucky to not be able to trouble the scoreboard operators any further and the score remained atPorto 2 : 0 Maritimo.

    With another victory, they had ensured that they would remain at the top of the league table for the next week at least.

    Benfica was only behind them by two points so as long as they slipped up, who knew what would happen, but for the time being they were still the league leaders.

    After the interviews and press conferences, the yers left the stadium on the team bus.

    **16thJune 2020**

    The Porto team bus made its way to V das Aves for the match against Desportivo das Aves that would be taking ce at the Desportivo das Aves home stadium, Estadio do CD Aves.

    The match would take almost an hour so they left early so that the yers could rest for a few hours before the match.

    After getting to V das Aves, the bus headed to a hotel where the yers had a two-hour rest after which they headed for the stadium for a little pre-match warm-up.

    On reaching the Estadio do CD Aves, the yers headed to their locker rooms and changed into their warm-up kits.

    Jason was wearing an additional bib over his training kit which indicated that he wasn��t a part of the starting line-up against Desportivo das Aves.

    Sergio Conceicao had made some changes to the line-up from thest match and the line-up for the match against Desportivo das Aves was as follows;

    Goalkeeper: Augustin Marchesin,

    Right-back: Wilson Manafa,

    Left-back: Alex Telles,

    Center-backs: Pepe, Chancel Mbemba,

    Center defensive midfielder: Danilo Perreira,

    Center attacking midfielders: Mattheus Uribe, Sergio Oliveira,

    Left winger: Luis Diaz,

    Right winger: Tiquiniho Soares,

    Center forward: Moussa Marega.

 Chapter 175: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 II

    Chapter 175: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 II

    At 9:15 pm, the referee blew loudly to start the match between Desportivo das Aves and Porto and the Desportivo das Aves team kicked off first.

    As the stronger side, the Porto team soon took control of the game, grabbing the Desportivo das Aves team by the scruff of its neck and applying pressure.

    The Desportivo das Aves team fought back though and in a surprising turn of events they managed to take the lead from a corner, surprising everyone watching the game.

    The Porto yers were stunned, the fans were surprised, the manager was infuriated, and thementatorwas lovingit all.

    {In a surprising turn of events and going against any sane prediction, Desportivo das Aves score first!}

    {The Porto yers look shaken and lost for words!}

    {How did they allow that in!?}

    {Coming off a disappointing attack that ended with them being graced a corner, Desportivo das Aves burst to life with an effort that has sent the dragons into the backseat for this match!} {The dynamics of the game have changed!}

    {The question on everybody��s mind remains the same�� Can Desportivo das Aves do the impossible and defeat the dragons, or will they only be able to enjoy their ecstasy for a short period?} Thementator got on the mic to do his thing while the Desportivo das Aves team celebrated their goal.

    Soon the match resumed and the Porto team immediately shifted into a more initiative style of y and attacked the Desportivo das Aves with as much ferocity as they could muster.

    They passed the ball in circles around the Desportivo das Aves yers and sent shots at the opponents�� goal every so often, yet they still came short and were unable to trouble the scoreboard operator for the remaining minutes of the first half.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The referee blew his whistle loudly to signify the end of the first half of the game and the yers of both teams walked off the field and headed into the stadium, both moving towards their their locker rooms.

    The Porto team met a less-than-pleased manager waiting for them in the locker room.

    Sergio Conceicao criticized their style of y first before beginning to speak about the tactical changes for the rest of the game.

    Firstly, he would have the yers change their formation back to the 4-4-2 holding formation that they were more used to and he rearranged the line-up to have the yers fit into their new positions for the rest of the game.

    Luckily for the manager,the only yer he had to substitute was Mattheus Uribe for Jesus Corona who would be ying on the right side of the midfield.

    Luis Diaz remained the left winger, but his position was moved back a fair bit, and Jesus Corona would be ying the same position as him on the right side of the pitch.

    Sergio Oliveira was pulled back and joined Danilo Perreira in the center midfield, though their roles would be slightly different as Danilo would be ying as a center defensive midfielder while Oliveira would be ying as a center midfielder.

    The defense line stayed the same while upfront, Tiquiniho moved from the right wing and joined Moussa Marega as a second striker in the formation.

    After making these changes, the manager gave instructions on how he expected the yers to y in the second half so that the team could quickly get an equalizer.

    Soon the fifteen-minute break was over and the yers were back on the field, slightly refreshed for the second half of the game, both teams having determined looks on their faces as they were both gunning for the next goal of the match as it was a potential decider for the match.

    *Fweeeeee*

    The referee blew loudly and the second half was soon underway from a kickoff by the Porto side and the two teams quickly picked up from where they left off.

    The instructions and tactics of both teams had changed but their objectives remained the same, which was toe out on top when the final whistle was blown.

    Barely ten minutes after the second half, the goal that both teams were desperately searching for was finally scored and it was scored by Desportivo das Aves who were vehemently refusing the title of underdogs for the game.

    The Desportivo team had been passing the ball around carefully after retrieving possession of the ball from the Porto side and had held the ball for almost thirty seconds, as they carefully passed it around, seemingly content with holding the ball until one of the Desportivo das Aves midfielders suddenly sent the ball forward with a splitting pass that cut through the Porto defense like a hot knife through butter.

    The Desportivo das Aves center forward who was being marked by Ivan Marcano somehow muscled himself out of the tight situation he was in and chased after the ball.

    The Porto yers immediately took off after him when they realized the gravity of the situation, yet the Desportivo das Aves center forward managed to hold off Ivan Marcano who was the closest Porto yer to him.

    Just as he was about to enter the Porto 18-yard box, he suddenly noticed the ferocious Portuguese defender, Pepe charging towards him with his intention to erase him from the field before he could enter the Porto 18-yard box, the striker panicked and just fired the ball with as much power as he could muster, not inclined to keep running with the ball.

    The ball took flight and thundered towards the left side of the Porto goal at breakneck speed.

    Augustin Marchesin immediately dived for the ball and even managed to get his hand to it, but the power in the shot was too much and he only managed to slow down the ball a bit before the ball somehow squeezed under his palm and bounced on the floor before bouncing upward into the Porto goal.

    {What a shocker! What�� a�� shocker!}

    {We thought a goal would happen at the other end, but Desportivo das Aves has taken it upon themselves and somehow managed to dig the grave of the dragons even further!}

    {It��s gotten a lot harder for the Porto team to salvage anything from this game!}

    {What a surprise for the home fans!}

    {Their team just might end up as dragon yers!} Thementator didn��t care to hold back his words.

    He simply let them flow while the Desportivo das Aves team celebrated wildly.

    The Porto yers on the other hand were distraught and stunned by the current situation.

    They hade off the back of consecutive victories and were now being taken for a horror ride by a team that they would never particrly pay any attention to.

    ��Tell Jason to warm up, he��s getting into the match immediately,��Sergio Conceicao whispered to Vitor Bruno, a displeased look on his face.

    It could not be helped, his team was doing the impossible.

    They had yed like bottom feeders throughout the match and their ying style waspletely devoid of the dominance that they as league leaders should have.

    It was annoying, it was embarrassing and now he had to bring on a yer with hopes that the yer��s form could somehow jumpstart his team��s performance on the field.

    This was a yer that should be the one learning from his seniors on the team, but now he was being brought on with hopes that he could somehow bail his seniors out of the deep sh*t that they were in.

    Sergio Conceicao had been nning to rest Jason for this match as he did not want his match stress to build up which could have detrimental effects on the yer and would lead to an increased risk of injury, but the team was now in a situation where all his considerations had to be thrown out the window.

    Benfica was supposedly only two points behind them, and if Porto lost the match while Benfica won theirs, then Benfica would be the league leaders, so it wasdefinitelya do-or-die situation, after all, it was always harder to be the team that was doing the chasing.

    Jason didn��t know what the manager was thinking but he had been told by the assistant manager to warm-up and that was exactly what he was doing, his eyes fallingeverynow and then on the Desportivo das Aves team that was still celebrating their goal.

    Quickly finishing up his warm-up routines as he didn��t exactly have much time, Jason took off his vest and adjusted his kit.

    He ced his shin guards in his socks, checked hisces, and began wrapping his right hand in the cloth hand wrap as he walked to the manager for instructions.

    Putting a hand around his shoulder, Sergio Conceicao started giving instructions,

    ��You were there at the halftime meeting, so you know about the changes I made to the formation, and also your role as a left midfielder, but I want you to lead from the front,��

    ��Start an attack anytime as long as it will not lead to us conceding a goal,��

    ��This is the time to take risks, it already can��t get any worse than this, but luckily, there��s still time for us to gain something from this game,��

    ��So get out there and y your best,�� Sergio Conceicao finished giving instructions and patted Jason��s shoulder, sending him off to the assistant referee.

 Chapter 176: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 III

    Chapter 176: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 III

    The assistant referee held up the boardandon it, the number 7 was in red while the number 21 was green.

    Beside the referee stood Jasonwhowas pouring some water on his hair while waiting for Luis Diazwhowas theowner of the number 7 jerseyte to the sidelines.

    Soon enough, Jason high-fived Luis Diaz, threw his bottle to the side, and ran onto the field, nodding at the teammates he came across as he took position on the field.

    The Porto fanswhowere viewing the game from their homeseitheron their TV or on their other devices, cheered a bit, hopeful that Jason could do something to change the game, especially given his run of form in thest few days.

    They were already displeased before the match started when they realized that he wasn��t a part of the line-up, considering that his performance for the team had been influential in all thest few matches, but nowthat they were losing to a team like Desportivo das Aves, their fury had been truly incensed.

    The fans could only hope that there was still enough in the tank of the Porto yers to try and make aeback or at least equalize.

    As Jason ran unto the field, thementator did not stay silentandhesoon started singling out the new threat to the Desportivo das Aves.

    {There hees, his picture one of determination and a beacon of hope for the current injured dragons} {Ever since he joined the team, his performance has been phenomenndhis form in thest few games has disyed that this kid is going ces}

    {The manager may be looking to him to lead the team to aeback here, but we��ll see whether he is up to the task or not, wouldn��t we?}

    ��This guy needs to learn to shut up sometimes,�� Jason thought to himself as he noticed the look in the eyes of the Desportivo das Aves yers around him change and heard the opposition team��s manager shouting orders to the yers to make sure he was never free.

    While waiting for the referee to blow his whistle, Jason closed his eyes and started whispering to himself,

    ��You want to be the best, right?��

    ��Well, you are not the best�� but you��ll be the best,��

    ��To be the best, you must win, and to win, you must score,��

    ���� and no one is going to be able to stop me,�� whispering these words to himself to psyche himself up, his eyes shot open and gleamed withposure and intent.

    It seemed like a monster had awoken and was hungry.

    Luckily, there was prey right in front of him.

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    The referee blew the whistleandthe Porto team kicked off immediatelythe whistlewas blownandthe ball started moving around between them at a quick pace.

    The Porto team attacked boldly because they had their back to the cornerandthe only way out was through the Desportivo das Aves team.

    It didn��t take long before Jason got his first touch on the ball, receiving a grounded pass from Telles, Jason quickly turned and fed the ball past his marker before elerating past the Desportivo das Aves yer to chase after the ball.

    Reaching the ball, Jason elerated past the halfway line and sent the ball to Sergio Oliveira before making a run out towards the left while his marker chased hard after him.

    Sergio Oliveira did not bother trapping the ball and just sent the ball back into Jason��s path as he ran down the left of the Desportivo das Aves 18-yard box.

    Stretching out his leg to catch the ball, Jason trapped the ball with his first touch, but before he could move, his marker mmed into him from behindalmostsending him off bnce.

    Barely managing to stay on his feet, Jason dragged the ball along with him as he cut into the Desportivo das Aves��s 18-yard box while holding off his marker with his right hand.

    Due to how tightly he wasbeing pushedfrom behind, Jason could not even attempt dribbling the yers in front of himsohe did the next best thing and crossed the ball immediately,justbarely managing to swing at the ball.

    The ball flew intotothe Desportivo das Aves��s 18-yard box and across the goal and the yers in the box jumped at the ball.

    Moussa Marega fought off his marker to jump for the ball, but the yer managed to hassle him enough that he missed the headerandthe ball flewpast everyone and went down the right wing.

    Luckily for the Porto team, Jesus Corona wasjustarriving at the right side of the Desportivo das Aves 18-yard boxandhe stopped the ball from going out, trappingthe ballbefore turning to the opponent��s 18-yard box and moving towards it.

    Jasonwhohad been freed up a bit by his marker since he was no longer with theballstarted moving towards the center of the Desportivo das Aves 18-yard box to be able to receive a pass from Jesus Corona.

    Jesus Corona saw his intentionandthe moment he saw Jason be free enough, he immediately sent the ball at him.

    Jason watched the bapproach,and readied his body for the shot, his body already going through the motions to meet the ballfirsttime, but justas the ball reached him and he was swinging at the ball, somebody mmed into him from behind causing him to miss the ball and sending him to the ground.

    As Jason fell to the ground, he saw the ball get cleared by a Desportivo das Aves defender while his teammates called out to the referee for a penalty as everyone had seen him get mmed into from behind.

    ��Ref! Ref!�� Moussa Marega called to the referee while gesturing at Jasonwhowas still on the ground.

    Shockingly, the referee��s whistle stayed silent despite theobviousfondy continued.

    Jason slowly stood up, surprised that the referee wasn��t giving a penalty foran obviousfoul, and he wasn��t the only one.

    Sergio Conceicaoonthesidelineswas having a hard time staying silentandthePorto fans were raining curses down on the referee from their homes because everyone had seen that the foul wasan obviouspenalty.

    The Desportivo das Aves yer who had sent Jason flying was the same yer who had been hassling Jason roughly when he started the attack earlier, yet evenback then, the referee hadn��t called for a foul, nor had he even given an advantage to the Porto team.

    ��Wellthat sucks,�� Jason thought in annoyance as he moved back to the left side of the midfield.

    Ifthat penalty had been given, then the Porto team was already almost guaranteed a gondthat meant they would have been a step closer to equalizing the game, but the referee had decidedto notcall for a foul.

    A minuteter, the ball went out of yandJason went to the referee toin about the earlier incident, but thereferee waved him off,not interestedin listening to Jason��s opinion.

    ��Who is this kidthat��strying to tell me how to do my job?�� the referee thought with annoyance.

    Seeing that his words were not going anywhere near the ears of the referee, Jason stopped talking and walked away, not intent on speaking to someone who didn��t want to listen.

    ��There��ll be other chances,�� Jason consoled himself as hewent backto his position.

    #64thminute��

    The Desportivo das Aves team had tried to start an attack and had the ball stolen from them by Danilo Perreirawhohad sentthe ballto Alex Telleswhowas in the middle of the field.

    Thus a lightning fast counter-attack began as Alex Telles sent the ball to Jesus Coronawhowas already running down the right side of the field.

    Seeing the attack, Jason made use of his high eleration and pace to burst past his markerandthen he decided to move towards the center instead of running down the left wing.

    This would help to make it easier for the ball to reach him, not to mention that he was faster than the two strikers and wasobviouslythe only one who could receive a through pass from Corona at that moment.

    Quickly making it to the middle of the park, Jason reduced his pacetill he was matchingthe Desportivo das Aves defense line, making sure that he wasn��t offside.

    Jesus Corona immediately got the message when he saw Jason��s run and sent a through ball behind the Desportivo das Aves defendersandJasonimmediately increased his pace, edging past the defenders andjustbarely escaping their attempts to stop him from going after the ball.

    After escaping the defenders, Jason caught up to the ball,butheimmediately noticed the Desportivo das Aves goalkeeperwhohade off his goal line and was charging at him.

    Immediately, Jason��s body arched as if he wanted to take a shotpromptingthe goalkeeperto immediately get down and spread his hands wide, but Jason just faked the shot instead and fed the ball past the goalkeeper��s left while the goalkeeper could only crash to the ground while watching Jason run past him with the ball..

    With the goalkeeper out of the way, Jason hit the ball with the side of his right foot and sent it into the back of the, a brief smile lighting up on his face as the ball rolled past the goal line of the Desportivo das Aves goal.

    {What a goal! What a goal!}

    {Could this be the start of aeback?}

    {A beautiful set-up counter attack that ended with a rarelyseen,but ssy finish}

    {Hewas brought onwith hopes that he could leave his prints on the gameandhehas done so, getting on the scoreboard in just barely ten minutes since he hase on}

    {With a goal this early in the second half, therejustmight be time for one mooh wait, what��s this?}

    {The referee assistant��s g is upcould it be?} Thementary from thementator was cut in by the referee��s whistle going off.

 Chapter 177: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 IV

    Chapter 177: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 IV

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    A halt was ced on the joyous mood of the Porto team by the shrill sound of the referee��s whistle and Jason��s eyes fell on the assistant referee who held up the offside g.

    {It seems there��s an offside call from the assistant referee here}

    {It looked to have been on, but the assistant referee thinks there is a possible offside. What��s the referee going to do here}

    ��What the hell?�� Those were the first words that popped up in Jason��s head as he saw the offside g.

    It was impossible for him to beoffside and that much was clear to him, because there had been a Desportivo das Aves yer just in front of him when they were on the counter and Jason had made sure not to run past him until Jesus Corona released the ball, so what the hell was the assistant referee seeing that he called for a possible offside.

    His teammates did not know of his thoughts and were already crowding the referee so Jason slowly approached the referee as well, but the referee simply waved off the Porto yers and listened to the voice from the earpiece in his ear.

    After a few seconds, the ��1�� on the scoreboard that belonged to Porto reverted to ��0�� which stunned the yers as well as everyone else especially when the referee hadn��t even bothered checking with the VAR. At this point, Jason couldn��t stay silent as he did not like where this was going.

    Naturally, Jason was someone who didn��t like being on the short end of the stick, but throughout his previous life and even part of this life, he had been silent most of the time because he had judged it to be useless to bother speaking up as it could lead to annoying situations.

    That was why even after he had been ced on the bench for almost a month after signing a contract, he didn��t say anything to the manager, or anyone for that matter.

    He knew that speaking carelessly in that situation could get the manager to antagonize him, or his teammates could have a bad impression of him, but this case was different and he couldn��t stay silent.

    He had scored a goal that could help his team gain ground, and he was a hundred percent sure that it wasn��t offside, but this referee seemed intent on making sure that their team was beaten by Desportivo das Aves.

    He had already not called for a penalty when a clear foul in the Desportivo das Aves box had happened earlier, and now he wanted to disallow a goal without even checking the rey or even consulting the VAR.

    What sort of professionalism is this?

    ��Ref, ref, just check the VAR, you can��t just disallow the goal without checking to see if I wasactuallyoffside or not,�� Jason began trying to reason with the referee, but then the referee��s face scrunched up in irritation and he did something that surprised everyone.

    The referee pulled out a yellow card and booked Jason, holding the yellow card in the air and leaving Jason utterly bbergasted.

    ��This fu**in�� what did I even do?�� Jason could not help calling out but Telles quickly held him back and started pushing him away, trying to prevent the situation from escting any further.

    They could not afford to go a man down at this point so they could only hold off from speaking up at this point no matter how unreasonable the referee acted at this point.

    Jason didn��t even care at this point and was almost ready to punch the referee in his face.

    ��What the hell is wrong with that guy? What is he giving me a yellow card for when he was looking around like a dimwit when I was fouled in the penalty box earlier?�� Jason raged, but his voice wasn��t loud and could only be heard by Telles.

    ��Alright, I understand, calm down, calm down,�� Telles immediately began trying to pacify Jason even though he was feeling pretty much the same way Jason was feeling.

    He also wanted to sock the annoying referee, but that wouldn��t help the matter so he could only hope that the other yers could reason with the referee so that the goal could be allowed.

    Pepe was already there talking with the referee and in the end, the referee didn��t have any choice but to go check the goal with the help of the VAR.

    Just like Jason had expected, it was very clear that Jason was onside when it was checked on the VAR.

    To be fair, one didn��t even need a VAR to confirm whether Jason was offside or not as it was pretty clear with a simple rey that Jason had only burst past thest defender when the ball left Jesus Corona��s foot.

    With how clear it was, the referee didn��t have any choice but to allow the goal, but he didn��t take back the yellow card that he had given Jason and he quickly blew for y to continue.

    {Well, it seems that debate is over�� It seemed quite unnecessary from my point of view, especially with the yellow dishing out a yellow card to the goal scorer}

    {I don��t know what words were being thrown around there, but seeing that it ended up with a yellow card, I��m guessing it must have been serious}

    {Now, the goalscorer has been marked and has to keep watching over his shoulder for the rest of the match. His team cannot afford to go a man down in this situation and he knows that} Thementator did not stay silent after the whole scenario and made his opinion known.

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    The referee blew the whistle and the match kicked off again, with the Desportivo das Aves team in possession after being the team to have conceded a goal.

    The Desportivo das Aves team didn��t hold the ball for long as the Porto team, rejuvenated by their goal, charged at them and pressed hard, eventually retrieving the ball andunching an attack immediately.

    Soon the ball found Jason again on the left wing and Jason immediately cut inward and moved toward the Desportivo das Aves 18-yard box.

 Chapter 178: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 V

    Chapter 178: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 V

    Coming face to face with a defender, Jason slowed his pace until he was close enough to the defender and when the defender was finally in range, Jason suddenly moved his right leg and pulled the ball towards his left, making it seem like he was going to pass the left side of the defender.

    The defender immediately reacted to block, but Jason��s leg suddenly snaked its way to the other side of the ball and Jason pushed the ball back to the right effortlessly pulling off a reverse stico, but before Jason could follow up and get away from the defender with the space that he created with the skill move, another Desportivo das Aves yer collided harshly into him from the right, pushing him off the ball and sending him to the floor.

    As Jason fell, he watched the yer pull away with the ball, but even a few seconds after falling, the whistle that was supposed to be blown when a foul wasmitted stayed silent and Jason immediately realized that the referee wasn��t going to be calling for a foul.

    Half-annoyed, Jason stood up from the ground and began to move back towards the midfield.

    Saying he was irritated by the referee��s actions was an understatement, but he also knew that this wasn��t the time to act up as it seemed the referee had it out for him despite him not having done anything to the guy.

    It felt like Porto was ying against twelve yers instead of 11 and It was very annoying, especially now that they were trying to turn a deficit into a win with time rapidly running out.

    Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do but keep ying and do his best to help the team at least equalize the game.

    With this thought in mind, Jason put his focus back into the game, but about ten minutester he realized that he hadclearlyunderestimated how much the referee probably disliked him as he had been fouled three more times and the referee hadn��t done as much as blow a whistle. At this point, unless someone was blind, it was clear that the referee was biased against Jason, but no one could tell why, andneither could they do anything about it.

    77thminute��

    Jason stood up yet again from the ground, having been tackled harshly to the ground yet again, but this time the referee blew a whistle, but he didn��t do anything else.

    Jason��s ankle throbbed as that was where the yer that had brought him down had hit him and he rubbed on it to try and relieve some of the soreness in the ankle, hoping it would end with soreness.

    Standing back up, Jason moved to the side to allow Telles to prepare to take the free-kick.

    Just like all their previous attempts at an attack, the free kick was blocked by the Desportivo das Aves defense that seemed to have gotten three times as tight ever since they conceded the earlier goal.

    81stminute��

    The Desportivo das Aves team had gotten a corner and the yers of both teams were shuffling around inside of the Porto 18-yard box while waiting for the cross from the Desportivo das Aves yer that stood over the corner.

    *Fweeeeee*

    At the sound of the referee��s whistle, the ball was swung into the box and the yers of both the Porto team and the Desportivo das Aves team jumped to catch it off their heads, but Pepe, the captain of the Porto team got his head to the ball first and tried to clear the ball with his header.

    The ball bounced off of Pepe��s head and flew out of the 18-yard box and towards the left side of the Porto half of the field.

    Seeing the flight path of the ball, Jason who was at the edge of the box burst out after the ball eager to get to the ball first as almost everyone was in the Porto 18-yard box so this was the best time to start a counterattack.

    The nearest Desportivo das Aves yer who saw Jason��s intentions immediately crashed into Jason, trying to slow him down, but Jason managed to regain his footing after almost falling and continued after the ball, finally managing to reach the ball.

    On reaching the ball, Jason kicked the ball forward out of range ofa Desportivodas Aves who was sliding at him, and jumped over the yer before chasing after the ball.

    The counterattack had begun and Jason dashed toward the Desportivo das Aves goal as fast as he could, making it past the halfway line of the field in less than two seconds and continuing his charge at the opponents�� goal.

    There were still two Desportivo das Aves yers in his path, but Jason diverted his run and moved a bit towards the left, not wanting to slow down to dribble as that could end the goal-scoring chance.

    The Desportivo das Aves yers seeing Jason change direction immediately changed their position and gave chase, but Jason��s change in direction had bought him enough time to get past the yers before they could reach him and the yers had to start chasing him from behind.

    Seeing that he had gotten away from the yers, Jason had continued bearing down on the goal, but surprisingly, the Desportivo das Aves goalkeeper was less than four yards away from him.

    It seemed like the goalkeeper hade off his goal line ever since he had seen Jasoning at him and because Jason was focusing on the two yers in his way, he had not noticed until the goalkeeper was already almost right before him, but he didn��t lose hisposure and tapped the ball to chip it over towards the left and out of the reach of the goalkeeper who had slid at him.

    With the ball out of the reach of the goalkeeper, Jason jumped over the goalkeeper��s outstretched leg escaping his challenge, but the Desportivo das Aves goalkeeper wasn��t nning on letting Jason just get away and his armshed out, trying to grab Jason��s leg.

    Unfortunately for the goalkeeper, he missed but still hit Jason��s leg and caused Jason to stumble to the ground and fall.

    Even though the actions of the goalkeeper could potentially lead to a red card, Jason wasn��t nning to wait around when the goal was within his reach, so immediately he fell over, he rolled and pushed hard at the ground barely managing to get back to his feet and go after the ball.

    Due to falling over, the two yers managed to catch up and they double-teamed Jason, trying to hassle him off the ball with one on each side.

    The yer on Jason��s right grabbed his shirt and tried to pull him down, but Jason��s hand immediatelyshed behind at the yer��s hand, trying to smack off the yer��s hand as he had had it with being fouled.

    Due to him not looking back, he missed the yer��s hand and hit the yer��s chest instead, but it had the required effect as the yer released the grip on his jersey, and immediately he felt the yer��s grip releasing, Jason kicked the ball into the empty goal.

    Not stopping his run, he immediately took off down toward the sideline, but before he could even take three steps, he heard the shrill sound of the whistle being blown which was surprising.

    He hadn��t passed anybody the ball so he couldn��t be offside, right?

    This thought went through Jason��s head as he turned around to see what was going on, only to see the referee running at him.

    ��What now?�� Jason was wondering internally until the referee stopped in front of himandpulled out a yellow card from his breast pocket and booked him before following up with a red card from his back pocket.

 Chapter 179: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 VI

    Chapter 179: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 VI

    ��What the hell?�� Jason��s bbergasted face as he held his hands out and looked at the red card was a sight to see.

    Jason waspletely lost and he didn��t know what was going on until his eyes turned from the red card and he noticed a Desportivo das Aves yer lying on the ground while his hands clung to his face as if he was in great pain.

    It was at this moment that something clicked in his head and he remembered that he had probably mmed the guy on his chest back when the guy was holding his shirt, but even then, what the hell was this?

    ��The guy was pulling my shirt, and the goalkeeper even grabbed at my leg earlier, but I��m the one you��re giving a red card?��

    ��What is wrong with you?�� Jason could not help but speak up to the referee who had turned away after giving him a red card, but the referee ignored him and kept walking away.

    The other Porto yers ran over to protest but the referee ignored their protests and a rey was shown where Jason��s hand had mmed into the defender and sent him down whichgave the referee a justificationto book Jason.

    With how the situation was, there was nothing the Porto team could do about it.

    The goal was disallowed and Jason was sent off the field and needless to say, he was less than pleased about it. ncing at the Desportivo das Aves yer who had been the cause of his second yellow card, Jason was further incensed because that yer was the one who had tackled him the most, but he hadn��t even gotten a yellow card while Jason had been sent off for hitting his chest unintentionally.

    Kicking at a nearby water bottle with anger, Jason walked back to the bench and sat there before putting his training vest on his face as watching the match for a second longer made him want to get back there and m the referee��s face with a few knee jams.

    The whole Porto team was as displeased and as angry as he was, but during a match, the referee was the only one who could call the shots so there was nothing they could do other than to keep ying, unfortunately for the Porto team, with a man down, the match became harder for them.

    The clock kept running down and the Porto team kept doing their best to equalize.

    They came pretty close to doing so and even managed to get a shot to hit the crossbar, but then the Desportivo das Aves team somehow managed tounch a counterattack in the 91stminute that led to them furthering their lead, changing the game��s scores toDesportivo das Aves3 :1 Porto.

    Sergio Conceicao wasn��t even bothered enough to shout at the yers and he simply watched on as the match yed out until the final whistle was blown.

    On hearing the final whistle, Jason took off the vest that he used to cover his face, stood up from the bench, and began heading into the stadium ignoring the reporters who tried to ask him one question or another.

    He was not in the mood for questions today and he was not about to let some reporter cook up a media storm from his answer to any of their questions because if he spoke into the mic, the words that woulde out of his mouth would not be nice.

    Jason was the first yer to enter his team��s locker room and he immediately started taking off his jersey and kits while going to freshen up, trying to keep himself moving because his frustration was at its peak.

    His past life had been filled with losses, but that did not mean that he liked losing or had gotten used to losing.

    Absolutelynot!

    Losing always sucked, and it hurt, but losing because you were not good enough was one thing while losing to a weaker opponent despite putting forth your full efforts, but still losing because of some bastard who did his best to make sure thatevery oneof your efforts ended up as a waste was apletely different thing.

    It didn��t feel good at all, but there was no point in going on a rampage if it wasn��t on that guy��s face which unfortunately he couldn��t do, hence he was stuck with staying silent and keeping himself upied so that he did not end up bursting out on the wrong person.

    Jason may have had a problem with recognizing emotions in his past life, but one did not need to recognize anger before one acted under its influence.

    Anger was just that strong of an emotion and Jason wasn��t immune.

    By the time the other guys starteding into the locker room, Jason was already halfway through taking off his clothes.

    Soon enough, the locker room was filled with the Porto yers and everyone was in a somber mood, though a few of the more vocal guys were speaking in annoyance and cussing out the referee because it wasn��t only Jason who was subjected to his annoying antics.

    From the start of the match, it seemed like the referee had been biased towards the Desportivo das Aves team, and due to that the Porto team had notreallybeen able to get into their stride which ended up with them going behind and then eventually losing the game.

    While the yers were cleaning up and changing all while cussing out the referee, the manager finally arrived at the locker room.

    He had beenter than usual because he had taken the time to give an interview on his ��actual�� views about the game andaboutthe referee��s controversial decisions.

    Only after doing that did he head for the locker room of his team.

    ��I��m not going to say I was happy with your performances out there as you could haveobviouslyyed better than you did, but I can also not ignore the fact that the referee made a lot of controversial decisions against us which caused the match to end with our loss,�� Sergio Conceicao began addressing the yers.

    ��Luckily for us, Benfica also lost their game today which means that we retain our position at the top of the table,�� he paused mid-speech because of a few yers cheering happily that they did not end up dropping on the league table.

    ��Nevertheless, we need to do better in the next match and make sure that we win domineeringly so that little variables like what happened in this match won��t trip us over, is that clear?�� The Portuguese manager asked his yers.

    ��Yes coach,�� the yers echoed in unison.

    ��Good, and Jason, you will be suspended for the next match, but don��t take it to heart, it��s not your fault,�� Sergio Conceicao said to Jason, which was a bit unusual, butit was essential that the manager addressedeverything that could be a future problem.

    He did not want Jason��s morale dropping and losing his form, so he had to do at least this much.

    Jason nodded in response, his annoyance having reduced quite a bit thanks to some of his teammatesforting him earlier.

 Chapter 180: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 VII

    Chapter 180: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 VII

    The aftermath of the controversial decisions made by the referee in the Desportivo das Aves vs Porto match was quite loud.

    Porto fans had taken to social media and criticized and condemned the referee��s actions which had brought arge coverage to the situation.

    Since almost everyone was majorly using electronics due to the effects of the COVID-19 virus, videos and memes of all kinds were flying everywhere and fans of other Portuguese clubs found out about the matter and the matter blew up even bigger, after all, nobody wanted to lose a match due to bad refereeing.

    Post-match TV shows also had their show hosts and pundits criticizing the referee��s controversial decisions, especially the red card he had shown Jason while disallowing the goal that could have equalized the two teams and maybe even acted as a pivot to lead the Porto team to a win.

    With this much attention given to the situation, it did not need to be said that the referee who had presided over the Desportivo das Aves vs Porto match was in serious trouble.

    For Jason however, it did not make any difference.

    Sure it was gratifying, but it would not change anything, his team had still lost the game and he was still suspended for the next game and would be watching the game from his couch when he was supposed to be on the pitch.

    The one match rest had had an extra,pulsory,onematch rest added to it and he was not happy about it, but then again, there was nothing he could do about it. Going on social media to throw shades at the referee was not something he wanted to do as that would only make him want to beat up the guy even more and that was not good for his mental state as it would leave him annoyed so he did the next best thing and channeled his annoyance into his training.

    Morning to night, he trained, only taking enough breaks so that he wouldn��t get injured from exhausting his muscles.

    Since he wasn��t going to be added to the next match��s squad, he could use this time to go harder at training than usual, and that was exactly what he did.

    Thustime ran by and the next match day came.

    **23rdJune 2020**

    Porto would be hosting Boavista at the Estadio do Dragao for the match.

    Since Jason was suspended, he was going to be watching the match from his house with thepany of the popcorn, muffins, and smoothies he had prepared�� and Fabio Viera who was also not added to the match line-up.

    ��Have they started?�� Jason asked as he ced the smoothies on the table and sat on the couch.

    ��They��re about to,�� Viera answered, stuffing some popcorn in his mouth.

    Hearing his answer, Jason turned his eyes back to the screen to see that they were currently showing the line-ups of the match.

    Seeing the line-up, Jason realized that the manager had revertedbackto the 4-4-2 holding formation for this match and he was using a very familiar line-up.

    Augustin Marchesin was the goalkeeper as usual, Alex Telles and Wilson Manafa were the left and right backs respectively while Pepe and Ivan Marcano were the center backs.

    On the right and left sides of the midfield were Jesus Corona and Luis Diaz respectively while Danilo Perreira and Sergio Oliveira were in the center of the midfield.

    The two strikers upfront were Tiquiniho Soares and Moussa Marega.

    Seeing this line-up and checking it against the Boavista line-up, it was obvious who was the stronger team.

    All that remained was to confirm whether the stronger names on the Porto line-up could deliver and bring forth a win for their team.

    It did not take long for the Porto team to stamp their presence on the game with a goal from Tiquiniho Soares who finished off a cross from Jesus Corona which was the final pass to a long string of passes, thus sending Porto into the lead in just the 16thminute of the game.

    With Porto taking the lead, the Boavista team quickly changed their ying style and sent more people forward, trying to grab an equalizer and bring them back on equal terms with the Porto team.

    Unfortunately, their efforts had the opposite effects as what they were hoping for as barely 7 minutester Luis Diaz found the after a splendid run where he cut in from the right wing and did a one-two routine with Sergio Oliveira and then finally finishing the attack with a curling shot around the Boavista goalkeeper in the 23rd minute of the game.

    With that, the scoreboard was changed once again with Porto taking the lead by two goals.

    This caused the Boavista team to increase their efforts and unfortunately for them, with their increase in their efforts came an increase in their desperation. and in the 41stminute of the game, a Boavista defender brought Tiquiniho Soares down in the penalty box right after he had received a pass from Marega and was about to send the ball into the back of the.

    The Boavista team had given away a penalty in an unfortunate turn of events, thus giving the Porto team a chance to further their lead, but the yer who had brought Soares down woulddefinitelyargue that leaving Soares alone to take the shot would have most likely ended with a goal so all he had done was give the team a chance at stopping the penalty.

    After all, a penalty wasactuallya 50/50 chance at scoring a goal no matter how anyone tried to sugarcoat it.

    Of course, with enough skill, one could increase the percentages in their favor, but even then, there were still variables that could ur.

    Luckily for the Porto team and unluckily for the Boavista team, none of those variables affected Alex Telles as he smoothly sent the keeper flying the wrong way and sent his team even further from the Boavista team.

    {Over the hills and far away, no catching them now!}

    {After a disappointing outing in theirst match, the Porto teamareshowing their dominance and sweeping away their current opponents!}

    {It��s almost like the fury of theirst loss is being poured on the Boavista team and only heaven��s mercy can help them now, otherwise we might end this match with a cricket score}

    {If you beg to differ, you can ce your bets, but I hope you are not betting your house rent!} Thementator went wild after the Porto goal that sent them to 3and their opponents still being at 0.

 Chapter 181: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 VIII

    Chapter 181: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 VIII

    The first half ended with neither of the two teams being able to trouble the scoreboard operator any further, but even then, it was looking like the match was already over.

    After the fifteen minutes allocated for rest, the two teams were back on the field and the second half kicked off.

    The Porto team immediately took control of the game once again looking to continue from where they left off, but the Boavista team fought back and sent shots flying at the Porto goal every chance they got.

    It seemed like their manager had said to them that if the Porto team could score three goals in the first half, then they could do the same in the second half.

    Thus the Boavista team defended well and attacked at any chance that appeared, but despite their efforts, the scoreboard remained unchanged until the 74thminute when Portounched a counter-attack and Wilson Manafa rifled in a shot from long range into the back of the Boavista goal taking the Porto lead even further.

    Porto 4 : 0 Boaviasta

    At this point, the Boavista team lost all their previous momentum due to their crashing morale.

    They were already utterly swept away and no matter their efforts, they would only be rewarded with a constion goal at most, but even that was not allowed them by the Porto team. The Porto defense got to work and kept them away while the rest of the yers applied heavy pressure on the Boavista team.

    Porto got close to extending their lead two more times in the minutes that followed.

    A shot from Moussa Marega had bounced off the left post before it had been cleared in the 81stminute andinthe 86thminute, Shoya Nakajima who hade on as a sub had missed a one-on-one with the Boavista goalkeeper, his shot going just narrowly wide when he had tried to curl it around the goalkeeper.

    Finally, thest whistle was blown and the match came to an end with the score ofPorto 4 : 0 Boaviasta.

    With that, the match against the Boavista team was concluded with a Porto win and a very dominant win at that.

    They had racked up the score and managed to even get a clean sheet.

    Every Porto yer and fan was happy with the result while those on the Boavista side were distraught.

    The Boavista fans especially wished they could be swallowed underground for a week because they were the team with the biggest loss that weekend and they would never hear the end of it from fans of other teams.

    They couldn��t even dare to engage in any football arguments for theing week until this shame was washed away by having another team tough at, only then could they dare to raise their heads even a little bit.

    The Boavista yers would have to endure being chewed out by the manager, while the manager would have to live in constant fear and agony for theing days, not sure if his job was on the line or not.

    All in all, everyone on the Boavista side would not have a good time in theing week, but none of that concerned Jason in the slightest.

    He was just happy that his suspension was over and he could get back on the field, he had a lot of pent-up feelings to let out, and what better ce to unleash them than on a wide expanse of green?

    There was also an extra bit of good news for the Porto fans that weekend which was that the Benfica side had lost another match, this time to Sporting CP, and thus were now five points behind the Porto team.

    This had given the Porto team some breathing room and the Porto yers, fans, staff, and management were overjoyed as this would help them a lot in their title race which was slowling to a conclusion.

    There were only six games left in the Liga NOS 2019/20 season and with Porto taking a five-point lead at this point, the possibility of theming out on top as league leaders had been almostpletely solidified.

    There were a few tough games left against Sporting CP and Braga, but as long as the Porto team stayed focused, they should be able to get a good result against those guys and end the season as the champions.

    The Porto fans were already preparing themselves for the overnight celebration that would take ce on the day their beloved team would be crowned champions.

    It could be said that their confidence was bold and overflowing and that resonated with the yers who were dishing out good performances.

    **29 June 2020**

    The Porto team bus arrived at the Estadio da Mata Real for their match against Pacos de Ferreira and the yers got down from the bus with their bags and headed into the stadium, the cameras shing nonstop as the yers walked into the stadium.

    Jason was among the yers who had arrived for the match against Pacos de Ferreira and he walked into the stadium with his teammates, shing a smile at one of the beautiful photographers before heading into the stadium grounds with his boys.

    Soon the yers were out on the field for a pre-match warm-up but surprisingly Jason was wearing a bib over his training vest as he warmed up with his teammates.

    This was because of a sudden discovery when he had done a match fitness test a few days ago.

    The manager had made all the yers undergo a match fitness test and then it was discovered that Jason��s numbers were a bit below what was expected which prompted a few further checks and then it was discovered that Jason��s ankle wasactuallystill healing from the strain in the match against Desportivo das Aves.

    Due to the constant fouls, Jason had sustained an ankle injury that he hadn��treallypaid much attention to because it only throbbed a bit from time to time.

    Apparently,it was almost a sprain, but due to him just shaking it off and not paying attention to it since he could move just fine, no one had noticed till the match fitness test.

 Chapter 182: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 IX

    Chapter 182: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 IX

    In the end, an injury was an injury and it hindered him a bit, though it was almost gone now, still, it wasn��t rmended for him to y a full match as a strong tackle to his ankle could aggravate the injury, thus the manager had decided to not have him in the starting line-up.

    The manager might not even end up ying him, but at least he was no longer suspended so Jason didn��t care and did his warm-up with as much enthusiasm as usual.

    Soon the yers were back in the locker room for the pre-match tactical meeting.

    There the manager further stressed the important parts of their tactics and took the whole team through the tactics again while the starting yers readied themselves for the match with the time for kick-off rapidly approaching.

    Time passed and both yers were soon on the field, waiting for the whistle that signified kick-off from the referee.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The whistle that both teams were waiting for was finally blown and the match finally started.

    As expected in a match between the league leaders and a team just barely tethering above the relegation zone, the Porto side soon took control of the game and made the Pacos de Ferreira team look like they were chasing shadows. The Pacos de Ferreira team had been the league leaders in the second division the previous season which had earned them a promotion to the first division, but now that they were faced against the current league leaders in the first division of Portuguese top-flight football, they couldn��t replicate the magic that RB Leipzig had performed in the Bundesliga.

    Soon enough the Porto team was already sending shots at their goal.

    In the 6thminute, Jesus Corona had sent a powerfully driven ground-level shot at the Pacos de Ferreira goalkeeper after receiving a pass from Sergio Oliveira just outside the Pacos de Ferreira 18-yard box.

    The Pacos de Ferreira goalkeeper had quickly dived at the ball and had gotten his hand to the ball, deflecting it off its intended path and giving the Porto team a corner kick instead of the goal that they wanted.

    Alex Telles soon went to stand over the corner and at the referee��s whistle, he whipped the ball into the penalty area.

    The ball curled inwardly into the penalty box and yers of the two teams mmed against each other as they tried to move into the path of the ball before finally jumping for the ball.

    In the end, it was Chancel Mbemba who got his head to the ball first and headed it at the opponent��s goal.

    After its redirection, courtesy of Chancel Mbemba��s header, the ball flew at the left side of the Pacos de Ferreira goal and the goalkeeper immediately reacted by diving at the ball.

    Touching the ball, the goalkeeper managed to get the ball to deflect away from its intended path, but unfortunately, his touch was too light and the ball crashed into the inside of the left post before mming into the back of the, sending the Porto team into the lead.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {The match has gotten off to an early start with a goal from the league leaders who seem intent on sticking to their winning ways after their victory in thest match}

    {It��s been said that the frame of the goal could be a goalkeeper��s best friend or his worst enemy, and I��m sure the Pacos de Ferreira goalkeeper must be feeling betrayed now!}

    {He did his best and got a touch to the ball, but it seems like today is not his day and the ball still went in despite his efforts}

    {The Porto defender who scored doesn��t care though and is iming the goal with udcelebration} Thementator��s voice rang through the stadium and through the speakers of the devices being used to watch the game.

    Chancel Mbemba��s celebration was indeed ud��as thementator had said as the Congolese defender had gone all the way to the corner g and was dancing.

    He danced wildly, not caring that there were no fans in the stands and it was a sight to see, but such things usually happened when defenders scored goals.

    As members of the team whose job was to prevent the ball from going into the back of their goal, whenever they were the ones that did the scoring, they were usually extremely happy as goals for them were always very memorable moments, after all, not every defender could be like Sergio Ramos and score more goals than most average strikers ever managed in their careers.

    Thus whenever they recorded a goal stat, they celebrated especially wildly and quite a few iconic celebrations had been created by defenders.

    The remaining Porto yers joined him in his celebration and they all danced, but soon enough the celebrations were over and the Porto yers headed back to their half of the field.

    The match soon resumed and once again, the Porto team took control of the game, stealing back possession from the Pacos de Ferreirateam.

    Surprisingly however, the Pacos de Ferreirayers didn��t make too much of an attempt at trying to get the ball back and contented themselves with staying behind the ball.

    The Porto team took this chance and pressed the Pacos de Ferreirateam until the ball was only moving around in the Pacos de Ferreirahalf of the field, yet the Pacos de Ferreirateam continued to soak up the pressure.

    Thinking of them as toothless prey, the Porto side got a little careless and lost the ball, and it was at that moment that the Pacos de Ferreiraside burst forth with frightening momentum, snatching the loose ball and unleashing a lightning-fast counterattack.

    Before the Porto side realized what was going on, the yers who previously contented themselves with staying behind the ball to defend unleashed astonishing pace and burst past them exchanging the balls with skillful and well-calcted passes and they carved through the Porto team like a knife.

    In less than five seconds they were bearing down on the Porto goal and it was a 5on2 situation, minus the Porto goalkeeper.

    With five yers going against two Porto defenders, there was no way they could hold them back, but luckily for the Porto side, they had one of the best defenders in the world leading their defense line.

    Pepe slowly retreated along with the Pacos de Ferreirayers and stayed in a position that made it difficult for the yer with the ball to get a good pass away without the receiver of the pass being caught offside.

    Doing this dyed the counterattack and the Porto yersing from behind quickly gained ground on the Pacos de Ferreirayers so the yer with the ball made a quick decision and decided to take the shot himself.

    Standing just about five yards outside Porto��s 18-yard box, the yer first did a couple of step-overs to confuse Pepe and create some space, and the moment a slight gap was revealed, he pushed the ball forward slightly and took the shot.

    The ball flew unhindered at the Porto goal, undeterred by Augustin Marchesin until��

 Chapter 183: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 X

    Chapter 183: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 X

    *CLANG*

    The ball smashed against the crossbar and flew out of y.

    The Pacos de Ferreira yer who took the shot could only put his hands on his head in agony and disbelief as he watched the ball fly out of y after being deflected out of y by the bar.

    His teammates were also pained and disappointed that he hadn��t managed to hit the target, thus not allowing them to get an equalizer, but the Porto yers breathed sighs of relief after seeing the ball fly out of y.

    It was only at this moment the Pacos de Ferreira team��s tactic of soaking pressure was all so that they could strike back at them at the opportune moment and their n had almost worked.

    Rather, it was more apt to say that their n did indeed work, but they were unlucky enough to be unable to convert and this was the only reason why the scores remained the same.

    From the sidelines, Sergio Conceicao began shouting out instructions to counter this burst attacking tactic of the Pacos de Ferreira team.

    With the aid of the manager��s instructions and their defensive efforts the Porto yers managed to take control of the game again, putting pressure on their opponents while making sure to retain enough cautiousness to be able to shut down the sudden counterattacks of the opposition. Time ran down and the first half came to an end with neither team being able to send the ball into the back of the.

    The halftime break of fifteen minutes passed away within the blink of an eye and the yers were soon back on the field for the second half.

    The second half started on a particrly boring note with neither of the two teams making extra efforts at goal as they were waiting for the other team to buckle first.

    Porto already had the lead so they would win the match even without putting in the excessive amount of effort that they would need to put in to crack the Pacos de Ferreira defense.

    Thus they simply waited while passing around the ball and making a few asional attempts at the opponent��s goal, but not doing much more than that.

    The Pacos de Ferreira team, on the other hand, knew that if they slipped up and left open any space because they were hasty to equalize, the Porto team would take advantage of that and would be able to strike hard at them and potentially further their lead so they did their best to defend while waiting for the opportunity to counter-attack.

    But in the end, the Pacos de Ferreira team was the one losing so they couldn��t stay silent forever.

    They were currently teetering on the edge of the relegation zone and needed as many points as they could get to stay away from the relegation zone.

    To be fair, even if they ended up relegated back to the second division, they could easily make their way back to the first division in the following season since they were stronger than most of the other teams in the second division, but even then, who did not want topete at the top level.

    The opportunities avable to the yers at the bottom level in the first division were a lot better than what was avable to the yers at the top of the second division, thus they would always strive to not relegate back to the second division.

    Even if their opponents were the current league leaders, the least they could do was try, after all, David would never have killed Goliath if he didn��t at least fling the stone.

    Thus they soon started trying to attempt breaking through the Porto team defense, hoping they could at least score an equalizer.

    They wouldn��t mind ending the match with a draw against the League leaders.

    Thus with the end of the game nearing, the match became more open with both teams trying to get the next goal.

    Despite the efforts of both teams, the scores remained the same and time continued running out.

    In the 79th minute, Jason was substituted into the match for Jesus Corona.

    With a full tank and a hunger for the game, the pressure on the Pacos de Ferreira team with his first touch on the ball.

    Compared to the Pacos de Ferreira yers whose movements had slowed down from exhaustion, Jason��s movement was like an electric eel swimming through the yers that attempted to mark him, yet despite this, it still wasn��t easy to score against the opponent��s team.

    In the 88th minute, Jason received a cross-field pass from Alex Telles and jumped to control the ball with a smooth flick on the ball with his right foot.

    After taking control of the ball mid-air, Jason let it fall to the ground before sweeping it along with him as he began moving down the right side of the field.

    As he began moving down the right side of the field, a Pacos de Ferreira defender came at him, but Jason quickly performed a reversesticoand escaped the yer��s tackle before continuing his run down the right side of the field.

    Before he reached the right side of the Pacos de Ferreira 18-yard box, he swung the ball into the box with a cross, intending for the ball to reach Tiquiniho Soares who was running into the box.

    Tiquiniho ran into the opponent��s penalty area, looking back at the ball and finally jumping for the ball when it seemed to be within reach, but due to arriving inside the Pacos de Ferreira 18-yard box a littleter than the ball, he wasn��t able to catch the ball properly even though the ball touched his head.

    After deflecting off his head, the ball flew at the opponent��s goal before smashing off the crossbar and out of y.

    {Oh!!! What a chance! What a chance!}

    {I don��t think he caught the ball properly and that didn��t allow him to direct it well costing his team a chance to further their lead}

    {Porto may find themselves looking back at that opportunity if their opponents can somehow manage to equalize in the few minutes that are left of the game} Thementator said in a loud voice.

 Chapter 184: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XI

    Chapter 184: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XI

    After the missed chance, both teams continued trying to score against the other but failed as the final whistle was blown just five minutester.

    With that Porto took the three points they needed and the Pacos de Ferreirateam was left with nothing.

    They would have to fight extra hard in theing match days to stay out of the relegation zone, but none of these concerned the Porto team.

    They were the victors of a hard-fought win and they would celebrate their victory in style�� indoors of course.

    **5thJuly 2020**

    The next match day arrived and it was time for Porto to take another step towards bing League Leaders and they would be weing Belenenses at the Estadio do Dragao for the match.

    Belenenses SAD was a team that was even closer to the relegation zone than Pacos de Ferreira whom Porto had yed against the previous week, and now they had to y against a Porto team that saw them as a challenge on their way toward the league title.

    It was already sure that it would be an upward battle for the Belenenses team, but they didn��t have a choice other than to y their best and hope that they could win�� or at least draw the game. The two teams were soon on the field for the pre-match warm-ups which didn��t take much time and the yers soon headed back into their respective locker rooms for the pre-match tactical meeting.

    Sergio Conceicao was making the yers continue with his favorite 4-4-2 formation, but this time, he was going to have the four midfielders take the diamond shape and have a center attacking midfielder and a center defensive midfielder instead of two center midfielders.

    The starting line-up for the match against Belenenses was;

    Augustin Marchesin in goal,

    Diogo Leite and Ivan Marcano as the two center backs,

    Alex Telles and Mattheus Uribe as the right and left back respectively,

    Danilo Perreira was the center defensive midfielder while Otavio would be ying as the team��s central attacking midfielder.

    On the left side of the midfield was Jason and on the right was Fabio Viera,

    Tiquiniho Soares and Moussa Marega were the two strikers who would be leading the front line.

    By 9:30 pm, the yers of both teams were on the field and ready to start and the referee blew his whistle.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    Porto kicked off the game and immediately got right down to business with the Belenenses team. They fancied themselves the bigger team and they wanted to y as such.

    ying a 1-nil game against Pacos de Ferreira in theirst match had challenged the Porto manager and he had made his displeasure known to the yers.

    It wasn��t a loss, but the manager felt that they should have yed better against a bottom-tier team as those were the opponents with which it was easiest to rack up their goal difference, but his team had wasted that opportunity, only managing to score from a corner kick and then staying silent for the rest of the game.

    Sergio Conceicao didn��t like that and he had challenged his yers to utterly destroy the Belenenses team and the yers nned to make the manager happy by following his orders thus the match began at a high tempo.

    Since they were the team in possession right from the kick-off, they immediatelyunched an attack that ended with a shot narrowly missing the left side of the Belenenses goal.

    From there on, it was a high-tempo back and forth with the Belenenses team which was also fighting back as best as they could, not wanting to be swept away by the Porto team, but even then, they were slowly losing ground against the Porto team.

    The Porto team always made sure to control the flow of the game with strategic possession tactics.

    They constantly passed the ball around in their opponent��s half of the field, causing the Belenenses team to chase after themconstantly, always on the high press, but the ball almost always eluded them.

    Almost at the end of a particrly breath-holding first half, the Porto team finally made a mark on the game in the 39thminute.

    The Belenenses team had regained possession after a long time of chasing after the ball, but due to the Porto team continuously pressuring the Belenenses team, the ball was gradually yed further back into the Belenenses half of the field until it finally reached the goalkeeper who cleared the ball into the midfield after seeing that there were no free options for a pass.

    The ball flew into the middle of the field and was contested for by yers of both teams, but the person who won the contest for the ball was Ivan Marcano who headed the ball in the direction of Danilo Perreira.

    Quickly controlling the ball on his chest, Danilo Perreira nced around looking for an open teammate before finally sending the ball to Alex Telles who immediately passed the ball to Jason who had drawn back to receive the ball.

    On receiving the ball, Jason had begun heading down the left side of the field,ing face to face with a Belenenses yer and getting rid of him with a La Crocheta, after which he continued down the left wing.

    Seeing an opportunity, Jason decided to try something he had been working on.

    Ever since his first goal for the club, Jason had started learning how to do thetrivpass from Otavio and Telles who were the best at it on the team.

    The Triv was a way of using the outside of one��s foot to hit the ball and making it curl in an outward direction from the yer and it could be used both as a passing technique and a shooting technique.

    Jason admired the skill for the versatility it allowed him and he was about to reap the benefits of his training as he hit the ball with the outside of his right foot, sending the ball into an upward and outward curling path from the left side of the field.

    The ball curled perfectly into the path of Tiquiniho Soares who caught the ball off his leg with a controlled motion and brought the ball under control before he rushed into the Belenenses 18-yard box with the ball and smashed it past the goalkeeper.

 Chapter 185: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XII

    Chapter 185: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XII

    {GOALLL!!!}

    {And just before halftime, Porto strike first!}

    {What a pass from Jason, and the team��s striker didn��t disappoint, making sure to smash the ball past the goalkeeper}

    {With that, the managers of both teams will have toe up with a new tactic during halftime} Thementator went wild with hismentary while the Porto team celebrated their goal.

    The celebrations didn��t take time and the ball was soon back in motion with both teams once again going at each other��s necks.

    With the momentum they had from scoring first, the Porto team tried to score another goal against the Belenenses team before the first half was over, but the Belenenses side put up a fight, doing their best to secure a fighting chance for themselves in the first half.

    TheBelenenses team managed to hold out against the Porto team until the whistle to signify the end of the first half was blown after which the yers of both teams walked off the field and headed for the locker rooms.

    In the Porto locker room, Sergio Conceicao praised his yer��s performance so far but kept mentioning that the yers could do more in the second half. He wanted them to be out of sight of the Belenenses team and the yers couldn��t help but agree with him.

    The Belenenses locker room was filled with even more determined voices as the Belenenses manager tried to convince his yers that going behind the current league leaders in the first half didn��t mean much.

    Comebacks were a thing in football no matter how impossible it may look to be and the Belenenses manager believed that his yers had it in them to pull off such a performance, or at least score an equalizer and hold out till the end of the match.

    The worst-case scenario he was willing to ept from his yers was his yers holding the Porto team at one goal, thus not worsening their goal difference and making it harder to ovee relegation.

    Unfortunately, things did not always go as one wanted them to, especially when what you were expecting was something that would only happen in fairy tales.

    Barely 13 minutes after the second half started, Porto struck the back of the Belenenses goal once again, putting an end to all the extravagant ideas in the head of the Belenenses manager.

    While the Porto team had been oppressing the Belenenses team with strategic possession-style football, the ball had ended up with Jason who had immediatelyid off the ball to Fabio Viera in the center.

    Fabio Viera had then found Moussa Marega in the box and on receiving the ball, Marega had held off his marker as he turned around and sent a thunderous shot at the goal.

    The Belenenses goalkeeper was no match for the shot and despite his efforts, the ball escaped from him and hit the back of the sending them further away from their hopesing into the match.

    {GOALLL!!!}

    {They��re up to two now and are gradually pulling away from their opponents!}

    {What a splendid team goal!} As usual, thementator did his job on the mic while the yers celebrated.

    The Porto fans in their homes and other ces celebrated their team drawing further away and taking another step closer to the league title.

    Another source of good news for the Porto fans was that the Benfica team which was also ying that night was currently losing their match so it was looking even better for the Porto team because if this stayed the same, then the Porto team was already almost guaranteed the title as long as they didn��t mess up.

    Of course, the Porto yers didn��t know about this as they were currently on the field and had no ess to such information so the only thing that was currently on their mind was to obliterate their opposition.

    Soon it turned from bad to worse for the Belenenses team when a shot from Jason bounced off a Belenenses defender��s hand inside the Belenenses penalty boxin the 72ndminute of the game.

    A penalty was immediately called but the Belenenses yers tried to argue that the ball hade at the yer instead which had only elongated the matter unnecessarily.

    In the end, the referee had to check with the VAR after which he still allowed the penalty.

    The Belenenses team was distraught but there was nothing they could do about it.

    Telles took up the ball to take the penalty and all the other yers except the Belenenses goalkeeper stepped out of the Belenenses 18-yard box.

    Putting the ball and stepping back, Telles waited for the referee to blow the whistle.

    The Belenenses goalkeeper also readied himself for the penalty while everyone waited for the whistle.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    Telles ran at the ball and swung hard, hitting the ball at the top right corner of the goal while the unfortunate Belenenses goalkeeper dived at the bottom right corner of the goal and could only watch the ball go into the back of the above him even though he had tried to correct his mistakes by raising his hand.

    Unfortunately, once one was Valha bound at the speed of sound, there was little one could do to correct their direction.

    The Porto team erupted in celebrations for the third time that match as thementator got on the mic.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Porto have their third goal of the match from a penalty that was taken by the ever-reliable Alex Telles!}

    {They are gradually pulling clear here and leaving no chances for their opponents!}

    The Belenenses yers were already feeling like shit and there was not even a straight face on any of the yers on the team.

    There were only negative expressions on every Belenenses yer��s face.

    The manager��s face was even more of a sight, contorted into an ugly expression like it was. It looked like the face of a baby that had had his candy stolen.

    The most pained ones however were the Belenenses fans, after all, it was one thing to expect a loss and it was another thing toactuallysee it happen.

    They were prepared for the loss, but unprepared for the shock that came with the loss as they had made the mistake of having hope.

    Unfortunately for the Belenenses fans, the horror movie titled ��Porto vs Belenenses��wasn��t yet over as barely eight minutes after the 3rdgoal, Jason unleashed a daring run from midfield, weaving his way through three Belenensesyers before chipping a pass over a fourth Belenensesyer into the path of a hungry Fabio Viera.

    Viera had quickly gotten the ball under control before smoothly sending a beautiful curler into the top left corner of the Belenensesgoal.

    The unlucky Belenensesgoalkeeper once again had his efforts at saving the ball invalidated by the Porto team and could only watch his team fall behind even further.

    {GOALLLLL!!!}

    {Over the hills and far away, no catching them now!}

    {Jason cooks! Viera serves!}

    {We once again see this duo in action, producing the most excellent of goals, and they are ruthless with it!} Thementator could not keep himself silent even if he wanted to, especially as inspiration was flowing as he saw the ball fly into the once again.

    As thementator unleashed his poetics, the Porto team was celebrating wildly, not caring about the mental state of their opponents because they knew the cold hard truth of the footballing world.

    The respect a bigger team shows to a smaller team wouldalmost neverbe replicated.

    If a smaller team defeated a bigger team, their celebrations would be wilder than ever, and a lot of times, the celebrations were even disrespectful and offensive, so why should they not celebrate if the same would be done against them?

    Thus they celebrated joyously.

    Surprisingly, before the match kicked off again, the manager called for a substitution and took off Jason and Viera for Luis Diaz and Jesus Corona respectively.

    The Porto fans were surprised by the manager��s decision to take off the two youngsters, especially as those two had been major headaches for the Belenensesteam throughout the match and they had been ying well.

    The major point was that neither of them looked to be especially exhausted or even injured so the Porto fans were puzzled, but they still apuded the two yers from their homes and watched the two of them jog off the pitch.

    They had already won the game at this point anyway so there was no issue with doing something like this anyway, the Porto fans thought.

    The Belenensesfans on the other hand were overjoyed as the two torturers who had had a hand in every single goal against their team were finally walking off the field but their joy didn��tst for long.

    Luis Diaz wiped away whatever relief was popping up in their hearts when he connected with Otavio��s pass behind the Belenensesback line to drive home a curler around the Belenensesgoalkeeper and elevate his team��s lead even further in the second minute of added time.

    {You know, part of the game is that it has to get ruthless, and the Dragons who are inherently ruthless creatures are fully disying their ruthless nature on their unfortunate opponents who are nothing more than prey here in the house of the dragons}

    {Belenenses�� n at avoiding relegation has taken a huge hit and they have a lot to do to ensure that they can remain in the Liga NOS next season} Thementator couldn��t even shout anymore as even he was already feeling pity for the Belenensesteam that were allying around and looking like they lost the Champions League Finals.

    After the kick-off, the Porto team immediately stole the ball back from the Belenensesteam and began another attack, their hunger unsatiated even after the five goals they already had.

    They were looking dangerous until the Belenensesteam was saved from further mental damage by the referee blowing his whistle.

    Thus the match came to an end with the scores of,

    Porto 5 : 0 Belenenses.

 Chapter 186: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XIII

    Chapter 186: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XIII

    **9thJuly 2020**

    The Porto team bus arrived at the Estadio Joao Cardoso for their match for their match against Tond at the Estadio Joao Cardoso in Tond.

    This was the next step in Porto��s march toward the League title and should they win this game, they would be able to lift the trophy in their next game if they managed to win the next game as well.

    Benfica, which was the second team on the league table had lost theirst match and were now eight points behind the Porto team, so as long as Porto didn��t fling away the title that almost certainly belonged to them, then their position as league leaders was already as good as confirmed.

    With the trophy in sight, the Porto yer��s morale was high and the morale of the fans was even higherandthey wished that they could be present at the stadium to witness their team lift the trophy, but unfortunately, that wasn��t possible.

    The stadiums had to remain empty for the foreseeable future and even Jason who was from a different timeline didn��t know when the fans would be allowed back into the stadiums.

    His future knowledge was only up till theter parts of the year 2020 and he had not lived to experience 2021 in his world so he was pretty much a normal human at this point without any more future knowledge advantage.

    The only extra knowledge he had in his head was a few things that were present in his past life but due to some sort of butterfly effect, weren��t present in this world, and none of those things concerned football so he was just as lost as the rest of the normal humans. However, none of those things took any space in Jason��s head as the only thing in his head at that moment was the uing match.

    As usual, the yers got off the team bus and headed into the stadium, moving towards their respective locker rooms to change and prepare for the pre-match warm-up while the manager and the captain separated from the rest of the yers to go do the pre-match interview.

    Every yer on the squad was soon in their training clothes and heading out to the green for the warm-up and pre-match training.

    Each team performed their pre-match warm-up and training on the different halves of the pitch and soon enough the manager and the captains came to join the yers in the pre-match training.

    After a while of training, the yers headed back through the tunnel into the stadium��s inner grounds to ready themselves for the match while the pre-match tactical meeting was held at the same time.

    By 7: 15 pm that evening, the two teams were done with all pre-match formalities and were standing in position, waiting for the referee��s whistle to start the match.

    *Fweeeeeeeee*

    The yers didn��t have to wait long as the shrill sound of the whistle soon escaped the referee��s whistle as he blew hard on it and the match immediately kicked off.

    Both teams immediately got to work and started charging at each other, each intent on achieving the different goals they hading into the match.

    Porto��s goal was to defeat the Tond team and take another step at the League title while Tond��s goal was to do everything in their power to stop the Porto team from achieving their goals.

    They were not going to be some soft persimmon that the Porto team could easily walk over, they had decided to themselves, but the Porto team��s yers couldn��t care less about their thoughts and went at them, their first aim being to retrieve the ball from the Tond team so that they could immediately begin trying to get a goal.

    With high pressure from the Porto team, it didn��t take long for the Tond team to lose the ball and the Porto immediately began passing the ball around cleverly while looking for spaces to begin an attack, executing their manager��s strategic possession game n.

    The Porto yers fanned wide and changed positions continuously as they exchanged the ball with each other, but all their attempts at breaking past the Tond defense line were met with rigid refusal from the Tond team.

    With Porto not being able to break through the Tond team��s defense, their momentum soon diminished and Tond soon regained possession and it was their turn to attack the Porto team��s defense and try to get the first goal of the game.

    The first half of the Tond vs Porto match was filled with such back-and-forth moments from both teams and though each team asionally broke through their opposition��s defense line, neither of the teams had been able to put the ball past the goalkeeper despite getting a few shots away.

    The first half passed like this and the referee soon blew the whistle to bring an end to the scoreless first half of the game.

    With the first half of the game over, the yers of both teams headed off the field for a much-needed fifteen minutes rest as despite neither of the two teams managing to get one past the goalkeeper, they were still exhausted from going at each other throughout the first half�� without any results to show for it as well.

    Sergio Conceicao didn��t think that his yers had yed terribly in the first half, but he wasn��t pleased with his yers letting the first half of the game slip through their hands without them being able to score even one goal.

    Nevertheless, he knew that a lot could still happen in the second half of the game so he only corrected the yers that needed correcting and made the appropriate changes to the squad line-up.

    Soon the second half was about to kick-off and newly on the team was Jason who hadn��t started the match, but was nowing on for Jesus Corona on the right.

    Soon the second half began and with Porto in possession of the ball due to them kicking off the second half, they started slowly building up an attack and advancing further and further into the Tond half of the field.

    They continuously exchanged the ball among themselves as they advanced while the Tond yers ran at them, constantly on press, but the Porto yers somehow managed to avoid losing possession of the ball and after almost two minutes of passing the ball around, the ball finally found it��s way to Vincent Aboubakar who did not hesitate to send the ball at the Tond goalkeeper.

    The Tond goalkeeper quickly extended himself horizontally at the ball with amazing power and flexibility, managing to push the ball off its intended path and pushing the ball out of y for a corner kick.

    As Alex Telles ran over to the right corner g to take the corner kick, the yers of both the Porto and Tond teams arranged themselves in the 18-yard box, pushing against themselves and using different maneuver techniques to escape from the other person, all in preparation for the iing ball from the corner-kick.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The referee blew loudly and that was Telles�� cue to run at the ball and swing hard, sending an inwardly curling ball into the Tond 18-yard box with a powerful left foot.

    The yers pushed against each other and a select few who were closest to the path of the iing ball jumped to the air to get to the ball.

    Danilo Perreira somehow managed to outmuscle his marker and get his head to the ball, changing its direction and even adding a bit more power to the ball.

    With the header from Danilo Perreira, the ball flew at the bottom right corner of the goal and the keeper quickly dived at the ball, but the ball bounced on the ground before reaching the goalkeeper and flew over him into the back of the finally putting an end to the goalless status of the game.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {It��s Tond whobucklefirst!}

    {Whatever the Porto manager told his yers at half-time, it��s working as they have taken the lead already, just barely two minutes after the break!}

    {Just like many other times this season, it��se from a corner and Tond should have known to be better prepared and will now have to deal with the consequences of not paying enough attention to clear threats like the strong Portuguese defensive midfielder, Danilo Perreira} Thementator did not hesitate to get on the mic and unleash line after line of almost poetic content, especially when it was the first goal of an almost goalless game.

    The Porto team most certainly did not hesitate to celebrate their goal and they were joined by the Porto fans in their respective locations.

    The Porto fans celebrated with extra excitement since their team had taken yet another step towards the League title with this goal.

    The League title was already close enough that they could almost taste it and they probably would as long as nothing too out of the ordinary happened.

 Chapter 187: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XIV

    Chapter 187: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XIV

    With Porto having put an end to the deadlock, the Tond yers immediately tried to step up their game as well after they kicked off to resume the match but despite all their efforts, the flow of the game seemed to be against them.

    For the next ten minutes, the Tond stood up to the Porto team that was flowing heavily with momentum from their earlier goal, bringing the match to another standstill with both teams asionally taking potshots at the other, but the Tond team couldn��t stand up to the Porto team for long and they soon started losing ground in the middle of the park.

    Porto didn��t waste this chance and quickly began oppressing the opponents with their possession game, constantly exchanging the ball among themselves as they slowly advanced into Tond��s half of the field.

    Finally, in the 64thminute, Jason, who had just received the ball from Danilo Perreira saw a bit of space between the Tond left back and left center back.

    Without hesitation, he immediately changed his mind about the pass he was about to make and immediately began charging at the Tond defensive line.

    The Tond defenders were surprised by this sudden change in pace, but they immediately reacted and began trying to close down Jason��s sudden attack while the Porto yers immediately began to fan out and move in to support Jason thanks to the Tond defense line being shaken up by Jason��s sudden run down the right side of the field.

    As Jason began moving down the field, the Tond left back who was closest immediately began advancing towards Jason, and following just behind him was the left center back.

    They immediately positioned themselves in Jason��s way intending to make Jason slow down, but Jason just did a few step-overs before cutting slightly to the left to just barely get past the left back, but then the left center back immediately closed in and tried to stop Jason in his tracks. Seeing this move, Jason��s feet exploded with a sudden burst of pace and he managed to tap the ball back to the right just before the Tond left center back could reach it.

    With this sudden switch to the left and back to the right, Jason had managed to get the ball through the two Tond defenders, but the defenders didn��t n on letting him escape them as well and quickly crashed into him as he was passing by, causing him to stumble but despite almost losing his footing, Jason somehow managed to stay on his feet and quickly began pushing the ball forward again behind the two Tond defenders.

    The defenders immediately gave chase and Jason did not even need to look back to know that they didn��t intend to let him just escape, but he didn��t stop hisownrun and began cutting into the box.

    As Jason nced to his side, he realized that with the way the defendersing in from the center wereing at him, he would not be able to make itall the wayto the front of the goalkeeper to get the shot away.

    He could try to dribble through them before taking the shot but he knew that the two defenders would immediately interrupt him and put an end to his run, thus dribbling wasn��t an option.

    He could try passing, but his teammates were currently at odd angles that would make an urate pass very difficult at the moment, and like he already mentioned, stopping his run wasn��t an option, so there was only one option left despite that option notreallybeing any better than the rest.

    He immediately swung his right leg back to take the shot from the right corner of the Tond 18-yard box.

    It was an odd angle and it was even worse that he was trying to take the shot from that ce with his right foot, but there were no options left and Jason didn��t want his attack to end without him doing something definitive�� even if it was a wasted shot.

    With that thought, he hit the ball as hard as he could while trying his best to keep it from rising off the ground too much.

    The ball took off instantly and flew at the top left side of the goal but the Tond goalkeeper had been keeping his eyes on Jason from the moment Jason had starteding in his direction, thus he quickly dived at the ball aiming to push it away from goal.

    After just barely managing to get his hand to the ball, the Tond goalkeeper fell to the ground, the force from his legs that had pivoted him towards the ballpletely exhausted and as he fell he watched the ball m into the left post thanks to him getting his hand to it.

    Unfortunately, the Tond goalkeeper couldn��t feel any relief yet as the ball bounced back into y, but before he could even get back to his feet or shout any orders at his defenders to clear the ball, the ball was suddenly smashed back towards the direction of the now open goal.

    Moussa Marega had been extremely fortunate to have the ball bounce off the post and in his direction and he didn��t allow the ball to even touch the ground before he smashed it back into the open goal before anyone could react.

    The result of his actions was a bulging and a wave of joy that flowed through all the Porto yers on the field, the staff watching the match, and the fans watching from their phones.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {It��s only been barely ten minutes since they scored their first and now they��re back at it again!}

    {Jason did all the work, getting through thedefenders and getting the shot away and I��m sure he would have been disappointed to not have scored, but Marega made sure that his efforts were notpletely futile}

    {I guess this can also be considered teamwork, and the whole Porto teambegintheir celebrations again} Thementator��s words were also a result of Marega��s goal and thementator��s words echoed loudly through the stadium that even though was devoid of fans, still retained it��s vibrancy.

 Chapter 188: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XV

    Chapter 188: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XV

    The Porto team quickly ended their celebrations and the match soon kicked off once again, but this time despite Porto��s momentum, the Tond team began fighting back more than ever, proving to be quite the headache just minutes after the kickoff.

    The Tond team��s yers were not willing to justy down and take their defeat and going behind by two had put them into a state simr to desperation and this brought out some extra effort from them as they began to put the Porto team��s defensive line to the test.

    By the 75thminute of the game, which was ten minutes after Porto��s second goal, the Tond had recorded an extra 4 shots with two of them being on target while the Porto team hadn��t had more than two shots that were not even on target.

    It was clear that during thest ten minutes, it was the Tond team that was on the front foot which was contrary to everyone��s expectation, but just as the Porto fans were thinking that their yers would soon take back control of the game, an unexpected situation came up.

    In a bid to stop a Tond yer from going past him and getting through on goal, Danilo Perreira tackled the yer a bit harder than usual and carelessly swept the yer off his foot before he even touched the ball.

    Needless to say, the referee immediately called for a penalty and also showed Danilo a yellow card.

    The Porto yers immediately went to the referee to argue about the penalty even though they knew that a penalty wasactuallythe correct decision from the referee.

    The referee, however, didn��t budge, though he ended up consulting the VAR to assert his decision to the Porto yers. In the end, Ronan from the Tond team stood behind the ball to take the penalty for his team while everybody else waited outside the penalty box.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    Ronan ran at the ball and swung the penalty to the bottom left corner of the post while Augustin Marchesin stood rooted to the spot.

    Without any effort from the goalkeeper to stop the penalty, the ball mmed into the back of the while all the Porto yers could only watch, but they didn��t lose their cool since they were still in the lead.

    However, it was obvious that the rest of the game would be filled with frantic attempts from both teams to get the next goal.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Put away brilliantly! The keeper rooted to the spot!}

    {Tondareback within reach!}

    {This begs the question, can they go further and cause a major upset?}

    {We��ll see, won��t we}

    {One thing��s for sure though, this match is shaping up for a fric finish!} Thementator disyed his impartiality for the game with his words while the Tond yers did a quick celebration among themselves.

    The fans of both teams watching the game however had conflicting emotions, especially the Porto fans who despite having trust in their team still retained a lingering fear that something unfavourable could happen within the few remaining minutes of the match.

    The fans of the Tond team however were happy that their team had finally gotten one and they could not help having hopes that their team could go on to equalize�� or maybe even stage aeback, however their rationality tried to hold their imaginations from going to wild as the chances of whatever they were thinkingactualling to pass�� was slim.

    It was more likely that the Porto team would bear down on them with fury at having their clean sheet ruined, but then one could never tell with football.

    Soon the match kicked off once again, this time with Porto in possession of the ball, and within the following minutes, the hearts of the Tond fans almost flew out of their throats as Porto bore down on their team with righteous fury.

    The Porto team attacked with so much aggression that it was almost like they could score a goal at any moment and the fans of both sides could not take their eyes off their devices as they watched the Porto push the Tond sideall the wayback to their half.

    The Tond team managed to regain possession a few times, but each time that happened, the Porto yers pressed them hard and boxed the Tond yers into a corner before stealing the ball back and resuming their oppressive attack on the Tond team.

    By the 88thminute of the game, the Porto team had pushed the Tond team so far back that the game was only being yed in the Tond team��s half and thest time the ball crossed the halfway line was more than a minute ago, and that was because the Tond goalkeeper had taken a goal kick and had sent the ball into the middle of the field.

    At this point, the hopes of the Tond fans were almost dead, but some of them still believed thatit was possible for their team to getat least an equalizer and that all they needed was a single slip-up from the Porto team.

    The Porto team howeverweren��tgoing to give them that chance.

    Their concentration was at its peak as they kept the pressure on the Tond team because contrary to how it looked, the Tond team wasactuallyholding up well since they hadn��t conceded or made any major mistakes despite how much they were being pressured.

    It was very annoying for the Porto team to have this much possession and control and to be unable to put the ball past their opponents due to how tight their defensive backline was, but because of this, they knew that they couldn��t afford to slip up because at least this way, they could run down time and still take the win.

    However, not all yers on the Porto team nned on simply running down time.

    One of those yers was Jason.

    He had been unable to get a goal in thest game and with this game running out, it would be two matches in which he hadn��t scored a goal.

    It might be a bit petty or childish, but for Jason who strove to be the best there ever was, he didn��t like the thought of going two games without scoring a goal.

    Even the fact that he had made two assists in the previous match didn��t ease up his desire to get the ball past the keeper, because, despite everything that people said about football, scoring goals was the only way to get acimed as the best of all time.

    All that talk about assists and all that was okay, but football was inherently a game where the objective was to outscore your opponent and the only way to outscore your opponents was to score goals in the first ce.

    Jason wholeheartedly agreed with this point of view so, at this moment, his eyes were scanning the whole Tond back line for a crack in the formation that he could slip through.

    One thing was for sure�� he wasn��t nning on letting the Tond yers go with just two goals.

 Chapter 189: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XVI

    Chapter 189: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XVI

    The assistant referee on the sidelines held up the board to show the number of added minutes as the match neared ny minutes.

    Four minutes would be added as injury time which was enough time for anything to happen.

    Jason who was still looking for space realized that he no longer had the luxury of time to look for the opportune moment to break through the opponent��s defense.

    Since the opportunity hadn��t shown itself, then he had to create the opportunity himself so keeping his eyes on the ball that moved around, he slowly moved nearer to the center of the penalty area from the left side of the 18-yard box.

    While Jason slowly moved towards the center of the Tond team��s 18-yard box, his teammates exchanged the ball among themselves.

    Finally, the ball reached Fabio Viera who was standing about a dozen yards away from the Tond team��s 18-yard box.

    As soon as he received the ball, the Tond yers came at him, but as he was looking for a passing option, Jason who had made it to the center of Tond��s 18-yard box quickly rushed out while asking for the ball to feet.

    Fabio Viera didn��t hesitate and quickly sent the ball to Jason who received it just outside Tond��s 18-yard box with his back facing Tond��s goal post. Jason had barely gotten the ball under control after receiving the pass when someone mmed into him from behind.

    Jason did not need to look behind him to know that it was a Tond yer who was making his presence known, but scoring a goal was the only thing on Jason��s mind at the moment so he did not back down and immediately his brain starteding up with escape maneuvers that could get him through on goal.

    However, before his mind was made up, his body had already started moving out of habit, and Jason still with his back facing the yer and Tond��s goal immediately moved his body as if he wanted to turn left.

    The yer behind Jason could see all his movements and quickly moved to follow after Jason, but then all of a sudden Jason��s body which had been moving towards the left suddenly shot back towards the right faster than ever.

    The yer immediately tried to follow Jason��s movements but at that moment, it was like his brain was short-circuited and his movements stiffened leaving him unable to react immediately.

    He could only watch in a daze as Jason turned towards the right, sweeping the ball along with him.

    The Tond yer��s shock didn��tst long however as he quickly recovered and went after Jason almost unconsciously, but due to his slow reactions, Jason was already almost out of reach and he could only stretch his hand out to grab Jason��s jersey.

    Luckily his hand managed to grab out the cor of Jason��s jersey and he yanked hard, pulling Jason to the floor.

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    The referee��s whistle went off immediately and it was only at this moment that he realized that he and Jason had crossed the line and were now in his team��s 18-yard box.

    The referee ran to them and pulled out a red card immediately because despite him not being thest man, after Jason dribbled past him, he was already through on goal and had enough time to take the shot before any of the other yers could even move, thus the Tond yer had obstructed a goal-scoring chance with a foul.

    The consequence of that was a red card and a penalty.

    Other Tond yers quickly ran over and while some of the yers protested the red card, some tried to argue that Jason had not yet crossed the line when he was pulled down so it could not be a foul.

    The ce where Jason had fallen was at the edge of the penalty box, so it was true that it was a bit difficult to tell where he hadactuallybeen fouled and the Tond yers tried to argue that it was outside the box so that they wouldn��t have to face off against a penalty thiste in the game, especially when they still harbored hopes of equalizing.

    While all this was happening, Jason got off the ground with the help of Viera who pulled him up, he was a bit annoyed about the yer who had brought him to the ground and caused him to lose his goal-scoring chance, but since he had gotten a penalty instead, his annoyance didn��t even show up on his face.

    Instead, he went to pick up the ball and waited for the referee to quell the situation so that he could take the penalty.

    He was sure of where he had fallen and he knew that if it was checked with VAR, then he would still be granted the penalty, so he wasn��t unsure.

    He also wasn��t going to concede the penalty that he had gotten from his efforts to anyone, dead ball specialist or not, hence he already held the ball while waiting.

    He wasn��t interested in hearing any stories that touched emotions because he wouldn��t be shaken and he most definitely would not be giving up a chance to add to his goal tally.

    While Jason waited with the ball in hand while conversing with Viera, the referee had to deal with the Tond yers.

    He wasn��t going to budge on the booking decision and the yer woulddefinitelybe sent off, but he had to go and check with the VAR and confirm whether to give a penalty or a free-kick.

    It took almost three minutes since Jason had been pulled to the ground before the referee finally finished checking everything that needed to be checked and just like Jason had expected, a penalty was given.

    Jason��s teammates could already see in his eyes that he wasn��t going to give up the penalty so they didn��t even bother to ask, especially as Telles who usually took penalties for the team had already been subbed off.

    With all that clear, Jason put the ball down on the penalty spot and took five steps back, counting the number of steps internally before taking a deep breath and locking eyes with the Tond goalkeeper.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    Hearing the referee��s whistle, Jason started walking towards the ball, his footsteps light, but his eyes stayed locked on the goalkeeper��s eyes and his face was an image of a hundred percentposure.

    The Tond goalkeeper didn��t know what to make of Jason��s literal staring contest right before taking the penalty, but his eyes stayed on Jason��s eyes as he tried to determine Jason��s intentions for the ball, but no matter how he looked, there was nothing to see and it felt like he was looking into a fog.

    With a hundred percentposure in his eyes, on his face, and in his movement, Jason walked up to the ball and hit the ball with very little power sending it toward the right side of the goal yet the Tond goalkeeper had already dived towards the left in confusion of the situation.

 Chapter 190: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XVII

    Chapter 190: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XVII

    {Audacious!}

    {He walked up to the ball with perfectposure and slotted it in with almost no effort!}

    {The Tond goalkeeper was no match and his team is once again down by two!}

    {With this goal, no one has any doubts that Porto is finally out of reach!} Thementator spoke loudly into the mic while the Porto team celebrated their goal.

    Jason shared hugs and high-fives with the rest of his teammates, not bothering to do an extravagant celebration as the match was already almost over so there was no point in dying any further.

    The celebrations didn��t take long and the match soon resumed, but no sooner had the Tond team kicked off when the referee blew the final whistle for the match loudly.

    Once the final whistle was blown, both teams started heading off the field with the faces of the victors filled with smiles while the losers had more negative emotions disyed on their faces.

    **15thJuly 2020** The d-day had arrived.

    A kaleidoscope of shifting emotions symbolized the day.

    With a potential title lift as long as the Porto team won the game, everybody that favored the Porto side already tuned in to the channel right from the yer��s arrival at the stadium.

    Porto would be hosting Sporting CP at the Estadio do Dragao and the Porto yers would be doing their best to defeat the strong Sporting side so that they could lift the league trophy.

    It felt like a final, and to be honest kind of was.

    Needless to say, emotions were roiling through the Porto yers, staff, management, and fans.

    The Porto yers however did not show any other emotion apart from determination on their faces as they did their warm-up routines.

    After a few more minutes of pre-match warm-ups, the yers started heading off the field to their locker rooms for the pre-match tactical meeting.

    In the Porto locker room, some of the Porto yers were taking off their training vests and getting into their match kits when Sergio Conceicaobegan speaking,

    ��We already discussed this, but here��s a quick rerun of our match tactics,��

    ��Starting with the line-up ording to our 4-4-2 formation;��

    ��Augustin Marchesin will be our goalkeeper as usual, while Pepe and Ivan are our two center backs,��

    ��Telles is the left back while Wilson is the right back,��

    ��In the middle of the park, will be Otavio and Sergio Oliveira while Jesus Corona and Luis Diaz will be on the right and left,��

    ��Soares and Marega will be ying in the center as our two strikers for the game���� After reciting the chosen line-up for the game, Sergio Conceicao paused for a while, looking at the yers with expectation and trust in his eyes.

    ��You know how we y so I��m not going to emphasize on that especially since you know who our opponents are����

    ��Sporting is not an easy opponent, but you also know why we can��t afford to lose today��s game,��

    ��I��m sure I don��t need to borate on why today is immensely important for us����

    ��I know it, you know it, the fans know it, everyone knows it�� but, you must do more than knowing����

    ��You must want it,��

    ��You must want it so bad that you feel like you will die if you don��t get it�� You must be addicted to the glory you are going to receive even before you receive it,��

    ��Imagine it�� Visualize it�� and make sure to im it����

    ��Forget that losing one game doesn��t stop us from being champions in the next match, I want that trophy in this locker room by the time the ny minutes are over,�� Sergio Conceicao said sternly, and the yers echoed him with cheers, and determined looks.

    Jason cheered along with his teammates, not letting the fact that he was on the bench dampen his joy�� that was if it was even possible.

    The bubbling emotions inside Jason��s chest were making it impossible for even any negative emotions toe up from anywhere and he was immensely happy.

    How could he not be happy?

    His team was about to lift the league title.

    In Jason��s past life, he had nevere anywhere close to a league title, hell, he had never even touched a pre-season trophy.

    He hade close to a few domestic silverware, but he had always fallen short and never lifted a trophy throughout a twenty-something-year career, but now he was about to join his team in lifting the Primera Liga trophy.

    It was surreal, it was unbelievable, and Jason could not keep his excitement down which was why there was currently a smile stered on his face instead of his default t face.

    The smile stayed on his face even as he and the other guys on the bench headed out of the locker room and went to sit on the bench while waiting for the game to start.

    The other Porto yers were all in high spirits as they came out of the tunnel and the pre-match formalities began.

    Soon enough, however, the yers of both teams were done arranging themselves on the pitch and were awaiting the referee��s whistle to start the match.

    Not only were the yers waiting eagerly,the fans were also waiting while almost biting their nails out as they waited for the referee��s whistle.

    Porto fans from all over the nation of Portugal and even in other parts of the world were tuned in and awaiting the referee��s whistle.

    One would wonder though, that as one of the most sessful sides in the Portuguese first division, why were the fans so eager to add one more trophy to their shelves?

    Unfortunately, no one would be able to answer the question as the cause and source of the joy could be summed into only two words.

    The first word was ��football�� and the second word was ��winning��.

    That was all there was to it.

    The source of joy and passion from watching grown men kick a ball around a field was already unexinable in the first ce.

    All they knew was that it was fun, and it was even more fun to win.

    Rtionships, friendships, and all sorts of emotions were born out of this sport and that could not be denied.

    Arguably till the end of time, football will keep being loved as the number one sport in the whole world�� that could not be changed.

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    The referee didn��t disappoint the expectations of the eager Porto yers and their fans as he blew the whistle loudly to signify the match that would end Porto��s quest for the league title.

 Chapter 191: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XVIII

    Chapter 191: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XVIII

    As soon asthe whistle was blown, Soaressent the ball backto Maregawhoquicklyid the ball off to Otavio.

    Just like that, the game began.

    A game that would decide if Porto would lift the trophy after the game or wait to try again in the next match.

    It was a match that held a lot of meaningsthusnot only were emotions running high, butthe tension ran high as well.

    However, it soon became apparent that Porto had more positive emotions than tensions on their mind as theysoonbegan attacking the Sporting CP side incessantly.

    In the middle of the park, they smoothly exchanged the ball among themselves as they tried to find spaceinbetween the Sporting CP yers while also making sure they did not lose possession.

    But Sporting CP was not a weak teamandtheiryers rushed at the Porto team in systematic pressing formationmakingit more difficult than ever for the Porto team to do anything with the bandit did not take long before they lost possession of the ball.

    Immediately the Porto team lost the ball, the Porto yers immediately moved behind the ball,setting the focuson plugging any holes in their formation instead of immediately trying to get the ball back. With Sporting CP now in control of the ball, they also tried to break through the Porto defensebutthey alsocame up short due to the tight defense of the Porto team.

    For the first ten minutes of the game, this back-and-forth situation constantly repeated itselfanditwas obviousthat each team was testing each other and waiting to see who would buckle first.

    In Portugal, it was well known that Porto and Benfica were the most decorated teams in first division footballwithPortohavingwon the Primera Liga twenty-eight times and looking to win it their twenty-ninth time after this game.

    But another undisputed fact was that the only other team in Portugal that could stand up to the two behemoths, Porto and Benfica, was Sporting CP,thusthe Porto yers knew that they couldn��t dare to slip up against Sporting CP.

    The same went for the Sporting CP team.

    Thusitwas only natural that they were ying cautiously against each other for the time being.

    Porto was being especially cautious as the game was a very importantonefor themandthey wouldrathernot take a blow to their confidence by carelessly allowing the Sporting CP team to get a goal against them first.

    However, they couldn��t remain cautious for the whole matchandsoon, the two teams began to make more aggressive attempts at each other and trying to score.

    The attacking yers worked at trying to break through the opposition��s defense and the defending yers immediately went on the defensive whenever their team lost the ball and tried to quell the opponent.

    Thiswas how the yers of both teams began ying.

    They still retained some of their cautiousness, but soon, even that went flying out the windowandboth teams soon started fully attacking each other, intent on scoring first, and shots were sent flying at each other��s goals from allsorts ofangles.

    The match heated up and the ball flew from one end of the pitch to the other constantly within seconds, but somehow, even as the first half neared its ending, neither of the two teams had been able to put one past the opponent��s goalkeeper despiteing close to doing so a couple of times.

    Porto hade close to taking the lead twice with clear shots on goal from Otavio and Marega, but the Sporting CP goalkeeperhad been able to keepthe ball out, proving that his five-digit monthly sry was not for nothing.

    On Porto��s end, Augustin Marchesin had to keep out four potential goal-scoring opportunities, disying the skill that made him the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets in the season.

    From this, it was clear that the Sporting CP had a slight edge over the Porto attack, but Porto��s defense seemed to be better since they had managed to keep out the Sporting CP team��s attacks from hitting the back of the.

    Possession, however, was almost equal and both teams matched up well against each other, canceling each other out

    In the end, the referee finally blew the whistle, signifying the end of the goalless first half.

    The yers of the two teams trudged off the green field of the Estadio do Dragao and headed into the inner quarters of the stadium, each team going to their locker rooms for a much-needed break and a more required change in tactics as it was clear that the two teams werejustcanceling each other out.

    In the Porto locker room, thestarting elevenyers chugged down water and tried to resta bitwhile Sergio Conceicao watched them while waiting.

    He nned to give them 5 minutes of rest before he started making changes to the tactics, and at the moment,hewas currently thinking of the changes he could make to the tactics.

    Different ideas arose in his headandhe began sifting through the ideas, throwing aside the dumb ideas and mentally simting the good ones to determine the likely effect on the game, and in theendhe settled for a particrly unconventional, but probably ingenious idea.

    His face lit up in a slight smile as he mentally simted the idea and did not find anymajorproblems wrong with the idea, not tomention,the likely effectiveness of the n.

    Since it was very likely to work, Sergio Conceicao immediately decided to try out what he had in mind, so he called out to the yers,

    ��Attentionboys, I��m going to make a few changes that should help us gain a better result against our opponents in the second half,��

    ��First, Jason, suit up, you��reing on for Marega,�� Sergio Conceicao stated.

    ��YesCoach,��Jason stated outwardly, but inwardlyhisthoughts were, ��Sorry, what?��

 Chapter 192: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XIX

    Chapter 192: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XIX

    ��Jason, suit up, you��reing on for Marega,�� Sergio Conceicao stated.

    ��Yes Coach,��Jason stated outwardly, but inwardly his thoughts were, ��Sorry, what?��

    It was to be expected, the team was currently ying in the 4-4-2 formation so if Jason came on for Marega who was one of the team��s two strikers, Jason would have to y in the striker position.

    Not that Jason didn��t fancy ying as a striker, or that he was bad at scoring goals, but it was just kind of strange to him who wasn��t prepared for such a role.

    Not to mention that he preferred getting involved in the attack build-up, but ying as a striker would limit him to ying only upfront thus he would not be able to get involved in driving the ball forward to create options for himself and his teammates which was what he was best at doing.

    Thus he rather preferred ying on the wings instead of as a striker and he was slightly confused at the manager��s arrangement, but luckily for him, Sergio Conceicao didn��t n on being vague as he usually was most of the time.

    ��We��ll be tweaking the formation a bit so Tiquiniho ys as the main striker while Jason will y as a support striker,�� Sergio Conceicao began exining with the aid of the whiteboard.

    ��Jason��s pace will allow him to track back to the midfield and join the other midfielders in overloading the midfield which will give us an edge over Sporting in the midfield, but once we are on the attack, Jason would head back forward and y behind Tiquiniho,�� ��With this, he should be able to receive the ball if it is too difficult to get the ball the wayto Tiquiniho in the front, from there he can hold up y enough to buy you guys time so that you can support the attack, or he can break through the defense himself and take the shot or pass the ball to Tiquiniho,�� Sergio Conceicao exined while drawing a circle on the board and making use of different arrows and markings to exin Jason��s role in the new tactic to the team.

    ��The rest of you guys just need to keep doing what you were doing while taking into ount the new changes in the formation,�� the Portuguese manager stated with his hand still pointed to the board.

    ��I think that��s clear enough, you guys yed well in the first half and I��m confident you��ll do better in the second half,��

    ��I want you guys to go out there and forget what hangs in the bnce and just focus on giving out the best performance you can,�� Sergio Conceicao stated, his words contrasting what he had said in the pre-match tactical meeting, but he knew that this wasn��t the time to heap pressure on his yers by being too stern, especially since they weren��t losing.

    The yers also noticed the conflict in the manager��s words, but not one pointed it out and some simplyughed it off�� there were more important things at hand than nitpicking the manager��s speech.

    Time ran down as the Portuguese manager further borated on the things to take note of in the new tactic while the yers readied themselves for the second half.

    Soon the yers were back on the wide expanse of green that was the pitch of the Estadio do Dragao��s football stadium.

    Jason was the first substitution for the match as he wasing on for Moussa Marega for the second half and he marched onto the field with his teammates.

    As they waited for the Sporting CP team to kick off, Otavio who was nearby Jason stretched out his fist to Jason and said,

    ��Let��s take this trophy home today,��

    shing a grin with a mouthful of white pearl-like teeth as an answer, Jason also stretched out his fist, but instead of a fistbump, it was their forearms that collided against each other.

    They couldn��t fist bump or anything like that on the field due to the safety rules made tobat Covid-19 which was kind of ironic and stupid because even though the yers couldn��t shake hands or bump fists, they would end up high-fiving and hugging each other after they scored a goal yet no one was ever called out for that.

    Jason couldn��t understand the rules, but he just went along with it.

    *Fweeeeeeeeee*

    The second half started immediately after the shrill sound of the referee��s whistle.

    The whistle wasn��t even done blowing when Sporting CP already kicked off and began pushing the ball back among themselves.

    At first nce, it seemed like the cautiousness they had yed with in the earlier parts of the first half was back, but the Porto yers weren��t interested in being cautious at the moment so they immediately charged at them with reckless abandon.

    It didn��t take long before the Porto team was once again in possession of the ball and they immediately moved to pick up where they had left off in the first half and try to score, but since the Sporting CP team had begun ying defensively, the Porto team didn��t have any choice but to control the ball in the middle of the field while waiting for an opportunity to open up.

    Despite ying defensively, the Sporting CP midfielders began pressing the Porto midfielders harder and making it harder for them to retain possession of the ball.

    Seeing this, Jason immediately left his post as a striker and moved back to join his teammates in the midfield.

    With the added presence of Jason in the midfield, it became noticeably easier to pass the ball around the Sporting CP yers as Jason did well to link up his teammates who were farther away from each other.

    His off-the-ball movement was excellent and he made sure he was almost always open to receive the ball which was majorly because he currently didn��t have a marker.

    He was currently ying as a striker which meant that his marker was one of the center backs of the other team, but that yer wouldn��t dare to leave his defensive position and leave only one center back to cope with Tiquiniho Soares who was the highest goalscorer in the league thus far.

    The Porto team ensured their dominance in the midfield until suddenly in the 59thminute of the game, the Sporting CP midfielders managed to snatch a pass that was meant for Jesus Corona and immediatelyunched a counterattack.

    The Porto defenders who had let down their guards because of how the five-man midfield had handled their opposition since the second half started, were unable to quickly react and the Sporting CP team quickly broke in from the right side of the Porto defensive line and charged at the Porto goal while constantly exchanging the ball among each other and keeping their counter-attack alive.

    The Porto defense gave chase and made tackles at the Sporting CP yers yet the ball somehow eluded them and the Sporting CP team made it unobstructed into the Porto 18-yard box before a final pass was made to the Sporting CP striker who struck the ball beautifully first time, smashing it past Augustin Marchesin.

 Chapter 193: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XX

    Chapter 193: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 XX

    {GOALLL!!!}

    {What an attack, what clever positioning, what poise, and what a stunner!}

    {Portoarestunned!}

    {It is a night that should be a night of their dreams, but they must have forgotten that nightmares are also dreams!}

    {A dream that the Porto yers or their fans do not want to see, but is being shoved down their throats by Sporting!}

    {Sporting CP are making a statement here and don��t n on letting Porto lift the league title by being defeated by them} Thementator shouted at the top of his voice into the microphone, intent on disying all the emotions that he was feeling to the fans.

    The hearts of Porto fans all over the world dropped as they saw their team go behind Sporting CP in what could be counted as the most important match of Porto this season as of that moment.

    The Sporting yers celebrated their goal wildly as they couldn��t be bothered to think about how the Porto fans would feel after going behind, especially when the fans weren��t even at the stadium. The Porto yers couldn��t do much more than watch as the Sporting yers celebrated their goal, but they didn��t let their heads drop and they showed their determination as soon as they kicked off to resume the game.

    With amazing intensity and determination, the Porto yers charged at the Sporting team, hoping to get an equalizer as soon as possible.

    #64thminute��

    Otavio sent the ball down the left wing into the path of Luis Diaz who was dashing down the left wing at an amazing pace.

    Receiving the ball and smoothly flicking it past the yer who had tried to tackle him, Luis Diaz continued unhindered by the Sporting yers as he ran and as soon as he wasfortable with where he had reached, he immediately sent a curling cross into the Sporting team��s penalty box.

    {It��s Diaz with a cross into the box. Can they find something here?} Thementator followed the situation with aptmentary.

    As the ball flew into Sporting CP��s penalty box, it curled into the path of Tiquiniho Soares who leaped high into the air and caught the ball with his head, sending it at the goalkeeper.

    {Header!!! And Oh! What a save from the goalkeeper!} thementator shouted and just as his words depicted, the ball headed by Tiquiniho Soares had flown at the goal, but had been stopped by an amazing diving save from Sporting��s goalkeeper who had barely managed to save the ball by pushing it back.

    {�� the ball has fallen favourably�� and oh what a hit from Jason!!!}

    Jason had been nearby and seeing as the ball had been saved by the Sporting CP��s goalkeeper, he immediately ran at the ball, escaping his marker��s attempt to push him away and smashing the ball into the back of the.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {What a response to going behind! Porto are level once again! They still believe!}

    {It��s clear that this young yer has been listening well to his seniors on correct positioning and he was at the right ce, at the right time to give his team an equalizer and a confidence booster for the rest of the match!}

    {What a yer!}

    {His team is once again back within reach of lifting the League title tonight!}

    {Can they go on to win this!?} Thementator��s voice was apanied by shouts from the Porto fans from wherever they were watching the match or following it with the aid of live score applications.

    The Porto yers also celebrated the goal with enthusiasm for a while before they quickly headed back to their half to resume the game as they still had work to do if they wanted to ensure a victory and lift the trophy at the end of the game.

    The match soon resumed again with both teams going at each other, doing their best to ensure that they were the ones that got the next goal.

    #77thminute��

    The Sporting CP teamwas in possession ofthe ball and the ball was flying around among their defenders due to how hard the Porto yers were pressing them, their enthusiasm almost palpable as they chased after the ball untiring like they were mindless zombies.

    {Ever since they got their equalizer, Porto have taken the fight to their opponents and have been pressing hard as they look to get another goal to ensure an absolute surety of lifting the league title}

    {If the game goes on like this, they would still lift the League trophy, but they seem to be looking for absolute surety and are not willing to leave their chances at the League title up to luckbutthe Sporting CP team doesn��t seem to want to allow them to have their way}

    {They��re keeping the ball away from the Porto yers with their well ced passe- oh, that pass seems a little short and it has been intercepted by Tiquiniho Soares in the final third} Thementator described the situation of Soares intercepting a pass from between the two center backs and was now charging at the Sporting CP��s goalkeeper.

    {What a mistake by the defender and he seems to want to make up for with with how hard he is chasing the Porto striker, but it��s already toote as the Soares is already through on goal, what is he going to do with the ball!?}

    Tiquinniho Soares kept moving at the Sporting CP goalkeeper, slightly tilting his run to the left and making the Sporting CP goalkeeper change directionse at him, but once the goalkeeper was only about two yards away from him, Tiquiniho unexpectedly passed the ball to the right where Jason suddenly popped up on his right sidepletely unmarked and tapped the ball into the open goal.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {It was a chance that was gifted to them by the opposition and they gobbled it up!}

    {What an unselfish goal by the Porto team!}

    {The striker passed the ball to his partner upfront to ensure a hundred percent chance at goal and you can see gratitude in the goal scorer��s eyes as he goes up to hug the assistant in celebration!}

    {With this Porto are up to two and have finally taken the lead in a match that once again looks to be the night of their dreams!}

    {Now that they are finally in the lead, the Porto fans can dream again!}

    {I��m sure the prevalent question on the Porto fans�� minds is ��Can their team add another goal to hammer their opponents, and if they can, could it be up to Jason to get his second hat trick of the season?}

 Chapter 194: Who Owns This City?

    Chapter 194: Who Owns This City?

    Sporting CP kicked off once again to resume the match for the time since the second half began, but the only difference was that this time, they were behind the Porto team.

    Immediately the match resumed,bothteams once again began tearing into each other with different emotions behind their efforts.

    The Sporting CP team was doing all it could to try and get an equalizer to get them back on equal terms with Porto once again, but Porto was also doing all it could to get an extra goal and push the Sporting CP team out of their reach and avoid any unexpected situations.

    Their intentions canceled each other��s efforts for the most part but shots were still sent flying at each other��s goal every other minute but the scoreboard operator remained undisturbed.

    #90+3 minutes��

    {We��re a minute away from witnessing Porto lift their 29th Primera Liga title and I can almost hear the fans already celebrating in their homes, in the bars, and everywhere that celebration could take ce}

    {Porto has withstood the test of time and emerged as the best team in the Primera Liga this season, and they are now only a minute away from taking the des for their efforts}

    {It was a tough journey filled with all ups and downs, gains and losses, yersing and going, but the team stood strong even in the face of it all and kept pushing��} {Barely thirty minutes ago, they were still behind, and now they��re in the lead!}

    {We��ve seen this happen a few times this season but this time, it will not only end in their win�� but the yers will also be lifting the title while their opponents will rue their missed chances}

    {It cannot be said that Sporting CP didn��t y well, but today just wasn��t their day}

    {Even now, they are cleverly moving the ball around, but they��re passing the ball around at their end instead of taking the ball to theoppositi- Oh Tiquiniho has once again intercepted the ball in the final third} Thementator��s ending messages for the match was interrupted when Tiquiniho Soares once again intercepted a pass between the two Sporting CP center backs and once again began charging at the Sporting CP goalkeeper in a way that was reminiscent of Porto��s second goal.

    {Once again, the Sporting CP defenders are chasing Tiquiniho Soares as he bears down on their goal all thanks to their sloppy passing for the second time this match}

    {They already conceded a goal like this earlier, but it seems they still haven��t learned their lesson and the Porto striker is once ready to punish their mistakes, and this time he shoots!} Thementator bellowed as Soares shot the ball past the goalkeeper unlike before when he passed the ball to Jason.

    The ball flew past Sporting CP��s goalkeeper who was no match for the powerful shot and then,

    *CLANG*

    {Oh!It��shit the bar and bounced back towards the Porto striker!}

    {What will he do here!?}

    Soares got to the ball on the right side of the Sporting 18-yard and immediately passed the ball to Jason who was just arriving outside the penalty area since there were already three defenders in the penalty box and they were crowding out the front of the goal.

    Jason received the ball and immediately nutmegged the Sporting yer who tried to tackle him as he received the ball.

    Going behind the nutmegged yer to receive the ball, Jason passed the ball to Otavio who was on his left and ran into the penalty box expecting a return pass, but Otavio after receiving the ball passed the ball towards the left wing where Alex Telles had just arrived.

    Telles slowed his run to match the ball��s pace and hit it first time, sending a high cross into the penalty box.

    Jason who had run into the box earlier saw the cross but immediately realized that he had already run past the optimal path of the cross and that the ball would arrive behind him so he immediately stopped his run and backtracked, but no matter how fast he ran, it seemed inevitable that he would not arrive in time to do anything more than touch the ball the first and bring it under control before having to pass.

    Unfortunately, the whistle was already in the referee��s mouth and would be blown at any time, but Jason didn��t want to let this chance get past him so he decided to risk it all and he jumped into the air as soon as he was near enough to the arriving ball and arched his body mid-air, his body going into the position for an overhead kick,

    {The attack isn��t over yet as the ball is moving towards Jason who takes air and oh what a daring attempt!}

    Jason caught the ball on his right foot while still in the air in the overhead kick position and sent the ball flying at the goal, along with the Sporting goalkeeper flying after the ball, but missing.

    The ball safely lodged into the back of the to the surprise and amazement of everyone watching, including Jason who had performed the overhead kick.

    Despitending on the floor heavily from attempting the overhead kick, Jason quickly got back to his feet and started running down to the sideline with his joy and excitement having taken over his mind.

    He dodged his teammates who tried to hug him as he ran, his mind only on one thing as he ran down the sidelinesandthen, jumping into a slide tackle, heslide kickedthe corner g and broke it in the process.

    Then he got back to his feetandgrabbed the corner g and lifted it high into the air before stabbing it back into the ground as he shouted,

    ��I own this city! Me!��

    Before he could spread out his hands as if to hug the sky, which was supposed to be the next part of his celebration, his teammates jumped on him, bringing an end to another iconic celebration of Jason.

 Chapter 195: First Silverware I

    Chapter 195: First Silverware I

    {OH MY DAYS!!!}

    {Hat Trick! And what a way toplete one!}

    {We already know that despite his freshness to the scene he has a knack for delivering on the big days and he has once again hammered that point in with a hat trick!}

    {And not just a hat trick, but a hat trick on a day it mattersanda spectacr one at that!}

    {What a goal!}

    {His joy shows in his dominant celebration! It��s almost like he��s telling everyone that this is his domain and no one can argue that fact!}

    {The joy of the Porto fans must have sky-rocketed! Of this I have no doubts!}

    {It is a joyous day for everyonestanningthe blue and white stripes!} Thementator continuously bellowed, pushing every single drop of exhration he had been filled when he saw Jason score such a beautiful goal. The Porto yers didn��t take too much time to celebrate Jason��s goalconsidering the fact thatthe match would soon be over and it would not be toote to resume celebrations once the final whistle was blown, so they quickly headed back to their half of the field.

    The match soon resumed, but barely ten seconds went by before the final whistle that represented more than just a final whistle was blown.

    {The final whistle is blown and Porto can now call themselves the Champions of the 2019/20 season}

    {It��ll take some time for the trophy awarding stage to be arranged, but they��ll wait patiently and enthusiastically while celebrating with one other}

    {I��m sure they are already missing the presence of the fans and I��m sure the fans also wish they could be here to witness their team receiving the reward of their hard work and consistency the whole season}

    {Luckily for the fans they can watch from their homes, but the Porto yers don��t have that kind of luck}

    {It won��t matter much to them though as I��m sure they��re too excited to be brought down right now, especially since they know that the fans may not be here physically, but are supporting them from wherever they are} Thementator didn��t stop talking as the Porto yers gathered around, dancing and jumping in celebration.

    The yers on the bench as well as the staff members present joined in the celebrations while Pepe and Telles went to pull Sergio Conceicao to where the yers were to join in the celebrations while the stage where the trophy would be presented to them was quickly being erected.

    In different ces around the city of Porto, many fans of the Porto team joined their team in celebrations while some of the more zesty fans already began preparing various memes that they would use to torture the rival team Benfica that finished behind Porto.

    It would be a long night for the Benfica fans that was for sure, but it would be an even longer night for the Porto fans who would be up all night celebrating their lifting of the trophy after they were done ravaging the Benfica fans with all sorts of memes, videos and tweets.

    The Benfica fans were the only ones in Porto who would be feeling the pain of loss that night as even the non-Porto fans would join in on the attack.

    Their teams did not win the league either and were even farther away from the league title than they were, but that wouldn��t stop them from kicking the Benfica team that was already down.

    All in all, it was already expected that tonight would be a tumultuous night in Portugal for those involved in the football world and even those who weren��t involved would feel the effects.

    Back at the stadium, the Porto yers continued celebrating their victory as they waited for the stage to bepletely set up so that they could lift the trophy, the plight of the Benfica fans not even popping up in their heads as they had no reasons to care for the problems of their rivals fans.

    Soon the stage waspletely set up and the trophy was ced on a stand in front of the stage that had been set up.

    The trophy awarding ceremony soon began and the full Porto squad for the season lined up one after the other to receive their medals before moving to the stage.

    The yers began receiving their medals one by one as well as an elbow jab before moving on to the top of the stage.

    When it reached Jason��s turn, he did the same with a smile on his face, a smile that he wasn��t able to wipe off his face even if he tried.

    He hadreallydone it.

    It had been barely half a season since he was signed by a professional team that was bigger than any team he had ever yed for and he already won the league title.

    More than just exciting, it was a surreal moment for him, and he had already pinched himself a few times to check whether he was dreaming or not, but even after pinching himself hard, he had not even been able to get rid of the wide smile on his face, talk less of waking himself from whatever dream he may have been dreaming.

    At this moment, it finally settled in his mind that this wasreallyhappening.

    Not only had he been given another chance at his goal,hehad started on the right foot by joining a team like FC Porto, and he had taken it a step further by winning the league in his first season with the club and was already beginning to build up his record.

    With his performances as ofte which had been of great help to the team, it was already a given that a few teams were already keeping an eye on him and he may be receiving a few love calls from those teams, but as of now, he didn��t want to think about that part of his career yet.

    He wasn��t even sure if he wanted to leave Porto yet as this team meant a lot to him despite him having only spent a few months here.

    There were a lot of things that he would have to consider in theing weeks, but for the moment, he pushed all thoughts except his happiness and exhration at winning the league trophy out of his mind and waited patiently for everyone to be awarded given their medals so that they could finally lift the league trophy.

 Chapter 196: First Silverware II

    Chapter 196: First Silverware II

    The line of yers who were receiving medals gradually got shorter until thest person remained.

    It was Pepe who was the captain of the team who would also be the one to receive the trophy.

    He stepped up to receive his medal before he walked up the stage to join his teammates on the stage.

    Then Miguel Almeida, the President of NOS, and Pedro Proenca, the President of Liga Portugal stepped up to present the Liga NOS trophy to the Porto team.

    Pepe received the trophy with a wide smile before moving back to the crowd of his teammates and on cue, the trophy went down as they counted.

    ��1, 2, 3,�� they counted and on the count of three, the trophy was raiseduphigh apanied by celebratory cheers and happy shouts from the Porto team.

    The stands weren��t filled with people and the surroundings were more silent than they should ever be in a situation like this because of the Covid-19 viruses, but the Porto yers could almost imagine hearing the Porto fans cheering with them from wherever they were and nothing felt out of ce despite the empty surroundings.

    They soon brought the trophy down once again and raised it once again, once again erupting with cheers as they celebrated. Some of the yers soon went to drag their team manager to the stage from the side where he was watching the situation and they once again lifted the trophy while cheering.

    After the trophy lifting was over, the yers started taking all sorts of pictures, some with the trophy and some without the trophy.

    At this point, everyone was just doing whatever they could to express and share their happiness with whoever they thought important.

    Not to be outdone, Jason also went to pick up his phone and took a few selfies and posted them on his Instagram and Twitter page, but then feeling that was not enough, he decided to do something a bit more fun which was to go live stream at that moment.

    Opening the Instagram app again, he operated the app and went live for the first time on his Instagram ount, but despite it being his first time going live, viewers soon began pouring in and the viewer count quickly began rising, reaching over a thousand viewers in a little over a minute and still rising.

    ��What��s up guys,�� Jason greeted the viewers cheerily, which was a bit out of character from him, but at this moment, his excitement had him acting different.

    It was already weird enough that he was going live in the first ce so whatever happened after this happened under the influence�� what he was under the influence of, he didn��t know, but his behavior couldn��t be exined any other way.

    ��Guess who just acquired some new silverware?�� Jason asked with a goofy smile.

    ��Oh I ain��t talking about the medal, I already got enough drip in my drawers,�� Jason responded to ament asking if he meant his medal.

    ��I��m talking about this,�� Jason said with a toothy grin and grabbed the trophy from Fabio Viera who was holding the trophy next to him.

    ��Ain��t she a beauty?�� he said as he stared at the trophy with mesmerized looking eyes.

    ��Hey, give that back, I��m still taking pictures that I have to send back to my grandma,�� Fabio Viera protested indignantly to Jason.

    ��In a minute bro, chill,�� Jason responded with augh.

    ��She ain��t a hoe, but we don��t mind passing her around�� ah wait, that came out wrong,�� Jason said a bunch of nonsense under the influence of his excitement.

    ��Anyway, you won��t believe that those green and white kids came to my city and tried to make me wait to hold her in my hands,��

    ��Guess what I did toem?�� Jason asked the viewers.

    [What did you do?] a viewer whose username wasZestdasked.

    It was obvious he/she didn��t know about the match proceedings, or maybe he knew and wanted to hear what Jason had to say.

    ��I sentempackin, cuz this is my city! My domain! And nobody dares to deprive me of what is mine here,�� at this point, Jason was just saying nonsense, but he didn��t care as it was all in the spirit of having fun.

    ��Hey Fabio, here,�� Jason called out to Viera and held out the trophy to him.

    ��Say hi to the viewers as well before you go back to taking pictures for your grandma,�� Jason said with a grin as he handed the trophy back to Viera who said hi to the fans and also said a few words before going back to what he was doing.

    Leaving Viera to continue taking pictures, Jason began to go meet his teammates andincludingthem in the live stream, disying a level of friendliness and warmness that was hard to seeing from him otherwise.

    Many of his teammates were pleasantly surprised by the live stream and didn��t hesitate to greet the viewers and do a few funny stuff or even talk some nonsense to the viewers, it was a happy moment after all and everyone was high on happiness at that moment.

    After going around the whole team and including almost everyone in the live stream, Jason finally said his goodbye to the viewers and ended the livestream, but that did not mean that he was done celebrating.

    He rejoined his teammates and did an interview somewhere in between all that, but he hardly remembered what he had said in the interview and could only hope he wasn��t woken up by some controversial news article the next morning.

    The Porto yers finally headed to their locker room with the trophy in tow.

    The celebrations continued in the locker room as food was brought into the locker room to continue their celebrations.

    Due to safety reasons, the yers couldn��t go out to celebrate their achievement, thus they decided to celebrate as much as they could at the stadium before heading back to their homes, hence the chef brought in food.

    It wasn��t much considering it was just mostly pastries, some fast foods, and some drinks(unalcoholic of course), but that didn��t hinder the celebrations of the Porto team.

    Even the staff and the manager joined in to celebrate.

 Chapter 197: Oversleeping I

    Chapter 197: Oversleeping I

    **16th July 2020**

    *Brinnnnngggggg*

    A loud rm crashed into a sleeping Jason��s ears instantly putting an end to Jason��s rest.

    ��Arrgggh, fuck!�� Jason cursed as his eyes shot open and he grabbed his phone in anger, the first thought arising in his head wanting him to fling the phone to somewhere that it couldn��t disturb him, but his rationality immediately threw that rash thought out the window.

    ��Fu*k!�� he cursed again in a low tone and shut off the rm.

    He had barely reached his house at almost 3:00 am due to the ongoing celebrations at the Estadio do Dragao, but now his rm was waking him up at 6:00 am, just barely three hours after he reached home.

    To be fair, it was kind of his fault since he was the one who had forgotten to turn off his rm, but in his defense, who would remember something as minute as an rm after winning the league title anding back home at 3 am after celebrating as much as he could?

    Absolutely nobody, right? So he was justified in wanting to smash his phone apart since it had disturbed his rest, but that was a bit too irrational, so he settled with turning off the rm, nning to go back to sleep.

    Luckily for him, he had two days off instead of one thanks to winning the League title already so he could rx a bit even though there were still a couple of matches left on the calendar.

    ��Hurray for league titles!�� he eximed in a low voice as he rearranged his nkets and nned to go back to sleep, but before he could once again settle back into the warm embrace of the goddess of sleep, his phone rang again.

    ��Sonnuva bit*h!�� he spat in annoyance as he turned over again in annoyance, but he recognized the difference in his previous rm tone and the ringing noise that his phone was making now.

    It seemed someone was calling him.

    ��At this time tho? Somebody��s about to lose his fu*kin job!�� Jason cursed as he once again roseup.

    Not many people had his number so if it happened to be some idiot that was calling him for the wrong reasons this early in the morning, then Jason wouldn��t let it slide.

    As for what Jason��s criteria for a wrong reason was?

    Literallyeverything!

    Unless somebody died, no rightly thinking humanbeingshould call another human at 6 am unexpectedly unless there was a previous arrangement between those people��

    At least that was his opinion, and he sure as hell hadn��t made made any arrangements with anybody that would warrant him being called so early in the morning.

    With an air of annoyed bravado, Jason once again grabbed his phone, ready to unleash all the dirty words he hadlearntin this life and his previous one, but as soon as he saw the caller ID, all those words flew out the window.

    [Aunt Daphne]

    ��I mean�� if it��s her���� these words ran through his mind as all his bravado dissipated and he slowly swiped the green button dancing on his phone��s screen.

    ��Hello,�� Jason spoke first after putting the phone to his ear.

    ��Oh, hey, what��s up,�� Daphne��s voice rang into Jason��s ear, bringing a little wave of emotions to Jason who slightly missed this aunt of his, but his feelings would never show in his tone of course.

    ��What��s up? You know it��s 6 am here, right?�� Jason immediately took on a slightly annoyed tone, even though most of his annoyance had dissipated.

    ��Oh, is that so, I guessed it would be pretty early,�� Daphne replied wittily, her voice having no remorse for doing what she did, or more like she had purposely done it since she especially liked messing with Jason.

    ��You knew yet you still called me this early? What the hell happened to treating your customers as a god?�� Jason asked in mock annoyance.

    ��Maybe when you make a few more millions will I ever think of doing something like that,�� Daphne replied.

    ��Really?�� Jason asked in amazement.

    ��Of course not idiot, why would I ever do that,�� Daphneughed hard, her tone letting Jason know he would be stuck with this loveably annoying aunt of his for the rest of his days.

    ��Tch���� Jason clicked his tongue in annoyance before going on to ask.

    ��Just out of curiosity, how are my investments doing? �� Jason asked Daphne.

    The reason why Jason was asking his aunt for this was because after listening to advice from Adele on investing his money, he had immediately gotten across to his aunt who was a professional finance expert who knew her way around the finance market and would thushave knowledge aboutthis kind of thing.

    To his surprise, she knew more than a little bit as she was doing a bit of a side hustle in brokering hustle for a few people, and he hadn��t known about it.

    Anyway, after hearing what he wanted to do, she was happy with his decision to invest and pledged to help him, but he had decided to hire her instead as it didn��t sit well with him to have her do it for him without her receiving anything from it.

    Help was help and work was work�� that was a line Jason always made sure to make distinct and since what he wanted her to do was something that she did for work, then it wouldn��t be fair to not pay for it, and though she argued about it, she had ended up agreeing.

    Jason had even taken it a step further by not only hiring her to help him with investment stuff but also hiring her as an ountant to help him manage his finances which was something he had been looking to do for a while as he didn��t like dealing with any other numbers apart from jersey numbers.

    Thus his aunt had be his financial manager while also being his stock broker, after which he had gone on to buy a few select stocks using some future knowledge from memory.

    He had bought Te stocks, a few social mediapanies stocks, andsome pharmaceuticalpanies, and he had even delved into cryptocurrencies since it had been a pretty big thing in his previous life, so he had bought a few that he knew would rise in value.

    Despite this world being something of a parallel world to his previous world, his future knowledge had ended up correct, though the exact increases in the stock were not the same as his previous life.

    Some had grown a lot more explosively than in his past life, some had grown a bit more, andsome were a bit stunted in growth, but all of them saw an increase that had stunned both his aunt, Daphne, and Adele, his agent, causing them to believe that he was some sort of marketing genius.

    ��Marketing genius my a$$,�� Jason remembered scoffing internally when he heard their words.

    Any non-idiot who had been to the future could manage at least this much, and if they couldn��t then their brain was nothing more than a waste of space, Jason thought.

 Chapter 198: Oversleeping II

    Chapter 198: Oversleeping II

    ��Strangely, your investments are still doing well, and some of them are still rising a lot�� I still don��t know how you did it,�� Daphne��s slightly exasperated tone came from the other end of the phone.

    ��I��m a genius, what did you expect?�� Jason scoffed.

    ��Genius my ass,�� Daphne scoffed back.

    ��Whatever, anyway, what did you call me for?�� Jason finally asked the most important question that had been on his mind since the call came through.

    ��Oh�� I was going to say congrattions on winning the league title,�� Daphne replied her voice rising a bit in excitement.

    ��Oh, thanks,�� Jason replied with a heartfelt smile.

    They then went on to talk about a few other things, some rted to business and somepletely unrted, but it wasn��t until almost twenty minutester that Jason finally hung up the phone.

    With the call over, Jason immediately threw his phone back on the bedside table andy back in bed, his craving for rest not having diminished the slightest bit even after an almost half-hour-long call. Luckily, this time nobody called Jason and he was able to go back to sleep uninterrupted�� at least until about four hourster when his phone rang again and woke him up from his sleep.

    Slowly pulling his eyes apart in annoyance at the incessant ringing from his phone Jason slowly reached for his phone, annoyed at being interrupted once again as he still felt like he hadn��t gotten enough sleep, but he was a lot less irritated than he was four hours ago.

    [Little Miss Agent]

    Seeing the person calling, Jason��s irritation dimmed a bit as he understood that it was him being in bed at 10 am that was abnormal, not her call.

    ��Hello,�� Jason almost groaned into the phone because even if his irritation had been drastically reducedpared to before, he still had a lot of irritation at being woken upstillleft in him.

    ��Are you alright, you sound weird?�� Adele asked immediately after she heard Jason��s groan.

    ��Ignore that, what do you want?�� Jason asked grumpily.

    ��There were a few things that have popped up that require decisions from you, as well as a few other stuff that we should talk about,�� Adele repliedback, not taking offense at Jason��s rude tone as she was already used to it.

    ��What things?�� Jason��s interest was slightly piqued, but only just slightly, and not enough for him to lose his sleepiness.

    ��Some transfer talks and some endorsement deals,�� Adele stated with a hint of pride in her voice.

    ���� Okay,e over to my ce at 3 pm today and we can discuss these�� issues,�� Jason said and immediately hung up, this time he put off his phone before throwing it on the bedside drawer and decreasing the temperature of the air conditioner before diving back into the arms of the goddess of sleep where he had been so rudely yanked away from a few minutes ago.

    When Jason finally woke up after feeling that he had had enough sleep, he didn��t even know what the time was because his phone was switched off and he didn��t have a clock in his room, not even a digital one.

    His house was still severelycking in a few aspects and having a few necessary gadgets that he didn��t have was one of those things.

    Getting out of bed, he stretched extensively and yawned, finally feeling most of his exhaustion having been washed away by his rest.

    The remaining exhaustion was muscle exhaustion that wouldn��t just disappear because of an overnight rest.

    Deciding to go have his bath, Jason took off his shirt, but then was suddenly disturbed by how parched he was.

    The roof of his tongue was sticking to the back of his throat due to how dry his mouth was and Jason didn��t like how it felt.

    Quickly heading out of his room and to the kitchen, Jason took out a bottle of milk, opened it up, and downed the contents immediately, not bothering with a cup at all as it would be too much of a hassle at that moment.

    He was about to head back to his room and then go have his bath when his doorbell suddenly rang.

    ��Was I expecting anybody?�� Jason wondered as he began heading to the door.

    Pulling open the door, he came face to face with Adele, and then a blur of confusing memories floated into his head.

    ��What are you doing here?Ahwait�� I told you toe over earlier�� but that was like how many minutes ago���� Disjointed sentences flowed out of Jason��s head as he arranged his memories until finally, everything became clear.

    ��Wait�� What��s the time?�� Jason asked Adele who was in front of him.

    ���� huh, huh? What?�� Adele snapped out of a daze as her eyes headed upward to Jason��s face.

    ��What�� is�� the�� time?��Jason repeated, slowly spelling it out while rolling his eyes.

    ��What are you talking about, you��re the one who told me to get here at 3 pm,�� Adele retorted while doing her best to keep her eyes focused on his face.

    ��So the time is at least 3 pm? Okay got it,e in,�� Jason ushered in his agent, as he ran through his thoughts.

    It was kind of unbelievable that he had sleptall the waytill 3 pm.

    ��How many hours of sleep even was that and was it even normal to sleep that long?�� Jason wondered to himself as he closed the door behind Adele.

    ��How tired was I actually?�� he wondered as he began to run a diagnosis on hisowncondition in his head, but there didn��t seem to be anything that could have caused his exhaustion, so maybe it was something more of umted stress from all the training he subjected himself to.

    ��Anyway, you said something about transfer talks and endorsement deals, right?�� Jason said to Adele as he walked behind her.

    ��Uh, yeah, I did mention something like that,�� Adele said in a bit of a daze.

    ��Something like that? Be serious please,�� Jason retorted, unimpressed by her dazed state right now.

    ��Anyway, order something for both of us to eat while we talk, I need to go take my bath and I��m hungry,�� Jason said as he changed his direction and started heading to his room instead.

    ���� Next time put on some clothes,�� Adele said with a red face in a whisper that sheherselfalmost didn��t hear.

 Chapter 199: Oversleeping III

    Chapter 199: Oversleeping III

    As the tap in the bathroom voice stopped, Jason��s rhythmic voice could be heard singing to a famous song by a famous music artist that was unfortunately no longer present on the surface of the earth,

    ��One day my father,hetold me,��

    ��Son, don��t let it slip away,��

    ��He took me in his arms, I heard him say,��

    ��When you get older,your wild heart will live for younger days,��

    ��Think of me if you��re ever afraid,�� Jason sang, his voice going into a low tone before he burst out with a louder voiceonthe next verse just as he burst out of his bathroom

    ��He said one day you��ll leave this world world, so live a life you will remember,��

    ��My father told me when I was just a child,theseare the nights that never die�� ��Fy father told me!��

    ��Di di di di di di di, di di di di di di di di di,�� Jason continued his bathroom concert in his bedroom as he still held his toothbrush to his mouth and sang even the electronic sounds of the song.

    His singing did not interrupt his actions and he soon dressed up even as he sang, not skipping a beat and performing the two tasks with amazing duality.

    Soon he was done dressing up and the song he was singing was over as well.

    ncing in the mirror, he looked okay, so he just headed out, not bothering to do anything to his still-wet hair that flowed past his shoulders and almost reached his mid-back.

    Everyone with long hair would agree with Jason��s attitude of just leaving his hair to flow as there was a kind of freeing feeling it gave the owner of the hair and Jason quite liked the feeling, so flowing hair was his go-to choice as long as he would be in a ce where he didn��t need to worry about appearances.

    Heading out of his room, Jason walked down the hallway and then walked down the stairs, hoping Adele already did as he asked and ordered something to eat because he was starving right now.

    His body had seemingly digested all the midnight snacks he had had with his teammates at the stadium and now his energy tank was on ��E�� and he was minutes away from a rumbling stomach.

    As he rounded the corner and turned into the kitchen adjoined with the dining, he was met with a surprise.

    ��You know, when I said order something to eat, I meant a few dishes, not the whole store,�� Jason spoke in surprise after seeing all sorts of food spread out on his dining table�� and his dining table was pretty wide.

    ��Are you not hungry?�� Adele��s answer to his words was a simple question asked with nothing more than pure curiosity.

    ��That��s beside the point���� Jason groaned in exasperation as he stepped up to the table and looked over the food on the table.

    ��Can I even eat these things?�� Jason muttered in annoyance.

    His bone of contention with Adele was because she had bought all sorts of delicious-looking food and Jason wasn��t sure most of those things were even appropriate for him as a sportsman to eat.

    It was the worst thing possible for a foodie like Jason to have food in front of him and not be able to eat it.

    ��I got you some sds though�� besides, you just won the league title, eating whatever you want for a few days should be excusable,�� Adele responded with a smile.

    ��No, it��s not excusable for me to eat whatever I want for a few days,�� Jason started speaking, but his hand was already reaching for a te on the table,

    ��However, eating whatever I want for today isn��t a bad idea,�� he said as he began stuffing some food onto his te, not caring about anything anymore.

    His stomach was calling for food and it wanted it right there and then.

    Who was he to deny his stomach of the good things of this world?

    From that point on, no excessive words needed to be said as he and Adele first proceeded with the first matter on the day��s agenda which was demolishing the mountain of food that she had bought.

    Almost half an hourter, the two of them were sitting down at the table, looking at the ceiling listlessly after eating all that their stomach could contain.

    ��Hahhh�� That was nice,�� Jason sighed with contentment written all over his face.

    ��Good that you think that, cuz you��re paying for it,�� Adele said, ncing at him before returning her gaze to the ceiling.

    ��Huh?�� Jason��s head snapped at a remarkable pace in Adele��s direction, surprised at her words.

    ��You��re not going to let ady like me pay for your meal, right?�� Adele asked withughter in her voice.

    ��Hello? Y��all were the ones shouting for gender equality though?�� Jason countered with a roll of his eyes.

    ��I don��t think I ever said such a thing to you though, neither do I think I ever even insinuated it, I��m ady through and through please, which means I��m notpeting with you for money,��

    ��Your money is mymoneyyyy,�� Adele replied with augh.

    ��Good point, but with the way you say it, one might think we were dating,�� Jasonughed as well.

    ��We��re not?�� Adele asked in such a genuinely confused tone that Jason sat up straight immediately.

    ��What the fu*k are you talking about?�� Jason retorted, his tone a bit sharp.

    ��I��m joking, you don��t have to react like that,�� Adele replied, rolling her eyes.

    ��Some words are a bit too expensive to be called jokes,�� Jason said slowly as he closed his eyes and rxed back into his chair once again.

    ��Anyway, send me the bill for the food,I��llrefund you,�� Jason muttered afterward.

    ��I��ll do that,��

    ��Now, let��s talk about why I��m here in the first ce,�� Adele said as she sat up and pushed the tes on the table aside, opening up some space on the table.

 Chapter 200: Oversleeping IV

    Chapter 200: Oversleeping IV

    Jason��s eyes shot open and he sat up seriously as it was finally time to discuss businessandhe was quite interested in what Adele had to say as it would give him a rough estimate of how much his performance was influencing the world around him and how much closer he was to his goal after winning his first league title.

    ��Speak then, don��t keep me waiting,�� Jason ushered Adele to not keep him in suspense and say what she had startedoutto say.

    ��Okayyyy, let me first start by congratting you on winning the league title, you deserved it,�� Adele first started by saying, her words bringing a slight smile to Jason��s almost stoic face.

    ��Let me lead with the notion that your performances for Porto have not gone unnoticed and you��re garnering a lot of interest, both from football clubs looking for a yer of your position to add to their ranks, as well aspanies that are looking for an influential figure who can boost their sales,��

    ��There are a few unconfirmed rumors goingabout regarding transfers and you��ve received a few endorsement deals, so which one should we start with?�� she asked Jason who was listening intently, his face a statue of seriousness.

    ��Well, I think I should start with the endorsements since Iactuallyalready have offers rather than the rumors I��m hearing,�� Jason said without much thought as that was the better option for him since rumors were in the end, just rumors.

    They were mere stories that had nothing concrete to them unless the rumors somehow became true, but until the moment when the rumors became true, then they were still nothing but rumors.

    ��Okay, you have five endorsement offers,�� Adele acquiesced to Jason��s request and began talking about the endorsements. ��Five? Whatpanies?�� Jason was a bit surprised by hearing that he already had five endorsement offers.

    ��Well not all of them areactuallyendorsements�� some of them are more like paid adverts�� a one-time thing so to speak,��

    ��Thepanies seem to be adopting a wait-and-see strategy on you as despite your performances in the Liga NOS and even in the Europa League, you don��t really have that much international fame or anything, and maybe they also have the belief that your hot run of form maye to an end, especially since you��re still young,��

    ��It doesn��t help that there were many young yers who were touted to have a lot ofpotential,but were over-hyped and by the time their form ran out, not only was it a problem for the teams, butthepanies were also stuck with losing deals,�� Adele exined to Jason in simple terms, not because she thought he was a simpleton, but because it was her job as an agent to make life as easy as possible for your client.

    Adele was the kind that took her job seriously and this showed here.

    ��OK cool, so which ones are endorsement deals and which ones are paid adverts,�� Jason asked, understanding the situation.

    ��Well, the first endorsement deal is from Gilette�� �� Adele began but Jason cut in immediately,

    ��You mean those guys making shaving sticks?�� Jason asked as he recognized the name.

    ��Yes, thoseones,�� Adele confirmed his thoughts.

    ��I don��t have any beards though?�� Jason wondered out loud as he rubbed his extremely smooth cheek.

    There wasn��t even any roughness that indicated the presence of a beard which was a bit strange because considering Jason��s hair growth, he should have had some hair on his face at 18 years of age.

    Strangely enough, Jason��s hair growth was only fast on his head. Other parts of his body seemed to have stunted hair growth and even the few hairs that grew were extremely soft, baby-like hairs, thus Jason��s skin was very smooth to the touch and attractive because of theck of hair.

    This was one of the things that added to Jason��s charm, but this wasn��t what was on Jason��s mind at that moment, rather he was thinking to himself,

    ��Why would a shaving stickpany want to endorse someone who doesn��t have anything to shave off?��

    ��Exactly the reason why they should sign an endorsement deal with you,�� The answer to his question came by the mouth of Adele, but she wasn��t done exining.

    ��Even if they do amercial or anything, it��s all for show as their goal would still be to showcase your fresh chin, and you already have that, so at most a little editing and you��re good to go, you don��t even have to do anything other than to look pretty and collect the money,�� Adele exined further with a smile.

    ��I wouldn��t be able to grow a beard within the time of the contract though,�� Jason muttered to himself as it was obvious that he could not have a beard when he was endorsing a shaving stickpany.

    ��Growing a beard?�� Adele said in a questioning tone and drew closer to Jason��s face, seemingly looking at the bottom part of his face.

    ��Can you even grow a beard?�� Adele asked with a harmless voice, but inside Jason��s head, it was like he had been struck with an arrow in his heart.

    ��Nice one, nice one,�� Jason closed his eyes to hide his pain.

    ��What was the nextpany that brought an endorsement deal?�� he immediately changed the conversation topic before he was hit by another stray bullet and coughed up blood.

    ��Oh, they��re a bettingpany called BetFuse or something, I��m not sure I need to borate on what sports betting is�� ��Adele began, but Jason once again interrupted her exnation.

    ��I know what sports betting is���� Jason interrupted her words.

    How could he not know what sports betting was, his car key that was staring at him from on top of the table was acquired all thanks to sports betting so how could he not know what sports betting was?

    Bing an endorser for a sports bettingpany was a different thing for Jason however, but deep down, for some reason, he had a bit of an aversion towards it.

 Chapter 201: Oversleeping V

    Chapter 201: Oversleeping V

    ��You said the name of thepany was BetFuse, correct?�� Jason asked as he picked up his phone, intending to search for the name of thepany on the inte, but then he put his phone back down,

    ��Never mind, first tell me about the other threepanies that want me to do a paid advert,�� he said, taking his hand off his phone, having changed his mind.

    ��Oh, okay, well, one is from a juicepany, one from a skincarepany, and one from a perfumepany,�� Adele replied.

    ��So, I justmake apost on my social media about the products I��m supposed to endorse?�� Jason askedashe was new to this paid advertisement thing.

    ��For the juicepany and the lotionpany, pretty much, but for the perfumepany, things are a bit moreplicated,�� Adele answered,her wordssuggesting that there was more to the offer of the perfumepany.

    ��What do you mean?�� Jason already picked up on herobviouswordsandheasked out of curiosity.

    ��Well, despite it not being an endorsement deal, the perfumepany wants you to appear in amercial video, not as the lead, but aslikea side character,�� Adele exined.

    ��Lead? Side character? I didn��t realize that thepany owner read light novels���� Jason scoffed before going on to ask, ��What was the name of thepany again?��

    ���� Scentual Escapes����Adele replied after a pauseandit was immediately clear to Jason thatthere was some hesitation in her voice, but his mind was already narrowing down the reason.

    ��I find it hard to detect any masculine presence in that name���� Jason mutteredhiseyes narrowing into slints as he stared hard at Adele.

    ����Well�� they��re apany that makes female perfumes�� mostly, also why are you staring at me like I��ve done something wrong, I��monly telling you what they told me,�� Adele said, her voice gradually rising towards the end of her sentence.

    ��Huh, is that so?�� Jason replied, the look of suspicion still on his face as he stared at Adele.

    ��What will I evenbe doing in amercial for a female perfume?Shooting people with perfume guns?�� Jason asked in disbelief.

    ��LuckilyI��m good with guns,�� Jason added for no reason.

    ��You��re good with guns?��Adele asked, ignoring what he first said about the perfumemercialwhichwas the topic they wereactuallysupposed to be talking about.

    ��I��m a ck kid who has lived in America for most of his life, ofcourseI��m good with guns,�� Jason stated matter of factly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

    ��Really? Does that mean all African American kids are good with guns?�� Adele asked in surprise.

    ��Nah, not really, it��sthe hood kids that always need to have a piece strapped on at everymomentasthey must never be caughcking,�� Jason answered.

    ��Most of them are not good with guns thoughandcan only wave it around like idiots,�� he added for good measure.

    ��So you��re a ��hood kid��?�� Adele asked out of curiosity.

    ��Not reallyI mean,we did live in the hood for a while, but it was still a nice neighborhood wherehouses weren��t shot upmore than twice a month,�� Jason answeredreminiscinga bit about the old times.

    ��I changed houses when I waslike13though,�� he added.

    ��You call a neighborhood where houses are shot up twice a month ��a nice neighborhood��?�� Adele asked with her mouth wide open.

    ��Yeah����Jason answered becausebyhood standards, that was already almost a paradisend, so he couldn��t initially understandthe reason for her confusion.

    Itter dawned on him that their standards for ��a nice neighborhood�� were not the same, afterall, the hood was an inherently different ce from other living areas.

    It was like a warzone that could break out anytimeandall it usually needed was one little push from one gun-wielding idiot before all hell broke loose.

    Ni**as in the hood had had so many experiences running away from gun battles that they never bothered to get on treadmills whenever they got to the gym and instead focused on working on their upper body because their legs were already in tip-top shape thanks to real-life experience.

    ��Anyway, let��s get back on track, mybeing good with guns probably has nothing to do with thismercial thingy,�� Jason said as he remembered that they were supposed to be discussing.

    ��What��s their n for me in themercial?�� hewent on to ask.

    ��I don��t know yet, Ionly know about their offer,�� Adele answered.

    ��Okay, anyhow, it seems interesting, don��treject it yet and just tell them I am interested, but I��ll only make my decision after hearing about whatever it is they want me to do in theirmercial,�� Jasonstarted speaking, deciding one after the other.

    ��I don��t remember you telling me the names of the lotionpany or the juicepany, but I��ll ept their offers for now, sendme their detailster,��

    ��I think I��ll also ept the Gilette offer since there is no harm in doing so, but I��ll first have to look at the number of years on the contract before I��ll sign anything�� butput that BetFuse deal on a holdfor now, I��m notreallyinterested in that for now,�� Jason gave his verdicts on all the endorsement deals currently avable to him.

    He had thought about them for a whileandhebelieved that the ones he had agreed to wouldn��t cause any problems for him and would bequitebeneficial, andheespecially liked the paid advertisementsthathe was supposed to promote on his social media.

    They were easy to do and required almost no effort from him, and most important of all, they didn��t have any long-term attachment.

    ��Okay, so stall Scentual Escapades, stall Gilette for a while, ept SkinSerenity,and Chi, and then almost outrightly reject BetFuse, didI get it all?��Adele asked after noting down all that Jason had recited.

    ��Yeahthat��s about it,��Jason confirmed her words, and then his face shifted into a more serious one,

    ��Now, let��s talk about those ��rumors��,�� he said with a smileon his facedespite his serious tone.

 Chapter 202: Consequences of Poking Victorious Dragons I

    Chapter 202: Consequences of Poking Victorious Dragons I

    ��Now, let��s talk about those ��rumors��,�� Jason said with a smile on his face despite his serious tone.

    ��Okay, well, there have been rumors that a few teams have been looking to add to their ranks and a few teams who are seemingly showing an interest in making an offer for you this summer are Real Betis, FC Schalke, and Manchester United,�� Adele began to exin what she had heard.

    ��I don��t know about the first two teams, but Manchester United is supposedly looking for someone to fill in on the right wing after the underwhelming performances of Daniel James who they had brought in earlier this season to y on the right wing,��

    ��Supposedly, they��re also looking at Jadon Sancho as an option, but we can never really tell,��

    ��So far, I haven��t been contacted regarding any potential transfer deals away from Porto this season,�� Adele exined on what she had heard.

    ��You know we discussed earlier and you already said that you weren��treallylooking into a hurried transfer away from Porto this season, but would you like for me to reach out to Manchester United to see if they will be interested in acquiring your services this transfer season,�� Adele asked Jason who was now deep in thought after hearing what she had to say.

    ���� Manchester United, huh�� I can��t say I��m not tempted,�� Jason muttered, seemingly deep in thought as he looked upward at the ceiling.

    He was seriously considering the matter, after all, Manchester United was a team with a lot of history, and though they had fallen into a bit of a slump after Sir Alex Ferguson had retired, they were still a team thatmanded respect from a lot of teams and had quite a strong squad and were currently third in the Premier League which was supposedly the strongest professional league in the world. Joining them woulddefinitelybe a good move for his career at this point and it was a move that woulddefinitelyhelp him challenge himself and hopefully better his skills.

    As for joining Real Betis or FC Schalke, Jason wasn��treallyconsidering it, especially when neither of them would likely be ying any Champions League football next season which was something that was already guaranteed for him if he just stayed put in Porto.

    ��Let��s wait�� Offering myself up to them is like saying I want out of Porto as soon as possible, which is notreallythe case, I don��t mind staying here for the next season, especially now that we willdefinitelybe in the Champions League next season,��

    ��Only if an offer is made would Iactuallyconsider making a move-out,�� Jason finally said, having made up his mind.

    ��Ok, good�� I was already thinking that it would be a bit difficult for you to secure a transfer in this transfer window anyway, you know since most of the big clubs are already a bit tight for funds thanks to the effects of the Covid virus on the clubs profits,�� Adele said with a thoughtful look.

    ��Yeah, I heard about it, there have been a lot of clubs that have made pay cuts and all that stuff,��Jason added as he remembered all these things from his past life.

    ��Exactly, so it may be a bit difficult for those bigger clubs to open up their purses toe after you, especially since you only have half a season of experience on the professional scene,��

    ��Unfortunately, the smaller team that might be willing to make the risks either do not have enough in their purses either, and even if they did, their current standards can��t meet up to what you have here at Porto, soit��s highly likely that you��llhave to wait till next season for a transfer,��

    ��Manchester United being interested in you is a surprise, but I think they��ll spend most of their efforts on acquiring Jadon Sancho instead, and he will cost them a pretty penny, so they��ll probably not have enough left to make a move for you as well if they managed to seed�� all in all, you may have to stay put for now,�� Adeleid out her own opinions on the matter.

    ��Well, that was kind of the n before, so it doesn��t change much,�� Jason said with a small smile as he had not been especially interested in moving away from Porto in theing transfer window from the start.

    Manchester United seemingly being interested was what had only managed to shake his decision, but unless an offer wasactuallymade, there wasn��treallyany reason for him to think too much about it, so he didn��treallycare about it anymore after hearing that it was just a rumor and not an actual offer.

    With their discussion about the important matters over, Jason and Adele settled into a morefortable discussion as they slowly ate up the rest of the food that they hadn��t finished before they began talking.

    **20 July 2020**

    *9:15 pm*

    The referee blew the whistle to kick off the match between Porto and Moreirense which was the second to thest game for Porto in the season.

    Despite them lifting the league title, they still had a few games to y before the season could be said to be over and this was one of those games.

    The Porto yers had entered this match with their morale high and happiness in their steps, but their opponents weren��t smiling and immediately put the pressure on them right on from the first minute.

    This did not allow Porto to get into afortable stride and they could only make hurried passes as the Moreirense team didn��t seem to want to give them any space to breathe.

    In a strange turn of events, the Moreirense continued pressing the Porto team, until Danilo Perreira made a mistake in the middle of the park and the ball was pounced upon by their rabid opponents who quickly bore down on Porto��s goal with surprising pace.

    Maneuvering around the Porto yers with clever passes, they kept moving the ball until it reached the Moreirense striker, Abreu who quickly sent the ball into the bottom left corner of the Porto goal with a powerful, low skidding drive.

 Chapter 203: Consequences of Poking Victorious Dragons II

    Chapter 203: Consequences of Poking Victorious Dragons II

    The ball smashed past Augustin Marchesin��s outstretched gloves and smashed into the bottom left corner of the Porto goal, sending the bulging with oppressive force.

    {What a Goal!}

    {Moreirensestrikefirst in the early minutes of the game, surprising just about everyone!}

    {Right from the start of the game, they have gone about with oppressive intentions and they have made good on their n with a surprise attack and a stunning shot past the Porto goalkeeper!}

    {However, they can��t let their guard down since they still have at least eighty-six minutes of game time left to defend this lead from the league champions!}

    {All further progression of the game can be decided from just one question, ��How will Porto respond?��} Thementator went wild with hismentary as Porto who should have by all rights been the one doing the scoring, had instead gone behind within the first five minutes of the game.

    Surprisingly, the Porto yers didn��t show much more than a bit of irritation at having gone behind, instead, there was a bit of underlying fury in their eyes.

    They were the league leaders�� the league champions, and they wouldn��t take kindly to a team that they considered to be beneath them tobareits teeth at them. They were already simmering with the intent to crush the Moreirense team.

    It was no bother to them that the Moreirense team had scored first, after all,everynow and then, insects could bother a predator with a sting or two, but they got crushed after.

    Moreirense was about to bear the fury of the predator they had just stung, and it didn��t take long for them to have their victorious smile wiped off their face.

    Barely ten minutes after Moreirense took the lead, the Porto team which had finally taken the reins of the gameunched an attack.

    Jason had just received the ball from Otavio in the midfield and immediately took off at the defense.

    Only the left back of the Moreirense team was in his path, so Jason had kept moving forward without hesitation, but just when everyone thought he would attempt to dribble past the defender, he had instead made an infield pass and then continued his run.

    Otavio who was the recipient of Jason��s pass as he had been running along with him after passing the ball to him earlier didn��t bother trapping the ball, and instead sent it back at Jason with a one-touch pass.

    With a swiftly executive one-two maneuver, the ball was sent behind the Moreirense defense and Jason was already running to catch the ball behind the Moreirense defenders on the right side of the field.

    On reaching the ball, he didn��t bother trying to cut into the Moreirense penalty box and instead sent a curling, grounded, right-foot pass into the penalty box where Luis Diaz was arriving.

    Luis Diaz didn��t need an invitation to start the party and he smoothly sent the ball past the Moreirense goalkeeper.

    {It hasn��t taken long, but Porto has responded with a wonder of a goal!}

    {With that strike, Luis Diaz has sent the two teams back to where they started, on equal terms!}

    {It��s just the fifteenth minute of the game and already, both teams have shown their attacking prowess! Where do we go from here!?} Thementator ended with a question that was on everyone��s mind.

    After getting the goal that put them back on equal terms with Moreirense, Porto didn��t let up and they continued attacking with great fervor, averaging at least two shots every five minutes, but somehow, Moreirense managed to hold on till the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half.

    As both teams walked off the field of the famous Estadio do Dragao after the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half, the scores remainedPorto1 :1 Moreirense, but it was clear to everyone watching the game that Moreirense were lucky to still be on equal terms with Porto after a first half filled with attacks from all sides by the Porto side, yet Moreirense managed to survive by a hair��s breadth each time it looked like they��d go behind.

    It was unclear to the viewers how Moreirense had managed to survive such a turbulent first half, but one thing was clear�� they��d need the luck that kept them from conceding more than one goal in the first half in theing second half, if not, the second half would not be a nice one for them.

    Fifteen minutes was not a longperiod of timeand the twenty yers and the referee were soon back on the field for the second half.

    #51st minute��

    Porto had resumed from where they stopped in the first half and were not giving the Moreirense team any chance to breathe.

    They were passing the ball around in midfield while constantly pressuring the Moreirense yers with their passing paths.

    The ball moved around in a constetion-like pattern, making almost no sense, but managing to reach the next point of the attack which was another Porto yer��s foot.

    Soon, the ball reached Jason who nced at Tiquiniho Soares meaningfully and then sent a chip pass into the Moreirense penalty box.

    Tiquiniho who had immediately started running into the penalty box after receiving Jason��s eye signal moved into the path of the ball, but the position he was in was too awkward for him to head the ball on target at the Moreirense team so he did the next best thing and headed the ball towards the nearest yer in blue and white stripes that he could see.

    The ball fell to Otavio from Tiquiniho��s headed pass, and just barely taking a touch to control the ball from flying just anywhere, he sent the ball at the Moreirense��s goal, smashing the ball into the back of the.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Porto finallyhavethe lead!}

    {It��s been a long timeing, and they finally have a result to show for it!}

    {What next for Porto, will they extend their lead or will Moreirense riseupto the challenge after going behind?!} Thementator went wild with his celebration as Porto went wild with their celebrations.

 Chapter 204: Consequences of Poking Victorious Dragons III

    Chapter 204: Consequences of Poking Victorious Dragons III

    #56th minute��

    Despite having taken the lead, Porto did not stand down, andneither did they reduce their attacks, in fact,they attacked even more strongly than before, and in desperation, a Moreirense defender made a rough tackle on Jason who had just received a pass from Tiquiniho Soares inside the 18-yard box.

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    The referee��s whistle immediately went off and the referee came running with his hand pointed to the penalty spot in the Moreirense penalty box.

    He also showed the Moreirense yer who had made the tackle a yellow card.

    Porto had gained a penalty just five minutes after they had taken the lead in the game for the first time in the match and now they were about to extend their lead with it.

    Telles stepped up to take the penalty as already previously agreed by the yers since Telles was the dead-ball specialist of the team.

    Jason would rather that he was the one to take the penalty, especially since he was the one who had gotten the penalty in the first ce, but he couldn��t go against the team��s tactics. Telles didn��t waste any time in sending the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal despite the Moreirense goalkeeper��s efforts, swiftly sending his team two goals into the lead with a well-taken penalty.

    {Cool, calm, collected, the goalkeeper stood no chance!}

    {Portohaveextended their lead to two here and it��s looking like the way back for Moreirense is gradually being shut off!}

    {Can Moreirense find their way back even after this, or does Porto still have more for them in store?} Thementator��s voice served as a backdrop for the fans who were watching Telles celebrate his goal with fervor.

    After the celebrations�� the teams once again began moving back to their positions to await kick-off, but the gait of the Moreirense yers as they walked back to their positions was noticeably dejected andcking in morale.

    #60th minute��

    Porto were once again back on the attack as they poked at the Moreirense team��s back line which was already in danger of copsing due to the continuous attacks from the Porto team and theirownlow morale.

    Luis Diaz on the left had just received the ball and he immediately made to run at the Moreirense right back that stood in his way, but the right-back stood his ground and treaded carefully around Diaz so Diaz didn��t have any space to get away and opted for passing the ball back to Telles.

    Seeing that the yers in the middle of the field were being marked tightly, he opted for a long cross-field pass, so he quickly sent the ball over the middle of the field to the right side of the field where Jason awaited the ball.

    Jumping into the air to catch the ball with a Neymar-style, behind-the-back side-heel flick, Jason brought the ball down to the ground withamazingskill that would have garnered cheers from the crowd if they were at the stadium.

    Of course, the fans wereactuallycheering after seeing Jason��s skill to control the ball, but their noise couldn��t reach Jason at the stadium.

    After bringing the ball under control, Jason immediately took off down the right wing.

    He soon came face to face with the Moreirense left back, but with a quick shift of the ball and a sudden burst of speed, Jason escaped the left back��s tackle and ran past him down the right side of the field, however, the Moreirense left back didn��t give up on stopping Jason and chased after him, but Jason didn��t stop running.

    After reaching the right side of the Moreirense 18-yard box, Jason suddenly swung his right leg back as if to cross the ball into the box, and seeing Jason��s move, the left back immediately jumped into a tackle to block Jason��s cross, but Jason simply faked the cross while the Moreirense left back went to the ground.

    Quickly picking himself up, the Moreirense left back lunged at Jason in a bid to snatch the ball back, but his rash moments were easy for Jason to see through as he smoothly kept the ball out of the reach of the yer��s leg with smooth ball movements before finally nutmegging the left back squeezing past him, leaving the embarrassed yer eating his dust before crossing the ball to Moussa Marega.

    Marega didn��t allow Jason��s efforts to go to waste as he muscled his way through the Moreirense center-backs and smashed the ball past the Moreirense goalkeeper with his first touch on the ball.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Porto refuses to be stopped and they pile on the misery of Moreirense!}

    {It��s been barely three minutes after they got their third, but now they��re on four!}

    {Is there even a way back for Moreirense here!?}

    {You can see the joy on the face of the goalscorer as he goes to thank the winger who set him up after utterly destroying his marker and leaving everyone wondering if the space in between his legsarereally that wide!}

    {Beautiful teamwork goal!} Thementator��s words were a bit harsh on the Moreirense yer, but Jason��s act of making a fool of him with the ball was bound to hurt more than thementator��s words ever could.

    The Porto fans were cheering at the top of their voices in their homes after watching the goal scored by their team as the goal was a sight to see.

    Right from Telles��s crossfield pass to Jasonall the wayto the final pass to Marega, every touch of Jason on the ball had beenabsolutelymagical and he had left everyone wondering if the Moreirense left-back had ever even received defender training with the way Jason had simply carried him along and had used him as a side character to make himself look good on the ball.

    Jason��s splendid run was a statement to the defender that was hammered home and left no one curious,

    ��You aren��t my match!�� his skills said and he couldn��t be any louder than what he already did.

    Anyfurtherandthe yer may have to visit a psychiatrist to treat his mental injuries.

 Chapter 205: Last Matchday

    Chapter 205: Last Matchday

    #78th minute��

    Even after getting their fourth goal, Porto didn��t let up and kept attacking, but the Moreirense team fought back hard and kept the Porto team from adding another goal to their scoreboard.

    They even went further and began trying to attack the Porto team and they finally got their first shots away in the second half, but due to the efforts of the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets in the league so far, their efforts were not able to reach the back of the.

    Currently, the Moreirense team had a corner on the left side of the Porto goal and the yers of both teams were pushing hard against each other as they tried to ensure that they would be able to get to the ball when it came flying in.

    *Fweeeeee*

    The referee blew hard on his whistle and the Moreirense yer standing over the corner swung the ball into the penalty box with a curling, right-footed cross.

    The yers shuffled against each other before finally jumping for the ball, but Pepe somehow managed to outjump everyone and reached the ball first, immediately heading it out of the penalty box.

    With the ball flying away from Porto��s penalty box, yers of both teams ran as fast as they could to reach it, each one of them having different intentions for the ball, but Jason was the one who managed to reach it first thanks to his speed. Luckily, the ball had also fallen his way so it was easy to beat everyone else for pace and catch the ball on the right side of Porto��s side of the midfield.

    As soon as he got the ball under control, he scanned the field and noticed Tiquiniho Soares making a run into the opponent��s half of the field.

    He immediately raised his leg to hit the ball, but instead of making the pass toward Tiquiniho, he swept the ball toward the left side of the field with a smooth hit and the ball flew across the width of the field.

    Landing on Porto��s left side of the field, the ball was soon brought under control by Telles who then sent a sweeping pass into the path of Tiquiniho Soares who was making the run.

    Despite not being the fastest on his feet, Soares didn��t think and just ran as fast as he could, somehow beating his markers for pace and reaching the ball first just outside the Moreirense penalty box, but instead of rushing at the goalkeeper with the ball, Tiquiniho flicked the ball forward with just enough force to set it up for a shot before unleashing his full leg strength on the ball.

    The ball thundered off his foot at the goal, curved at an odd angle, and smashed into the top corner of the Moreirense goal despite the Moreirense goalkeeper��s efforts at jumping for the ball.

    ��GOALLL!!!��

    ��Porto are at it again!��

    ��What a thunderous effort from the Porto��s frontman!��

    ��That��s the kind of performance that makes one the league��s highest goalscorer!

    ��Will Moreirense��s goalkeeper ever get a break!��

    ��He��s had more saves than the number of shots his team has on target at the opponent��s goal, yet his efforts are invalidated by Porto smashing five past him!��

    ��Porto are on a roll here and Moreirense are just about swept away!�� Thementator��s voice red out of the speakers in the stadium as Tiquiniho ran down the sidelines and jumped into a bodyslide, ecstasy written all over his face.

    His teammates joined in his celebration and the Porto fans who were watching the game from their homes jumped around in celebration with their team.

    None of the Porto yers cared about the mental states of their opponents and they just let out all the joy they were feeling at that moment before heading back to their half of the field to await the resumption of the game.

    #87th minute��

    The game was gradually drawing to a close, but that was only based on the clock, Porto was attacking the Moreirense team like the match would never end.

    It was almost like they were punishing Moreirense��s earlier defiance at trying to make an effort that had still been used against them.

    But despite already punishing them by turning their efforts into a counterattack and adding one more goal to their tally, Porto yed like they weren��t yet done with Moreirense and they kept up their attacking prowess instead of sitting back and letting the match y out.

    Moreirense on the other hand, already had their hands full trying to keep the Porto team out, but they could not keep up and Porto soon burst past them on the attack again.

    Jason who had just dribbled past his marker had just run into the box from the right side of the field, but some defenders stood in his path to the goal.

    He slowed down his run, but just when everyone thought he was about to unleash a dazzling array of skill moves, he instead opted to roll the ball to his left where a newly subbed on Jesus Corona pushed the ball with a smooth flick.

    Pushing the ball past Jason, Jesus Corona had enough space to cross the ball into the box, and that was exactly what he did.

    Sending the ball across the front of the goal, the ball rolled at a fast pace until it was met by Tiquinho Soares who mmed the ball past the goalkeeper for the second time in the match and for the second time in thest ten minutes.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {More and more and more!}

    {How many more do they want!?}

    {After going behind within the first five minutes of the game, they have responded quite fiercely and Moreirense who were once in the lead are nowhere to be seen!}

    {This is punishing!}

    {Moreirense may find themselves wishing they had never poked the victorious dragons because of the result they are now faced with!}

    {This is almost too painful to watch} Thementator expressed his feelings in words and the fans listening wholeheartedly agreed with his words.

    Well, the Moreirense team��s fans, not the Porto fans.

    Most of the Moreirense fans had already turned off their TVs after Porto��s fourth goal to prevent their minds from suffering any more mental damage, and the few who had continued to watch the rest of the match were now regretting their decision.

    The words of thementator about the match being ��almost too painful to watch�� were wrong as it was not ��almost�� too painful to watch, it was too painful to watch for the Moreirense fans who could only watch their team be vited by a rough handling opponent.

    The Porto fans on the other hand could not get enough of the ecstatic feeling coursing through their bodies as they watched their team utterly destroy their opponents who had been acting up in the first few minutes of the game.

    Their joy knew no bounds and if they were at the stadium, they would have joined together to cheer for their team while shouting out that their team should add a couple more goals to the scoreboard, but unfortunately, they could only content themselves with bragging about their club in social media andinoffline football banter, but for the moment, they joined the Porto yers in celebrating their sixth goal over Moreirense.

    The Porto yers at the stadium didn��t hesitate to celebrate their goal despite the Moreirense yers lookingabsolutelydejected at that moment.

    The Porto yers however didn��t use too much time to celebrate their goal and the match soon resumed, and just like they had done for most of the match, they once again went on the attack and started pressing hard on their opponents, looking like they wanted to turn their six to a seven.

    Fortunately for the mental state of the few Moreirense fans still watching the game, the Moreirense team put forth a strong defensive effort and held out until the referee blew the final whistle.

    Thus the match finished with the final score ofPorto6 :1 Moreirense.

    The Porto yers almost hopped off the field in happiness after the final whistle and the confidence in their steps was visible as they walked off victoriously as opposed to their opponents who looked beaten, dejected, and downtrodden.

    The reporters made sure to capture this scene and began thinking of title headlines for when the pictures would be posted along with awell writtenarticle that they would be working on writing all night.

    25th July 2020

    The final matchday of the season and it was to be crowned with a final match between Braga and Porto at the Estadio Municipal de Braga

    Initially, the Porto fans had high hopes for the match, but when the line-ups for the match were released, the fans did a double take in confusion.

    The manager had removed almost every first-team yer and was using a squad that would usually feature in domestic cup matches instead of actual league games.

    But then recalling that they would be ying the Taca de Portugal against Benfica in theing games, followed by the resumption of the Europa League, it was pretty obvious that the manager was trying to rest his yers.

    The match started and Porto managed to open up the game in the 6th minute with a stunning shot from Mattheus Uribe to put Porto in an advantage, but from that point on the game got a lot more difficult and Porto wasn��t able to extend their lead and instead, Braga ended up finding an equalizer through Ricardo Horta in the 54th minute.

    Braga then took the lead for the first time twelve minutester with a well-directed header from Fransergio that eluded Diogo Costa��s grasp.

    From then on, Porto did all they could to equalize but fell short and were unable to get a goal to equalize the game till the referee blew the final whistle.

 Chapter 206: Monthly Review Meeting

    Chapter 206: Monthly Review Meeting

    **26th July 2020**

    It was a day like all the previous ones in Porto, quite silent without much movement by people which was quite strange for a city whose football team had ended the season as the league leaders.

    Normally there would be many promotional activities organized by the Porto football club to show off their trophy but due to the outbreak of the Covid virus, most of the activities in the city were still on lockdown and thus it was impossible to hold any events where even hundreds of people would gather, let alone the thousands of Porto fans who would not miss such an event.

    Unfortunately, going ahead to hold those events in times like this was not only against quite a few safety regtions, butit was also dangerous for the fans as nobody could tell if and when the virus could break out and spread among the crowd, thus the fans had to content themselves with seeing the trophy through their screens and the yers had to content themselves with believing in their hearts that the fans were cheering for them from wherever they were.

    On this day, the CTFD Portogaia, particrly the training field of the Porto team was quite empty due to the yers having a day off after the game against Braga the previous day,but today wasn��t a day off for the management staff of the club who were currently gathered at the club��s head office at the Estadio do Dragao for the end of the month, review meeting.

    The monthly review meeting was a meeting where every major urrence that happened withinthe span ofthe month as well as things to take note of going into the next month would be discussed.

    The meeting had started a little while ago and despite the topics to be discussed bearing great importance to the club, the atmosphere was quite light and was more positive than tense.

    This was a result of the team ending the season as the league champions which meant that at least for the time being, no one was in danger of losing a job and they were even guaranteed bonuses that would make enjoying the season��s break even more enjoyable. Quite a few of them would have been nning trips but due to the heavy restrictions on international transfers, their ns for the break were a bit nearer to home.

    The meeting continued and it soon reached the section where the transfer talks, contract negotiations, and new talents which would be headed by the sporting director arrived.

    ��Starting with contracts to be renewed before the next season, the yers Pepe, Ivan Marcano, Vana, Yordan Osario, and Vincent Aboubakar need their contracts to be renewed immediately if we have ns of having them y for the club next season,��

    ��Also�� a few other yers may need their contracts renewed to adjust their value based on their above-average performancesst season; Otavio, Fabio Viera, Diogo Leite, Chancel Mbemba, and Jason Bolu,�� The sporting director said, bringing up the first matter on the agenda.

    Sergio Conceicao was silent for a while before he started answering to the sporting director��s suggestions,

    ��For the immediate renewals, I don��t think there��s any problem with re-signing Pepe, especially since he is the team captain,��

    ��Ivan Marcano is a valuable part of the team and he has performed quite well this season, doing a lot for the team at the back, so it is no question whether his contract should be renewed,��

    ��As for Vana and Osario, I��m not quite sure what to do with them as I don��t see either of them breaking into the first team soon so it may be better to let them go,��

    ��This will be a win for both sides as they can take their services elsewhere where they can get more opportunities and we can save up on the money that we will use to renegotiate a contract as well as their sries and use it for other things,��

    ��As for Vincent, I would like to keep him as he is perhaps the only substitute striker we have that is first-team material, but I��m hearing that you already tried to renew his contract earlier, but his demands were too high,�� Sergio Conceicao said, his words having a bit of a questioning tone.

    ��About Vincent Aboubakar, it is true that we already tried to renew his contract but his demands were a bit above what we are willing to bear with at the moment for a yer of his caliber,�� The sporting director said without trying to hide anything with his words.

    It was clear that the price that Vincent Aboubakar was asking for was probably a bit higher than what he had expected.

    ��How much are we talking about here?�� The technical director asked the question on everyone��s mind.

    ���� He��s asking for 45000 Euros per week which is almost double what he��s already receiving, and that��s not to mention the add-ons to the contract,�� The sporting director said after a slight pause.

    ��Ridiculous!�� Someone said, but nobody bothered to look for who had said it because they were just as bbergasted as the person who had voiced his dissent.

    45 thousand Euros a week would add up to 180 thousand Euros a month which by European standards wasn��t too high, especially with the way money was flowing around in the footballing world nowadays, but for a team like Porto despite its pedigree was a bit too high for them to pay for a substitute striker.

    ��It��s impossible for us to payhim that much, make that clear to him and if he still isn��t willing to lower his demands then he can begin finding somewhere else to offer his services after this season because there would be no room for negotiation,�� Sergio Conceicao said in a hard tone.

    He quite liked Vincent Aboubakar, but he could not afford to cater to such high demands�� no, it was more apt to say that the club couldn��t cater to such demands.

    The effects of COVID had hit the club��s finances hard and though the club had been shrewd enough with their finances that they hadn��t needed to take any loans, it didn��t mean that they had a lot at hand.

    In fact,the club wasactuallylooking to offload a few of the higher-paid yers which he didn��t quite agree with as he knew that it would greatly affect his chances at a title run next season due to theck of synergy recing valuable teammates would cause.

    Unfortunately, the board��s concerns weren��t the same as his and they were more concerned with saving the club��s finances at the moment hence he could not do anything other than try his best to save money for the club, otherwise it would be his job on the line.

    ��What about Pepe and Ivan Marcano? I��m sure you must have already begun discussing the terms of thewith them?�� Sergio Conceicao asked, hoping that there were no other wage problems as he couldn��t bear to lose either of his two major defenders.

    ��I��ve been speaking with their agents and the increment in their wages is something we can amodate,�� The sporting director said in response to the head manager��s question.

    Internally letting out a sigh of relief, Sergio Conceicao said,

    ��That��s okay then, keep me updated�� Also about the other yers who you��re considering whether to increase their sries or not, let��s put them off for now, we can just give them a few bonuses for now and put off any talks about a contract renewal untilter when our finances are better stabilized.��

    He quicklymade a decisionon the other yers and opted for giving them a bit of a hefty bonus to postpone any contract talks for now as it would be less expensive that way.

    ��Wouldn��t that cause a problemter if the yers feel like they are not paying well enoughpared to their performances and contribution to the club,�� The sporting director immediately responded with hisownthoughts,

    ��Just so you know, I��m talking specifically about Fabio Viera and Jason Bolu,�� he went on to specify.

    ��Hmmmm�� Continue,��Sergio Conceicao hummed in response, gesturing for the sporting director to further borate.

    ��Okay�� So I��m sure all of you know about those two yers�� performances in thetter half of the season,�� The Sporting Director began exining,

    ��Fabio Viera was already showing first-team qualities, but ever since he paired up with Jason in thetter half of this season, his performances had an exceptional rise in quality despite him having only been able to feature for the second team for most of this season,��

    ��As of now, his performances and contribution to the team do not pale inparison in any way to the current starters in the line-up and with this, it��s obvious that he��d be expecting more opportunities in the first team as well as an improved contract to follow it up otherwise he might start looking to other teams if they offer him better,��

    ��As for Jason�� I don��t even know where to start,��

    ��Ever since his debut at the Europa League match against Bayer Leverkusen where he helped the team make aeback victory against Leverkusen in the first leg, he hasn��t taken his foot off the pedal and he has gone on to amass a total of 13 goals and 7 assists in just 11 games,��

    ��Despite ying for barely half a season, he has a record that is just as good as the first-team yers who have been ying throughout the season,��

    ��In fact,he has probably done even more for the team in the half-season he has been active than Luis Diaz or Jesus Corona have done throughout the season, yet he is receiving less than half of what those guys are making,��

    ��If his wages don��t see an increment soon, we may end up losing a talent like him to the first guys thate running, especially since he only has just over a year left on his current contract.��

 Chapter 207: Monthly Review Meeting II

    Chapter 207: Monthly Review Meeting II

    ��Hmmmmm���� Sergio Conceicao mummed as he stayed silent, trying to think about what was the best option because just going ahead to give the two yers new contracts was not the most ideal option in this scenario.

    They were performing like the top names at the club so if he had to increase their wages, then he��d have two more top earners on his hands when he was supposed to be reducing them as per the club management��s instructions.

    ��I think there was a use in Jason��s contract that would grant him a five thousand Euros increase in his current sry if he scored 13 goals or made 17 assists�� since he��s already scored that many goals, then his sry would be increased ording to the contract and we can also give him a bonus while postponing the matter of a new contract untilter next season,�� he began.

    ��Fabio should also have that kind of use in his contract that will give him a bit of an increase in his wages. We��ll also give him a bonus as well and I��ll personally speak with him and guarantee him more chances in the first team for theing season,��

    ��That should settle the matter for the time being and should buy us enough time to get our finances in order before theye asking for a new contract,�� he concluded.

    With him giving an answer to the matter at hand, the sporting director wrote down his suggestions and then immediately moved on to the next matter at hand.

    ��Moving on, we��ve received a few transfer offers for some yers; Jorge Fernandes, Andre Perreira, Tiquinho Soares, Fabio Silva, Alex Telles, Jason Bolu, and Ze Luis,�� The sporting director said in a clear voice.

    ��We also have loan offers for Vitor Ferreira and Danilo Perreira,�� he concluded by saying. Immediately he stopped speaking, hushed murmurs filled up the room as quite a few of the names he had just called out were big names at the club, and depending on who the offer wasing from it could bring in a high amount in transfer fees.

    ��First, who made offers for who,�� Sergio Conceicao asked despite already having a bit of a headache as it was highly likely he was about to lose a few key yers.

    ��Uhm�� Vitoria Guimares made an offer for Jorge Fernandes, Rio Ave made an offer for Andre Perreira,�� the Sporting director started reading out from the notepad he held up.

    ��Wolverhampton Wanderers made an offer for Fabio Silva,�� he read out and immediately hushed murmurs burst through the room again as it was well known that the English teams had deep pockets and it was thus likely for them to gain quite a bit from this transfer.

    ��Tianjin Teda has made an offer for Tiquiniho Soares,�� the sporting director continued reading but was interrupted,

    ��They��re a team from where? They sound like a Chinese team���� Sergio Conceiao asked, already making his conjectures but wanting to confirm.

    ��They are a Chinese team ying in the 1st Division League in China�� Anyways, Ze Luis has received an offer from Lokomotiv Moscow,��

    ��And finally Telles has received an offer from Manchester United���� The sporting director concluded.

    ��Wait�� you mentioned Jason earlier but you didn��t mention the transfer offers he received,��Sergio Conceicao immediately pointed out.

    ��That��s because he hasn��t received any direct transfer offers yet, but quite a few teams have been making an inquiry about his price range. I wanted to bring it upter since you don��t seem to want to sell him off in theing transfer window but since you��ve brought it up now we might as welle up with a price tag for him,�� The sporting director immediately replied.

    ��Well, it is true that I don��t have any ns to sell him in theing transfer window, and since we haven��t received any contact from his agent that he is open to any offers, then I��m sure he isn��t really intent on leaving yet either,�� Sergio Conceicao began.

    ��So what should we do��?��

    ��Do we simply say he��s not for sale right now, or do we stick a high price tag to him?�� he decided to throw out the question to the other people in the room.

    ��Optimally speaking, it would have been better to stay silent about this matter since we don��t n on letting him go this summer transfer window, but with so many clubs making inquiries, we have to at least make a statement concerning this issue,�� The technical director spoke, bringing forth his own opinion on the matter.

    ��So what you��re saying is that we have to make our stance clear on whether we want to sell him or not?�� Sergio Conceicao shot back, not very clear on what the technical director meant.

    ��I don��t mean we��ll take a stance, I mean we just say something and don��t simply stay silent�� it doesn��t matter if we remain vague,�� the technical director replied.

    ��So we just don��t stay silent���� Sergio Conceicao murmured.

    ���� How about sticking a price tag of 90 million Euros to him? We don��t n to sell him anyway,�� he said aloud after thinking for a while.

    Immediately the words ��90 million�� came out of his mouth, the atmosphere in the room changed and hushed murmurs once again burst out.

    ��Don��t you think 90 million is a little too high, head manager?�� the sporting director immediately asked the question on everyone��s minds.

    ��Yeah�� it��s a little high, but we don��t n on selling him yet anyway���� Sergio Conceicao immediately responded,

    ��Nobody would be willing to pay that much for him yet as despite the potential he��s shown, people are still a bit wary as he��s only been ying for half a season,��

    ���� However, if a team still wants to buy him at that price, it wouldn��t be a loss for us at that price,�� he concluded despite wishing that such a situation did note to be so early.

    Already with the transfer offersing in, he was sure that the club management would not hesitate to sell the yers who had received offers and despite him probably being able to rece the yers, the loss of synergy in the team from losing that many first team yers was not something that would be so easily recovered.

    He could almost already hear his road to the League title in theing season crumbling bit by bit.

    ��About the other yers who had received an offer as well, dy Tiquinho, Telles, and Danilo��s transfer as much as possible as we��ll still need them for theing Europa League and the Taca de Portugal finals,�� he said, doing his best to at least make sure that the team could still put up a fight in theing matches that were what was left of this season.

    ��Proceed with the negotiation for the rest and make sure we get as much as possible from the teams that made offers,��

    ��What else?�� he asked the sporting director.

    ���� There are a few yers that are rmended to be promoted to the first team from the junior team, they are; Myl-���� The Sporting director began but was immediately cut off by the head manager.

    ��I��ve read the report on those yers, offer all of them contracts and bring them to the first team,�� Sergio Conceicao immediately said with a sigh.

    If he waspletely honest, he wasn��t really taken with most of the young yers whose names had hit his table�� if it was up to him, only about two of them would actually join the first team, but with the current financial status of the club it was currently an ��out with the old and expensive, and in with the new and cheap�� regime that would be going on for at least theing season.

    ��Anything else?�� The Portuguese head manager asked the sporting director, already feeling a bit tired from the meeting and wanting to end things as soon as possible.

    ��No, that��ll be all from me,�� the sporting director immediately responded, looking at his notepad and seeing that he had presented all he needed to present.

    ��Okay, who��s next,�� Sergio Conceicao called out and immediately the meeting continued.

    **27th July 2020**

    *7:05 am*

    Jason ced a te of oats on his dining table and pulled out a chair for himself.

    Normally at this time, he would already be on his way to the training ground, but he wanted to take it a bit easy for today as the season had just finished.

    Of course, there were a couple of important matchesing up hence he would still train as hard as he could at training in preparation, but for this morning, he just wanted to chill a bit.

    As he began to eat, he pulled out his phone to scan through the sports news which had be a bit of habit for himtely.

    He usually didn��t have the time to stay updated so he had made sure that during the times he was eating he would look through the notifications he had gotten from sports channels he had subscribed to, but as his eyes fell on the first notification that he saw, the spoonful of oatmeal that he had been about to swallow flew out of his mouth and he started coughing hard.

    ��What the fu*k!?�� he coughed hard as his eyes once again fell on the headlines,

    {Porto puts a hundred million Euros price tag on talented youngster} and under the headlines was his face in full glory.

 Chapter 208: Petty Thoughts

    Chapter 208: Petty Thoughts

    ��100 million Euros!?��

    ��How?�� Jason muttered to himself in absolute confusion as it didn��t make any sense to him.

    He had barely been active for half a season and despite having scored quite a bit and performed quite well, 100 million Euros was a bit too much for him to stomach as a price tag on his name.

    Forget whether the numbers in the football world were very inted these days because even then it didn��t make sense.

    After all, everyone who had such a price tag put on their heads were people who had performed exceptionally for at least 2 seasons, otherwise one wouldn��t hear such numbers.

    Even Cristiano Ronaldo back in his day was only just about 80 million Euros from Manchester United to Real Madrid and that was after winning literally everything that could be won as well as breaking countless records in that one season.

    To have a higher price than Ronaldo when he had not achieved even a quarter of what Ronaldo had achieved to be named that price didn��t sit well with Jason at all, but what the hell was this?

    ��I know that I didn��t say I wanted to leave but what the hell?�� ��They could have at least given me a heads up if they were going to pull off something like this,�� Jason muttered in annoyance.

    Contrary to what the club was probably thinking, he wasn��t happy at seeing such big numbers behind his name yet as it was quite annoying.

    To him and to everyone else, it was obvious that Porto wasn��t willing to sell him, but had still put an unreasonable price tag on his head just in case, meaning if there was a team that was still willing to pay that much for him, then they wouldn��t mind selling him off.

    Of course, Jason wouldn��t resist going to a team that could fork out over 100 million Euros for him because they were probably a better team than Porto, but the point was that the chances of that happening were nigh impossible due to the current financial state of most big European clubs.

    Clubs like Barcelona, Juventus, and a few others were already having problems paying sries to their yers so there was no way they would willingly throw out that money to buy him, and the other big teams were probably not much better financially and would avoid big spending unless they had already been nning to spend such arge amount of money and the funds were already prepared.

    As Jason had only be active halfway through the season, he was probably not a major target of any big club yet, and even if he was, they wouldn��t have been able to prepare a separate hundred million for the acquisition of his services due to COVID.

    Even if they had the money, they��d have to give up on other ns to focus on buying him and he didn��t think that would happen.

    All that was by the side, the real reason why he was annoyed was because of the extreme height of his price tag.

    yers were like auction items and as long as they performed better and were still young, their prices only went higher and never lower, but now that he was stuck with a starting bid of 100 million.

    If he kept performing like he was, which of course he nned to do and even go beyond, then his price would only rise.

    What was he supposed to do with such a stupidly high price that could only be paid for by those Oil country teams, or maybe China or America?

    He wasn��t nning to make his legend in a team like Al Hl�� no offense to the Saudi Clubs of course.

    He wanted top-notch European football.

    Of course, the price thing could be easily sorted outter, but it was still annoying for such a situation to rise up without him being informed or anything.

    The club management was always doing too much.

    It was no surprise for him to be treated like amodity because the club was inherently a business, but sometimes it was more annoying than usual and this was one of those times.

    ��Now, I��m definitely not staying in Porto past next season,�� Jason thought to himself pettily.

    It was a very childish decision, but he felt like he was justified because if the club management was going to make such a big decision about him, then the least they could do was tell him about it or ask for his opinion, but instead, they had gone ahead and done whatever they wanted.

    If they could do whatever they wanted, then he might as well do whatever he wanted.

    ��Maybe I should not even resign a contract with them and just leave on a free transfer,�� An even pettier thought popped up in his head as he got back to his meal.

    Throughout his meal time, different petty actions to get back at the club popped up in his mind, but after he finished eating, he put all his thoughts aside and began getting ready to leave for the training center as the more important thing to him now was his preparation for the uing Taca de Portugal final against Benfica.

    After the finals, the team would then head to Germany for the continuation of the Europa League which had been scheduled to be held in stadiums located across Germany due to the risk of constant international travelling.

    It was going to be very busy from now on and Jason was very pumped up about the uing games.

    He would need to give his all in all the uing games as a loss would be rewarded with instant elimination and a lost trophy.

    Those kinds of games where there was no way back were the kinds of games that interested Jason the most as they always got his blood pumping differently.

    Quickly taking care of the dishes, Jason ran to grab his sports bag after ncing at the clock and seeing that he was already runningte.

    Jumping out of his house and barely locking the door, Jason jumped into his car and burst out of the driveway as fast as the speed limit would allow him.

    **1st August 2020**

    The Porto and Benfica teams had arrived as early as 5 pm at the Estadio Cidade de Coimbra which would be the venue for the Taca de Portugal final.

    The match was actually scheduled to begin at 8:45 pm which was still over three hours away, but the teams still arrived early because, despite theck of fans at the stadium, there was still a lot to be done before the final match.

    Of course, neither of the teams began any pre-match training immediately upon arriving as the managers and the captains of both teams had first gone to the pre-match press conference.

    After the pre-match press conference, in Porto��s locker room��

    Sergio Conceicao was going through the game��s formation and tactics with the yers and he was employing the aid of a whiteboard to illustrate his words.

    The formation that Porto would be using for the game was the same 4-4-2 formation that they usually used, but this time it was the 4-4-2 diamond variant that they asionally used.

    Augustin Marchesin was the goalkeeper in between the sticks.

    Wilson Manafa was the right back while Alex Telles was going to be the left back.

    Chancel Mbemba would be taking the ce of Ivan Marcano as a center-back due to Ivan having sustained a knock in the game against Braga, and Pepe would y as the second center-back.

    Danilo Perreira would be ying as the center defensive midfielder while Otavio would y as a central attacking midfielder.

    Jesus Corona had gotten a thigh injury in the previous Braga game thus leaving the right midfield to Jason, while Luis Diaz would be on the left side of the midfield.

    Starting up front was Tiquinho Soares and Moussa Marega who would be ying as the two centre forwards on the left and right side respectively.

    The formation was set up with the focal point of their attack being to attack on both sides of the field instead of the center before the ball was sent into the box.

    This meant that Jason and Luis Diaz would be the ones doing most of the work when it came to attacking while the rest of the team��s job was to get the ball to them and stay around to support them as they took the ball forward and finally get into goal scoring positions so that they could receive the ball back and put it away.

    It sounded simple on paper, but it would be a thousand times harder to do on the field, but the yers suppressed whatever anxiety threatened to crop up in their hearts.

    Jason especially felt his heart threatening to leap into his throat as he realized that this was actually his first final game, but he took deep breaths and put his focus on making sure that his equipment fitted well.

    It helped to take his mind off the uing game for a bit and the yers were soon on their way out to begin their pre-match warm-ups while live cameras followed them every inch of the way.

    The fans of both teams were already tuned in and were keeping an eye on the yers even before the game began.

    It didn��t need to be said that tensions were already running high and the fans of both teams were already biting their lips in anticipation of the final game.

 Chapter 209: Taca de Portugal Finals 2020 I

    Chapter 209: Taca de Portugal Finals 2020 I

    {We are a minute to the start of the game that will conclude Portuguese football for the end of the season}

    {Here at the Estadio Cidade de Coimbra, we will witness which of these two teams wille out on top and lift the Taca de Portugal trophy}

    {The yers have finished the pre-match pleasantries and are now waiting for the referee��s whistle to start the game}

    *Fweeeeeeeee*

    The shrill sound of the referee��s whistle filled the stadium and the Benfica team kicked off the game.

    {The string has been released and the arrow has been let loose��}

    {Porto vs Benfica, the Dragons vs the Eagles, Which one of them is the master of the sky?}

    {We��re 90 minutes from finding out?} Thementator put his poetry skills to work in this game that promised to be nothing less than exciting. There was no one involved in the football world who did not know that Porto and Benfica were rivals and that sparks always flew whenever they shed and irrespective of the results of the game, it was definitely going to be nowhere near boring.

    But now that they faced each other in a match that would decide who would lift one of the domestic cups in the Portuguese hemisphere, it was sphemy to even think that it wouldn��t be a match worth watching.

    Thus, at the moment, the fans of both clubs were keeping their eyes on the game from their phones, TVs, and other electronics.

    The yers back at the stadium weren��t thinking about this however and had already started doing their best to get the ball past the opponent��s goalkeeper.

    It didn��t take long for the first goal-scoring opportunity to arrive, it was from Porto just three minutes after the match started.

    Wilson Manafa had sent a long through ball down the right side of the field that Jason hadtched onto and pushed past his marker before finally sending a cross into Benfica��s 18-yard box.

    Tiquinho Soares had pushed past everyone and leaped high into the air to get his head to the ball, but the ball skewed off his head and flew directly at the goalkeeper.

    Despite the balling directly at him, the Benfica goalkeeper couldn��t grab onto the ball and only pushed it to the side, but the next moment his heart almost leaped out of his throat as he saw the ball moving towards Luis Diaz who was jumping at the ball.

    Still, just as he reached the ball with his outstretched foot, another leg appeared in the path of the ball to deflect it out of y.

    {Oh, what a chance! What a chance!}

    {The goalkeeper should have held onto the ball there to prevent what was almost a punishment for his mistake, but luckily for him, his defenders were there to cover his blushes} Thementator��s voice could be heard describing the situation as the two teams began getting ready for the corner.

    With that attempt at goal being almost like a dam cracker, the two teams began ying harder against each other and soon another goal-scoring chance appeared for Porto.

    In the 16th minute, Otavio sent a pass towards the right wing.

    The ball curved in between the Benfica defenders and fell into Jason��s path on the right.

    Jason was already running for the ball the moment the pass was made, but the Benfica left-back somehow matched his pace and stayed on him, and even after Jason got to the ball, most of his focus was on keeping the Benfica left back from pushing him off the ball.

    In such terrible running conditions, Jason somehow pushed his way into the Benfica 18-yard box, cutting in from the right wing before finally trying to take the shot when he could no longer keep the defender at bay.

    However as he swung at the ball, the defender mmed into him from behind once again and caused him to lose his bnce, causing him to miskick the ball, sending it flying across the entire face of the goal before going out of y on the left side of the goal.

    Some Porto yers immediately called for a penalty, but the referee was unconvinced and his whistle stayed silent while Jason brushed himself as he stood back up and ran his hand through his hair in disappointment after missing a chance at goal.

    Soon the ball was sent flying back into the field with a goal kick and both teams once again rushed for the ball.

    It was not much longer before the match crossed the half-hour mark and Porto soon got another goal-scoring chance with Otavio once again finding Jason just in front of two Benfica defenders.

    On receiving the ball, Jason paused for a short moment to allow the first defender to attempt a tackle, and as soon as the yer��s leg was outstretched, Jason coolly slotted the ball in between his legs before going behind him and immediately smashing the ball with his right foot at goal, not bothering to try and dribble through the second defender.

    The Benfica goalkeeper immediately lunged for the ball and managed to reach it after fully extending himself to get to the ball, but he wasn��t able to hold the ball due to the power behind the shot and the ball ended up bouncing back into y, and towards the direction of Moussa Marega, but before the ball reached Marega, a nearby Benfica yer came rushing at the ball and managed to clear the ball just before it reached Marega.

    {Cleared!}

    {Porto are once again left empty-handed after so nearly making it past the goalkeeper!}

    {They have had the upper hand so far and have kept their foot on the throttle, but so far have nothing to show for it}

    {If they don��t end up winning this, they will rue their missed chances!} thementator spoke as the ball flew out of y after being cleared by the Benfica yer who got to the ball first.

    At this point, however, the fans didn��t need thementator to tell them the obvious.

    It was obvious that Porto was currently on the front foot and it was best that they converted their chances earlier rather thanter as one could never tell when the situation would be flipped especially against a team like Benfica.

    The Porto fans were happy that their team was the one ying better, but they were still very wary of their opponents and wished their team could convert soon.

 Chapter 210: Taca de Portugal Finals 2020 II

    Chapter 210: Taca de Portugal Finals 2020 II

    After seeing Porto almost score for the third time and getting an absolute ear thrashing from their manager, the Benfica team began shaping up better and squared up against Porto equally, shutting down the attacks that were so easy for Porto to make just a few minutes prior.

    With them ying much better than before, they soon found their own opportunities and one of them almost got them the lead.

    A powerful shot from Carlos Vinicius after the ball fell to him just after a corner kick took all of Augustin Marchesin��s flexibility to deflect the ball away from its intended target.

    After being fisted by Augustin Marchesin��s gloves, the ball smashed against the bar and flew out of y.

    This attempt from Benfica served as a sort of shock therapy to the Porto yers who once again realized that their opponents weren��t weak and though they had been the ones with the upper hand earlier, the situation could be so easily turned around if they ended up conceding first.

    With this Porto pushed even harder to create opportunities.

    Soon another opportunity appeared for Porto in the 42nd minute as Otavio sent the ball to Jason who trapped the ball with his first touch before sending a lobbed pass onto the left side of the field toward Diaz.

    Diaz got his foot to the ball and sent the ball towards Moussa Marega with his first touch. Not wanting to take a second touch on the ball, Marega had immediately set the ball alight with a thunderous kick that sent the ball flying just narrowly over the crossbar at an incredible pace.

    {What a powerful drive!}

    {The striker might have been expecting the shot to dip, but it hadn��t done so early enough!}

    {Benfica can breathe a sigh of relief! They survive once again! The game is still level!}

    The Porto yers on the pitch and the fans in their homes had their hands on their heads as they watched the ball miss the goal and fly off target, but the yers soon regained theirposure while some of the fans�� hands stayed on their heads while the rest of them started arguing with theirpany about how Marega should have taken the shot instead of having hit it first time.

    While all sorts of arguments broke out among the fans, the match continued with the Porto and Benfica team continuously trying to one-up the other, but in the end, the first-half whistle was blown before either of them managed to make a mark on the game.

    {The whistle has been blown and the curtains have been drawn on the first half of the Taca de Portugal final and what a first half it was!}

    {Filled with thrills and spills and despite the fact that neither of the two teams has managed to break the deadlock, their attacking prowess leaves us with no doubt that we will see the ball fall into the back of the sooner thanter}

    {For most of the first half, it seemed that Porto was calling the shots so the Benfica manager has a bit of work to do before the second half}

    {Whether it��s a change in tactic, formation, or even yers, he will have his hands full if he wants to get more from his yers in the second half}

    {All in all, this is shaping up to be an exciting match�� I��m sure all the football lovers wish for more of such attacking performances in the second half} thementator spoke as the yers headed off the field for the break.

    In Porto��s locker room during the break, the head managermended his yers�� efforts and encouraged them to keep pushing forward in this fashion.

    He also made sure to remind the team not to forget to put as much focus into their defensive efforts as they were putting into attack as it would be hazardous to fall into a disadvantageous position in the second half.

    After motivating his yers, he used the rest of the break to give advice to the yers while reiterating the game n for the yers so that they could perform even better in the second half.

    As they did this, time gradually ran out and it was soon time for the yers to go back out to the pitch for the second half.

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    The shrill sound of the referee blew loudly in the Estadio Cidade de Coimbra, signifying the start of the second half of the Taca de Portugal final.

    Immediately after the whistle, the Porto team kicked off the second half and the match soon picked up where it left off.

    Hard and fast attacking football seemed to be the aim of both teams and the ball flew from one end of the field to the other within minutes that the second half began.

    Both teams sent shots flying at each other��s goal, but it was soon apparent that the Benfica team was ying a lot better than they were ying before the break and their pressure on the Porto back line had increased tremendously.

    {I don��t know what to tell you, but whatever the Benfica team manager did with his yers during the break is working and we are already seeing the results}

    {They get the first corner kick of the second half after almost getting the ball past Augustin Marchesin in a daring attack just seconds earlier} Thementator��s words didn��t stop as he described how Benfica had almost sent fireworks flying in the heads of their fans by almost scoring against Porto just moments earlier.

    Luckily for Porto, their goalkeeper had managed to keep the ball from falling into the back of the at the expense of a corner of course, but no one wasining.

    *Fweeeeee*

    The referee blew hard and the ball was sent flying into Porto��s penalty box from the Benfica man standing over the ball.

    The ball curved inwardly into Porto��s 18-yard box and yers of both teams scrambled to get their head to it, but Chancel Mbemba got his head to the ball first and headed it clear of the penalty box where it fell to Alex Telles.

    Telles quickly got the ball under control before sending the ball to Jason who was about ten yards away from the center line.

    He hoped to start a counterattack and Jason got the message, as did his other teammates who immediately began charging at the Benfica goal.

    Turning with the ball, Jason didn��t even try sprinting and instead sent the ball down the right wing into Benfica��s half of the field where Luis Diaz was already running at the Benfica team.

    The ball spun across the ground quickly and soon found Diaz who brought the ball under control with a single touch and took off down the right wing.

    As Luis Diaz approached the Benfica penalty area, he saw Tiquinho Soares running at the Benfica penalty area as well, but he was moving through the center of the field.

    Without hesitation, Diaz sent a curling through ball that curved past the Benfica defenders trying to stop the counter and found Soares just as he stepped into Benfica��s penalty box.

    With a right, side-footed, first-time shot, Tiquinho sent the ball at the Benfica��s goal.

    ����������������������������������������������������-

    A/N: What��s up my peeps�� Author here

    So I received a redeem code as a reward for uploading all throughst month and it can be used to redeem 10 fastpasses.

    It can also be used 10 times, which means there are 10 lucky people who will be getting it since I��m going to be giving y��all.

    It��s a heartfelt thanks to you guys for reading my novel and sticking with me this far.

    For fairness, I will post it in tomorrow��s chapters, though I don��t know exactly when that is cuz I��m usually busy for most of the day with my internship.

    Anyway, it��s the first ten that gets it, also please don��t use the code more than once if you��ve already gotten the reward, I want it to reach at least ten people.

    No monopolizing.

    Thank you and see y��all lovelies tomorrow

    �� Raelis Sapphire out

 Chapter 211: Taca de Portugal Finals 2020 III

    Chapter 211: Taca de Portugal Finals 2020 III

    Benfica��s goalkeeper had rushed out trying to get to the ball first, but he had miscalcted the speed of the pass and had underestimated Tiquinho Soares�� determination to reach the ball so he had been caught off his line when Tiquinho got his leg to the ball first.

    Before he could even make a dive, the ball had already flown past him leaving him crashing to the ground like a poorly scripted aftereffect as the ball smashed into the back of the.

    {And Oh! What a goal!}

    {After knocking on the door quite a few times in the first half, they have finally broken in at the 53rd minute and they have done so in spectacr fashion!}

    {Their celebration reflects their boisterous emotions and I do not doubt that the Porto fans in their homes are jumping around along with them!}

    {Some Benfica yers seem to be arguing with the referee that the goal was offside, but the referee doesn��t seem to be paying them any attention and the goal still stands}

    {It��s the first goal in the Taca de Portugal final and the one that breaks the deadlock!}

    {Where do we go from here!?} Thementator��smentary was top-notch and did well in helping the emotions of the Porto yers and fans re as they celebrated their goal. On the sidelines, the Porto side celebrated with one another while the Benfica manager was shouting out orders to his yers, trying to adjust his team��s game n and aid them in finding an equalizer as soon as possible once the match resumed.

    The celebrations of the Porto yers didn��t take long as there were no fans to celebrate with, but their excitement and happiness weren��t dampened by this fact and they headed back to their half of the field in an optimistic mood.

    The match soon resumed with a kick-off by the Benfica team and they began passing the ball among themselves cleverly.

    Going behind was a shock for them, but they refused to give up and this showed in their response to going behind.

    They pushed hard against the Porto team and pressed them hard and soon found a goal-scoring chance just two minutes after going behind, but Goncalo Guedes somehow missed the goal by a few centimeters.

    Seeing the sudden burst in attacking momentum by their opponents, the Porto team also increased their efforts and managed to push the Benfica team back for a few minutes, but Benfica was soon back and knocking on their goal with another attack.

    #58th minute��

    The Benfica team had just snatched the ball back from the Porto team in the middle of the field and they immediatelyunched an attack down the center of the field directly at the Porto 18-yard box.

    Porto immediatelyunched a collective defensive press that blocked Benfica��s path down the middle and the ball ended up being sent to the left of Porto��s 18-yard box where Goncalo Guedes awaited.

    After receiving the ball, he managed to hold on to the ball despite Wilson Manafa��s attempts at retrieving the ball and he finally sent a curling cross into Porto��s penalty box.

    yers of both the Porto and Benfica teams jumped for the ball but somehow none of the Porto yers were able to get to the ball and the ball found Carlos Vinicius in the air who didn��t disappoint and headed the ball downward at Porto��s goal.

    Augustin dived for the ball, disying surprising sticity but he wasn��t able to reach and the ball flew past him before nestling into the back of the bringing Benfica back on level terms with Porto.

    {Goal!!!}

    {What amazing powers of recovery!}

    {It hasn��t taken them long! Benfica are level!}

    {They haven��t given up yet on the silverware that is once again within their reach!}

    {Porto are stunned!} Thementator��s mboyant voice perfectly mirrored Benfica��s mboyant return to equal terms.

    The Benfica fans in their homes had their smiles appear back on their faces as their hopes were revived by seeing their team get back on level terms and they immediately began celebrating.

    Carlos Vinicius and his teammates were also celebrating wildly at the thought of quickly getting back on leveling terms and a smile could be seen on the face of their manager on the sidelines as he watched his yers celebrate.

    Strangely, Sergio Conceicao on the side just stayed silent despite his team having lost their lead just five minutes after they had gained it. He didn��t even shout anything to his yers.

    He had done most of his shouting in the team locker room during the halftime break and he believed in his yers.

    He had watched the goal that had caused his team to lose the lead carefully and despite knowing that his team��s defenders had failed to clear the ball, he had also realized that the goal was almost impossible for his yers to stop so there was no point in ming his yers.

    All he could do for his team now was to adjust the game n, make changes, and motivate his yers, the rest was left to the yers themselves.

    As the Porto yers headed back to their positions for the kick-off to resume the game, he shouted out words of encouragement to his yers while pping his hands.

    The match once again kicked off with Porto in possession of the ball and immediately the match resumed, they didn��t waste any time passing the ball around in their half but instead began to advance into Benfica��s half of the field while exchanging the ball among themselves to avoid losing possession.

    As if by a collective agreement to not retreat in the slightest, the Porto yers began slowly advancing into the Benfica half of the field.

    They lost the ball a few times in the process and were pushed back sometimes, but as soon as they regained possession, they immediately went back to trying to push the Benfica team farther back into their own half of the field.

    However, the Benfica team refused to be pushed back despite the Porto team��s efforts so the Porto yers changed tactics and changed their directives to trying to push through them instead of pushing at them.

    This seemed to be the right course of action as a goal-scoring opportunity soon presented itself to Porto.

 Chapter 212: Taca de Portugal Finals 2020 IV

    Chapter 212: Taca de Portugal Finals 2020 IV

    #64th minute��

    Luis Diaz cut in from the left wing and exchanged the ball with Otavio in a smoothly executed one-two-pass routine to break past the Benfica defense before he finally sent a grounded cross into the 18-yard box.

    The ball rolled towards Moussa Marega at a fast pace, however, Marega did not just waste time standing around for the ball to get to him, but instead drew closer to the path of the ball and immediately swung hard at the ball as soon as the ball was within range of his feet.

    Aiming for the Benfica goal, the ball thundered off his foot, but before making it past three yards it collided with the outstretched leg of a Benfica yer who had gotten in the way of the shot at thest moment.

    {Deflected!}

    {Ast-ditch effort to protect his team��s dreams has been duly rewarded!} Thementator said as the ball flew out of y after being deflected off the Benfica defender��s leg.

    Marega had his hand on his head and looked like he had just swallowed something bitter after seeing his efforts result in nothing, but he didn��t dwell on it for too long since his team had to take a corner and he was one of the more physically blessed among his teammates, thus he would be in the thick of the battle for the ball when it was sent flying in.

    The corner was taken quickly, but Porto wasn��t able to gain anything from the corner and the ball ended up being sent back to midfield. Benfica then took control of the ball and started pushing the Porto team back with strategic passes until a final ball was somehow sent flying behind Porto��s back line from the right side of the field.

    Everyone��s hair stood on end when they saw Carlos Vinicius somehow get his leg on the ball in front of the goal and take a shot at the Porto goal.

    However, the ball flewpletely off target due to Vinicius�� poor touch to get the ball under control but before the Benfica yers and fans could begin groaning in agony at blowing a goal-scoring opportunity, the referee��s whistle went off.

    The assistant referee��s g was raised and he gged Carlos Vinicius for offside which meant that even if the ball had ended up in the back of the, it wouldn��t mean anything as the goal would be canceled.

    Soon the rey of the pass appeared on the screen and the Benfica striker was shown to be clearly offside when the pass was made which exined why he was so free in the first ce.

    The Porto yers didn��t have the benefit of watching the rey, but they didn��t really need to as the match was already about to continue.

    On the sidelines, the board went up to signify a substitution and Fabio Viera stood on the sidelines warming up while Luis Diaz began walking to the sidelines as the board signified that he would being off for Viera.

    After the substitution was concluded, Augustin Marchesin sent the ball flying back into the field and the ball was heavily contested by yers of both teams as y continued.

    The ball was sent back and forth for a while, but Porto soon regained their attacking vigor and once again began pressing hard.

    Soon they got the ball back once again and tried tounch an attack, but their attack fell short when Otavio made a pass that was too long for Soares to catch and a Benfica defender ended up sending it back to the goalkeeper instead.

    The goalkeeper rushed out to meet the ball and tried to kick it back into the middle of the field with a powerful drive, but he miskicked and the ball didn��t end up going too far away from the box, but it still almost reached the middle of the field.

    As the ball came back downward, Marega out-jumped his marker to reach the ball first and sent the ball towards Tiquinho Soares who was nearby.

    Adding a bit of Brazillian ir to his first touch, Soares brought the ball under control and sent the ball toward the left wing where Fabio Viera was.

    Running to meet the ball, Viera brought the ball under control and slowly started advancing towards the box, not able to dash forward recklessly because of the Benfica yer blocking his path.

    As he slowly moved the ball while making various movements to keep the defender on guard, Viera suddenly saw a blue and white shadow running in from the right wing and he didn��t hesitate to follow his instinct and send a chip pass into Benfica��s 18-yard box.

    Before the Benfica yer could begin wondering who Viera was passing the ball to, Jason dashed past thest Benfica defender after the ball and approached the iing ball that was dipping towards him.

    Slowing his pace so he could match the perfect timing, Jason watched the ball advance towards him as if in slow mode, and once he was in range, he immediately swung his right foot hard, catching the ball mid-air and unleashing a powerful volley at the Benfica goal.

    The Benfica goalkeeper immediately jumped in the direction of the airborne ball, but he couldn��t reach and the ball smashed past his outstretched palm before mming into the bottom left corner.

    Watching the ball nestlefortably into the back of the, Jason immediately took off down the sidelines before jumping into a powerslide with his right index finger pointed at the side of his head, but as he slowly came to a stop, he folded his two palms under his armpit in a recognizable posture.

    {And he catches it on the volley! Goal!!!}

    {Minute 69 and Porto have mmed themselves into the lead once again with a magnificent goal!}

    {It��s him again! Jason Rose!}

    {Loved by thedies and tormentor of his opponents!}

    {He has once again shown his thorny sides and has done it in glorious style!}

    {His teammates are ecstatic, the manager dumbfounded, the fans delirious!}

    {With magnificent performances matching the all-time greats game after game, he is giving football fans a new name to add to their list of potential greats!}

    ����������������������������������������������������-

    Waddup waddup peeps, I��m here again

    The redeem code is�� <ABDHYBYR2G6WH5B4A>

    Thanks for reading my book

 Chapter 213: Taca de Portugal Finals 2020 V

    Chapter 213: Taca de Portugal Finals 2020 V

    The Porto yers had reached Jason and had jumped on him in joy, burying him beneath them as the whole team came to celebrate.

    Of course, Augustin Marchesin stayed in goal, but by his facial expression and how he pumped his fists vigorously in excitement, one would know that he was also very happy.

    The Porto fans in their homes were enamored by the goal, but more than that the joy at taking the lead once again filled their bodies and they jumped around in joy shouting loudly.

    In more local streets, one could hear the shouts of joy from Porto fans nearby and even in the houses right beside them.

    While the celebration among the Porto fans could continue for a long time, the celebrations in the stadium had to stop for a while and the yers began heading back to their half of the field to resume the match once again.

    *Fweeeeee*

    A few secondster, after the yers were all back in their respective halves of the field, the referee��s shrill whistle that blew for kickoff for the fifth time in the game sounded and the Benfica team immediately kicked off.

    Benfica didn��t immediatelyunch an attack after passing and contented themselves with keeping the ball away from the Porto yers who ran at them with everything they had. Fueled by the goal that had once again given them the lead, the Porto team pressed the Benfica team hard with their aim being to retrieve the ball and go in full momentum to try and get another game to put the game beyond reach of their opponents.

    Benfica however were not nning to let that happen and did their best to keep the ball away from the Porto team and even when they lost possession a few times, they immediatelyunched a collective effort to press the opponent and retrieve the ball before Porto could do anything with the ball.

    Despite majorly being defensive, Benfica weren��t letting down their attacking efforts as the end goal of whatever tactic they were following was to get a goal and get back on equal terms with Porto once again.

    They could then go on to get a winning goal or at least stick it out till the end of 90 minutes and try to get a winning goal in extra time.

    Of course, there were also penalties, but those thoughts were still a luxury for the Benfica team that was still behind at this point.

    They would have to give more than a hundred percent of what they had if they were going to try and get back in the game and that was exactly what they nned on doing.

    #77th minute��

    Benfica had given all they had and some extra in thest few minutes, but the Porto team matched their efforts, doing their utmost best to keep the Benfica team from getting the goal they so desperately wanted, but no matter how they yed, there were bound to be a few holes somewhere that Benfica could take advantage of.

    Soon one of those holes opened up and a Benfica yer sent a grounded through ball down towards the right wing behind Alex Telles.

    The Benfica right winger rushed after the ball to catch it before cutting into the box and sending in a low cross into the path of the arriving Carlos Vinicius.

    Carlos Vinicius managed to catch the ball with his foot, but no sooner had it left his foot when it was obstructed by the steel-like leg of the Porto captain who immediately blocked the shot with his right leg.

    The ball rebounded off Pepe��s leg and came back to Carlos Vinicius who immediately took the shot again, but he wasn��t able to use as much strength as he put into the first shot thus the ball was easily deflected by Augustin Marchesin out of y.

    {Saved again by the Porto No. 1!}

    {The groans of the Benfica fans must be bing more apparent wherever they are as their team is gradually running out of time and chances to equalize}

    {It��s clear that the Benfica team is ying well, but the Porto team is doing more of the same and they have kept the Benfica team from getting the equalizer they want so badly}

    {We still have at least thirteen minutes left for this match, will we get a surprise} Thementator spoke as the yers on the field got ready for the corner.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The corner was taken, but the Benfica team wasn��t able to gain anything from it, and the match continued.

    #82nd minute��

    The Porto team had stepped up their efforts at trying to put the game out of sight and they had gotten a chance at goal which had unfortunately been deflected off its intended target and the Porto team was gifted a corner kick.

    It was a chance for them to still gain something from their attack and the Porto yers in the Benfica team��s 18-yard box pushed against the Benfica yers as they waited for the iing ball.

    *Fweeeee*

    Telles ran up to the ball and swung it into Benfica��s 28-yard box with a left-footed cross.

    The ball flew high into the air and the yers of both teams battled against each other as they tried to predict where the ball would end up, and when the ball was finally close enough, those who were nearest to the path of the ball leaped into the air.

    Porto��s center-back, Chancel Mbemba somehow managed to out-jump everyone and get his head to the ball first, sending it at the top right of the Benfica goal.

    The Benfica goalkeeper saw the change in the ball��s trajectory and immediately began moving, running as fast as he could towards the right side of the goal before finally jumping with his body fully extended, his gloved hand drawing closer to the ball every millisecond, but in the end, he missed the ball by a few inches.

    The ball dropped harmlessly into the goal and hit the right side of the before falling to the ground behind the goal line.

 Chapter 214: Taca de Portugal Finals 2020 VI

    Chapter 214: Taca de Portugal Finals 2020 VI

    {GOAL!!!}

    {It��s Porto making a statement yet again and they seem to be finally pulling away from their opponents!}

    {It��s a dangerous time to score, especially in a game like this, but Porto have their eyes on the des!}

    {Benfica are stunned!}

    {They didn��t need this at this time but Porto isn��t taking no for an answer!}

    {With less than ten minutes left of normal time, Is there still a way back for Benfica here?} Thementator fired line after line of explosive words as the Porto yers went to celebrate their goal.

    The Porto fans couldn��t stay in their seats in their respective houses and a loud collective shout of ��GOAL!�� could be heard in some nosier areas in the city of Porto.

    It was looking more and more likely that the Porto team would end up lifting the Taca de Portugal trophy in about ten minutes from that moment. In fact, to the Porto fans, their team had already won the game and they might as well just be handed the trophy, but unfortunately, there was a due procedure that had to be followed, and back at the stadium, the Porto yers ended their celebrations quickly.

    They wanted to quickly resume the game, run down the clock, and then lift the trophy.

    Their celebrations could continue then.

    Thus the Porto yers quickly headed back to their half of the field faster than anyone would expect and soon the match resumed once again.

    #87th minute��

    After getting their third goal, Porto��s aim was to run down the clock and not take any unnecessary risks so that they could finish the game with their lead intact and then go on to lift the trophy.

    However, Benfica denied their notion with every bone in their body and attacked the Porto team with reckless abandon.

    They were already two goals behind and time was running out so they needed to get the ball into Porto��s 18-yard box, and they needed to do so fast.

    The only way they could save this game was by getting an equalizer and going into extra time, but to do that they needed two goals and against a team like Porto, this was not going to be an easy task.

    However, Benfica was desperate, and feeding off their desperation, they kept pushing at the Porto team until finally Goncao Guedes took a shot at Porto��s goal from just outside the box, but it was deflected by a Porto yer and flew out of y.

    Before the Benfica yers could raise their hands toin about their observations, the shrill sound of the referee��s whistle was heard and the yers saw the referee running towards Porto��s 18-yard box with his hand pointed to the penalty spot.

    {What��s this!?}

    {The referee and the Benfica yers seem to think that this is a penalty}

    {Danilo Perreira had gotten in the way of the shot and deflected it off the target, but it seems like the ball mmed off his hand there}

    {There is an argument going on on the field with the Porto yers and the Benfica team involved and it seems to be getting out of hand} thementator gave full coverage of the situation.

    Just like he said, the ball had mmed against Danilo Perreira��s hand and flew out of y which the referee had noticed and was calling a penalty.

    The Porto yers however tried to argue that it was Goncalo Guedes that had shot the ball at Danilo and that Danilo was just trying to protect himself.

    Their argument was that the ball had hit Danilo��s hand and not the other way around, but the desperate Benfica yers weren��t interested in hearing such bullsh*t�� in their opinions of course.

    Thus with tempers already running a little high, a heated exchange of words soon began and it almost turned into a physical fight before the referee and other yers intervened and put an end to the fight.

    In the end, the referee ended up going to check again with VAR to prevent any doubt from either side and the final decision ended with the penalty being given.

    The Benfica fans in their home cheered with joy after seeing their team finally get a lifeline and hope once again blossomed in their hearts.

    If their team could score the penalty and then go on to somehow get another goal, then there could still be a chance for Benfica to lift the Taca de Portugal trophy this season.

    As for the actual probability of that happening, they didn��t bother trying to calcte as their hopes had made them blind.

    The Benfica yers also had hope, they still believed and they watched with rapt attention as Carlos Vinicius put the ball down on the penalty spot, took four steps back, and ced his hands on his waist, waiting for the referee��s whistle.

    With the yers already arranged outside the penalty area, the referee quickly blew his whistle and Carlos Vinicius began approaching the ball with cautious steps before smashing the ball towards the top right corner of the goal.

    Reading Vinicius�� body movement, Augustin Marchesin dived towards the right, but the ball elevated past his outstretched arm and mmed into the.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {3 : 2}

    {A missile of a penalty and Augustin Marchesin was only too human to stop a missile with his bare hands!}

    {Benfica have drawn nearer and are only one goal away from giving themselves a fighting chance here!}

    {Thest minutes of this game promises to be interesting!}

    {Can Benficaplete the quest from their fans to find something to stay in the game!?} Thementator��s voice could be heard loud and clear by the people in the stadium as well as those watching the live disy of the match anywhere else and with it came a sudden tension that hung in the air.

    Carlos Vinicius quickly took the ball from the back of the and began running back to the middle of the field, not doing much celebration because he knew that this wasn��t the time for such.

    They were already pressed for time so what was the point of celebrating a goal when the team was so close to missing out on a domestic trophy?

 Chapter 215: First Domestic Cup

    Chapter 215: First Domestic Cup

    *Fweeeeee*

    The referee blew for kickoff and the match resumed once again and Benfica��s battle against time began.

    Porto was the team with possession since they were the ones who kicked off, but Benfica wasn��t nning on letting them hold the ball for long and ran at them with as much strength as they could muster, desperation in their every step.

    Benfica soon regained possession of the ball and immediately tried tounch an attack, but Porto responded defensively with even more vigor than the Benfica team was putting out.

    On the sidelines, an assistant referee held up the board to show that there would be four additional minutes.

    The Benfica team seemed a bit energized by the fact that they had been given four extra minutes to try and get the breakthrough they so dearly wanted, but the Porto team thought differently�� they would have to hold onto their lead for the next four minutes if they wanted to lift the trophy without having to go into extra time.

    They didn��t want to have to do things the harder way by conceding and then have to fight tooth and nail in extra time and maybe even end up in a penalty shootout.

    They didn��t need that when they could win by simply just holding out. Thus they stood strong in the face of every Benfica attack, blocking, marking, and tackling for all they were worth.

    They were doing their utmost best to keep the Benfica team at bay and they were seeding at running down the clock as well.

    Of course, every now and then, the Benfica team managed to get past the Porto defense, but the efforts of the Porto defense at throwing the yer with the ball off and preventing them from getting a clear shot kept them from being able to send a single shot on target and finally��

    *Fweeeeeeeee*

    }

    The dreaded whistle that the Benfica yers and fans didn��t wish to hear at that moment red loudly through the stadium.

    For the Porto yers and fans, however, it was like a signal to start celebrating and they did just that.

    Gathering around in a team circle, they began jumping in joy and even the yers on the bench and the team staff came to join them.

    {It��s been blown!}

    {With that final whistle, the Taca de Portugal��s much anticipated final hase to an end!}

    {Portoe out on top after a hectic battle that disyed much of why these two teams are known to be rivals!]

    {For today, however, Portoe out on top!}

    {They have proven that the dragons are indeed the masters of the sky and they have covered the sky at the moment, leaving no space for the eagles to fly!}

    {After losing the Taca da Liga trophy to Braga earlier in the season, Porto have gone on to im what was left of the Portuguese des for this season and they have done so greedily!}

    {Not only did they take the title of League Leaders home with them, they have now taken the Taca de Portugal trophy!}

    {They��re leaving nothing in their wake!

    The Porto fans in their respective residences began dancing around their living quarters while pulling out their beer cups.

    It was going to be a long night in Porto.

    The fans could not be physically present at the stadium to witness their team lift the trophy, but they would watch it from their homes while warming up their bellies with beer that the city of Porto was famous for.

    Back at the stadium, the Porto yers continued celebrating, not caring for their dejected opponents who were lying, kneeling, and sitting on the ground with utter dejection on their faces.

    Some of the Benfica yers even looked like they would cry and some of them probably were already doing so, but no one could tell since their faces were covered.

    For any yer, it was already hard enough to lose a match, and if it was a match that held a lot of stakes, it felt even worse.

    The Benfica yers were experiencing this pain at the moment.

    They had tried and tried, but the goal just didn��te and in the end, they had lost.

    They had no excuses, they had not yed as well as the Porto team and had gone behind not just once, but twice in a game that was supposed to be yed with full focus.

    As a consequence of their actions, they would be going home as the second best and that was a lot to take in for a team like Benfica, especially when it was against a rival team like Porto.

    The same could be said for the Benfica fans. Some of them were already tearing up in their homes as the reality set in that their team had lost.

    Their hopes of taking at least one trophy home in the 2019/20 season had been dashed and they would be empty-handed until the next season.

    It truly was a lot to take in.

    The Porto yers though, didn��t care and were already preparing to receive their medals at the Estadio Cidade de Coimbra.

    The stage had been set and the people who would present the trophy had arrived.

    yer after yer went up, received a medal, and went up the stage behind the Taca de Portugal trophy.

    Soon it was the team captain��s turn.

    Pepe not only received a handshake and a medal, he was also handed the trophy that he then took over to his teammates, holding it up carefully with both of his hands.

    The Porto yers bounded around, jumping on their feet while still in ce. The excitement flowing through them made it hard for them to stay still as Pepe brought over the trophy.

    Arriving in front of the yers, the yers all crowded around as the trophy was brought low, and then at the count of three it was raised up high with the yers�� cheers and the unheard cheers of the fans in their homes.

    Camera lights shed everywhere and dazzling sparks burst forth on the sides.

    Even fireworks were sent into the sky and they burst forth in a beautiful array of color showers.

 Chapter 216: Heading to Germany... Again

    Chapter 216: Heading to Germany... Again

    Chapter 216: Heading to Germany�� Again

    **3rd August 2020**

    Jason was at his home packing his things into his bag as he was about to go on a trip.

    No�� it was more apt to say that the whole Porto team was going on a trip.

    The Europa League had been scheduled to continue in the country of Germany and Porto had a match against Rangers, a Scottish team thatpeted in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of Scottish football.

    It was a round of 16 match that should have been yed much earlier but had been indefinitely postponed due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus.

    Now that things were a bit more under control, the Europa had been scheduled to resume, anding up for Jason and the Porto team was a match against Rangers in the round of 16 on the 6th of August 2020.

    The results would be decided by a single match due to the new safety regtions as opposed to before where the results would be decided over home and away matches.

    The matches had also been scheduled to be held at neutral venues in Germany behind closed doors, which was why Jason was packing up as it meant that they would be in Germany until they either won the Europa League trophy or were eliminated. He had to pack the essentials at least as going back and forth would be difficult due to the restrictions on travel.

    As Jason packed, his eyes fell on the awards on the shelf in his bedroom.

    He used to have a few MOTM awards, a yer of the Month award, and a medal from winning the league, but over thest week, he had had four more awards added to his collection.

    Yes�� four.

    He had gotten another medal from winning the Taca de Portugal trophy and had just been chilling in his house when he received a message that told him of three more awards.

    Normally it was around this time that the Portuguese League for Professional Football (LPFP) g would be held, but due to the restrictions on gathering, it could not be held.

    The LPFP g was a gathering where annual winners of specific awards were given after the winner had been chosen by votes amongst LPFP pairs.

    Awards given at the LPFP g were;

    LPFP Primera Liga yer of the Year,

    LPFP Primera Liga Young yer of the Year (for yers under 23),

    LPFP Primera Liga Goalkeeper of the Year,

    LPFP Primera Liga Defender of the Year,

    LPFP Primera Liga Midfielder of the Year,

    LPFP Primera Liga Forward of the Year,

    LPFP Primera Liga Manager of the Year,

    LPFP Primera Liga Goal of the Year,

    And LPFP Primera Team of the Year (a selection of the best yers in each position).

    These awards were usually given at the g after the winner had been chosen through whatever means were being used, but this year, the g was bound not to be held due to the rules on social distancing.

    However, the awards were somehow still given out this year and Jason was surprised to hear that he not only won the LPFP Primera Liga Young yer of the Year award, he had also won the LPFP Primera Liga Goal of the Year award, and he was even a part of the LPFP Primera Liga Team of the Year.

    Not only that but he had even been nominated as forward of the year, Tiquinho Soares from his team ended up taking that award from him, however, Jason was too happy to be let down by that thought.

    He hadn��t expected this much in his first season.

    He had not only won two trophies already, but had already gotten a few more awards than some yers who had been ying for much longer than he had.

    His first season was already a st and now he could not help but be expectant about his team��s chances in the uing Europa League.

    It would definitely be even tougher than anything he��s faced so far and he didn��t know how much of a chance his team had at the Europa League trophy, but he didn��t think they were that high.

    For example, the Rangers team that his team would be ying against in three days had been in their group during the group stage, and in the group stages, Porto had lost once and drew once against Rangers.

    They hadn��t even been able to win against the Rangers team in the group stage, but now they would be facing them in the knockout stages and hoping to win somehow.

    The worst part of this situation was that the Rangers team was probably one of the weakest opponents left in the Europa League at this point.

    It was clear that the Europa League was a treacherous path forward for the Porto team and they could be swallowed up at any time, but Jason didn��t mind the challenges that stood in his way.

    Only by going through challenges anding out on top could he really feel like he had improved his skills, otherwise he might be stagnant without realizing it.

    ��Anyway, it doesn��t really matter if we can��t win this season. Losing is also a valuable experience,�� Jason thought to himself as he got back to packing his stuff.

    It was going to be very busy from that day forward.

    After a while, Jason finished packing his luggage and began to prepare to leave his house.

    The yers were supposed to gather at CTFD Portogaia at 11 am that day so that they could head to Germany and settle in and rest so that they could start preparing for their Europa League campaign.

    Quickly dressing up and throwing his stuff into the car before going back into the house to check if he hadn��t forgotten anything, Jason retraced his steps carefully while looking around to see if he missed anything, but he didn��t find anything and headed back to his car finally and got in.

    Starting the car with a push of the button, the car came to life with a barely audible hum that would almost never be heard on the road.

    Taking ast nce at his house, Jason drove his car out with determination in his mind.

 Chapter 217: Arrival at the MSV-Arena

    Chapter 217: Arrival at the MSV-Arena

    It took about half an hour for Jason to drive down to the CTFD Portogaia from his house and on getting to the training center, he parked his car in one of the avable parking spots before getting down and taking out his luggage.

    Joining the few teammates that had already arrived, Jason left his luggage to the staff who would be doing the loading and he satfortably inside the bus after greeting his teammates.

    As more teammates arrived, Jason received quite a few congrattions from his teammates who had heard of him sweeping up three LPFP awards.

    While waiting for the bus to fill up, Jason put on his headphones and began listening to music as he waited and it didn��t take too long before thest teammate who would be going to Germany with the team arrived.

    Telles had arrivedst and had surprised everyone with a new look of dying part of his hair blue while dying his beard grey.

    Surprisingly, Marega had also done something simr though he had arrived a while earlier.

    After sharing a fewughs with the team while his luggage was being packed, Telles sat in his seat and the team bus soon started moving.

    The bus headed to Francisco Sa Carneiro Airport where the Porto team��s private jet was hangared. They would be taking off from the airport and heading to the Dortmund DTM Airport which was the nearest airport to North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany, where the rest of the Europa League was scheduled to take ce. Getting on the ne took more time than ever before because of the various tests that the yers had to go through to ensure that they were safe from the COVID-19 virus.

    After almost a full hour, the ne carrying the Porto yers finally took to the skies at high speed.

    The flight to the Dortmund DTM Airport took almost three hours before the ne finally touched down in Germany.

    After the check-in and even more tests, they boarded a chartered bus that took them to Althoff Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg where rooms had already been booked for the yers�� stay in Germany.

    Of course, not knowing how long they would be staying in Germany would make things a bitplicated in their reservations, but that was for the club��s staff to worry about and did not concern the yers whose only concern was their performance on the pitch in theing days.

    Every other thing rted to the yers�� stay in Germany like their boarding, their feeding, where they would be training while they were here, and any other such concerns were the club staff��s business and were not the Porto yers�� cup of tea.

    After lodging at the hotel, the yers had a quick lunch and were released to rest for the rest of the day.

    **6th August 2020**

    *5:30 pm*

    It had been almost three days since Porto had arrived at North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany for the continuation of the Europa League and today was the day that the Europa League would kick off again with the first match between Porto and Rangers.

    Since arriving in Germany three days ago, the Porto team��s schedule had been filled mostly with training and lounging around at their hotel as this was no time to be going sightseeing.

    Apart from the risk of being exposed to the Coronavirus, the yers also did not feel the need to explore the North-Rhine Westphalia region of Germany when there was an uing match�� a very important one for that matter.

    They had instead been more focused on putting their full efforts into training and preparing for their Europa League campaign instead of ying tourists.

    The days had flown by as they prepared and the d-day had already arrived.

    The match was scheduled to start at 8:30 pm, but the yers were already on the bus and en route to the MSV-Arena in Duisburg which would be the venue for the Porto vs Rangers match.

    On arriving at the MSV-Arena the Porto yers got down from their bus and headed into the stadium, their faces a picture of determination and most of them ignoring the shing cameras.

    Some of the yers sent a few smiles and waves at the cameras but, most of them just walked in irresponsive of the cameras shing.

    On reaching their allocated locker room, the yers started changing out of their suits and into their pre-match training outfits.

    After changing, most of the yers headed to the field to begin pre-match training, but four yers remained behind with Sergio Conceicao.

    The four yers who remained were Pepe, Alex Telles, Tiquinho Soares, and Jason.

    They had been told to wait behind by the manager as they would be following him to the press conference due to them currently being the major interests in the team.

    Pepe was the team captain, Telles was an irreceable member of the team and had been named as LPFP Primera Liga yer of the Season, Tiquinho Soares was the highest goal scorer for the Porto team, and Jason was the young talent making waves at the club and was named the fan favorite of the team after an online poll held by the Porto fans.

    The head manager was taking this squad of names with him to the pre-match conference as he wanted to make a statement of intent.

    Not only he, but the Porto yers and fans were all intent on seeing Porto advance through the Europa League and try to end the season with a triple.

    It was definitely a back-breaking task considering they would be going up against some of the best sides in Europe, but one could at least have hopes and dreams.

    The Porto side had such hopes and dreams and they had been working hard at the training grounds ever since they arrived in Germany, all in a bid to turn their hopes and dreams into a reality.

    They were a picture of determination and were ready to give their all in theing game, and the game after that, as well as the game that would follow�� assuming they got that far, but that was not a matter for consideration.

    The least they could do was try irrespective of the future that awaited them.

 Chapter 218: Europa League Pre-Match Conference

    Chapter 218: Europa League Pre-Match Conference

    With Sergio Conceicao leading, the four yers entered the conference room amidst the shing cameras and took their seats at the long table that had been prepared for them.

    Jason sat with maximumposure imprinted on his face, but internally he was a bit unnerved by the number of the cameras that were pointed at him, and that was despite the number being low due to safety regtions.

    However, neither his face nor his actions flinched despite his surprise.

    It would take a lot more than this to faze him

    He sat quietly and watched as Sergio Conceicao said to begin the press conference.

    Due to them being in Germany, most of the reporters around were German and the few who weren��t were from either English-speaking countries, or some other country, thus there were hardly any Portuguese-speaking reporters here and because of this, there were some trantors around.

    Jason watched as the first reporter who had been allowed to speak asked a question in German and then his words were tranted to Portuguese for Sergio Conceicao by a trantor.

    Of course, since Jason was well versed in German, he didn��t need the trantor to understand the question being asked, but since the question wasn��t directed to him, he stayed silent and listened. ��Die Europa League ist endlich wieder aufgenommen und beginnt mit einem Spiel zwischen Porto und den Rangers. Was k?nnen wir erwarten? Was k?nnen wir von diesem Spiel erwarten?�� the reporter asked in German.

    In English, his words meant ��The Europa League has finally resumed and it will be starting with a match between Porto and Rangers. What should we expect from this match?��

    ��Bem�� estamos felizes que a Liga Europa possa ser retomada, apesar dos desafios que enfrentamos. Eu e os jogadores estamos gratos p oportunidade de continuar a nossa campanha na Liga Europa e vamos procurar rpensar os nossos adeptos uma vit��riao uma demonstrao de gratid?o pelo seu apoio intermin��vel,�� Sergio Conceicao replied in Portuguese and his words were tranted to the reporters.

    ��Well�� we are happy that the Europa League can resume despite the challenges that we have faced. I and the yers are grateful for the chance to continue our Europa League campaign and we will be looking to reward our fans with a win as a show of gratitude for their unending support,�� a trantor tranted his words from Portuguese to English for the English speaking reporters while another of the trantors tranted his words to German for the sake of the German reporters.

    ��What are your ns for the Europa League from here? Normally it goes without saying that a team with your pedigree should be aiming to go all the way, but with the presence of giants like Sevi, Manchester United, and Inter Mn who are more likely favorites for winning the Europa League, do you think your team stands a chance against those teams, or are you just willing to go as far as possible?�� a forty-something looking woman asked in English and her words were tranted to Sergio Conceicao who��s English was a bit shaky.

    After listening to the trantion of her question, he did not hesitate for a minute and immediately opened his mouth to speak, Portuguese words pouring out with every movement of his mouth,

    ��Para ser honesto, acho sua pergunta um pouco ofensiva porque,o voc�� disse, somos uma equipe um pedigree alto, e qualquer equipeo a nossa estaria sempre procurando vencer. Sempre foi o objetivo para n��s aqui no Porto�� vencer, independentemente dos desafios que vamos enfrentar. N?o entramos em nenhum jogo mentalmente derrotados e estamos sempre em busca de vencer. O mesmo est�� aqui, vamos procurar levantar o t��tulo da Liga Europa, o mesmo que as equipas que referiu.��

    ��Somos drag?es que n?o se acovardam na ndestinidade porque os nossos advers��rios s?o apenas ligeiramentemaior�� isso �� tudo o que estou disposto a dizer,�� Sergio Conceicao said in his mother tongue and the trantors quickly got to work.

    ��To be honest, I find your question a bit offensive because as you��ve said, we are a team with a high pedigree, and any team like ours would always be looking to win. It has always been the goal for us here at Porto�� to win, irrespective of the challenges we are to face. We do not go into any match mentally defeated and we are always striving to win. The same stands here, we will be looking to lift the Europa League title, the same as those teams you��ve mentioned,��

    ��We are dragons who do not cower in hiding because our opponents are just slightly bigger�� that��s all I��m willing to say,�� the trantors quickly converted Sergio Conceicao��s speech to English for the English reporters while the other trantors were doing the same in their respectivenguages.

    The press conference continued and more questions were thrown at the manager for a while, but soon questions began to head the way of the four yers that had apanied the manager to the press conference.

    Pepe was asked about how he nned to lead the team on the pitch so that they could make good on the manager��s words and he responded appropriately.

    Telles was asked how he felt being pronounced the yer of the season and how he hoped to perform in theing match to which he responded that being pronounced the best yer of the season was a surreal moment for him and that he hoped he could perform at a simr level in the Europa League, not just in today��s game, but in theing games as well.

    A second question was directed to Telles about rumors regarding his transfer to Manchester United to which Telles replied by saying that he was ttered by the offer and would deal with the decisionter, but for the moment he was still a member of the Porto team, and would strive to fulfill his duties. For himself and for the fans.

    The trantors were also doing their jobs by constantly tranting sentences left and right.

    Soon a question was directed to Tiquinho Soares as well. He was asked about his current scoring form and how he nned to carry it into the Europa League games to which he responded that scoring goals was something that was done and not exined, but as long as the ball came to his feet, he would always do his best to find the back of the.

    Soares was also asked about the rumors regarding his transfer to Tianjin Teda.

    The reporter wanted to know the usibility of the rumors, whether it was a deal Soares would be willing to make if it was true, and why Soares would be making his decision.

    Soares however brushed off this question with a vague answer that was slightly dismissive of the rumors as anything could happen these days.

    Finally, a question was thrown Jason��s way from a German reporter.

    ��Herr Jason, Sie haben nach Ihrem Deb��t gegen Bayer Leverkusen in der Europa League in dieser Saison f��r Porto mehr als beeindruckt und haben in zwei Spielen in der Europa League zwei Tore und 1 Voge erzielt. nen Sie, Ihren mutigen Spielstil im Spiel gegen die Rangers fortzusetzen, oder werden Sie einen vorsichtigeren Spielstil annehmen, um dem Team zu helfen, den Ballbesitz zu behalten und mehr mit dem Ball zu tun?�� the reporter asked in German.

    ��Mr. Jason, you have been more than impressive for Porto this season after your debut against Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League and have a record of two goals and 1 assist in two games in the Europa League. Do you n to continue your bold style of y in the match against Rangers, or will you adopt a more cautious style of y to help the team retain possession and do more with the ball?�� the meaning of the reporter��s words easily appeared in Jason��s head since he already understood thenguage and his mouth opened just as the trantor began tranting.

    ��Vorsichtiger Spielstil��? Was ist das?�� he asked the young female German reporter with a tilt of his head as if he was utterly confused.

    For a split second, the room went silent as everyone��s eyes fell on Jason in shock and surprise as he had just responded to a question asked in German by speaking German.

    Only the voice of the trantor who tranted Jason��s words to English could be heard,

    ��Cautious style of y��? What��s that?�� Jason��s words meant in English.

 Chapter 219: Dragon Style

    Chapter 219: Dragon Style

    The looks of utter shock and confusion from the people in the room was a sight to behold. The looks on the faces of the Porto yers and Sergio Conceicao were especially funny as it was as if they had received the shock of their lives.

    They had all been speaking in Portuguese and requiring the help of the trantors to get their words across and Jason had just gone and started speaking in German like it was his naturalnguage so how could they not be shocked?

    ��Cautious style of y��? What��s that?�� the trantor tranted Jason��s words into English.

    ��Ich wei? nicht, was du mit einem vorsichtigen Spielstil meinst�� aber ich werde immer mein Bestes geben, um dem Team zu helfen, indem ich meine Talente so einsetze, dass es dem Team zugute kommt. Bisher hat der Trainer nicht gesagt, dass er ein Problem mit meiner Spielweise hat, also ube ich auch nicht, dass die Mannschaft ein Problem damit hat.�� As ifpletely ignorant of the strange stares he was receiving, Jason continued speaking in German.

    ��I don��t know what you mean by a cautious style of y�� but I��ll always do my best to help the team by making use of my talents in a way that would benefit the team. So far, the manager hasn��t said that he has a problem with the way I y so I don��t think the team has a problem with it either,�� the trantor on the side continued tranting his words to English while the other trantors followed suit and tranted into thenguage they were supposed to be tranting it to.

    ��?hm�� Okay, ich bin sicher nicht der Einzige, der ��berrascht ist, dass Sie Deutsch sprechen k?nnen, aber ich w��rde nicht fragen, da es nichts mit der Pressekonferenz zu tun hat,�� the young German reporter responded with a surprised look.

    ��Uhh�� Okay, I��m sure I��m not the only one who��s surprised that you can speak German but I wouldn��t be asking as it has nothing to do with the press conference,�� the trantor continued doing his job.

    ��Sie haben Recht, es hat nichts mit der Pressekonferenz zu tun, also h?tte ich nicht geantwortet, wenn Sie gefragt h?tten,�� Jason responded with a slight smile appearing on his face. ��You��re correct, it has nothing to do with the press conference so if you had asked then I wouldn��t have answered,�� the trantor did not hesitate to trante Jason��s words into English.

    Jason��s witty response elicited a smallugh from the reporters and soon the press conference continued.

    The reporters continued asking various questions from the yer and the manager though most of the questions were directed at the manager.

    A few questions about transfer rumors surrounding Jason popped up a few times as well, but the manager waved off the question and when Jason was asked, he simply replied ��Noment,�� with apletely impassive face.

    After a few more minutes of grueling questioning, the press conference finally ended and the four Porto yers and their manager stood up to leave and went to join the rest of the yers that were already training in preparation for the game.

    Jason, Pepe, Soares, and Telles quickly went to join the team to warm up for the game and after a while, the manager called for the end of their pre-match training and the Porto yers headed off the field, leaving the Rangers F.C yers on the field as they were still doing their warm-ups.

    In the Porto team��s locker room, Sergio Conceicao began the pre-match tactical meeting by stating the team��s formation for the match and calling out the line-up,

    ��For this match, as we already decided and practiced in training, we will be using the 4-3-3 attacking formation, before I go further to exin, I��ll first call out the names of the yers in the starting line-up,��

    ��In goal, we will be having Augustin Marchesin defending our honor,��

    ��Our two center backs will be Ivan Marcano and Pepe,��

    ��In the left back and right back positions are Alex Telles and Wilson Manafa respectively,��

    ��There will be two center midfielders and one central attacking midfielder for this formation, so Sergio Oliveira and Danilo Perreira will be ying as the two central midfielders while Otavio shall y as the central attacking midfielder,��

    ��In front, we��ll have Fabio Viera on the right wing, Jason on the left wing, and Soares in the center as the sole striker,�� Sergio Conceicao listed out as he drew eleven circles on the board to represent the yers in their positions.

    Sergio Conceicao had chosen the 4-3-3 attacking formation over his usual 4-4-2 holding formation for many reasons.

    The first reason was due to selection problems in the squad.

    Jesus Corona had been injured in thest match of the Liga NOS against Braga and this meant that they had fewer wingers so he had to manage the few yers he had as the team was already quitecking in the wing department�� numerically of course, the quality was just as good as anywhere else if not better.

    Vincent Aboubakar��s contract had already expired and he was already a free agent at this point so he was nowcking numerically in the striker department as well because even Ze Luis had received an offer from another team and was already negotiating.

    He wanted his team to get used to ying without those guys so he had chosen this formation.

    Another one of the reasons he had chosen this formation was because of the firepower and flexibility it gave the team.

    Using the 4-3-3 attacking formation which traded the stability in the midfield of the 4-4-2 holding formation for more attacking options and flexibility in switching from attacking to defense was probably the best way to defeat the Rangers team.

    The Porto team had already faced the Rangers team twice in the group stage and not only had they not won either of their two meetings while using the 4-4-2 holding formation, but they had also even lost the second time.

    While this did not suggest that the 4-4-2 holding formation was useless against the Rangers team, Sergio Conceicao was not willing to use the same tactic as thest time he had lost and hope to win by luck.

    After all a wise man once said that doing the exact same thing twice and expecting different results each time was absolute stupidity.

    Of course, this did not hold true for humans as humans were imperfect beings whose 1+1 wasn��t always equal to 2, but it was close enough that Sergio Conceicao couldn��t simply stay unresponsive without trying to fix an obvious problem.

    They were here to try and win the Europa League, not to simply try their luck at the trophy so such risky changes were necessary if it meant having a better chance at their goals.

    ��This 4-3-3 attacking formation aims to be able to attack the Rangers team hard and fast before they can respond whenever we are on the attack,��

    ��We already have four attacking options in person of Soares, Fabio, Jason, and Otavio but the two wing backs will also move forward whenever there is a chance and be ready to support by sending in crosses or taking long-range shots,��

    ��Sergio and Danilo will permanently anchor themselves in the midfield, only moving forward just enough to support the others in keeping possession of the ball by passing the ball around, but otherwise I want you guys focused on defense at all times,��

    ��If we get caught on the counterattack while the wing-backs are forward, then I want you guys to cover the wings and dy the counter as much as possible and if possible eliminate the threat,�� Sergio Conceicao exined as he drew on the board and made all sorts of gestures to ensure the yers understood the game n.

    ��If we are on the defense, I want you guys to make sure you shut down the Ranger��s team between the space after the halfway line and the edge of our penalty box by boxing them in and leaving no options for them in the center,��

    ��We want to force them to the sides where it��s harder for them to just take a shot at our goal and there we double our efforts to shut them down and retrieve the ball,��

    ��On the attack, we��ll also make use of the wings and I��ll make a distinction so you guys understand�� if the ball ends up on the left side and Jason ends up with the ball, Fabio should move into the box ready to receive the ball while Otavio should draw closer to Jason so he can receive a pass if need be when Jasones off the dribble,��

    ��Jason, I want you always cutting in and essing your options before deciding whether to send a pass in or to make a run for the goal yourself,�� Sergio Conceicao said, his eyes falling on Jason who quickly nodded in affirmation while muttering a response.

    ��On the right, the same, but since Fabio is not as good as running through defenses like Jason, we will focus more on a tiki-taka style on the right side of the field,��

    ��One good thing is that since Jason, Otavio, and Fabio can y in each other��s positions without any problems, they can change positions anytime ording to the situation if they can find a weaker side in the opponent��s defense,��

    ��Tiquinho, I don��t know how you��re going to do it in the match, but I want you to always remain open and onside so that you can respond immediately if the balles your way, is that clear?�� Sergio Conceicao asked with a very serious tone, his eyes on Tiquinho Soares.

    ��Yes Coach,�� Soares didn��t hesitate in his reply.

    ��Good, we��re here to win guys, let��s make sure we do so�� Dragon style,�� Sergio Conceicao made a closing remark with a smirk and the yers responded with cheers.

 Chapter 220: Dragon Style II

    Chapter 220: Dragon Style II

    {After a tumultuous few months that consisted of many things we��ve never experienced, something we know and have experienced is back}

    {Today, the Europa Leaguees back to Europe after its suspension earlier in the season due to unforeseen circumstances}

    {A lot has happened between the time that the Europa League went on break and now, but one thing remains constant and that is the teams involved and their desire to win}

    {It doesn��t need to be said that we are in for an exciting 90 minutes so I��d advise you to finish everything you have to do and keep your eyes open as not a single second will be a waste of time in this match}

    {It��s Porto going up against Rangers here in the home of the MSV Duisburg, the MSV-Arena} Thementator got to work as the yers marched onto the green in order and lined themselves up while the video jockeys geld up their cameras, recording everything and transmitting the scenery live to everyone watching the Europa League from all over the world.

    The Porto yers looked smart in their blue and white striped home jersey while the Rangers team had worn their blood red third jersey for the game as their home jersey used the same blue color as Porto and wearing it would cause confusion on the field.

    The pre-match formalities didn��t take much time to be done and the yers of both teams were soon in their respective halves of the field and waiting for the match to kick-off.

    Porto had won the coin toss and were passing first so Tiquinho Soares stood over the ball with one leg on the ball and his eyes surveying all across the stadium. The other yers were doing all sorts of body movements to rx and prepare their muscles for the match and soon,

    *FWEEEEEEEE!!!*

    The whistle that blew for the match to begin reverberated around the stadium and Soares immediately made a pass to Otavio, kicking off the game.

    With that, the Europa League resumed.

    The Porto team, having possession of the ball did not hesitate to begin moving the ball into their opponent��s half of the field, making it clear that they were not here to y cautious football, but rather hard and fast football as was the major style of the Portuguese football.

    The ball flew from yer to yer as they immediatelyunched an attack on the Rangers�� team just seconds into the game.

    Otavio sent the ball towards Fabio Viera on the right and immediately followed after him to provide support in the center while Soares moved forward and Wilson Manafa followed closely behind from behind.

    Receiving the ball, Viera immediately began moving the ball further down the right but his path was soon blocked by a Rangers yer and he had toe to a stop.

    {It��s been only a few seconds since the match started and Porto is already looking to start something here}

    Surveying the field, he saw that Otavio and Soares were not in a position that was close enough for him to pass without the risk of his pass being intercepted so he passed back to Wilson Manafa.

    As the ball began rolling in the direction of Wilson Manafa, Tiquinho Soares who was in the center of the field suddenly cut out the right with a dashing sprint while calling for a pass.

    Wilson Manafa didn��t disappoint and immediately sent an outside pass down the right wing.

    The ball flew forward at a quick pace and reached Soares down the right wing without any problems.

    Receiving the ball on the right, Soares immediately cut back and headed toward the Rangers team��s penalty box while surveying the field for his teammates.

    While he was looking for a teammate the Rangers yers were not staying still and immediately rushed at him, but Tiquinho disyed his Brazillian nationality in full splendor and weaved through the yers with amazing ease before sending a high cross into the penalty box.

    {Intelligently getting past his opponents here and he sends a cross into the box!} Thementator��s voice held an expectation for what was toe.

    Jason was arriving into the Rangers team��s 18-yard box when he saw the ball flying into the air in his direction and without hesitation, he moved for the ball, but he wasn��t alone.

    As he rose into the air with an amazing leap to meet the ball, a Rangers defender also jumped into the air along with him, ramming into him in mid-air, throwing off Jason��s momentum and causing him to catch the ball with his head in an awkward position.

    With that much obstruction, Jason��s heading skills which were already quite terrible took an an even more downward plunge and Jason headed the ball over the bar, missing the postpletely before falling to the ground on his back.

    {Oh! It��s up and over the bar! It seems he caught the ball on the wrong side of his head there}

    Immediately Jason recovered from the fall he called for a foul because he knew that somebody had hit him and thrown him off, but the referee ignored his call for a foul and blew for a goal kick.

    Getting up with a wry smile on his face, Jason headed out of the Rangers team��s penalty box while making meaningful eye contact with his teammates.

    {It was a good attempt by the Porto team, but it came to nothing and Rangers have a goal kick}

    {They may not have gotten anything from this attempt, but if they keep this up then the scoreboard operator may be troubled soon} Thementator did not stop speaking even while the goalkeeper of the Rangers team went to collect a ball for the goal kick.

    The Rangers goalkeeper set the ball down before taking a few steps back and ncing at the field to note the location of his teammates.

    Once he had noted his teammates�� location on the pitch, he made a decision of where to send the ball to and ran at the ball.

    With a powerful kick, the ball was sent flying into the air before it came back down toward the field at a high-speed courtesy of good ol�� gravity.

    yers of both teams immediately jumped into the air to fight for the ball and the match soon continued.

    #7th minute��

    The yers had been going hard at each other and it was fair to say that they were quite fairly matched against each other despite the slight expectations of the viewers that Porto would be the better team, but the match was just starting so the viewers still reserved their judgment.

    Ever since Porto��s attack at the beginning of the match, the game had been like a roller coaster of attacking football from both teams.

    The Rangers team would attack and either get a shot away or get shut down and the Porto team would immediatelyunch a lightning-fast counterattack, but so far the two of them had only gotten one shot on target each.

    Rangers had just had their attack stifled by Pepe deflecting a shot from a Rangers yer and the Rangers team had just gotten a corner.

    *Fweeeee*

    The referee blew for the corner to be taken and the ball was immediately swung into the penalty box by the Rangers yer taking the corner kick.

    The yers in the penalty shuffled against each other as they tried to get as close to the path of the ball but when the ball finally arrived, it was a Rangers yer that caught the ball with his head and sent the ball towards the Porto goal.

    Augustin Marchesin immediately reacted and jumped for the ball, but the ball had been directed too far away from where he was and he couldn��t reach the ball even after fully extending himself with a splendid dive.

    The ball flew past Augustin��s gloved palm until finally,

    *CLANG*

    The ball smashed on the outside of the left post and flew out of y to the dismay of the Rangers yers and the relief of the Porto yers.

    {Saved by the bar! Porto can heave a sigh of relief!}

    {For a second there it looked like they were about to go behind, but the Rangers captain seemed to have put a little too much power on the header instead of finesse and the ball has skewed off target!} Thementator��s voice rose to a high pitch as he deliveredmentary on the match situation while James Tavernier who had headed the ball had his face in his hands as he couldn��t believe that he had missed a chance to put his team ahead.

    His teammates patted his back as they began to head out of Porto��s 18-yard box since Augustin Marchesin was about to take a goal kick.

    {He should have put that away}

    {Chances like those in matches like this cannot afford to be missed as it coulde back to haunt him} Thementator continued with hismentary as Augustin Marchesin sent the ball flying into the air from the goal kick and the match once again continued.

 Chapter 221: Dragon Style III

    Chapter 221: Dragon Style III

    #18th minute��

    Since the match began, both teams had been ying hard and fast attacking football against each other and even after going at each other constantly for almost one-third of an hour, they were still going as strong as when the match just began.]

    At this time, Porto was with the ball and they were once againunching an attack on the Rangers team.

    Sergio Oliveira had just sent the ball to Otavio who was about halfway between the edge of the Rangers team��s 18-yard box and the halfway line.

    On receiving the ball, Otavio immediately sent the ball toward Jason who was at the left corner of Rangers�� 18-yard box.

    Jason sent the ball that wasing his way towards Tiquinho Soares who was infield with a one-touch pass and immediately moved, making a dash past his marker and heading into the 18-yard box of the opponents.

    Soares sent the ball back to Otavio with a one-touch pass as well and the moment the ball reached Otavio, he immediately sent a through pass curling between the Rangers defenders on the left side.

    The ball appeared into the path of Jason who was already making the run into the Rangers team��s penalty box and he immediately stretched his right foot forward to catch the ball and bring it under control. Managing to do that without any problems, Jason changed his direction slightly and faced the Rangers goalkeeper who was alreadying at him.

    Maintaining maximumposure, Jason coolly curled the ball around the goalkeeper with a right-footed shot and sent the ball into the back of the before turning and running down the sidelines.

    {It��s in!}

    {He��s propelled his team forward with yet another moment of brilliance!}

    {Dynamic build-up y, excellent decision-making, and a perfectly executed finish!}

    {It doesn��t get any better than this! Their opponents cannot understand what just happened as it had happened too fast for them to react!}

    {However, one statement can exin the situation!}

    {Porto are in front!} Thementator began delivering his poetic lines as Jason ran down the sidelines and jumped into the air while pumping his fist.

    The remaining Porto yers headed to the sidelines as well to celebrate the goal while the Porto fans in their homes made all sorts of excited gestures while some of them even shouted ��GOAL!�� at the top of their voices.

    No two Porto fans�� reactions were exactly the same, but the one thing that was the same was that they were happy that they had gotten a goal.

    The celebrations didn��t take long as there were still more than seventy minutes left in the match and a lot of things could happen so the Porto yers soon regained their focused and determined moods and put aside their excitement as they headed back to their half of the field to await kickoff.

    #36th minute��

    Even after Porto had opened up the match with Jason��s goal earlier, they had not reduced their efforts at trying to get another one past the Rangers goalkeeper and had been a constant source of trouble for the Rangers defenders, but so far they hadn��t been able to achieve what they sought after.

    The Rangers team on the other hand were not looking idly and wereunching attack after attack whenever they gained possession of the ball.

    They understood that this was no time to sit back and try to control the game, especially with the way Porto was taking shots that wereing dangerously close to extending their lead.

    Rangers had been in possession of the ball for thest minute and they had been passing the ball around cleverly as they moved the ball farther into the Porto team half.

    Ryan Kent, Rangers left winger had just received the ball from James Tavernier and he swiftly elerated past Wilson Manafa and tried to send a cross into the box at the waiting head of Rangers striker, Joe Aribo.

    As the ball flew into the box, Ivan Marcano immediately lunged at the ball mid-air and cleared the ball before it could reach the Rangers striker.

    The ball flew out of Porto��s penalty box and headed towards Danilo Perreira who headed the ball at Sergio Oliveira immediately the ball reached him.

    Catching the ball on his chest while holding off his marker, Sergio Oliveira let the ball fall to his feet after it bounced off his chest and once the ball was at his feet, he did not hesitate to send it forward down the left side of the field.

    On the left was Jason who received the ball on the left side of Porto��s half of the field, just about a meter from the halfway line.

    Immediately flicking the ball forward, Jason took off into the Rangers half of the field but he had barely moved two meters past the halfway line when he squared up against the Rangers team��s right back.

    Jason immediately slowed his pace but kept advancing and did a couple of step-overs as he drew nearer to the yer.

    Once he was close enough to the Rangers yer, the yer immediately tried to tackle him, but Jason suddenly moved the ball to the left as if he nned to move towards the left.

    The Rangers immediately followed Jason��s leg movement and tried to tackle the ball, but Jason suddenly moved his leg past the ball and snapped the ball back to the right in a smoothly executed reverse stico.

    The Rangers right back immediately tried to correct his movement but that led to him losing his footing and tripping over himself while Jason moved past him unhindered and continued his dash down the left side of the field.

    The path down the left side of the field waspletely free after Jason had gotten past the Rangers�� right back, but the goal was in the center of the field and not on the left side so Jason quickly sent a through pass into Otavio��s path as Otavio ran down the center of the field.

    Receiving the ball while moving, Otavio flicked the ball forward and continued advancing towards the Rangers team��s penalty box, not slowing his pace even one bit.

    The Rangers defenders soon changed their target to Otavio who was with the ball and immediately began running at him instead, but in doing so they had left open a bit of space for someone to get through.

    Otavio had seen the open space and immediately sent a chip pass over the defenders and toward the direction of the open space.

    Tiquinho Soares suddenly appeared behind the Rangers defenders and caught the ball on his knee, sending it towards the ground and running into the penalty box before smoothly making quick work of the goalkeeper and sending the bulging.

 Chapter 222: Dragon Style IV

    Chapter 222: Dragon Style IV

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Porto strike twice!}

    {A beautifully set up counterattack ending with the remarkable ssy finish!}

    {Porto take the Rangers to school and show them how it��s done!}

    {With two goals already in the first half, how much more do they have in store for their opponents!?} Thementator delivered hismentary loudly with as much excitement and exuberance as the Porto yers and fans were currently feeling.

    Tiquinho Soares had already taken off towards the sidelines and jumped into a knee slide in excitement while the Porto yers had followed after him with some of them jumping into a knee slide after him as they crowded around him in excitement.

    At this moment the Porto fans wished more than anything to be at the stadium where their team was ying so that they could feel the excitement with more fervor than the screen they were watching the match from allowed, nevertheless, they didn��t let that dampen their excitement as they cheered for their team from the front of their screens.

    The Rangers team��s fans had the same look that could be seen on the Rangers manager��s face�� a sordid mix of disappointment, dismay, and their hope slipping away was barely visible as they watched with bitter smiles as the Porto team celebrate their second goal against their team. It was only the first half and they could already witness the Porto team building up an impregnable wall in front of their team��s chances at promotion in the Europa League round of 16.

    Unfortunately, it was a wall that they had a hard time believing their team could scale, but they didn��t dare to abandon their hopes yet.

    Even if they were going to give up on supporting their beloved team, it wouldn��t be in the first half of the game, so they quickly brightened up and began cheering for their team once again, wishing that their heartfelt support could reach the yers and help them with oveing the obstacle they were faced with.

    The obstacle named Porto F.C.

    #44th minute��

    The first half was graduallying to an end and Porto was still two goals in front of the Rangers team, though this was not because of the Rangers team having put their full focus into keeping the Porto team out.

    Rather the opposite in fact��

    The Rangers team had almost given up on defending ever since they had gone two goals behind and had instead yed with their full focus on attacking, leaving only two men behind to aid the goalkeeper in guarding their goal.

    The rest of the Rangers team put their full efforts into applying pressure on the Porto team and looking for a goal by any means.

    They already knew that conceding another goal wouldn��t matter if they were going to lose either way so they had decided to damn the consequences and go for their only way out of this situation with reckless abandon.

    That of course required them to equalize through any means possible and they weremitted to doing so and had been ying in an all-out attack style ever since.

    Of course, this method also had its cons and Porto had almost gotten their third goal a couple of times, but somehow, they had been mere inches wide of making good on their chances every time.

    Thanks to this, Rangers were still able to continue attacking with reckless abandon while hoping for a chance that could get them a step in the direction.

    Ryan Kent on the left had just received the ball from a teammate and he immediately escaped the tackle of Wilson Manafa yet again as he dashed past him.

    Unlike before, Kent did not send in a cross from outside the box, but he instead cut inside and charged into Porto��s penalty box from the left.

    Ivan Marcano immediately ran at him to stop him, but with a skillfully executed ��La Crocheta��, Kent shifted the ball from leg to leg smoothly and stepped past Ivan before taking a shot at the Porto goal.

    Augustin Marchesin had kept his eyes on the ball from the start so he managed to dive on time and get a hand to the ball, punching it towards the right.

    The ball bounced toward the right of Porto��s 18-yard box and Joe Aribo suddenly appeared in the path of the ball and sent the ball back whence it came, trying to score off the rebound, but Pepe who had not stopped moving for a second got in the way of the shot with a well-timed sliding tackle.

    The ball mmed off the back of Pepe��s leg and bounced back once again and once again Kent appeared behind the ball faster than any of the other Porto yers and hit the ball with as much power as he could muster.

    This time, the efforts of the Porto yers on the defense weren��t able to defend Kent��s second attempt at goal and the of the Porto team was sent flying.

    {GOALLL!!!}

    {Rangers are dragging it back! They have one!}

    {A do-or-die attempt from the Rangers team which ended with them squeezing the ball into the back of their opponent��s after a magnificent save from the Porto goalkeeper and an impressive block from the Porto team captain!}

    {I��m sure the team captain must be wondering where the rest of his defenders were after his and the goalkeeper��s efforts!}

    {Porto��s misfortune started with letting the Rangers left winger in from the left and everything that happened after was a given!}

    {They must regret it, but it will not matter in the grand scale of things as Rangers have gotten one back!}

    {Can Rangers go on to get an equalizer!?} Thementator just wouldn��t stop talking to the annoyance of the Porto yers and their fans.

    The Porto fans especially wished that they could stuff a brick down thementator��s throat as the kind ofmentary he was giving was too excessive for a team that had merely gotten one back after being barely able to survive the situation they had willingly put themselves in.

    The Porto team was still leading and they had been by far the better team, which was reflected in the scoreline, but thementator was making it feel like the Porto team was lucky to be in the lead and now that the Rangers team had gotten one, they would then go on to stage aeback.

    The Porto fans were definitely riled up at this and they wished their team would show their opponents who was on top and the Porto yers in the MSV-Arena were thinking the exact same thing.

    There was no way ofmunicating their thoughts to one another, but somehow, they were thinking the same thing and it was already certain that the second half of the match would be quite turbulent.

 Chapter 223: Dragon Style V

    Chapter 223: Dragon Style V

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The whistle for the end of the first half had been blown and the match immediately came to a halt.

    Despite the efforts of the two teams to trouble the scoreboard operator one more time before the first-half whistle was blown, they came up short and did not manage to make any more waves until the referee finally blew for the end of the first half.

    The yers trudged off the field with different looks on their faces as they headed to their locker rooms to refresh themselves and recharge their batteries for the second half of the game.

    The Porto yers filed into their locker room where the head manager was already waiting for them to arrive with his arms folded.

    Sergio Conceicao didn��t wait for the yers topletely settle down and opened his mouth,

    ��Hurry up and settle down, we have a lot of things to go over,�� he chastised, not wanting to waste any time at the moment.

    The yers hurriedly kept quiet and sat down while some of them drank water from their bottles as quietly as possible while keeping their eyes trained on the manager. ��First things first�� Good work out there in scoring two goals and putting us in the lead, Jason and Tiquinho especially,�� Sergio Conceicao began and then paused,

    ���� But!��

    ��What were the rest of you guys doing, especially the defense and the midfield?�� he asked, his voice rising slightly.

    ��Sergio, Danilo, I remember telling you to help the defense in keeping out the Rangers team from the center of the pitch, but I never said you should neglect your mid-field duties,��

    ��Our opponents were just ying around in our mid-field and were allowed to build up quite a few attacks that resulted in us conceding a goal and causing us to lose a goal��s advantage to our opponents and now they��re on our backs more than ever,��

    ��Also, Wilson, what the hell are you doing letting that Kent guy get past you every time Rangers were on an attack, huh?��

    ��If you had done your duties well, then the opponents wouldn��t have been able to get one back,�� the Portuguese head managerid out all his observations first as it was always best to let the yers know their wrongs so that they would know what part of their performances needed improvement.

    ��Do you have any excuses for ying like that? Maybe there��s something I��m not seeing,�� Sergio Conceicao spoke again and waited for a response, but none of the yers spoke up.

    ��So, no excuses? Good, that��s over�� now here��s what we��re going to do in the second half,��

    ��Wilson, I want your full focus on staying back and keeping that Kent guy away from our box by any means necessary, the rest of the defenders will carry on with what they had been doing previously, but I want your full focus on keeping the opponents out this time,��

    ��Danilo and Sergio, I want you guys to move forward a bit more so that it��s easier for our team to control possession, we can��t afford to keep giving up possession to our opponents so easily. If they don��t have the ball, then they can��t do anything with it, right?�� Sergio Conceicao asked rhetorically but a few of the yers responded with affirmative nods.

    ��So Otavio, Danilo, and Sergio will form a triangle in the center and keep the ball moving while Telles wille from the back to help with passing,��

    ��Jason, Fabio, and Tiquinho upfront will need more support from the midfield if they are going to be able to help us further our lead, I��m counting on you guys to be up to it,�� the manager said while facing the three midfielders.

    ��Yes coach,�� the three yers answered in unison and Sergio Conceicao nodded with satisfaction.

    From then on, the manager went further into exining the game n to the yers until it was time for the yers to head back to the field for the second half.

    ��Let��s go out there and win, there are no other options on the table,�� Sergio Conceicao said his final words to the yers as they headed out and the yers affirmed his words with cheers, nods, and determined looks while a rare few had confident looks on their faces as they headed out to the field.

    The yers were soon gathered on the field once again and they arranged themselves on their respective halves of the field as they awaited themencement of the second half.

    *Fweeeeee*

    The second half of the Round of 16 match between F.C Porto and Rangers F.C began with the referee��s whistle blowing loudly.

    The Rangers team was the one to kick off the second half and at first nce, it was easy to notice that there was a change in the team��s line-up.

    Jermain Defoe, a yer that the streets of Ennd would never forget had been substituted on the field for Joe Aribo as the center forward for the Rangers team.

    Jermain Defoe was the one that kicked off the game and there was no oddness in his movements as he immediately began moving across the field while staying in an open position to receive the ball.

    Of course, the Porto yers didn��t allow the ball to reach him before they snatched the ball back from the Rangers team and began passing around the ball in the middle of the field among themselves.

    Almost a minute passed after they had retrieved the ball yet the Porto team kept on passing the ball back and forth across the field.

    At first nce, it seemed like they had cooled off from their first-half ying style of continuous attacks, but the more experienced eye noticed that Porto had chosen stability over a back-and-forth game that would leave them vulnerable to sudden counterattacks.

    However, choosing a stable style of y did not necessarily mean that they had given up on scoring goals��

    #49th minute��

    Porto��s style of y had slowed the game down and did not allow for the Rangers team to burst out on the counter as they had done so many times in the first half.

    In fact, they were still adjusting to Porto��s new tactic and this was evident by the possession stats since the second half which was a whopping 73% to 27% in the favour of Porto.

    The Porto team was currently in possession of the ball, but they had been pushed back quite a bit because of the pressure from the Rangers team that was continuously trying to regain possession of the ball.

    Suddenly, Jason received the ball on the left side of the field, and with a smoothly executed stico, he got rid of his marker and burst past the halfway line with the ball, running with the ball down the left wing.

    {What quick feet! He��s gotten rid of his marker and is bursting down the left wing with amazing agility, is he trying to start something here!?} thementator immediately began delivering hismentary, his words slowly bing faster as they rolled off his tongue.

    Jason was not paying attention to thementator as he ran down the left wing, rather his focus was trained on the yers that were rapidly drawing nearer when all of a sudden he noticed a blue and white striped jersey dashing across the right side of the field across from him.

    Not hesitating for a moment, Jason waited for the yersing at him toe closer before sending a lobbed-through pass across the field all the way toward the right side of the field.

    {Cross field ball! Who��s there to get on the end of this pass!?}

    The ball glided through the air until it arrived in the path of Fabio Viera who had begun making a run down the right side of the field the moment he noticed Jason��s movement and it seemed his judgment was paying off.

    Catching the ball off his chest, Fabio Viera allowed the ball to fall to his feet and he pushed the ball forward into the Rangers team��s penalty box.

    Rangers�� goalkeeper, n McGregor, immediately rushed out to meet Fabio Viera midway, but that was his undoing as Fabio sent a cheeky chip ball over n McGregor who had jumped up in an attempt to catch the ball, but failed.

    The Scottish-born goalkeeper could only watch the ball drop into the back of the that he was supposed to be guarding while thementator��s voice erupted with a loud shout.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Barely four minutes into the second half and Porto have their third!}

    {They��re cruelly ripping apart the Rangers team��s Europa League dream and they��re doing so with a smile on their faces!}

    {Their joy as they celebrate says a lot about how much this goal means to them!}

    {With it, they once again extend their lead to two!}

    The words of thementator passed through one ear of Fabio Viera and out the other as he ran towards Jason and jumped on him while the rest of the Porto team followed by trying to jump on Viera who was being held by Jason.

 Chapter 224: Dragon Style VI

    Chapter 224: Dragon Style VI

    {The bodynguage of the Rangers team doesn��t look nice and the manager will have his hands full trying to pump up his yers after theirtest setback} thementator began delivering hismentary once again as the Rangers team kicked off.

    As he said, the Rangers yers were not disying the correct bodynguage after their kick-off, and it wasn��t that they were ying like they had given up on winning, but rather it was because of how they were ying with reckless desperation.

    It had been barely a minute since the Rangers team kicked off yet not only had they almost immediately lost the ball to the Porto team after trying to recklessly break through without any strategic passing, but even after losing the ball, they had violently tackled the Porto yers while trying to immediately recover the ball and the referee had already called for a foul twice.

    The Rangers team had seemingly lost all theirposure after going behind even further after the second half began.

    They were already short on time and now they had to score at least two goals to equalize with the Porto team while also making sure that they did not concede another goal.

    It was only natural for them to lose theirposure, still, thementator as well as anybody else who had experience with football knew that ying like this would not help them in any way, but would rather make it even more difficult for them to get back.

    In fact, ying like this would make it easier for Porto to elongate their lead even further and the manager had to curb this attitude from his yers before the game went beyond saving.

    On the sidelines, the Rangers manager started shouting out instructions to his yers to try and help the yers regain theirposure and the yers�� aggressiveness reduced a bit, but it didn��tpletely stop. #56th minute��

    The Porto team had slowly but surely taken control of the reins of the game and were dictating the tempo of the game anyhow they wanted, much to the dismay of the Rangers team which was constantly trying to increase the pace of the game, but Porto wasn��t allowing for such actions.

    The Porto team passed the ball strategically among themselves and onlyunched an attack every few minutes whenever there was a very clear chance, otherwise, they didn��t take the risk and focused on possession and keeping the Rangers team penned in if they weren��t with the ball.

    To most eyes, it would seem like Porto was ying a defensive game, and in a way they were, but it was a defensive game they were ying on their own terms because they were already in the lead by two goals.

    This time Porto was on the attack again and Otavio had just received the ball back from Fabio Viera on the right side of the field after he had been unable to prate the Rangers defense from the right.

    Since the right side was currently imprable, Otavio sent the ball toward Jason on the left.

    Receiving the ball on the left side of the field, Jason made a move that surprised his marker.

    Instead of trying to dribble past his marker and head down the left side of the field before trying to cut in, Jason instead flicked the ball to the right and headed towards the center parts of Rangers�� 18-yard box.

    James Tavernier, Jason��s marker immediately gave chase, but Jason��s sudden change in direction had ensured that he was already on the back foot and he could only do his best by chasing as much as possible.

    Jason who was being chased ignored his chaser for the time being as he had other problems.

    He had chosen to go down the middle instead of down the left, but that meant that not only would he have to deal with his marker who was already chasing him, but he would also have to deal with the Rangers yers guarding the center parts of the pitch and were standing between him and the Rangers goal.

    Nevertheless, Jason didn��t hesitate due to this, instead, his body felt like it was heating up and his vision narrowed as he nced around before locking onto his first target.

    Glen Kamara, a Rangers midfielder was already charging at Jason from the right, wanting to end Jason��s run as soon as possible but as soon as he came close enough and lunged at Jason to tackle the ball from him, Jason��s right leg moved and flicked the ball into the space between his legs.

    {Smooth evasion of his opponent from Jason!}

    Jumping out of the way of Glen Kamara, Jason moved behind him to collect the ball once again and continued his run towards the Rangers goal and soon came across the second yer from the Rangers team in his way, George Edmundson.

    Not wanting to waste too much energy on dribbling alone through everyone when he had teammates, Jason passed the ball to Tiquinho Soares on his right and hopped past George Edmundson.

    Soares did a one-touch pass to Jason and Jason received the ball and dragged it into a spin as if he was going to do a Cruyff turn, but as he came out of the spin, he flicked the ball through the legs of thest Rangers defender in front of the goal, Connor Goldson, who had unfortunately arrived near Jason.

    {He��s gotten past thest man�� Can he go all the way!?} thementator��s voice rose into a high-pitched drone.

    The ball rolled quickly between Connor��s legs despite his efforts to try and shut them before the ball passed through and Jason jumped past him to chase after the ball, but just as he got to the ball and was about to charge into the box, somebody from behind swept his leg away from under him and sent him crashing to the ground.

    His momentum sent him rolling on the ground while he clutched his ankles in pain.

    {He��s been brought down at the edge of the box after a splendid run!}

    {He looks to be in pain with the way he��s clutching onto his ankle, but I��m sure he��s feeling a lot more hurt from his efforts going to waste!}

    {Getting through three yers almost all on his own and making it past thest man before he was brought down}

    {What a yer!}

    {What does the referee have to say about that tackle!?} Thementator spoke as the referee ran up to James Tavernier and pulled out a yellow card from his breast pocket that he held up.

    Immediately the Porto yers protested that James Tavernier should have been shown a red card and not a yellow card because Jason had already been through on goal after getting past Connor Goldson before he was tackled from behind.

    It was an obvious obstruction of a goal-scoring chance, but the referee didn��t seem to think so as he stuck with his decision of a yellow card for the Rangers captain.

    On the sidelines, Steven Gerrard, the manager of the Rangers team heaved a sigh of relief.

    It was definitely of great relief that not only had his team avoided conceding another goal, but the captain of the team had not been sent off as well.

    If that had happened, the morale of the yers would drop even lower, and gaining anything from the game would be an impossibility.

    ��But still�� that kid is good�� too good for that age range,�� Steven Gerrard thought to himself as he watched Jason be pulled up by Fabio Viera.

    Unfortunately, all Steven Gerrard could do was look even though he suddenly felt the desire to coach this type of yer, but he knew from the information he had gathered that there was no way the Rangers team would be able to acquire a yer like Jason.

    Financially, they were unfit to do so, and even if they somehow scraped the money together to go forth with the deal and make an offer, would a yer with as much talent as Jason want toe to a team like Rangers?

    Ten out of ten times, the answer would be a ��NO��.

    That did not stop Gerrard from making a mental note about Jason though.

    Back on the field, the referee was arranging the wall while Telles stood behind the ball, ready to take the free-kick once he heard the referee��s whistle.

    The ball was ced on the ground a bit on the right of the Rangers goal and it was a distance of 23 yards away from the Rangers goal.

    The referee was soon done arranging the wall and he sprayed the floor in front of the yers�� feet with white paint before he stepped away from the wall and observed for a few seconds while holding up his whistle to his mouth.

    *Fweeeeeeeee*

    The referee��s whistle was sted at full power and Telles ran at the ball with a confident gait and arched his body before hitting the ball powerfully with the side of his left foot and rifling a curling shot just over the wall of flesh and bones.

    The ball flew powerfully in the air as it spun a curl and mmed into the top left corner of the Rangers goal while An McGregor was rooted to the spot and unable to react.

 Chapter 225: Dragon Style VII

    Chapter 225: Dragon Style VII

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Telles makes it four!}

    {Splendid strike! Magnificent curl! An McGregor was rooted to the spot!}

    {Earlier the Porto team hade just inches close to extending their lead, but they had been denied, yet now they take what was rightfully theirs!}

    {The lead is extended to three and it��s an understatement to say the Rangers have an uphill task if they want to gain anything from this game!} Thementator delivered hismentary with as much excitement as Telles who was celebrating excitedly after scoring.

    The Porto fans in their homes couldn��t stay in their seats after watching their team get a fourth goal against the Rangers team and in countless houses over Porto cheers of excitement could be heard from the Porto fans cheering frenziedly in excitement.

    Currently, in the MSV Arena, one group of eleven yers had big smiles on their faces as they celebrated their goal while the second group of yers could not even keep a straight face and instead had all sorts of negative emotions ranging from sadness to disappointment on their faces.

    The Rangers fans weren��t at the stadium but were experiencing the same thing as the yers as they watched the rey of the Telles�� free kick. At this point, the fans of the Rangers team had to admit that except the Lord Jesus Christ himself came down from heaven and started scoring overhead kicks, there was no way in hell that their team was gaining anything from this game apart from a shameful loss that looked set to be extended even further.

    This could be seen clearly in the bodynguage of the Rangers team as they kicked off in the 60th minute of the game.

    The Rangers team passed the ball around and even made efforts to attack but even as they were making such attacking efforts, there wasn��t any form of drive in their movements and they seemed to have epted their loss and wished for the match to end as soon as possible.

    Theck of fans cheering upon them at the stadium was one of the reasons for them giving up on the game already, but despite them giving up on the game, they didn��t disy ack of motivation in their defensive efforts.

    They had given up on winning the game, but they weren��t willing to concede any more goals to their opponents no matter what.

    Unfortunately, the Porto team didn��t seem to be done with racking up their goals and they attacked them incessantly, sending wave upon wave of attacks at the Rangers team but the Rangers defenders held out and kept the Porto team at bay.

    However, this did not stop the Porto team from trying to break through and they sent a number of shots in the direction of the Rangers team��s goal but while some of the shots missed the target entirely, some of the shots were stopped by the goalkeeper and the scoreboard operators remained untroubled.

    #72nd minute��

    The game was currently at a standstill after Otavio had been fouled by Connor Goldson 25 yards away from the Rangers goal.

    The referee had shown the Rangers defender a yellow card and had begun arranging the wall and this time it was Jason who stood over the free kick.

    Alex Telles had been taken off a few minutes earlier and the mission of taking the team��s set pieces had fallen to Jason hence he was the one who stood over the free kick while waiting for the referee to arrange the wall.

    This was not the first time such a thing was happening as ever since Jason scored his first free kick, he had been acknowledged as one of the dead-ball specialists of the team by the manager so he usually took over set-piece duty whenever Telles wasn��t on the pitch.

    Normally, such a role shouldn��t fall to Jason, but due to theck of yers with the technical ability to take set pieces, Jason was able to take up the role because his crossing and long-ball uracy were quite good.

    Porto was filled with yers who could finish a set piece either from a corner or from a free-kick, but Only Telles was good at taking free kicks for some reason.

    Sergio Oliveira was usually the second choice for set pieces, but he was not always on the first team due topetition for the midfield positions in the team hence Jason who was more likely to start was given the role of second set piece taker.

    The free kick was within shooting distance and was a bit on the left of the Rangers goal and Jason intended to take it directly while hoping that he somehow managed to get the ball into the.

    After his fluke of a first free kick that he scored, he had taken a few other free kicks for the team and he hadn��t been able to score them for peculiar reasons that he could identify but was having a hard time correcting.

    Getting the ball to be urate wasn��t a problem but with that much uracy on his free kicks, the power of the shot was lost ordingly so the ball was usually easily saved by the goalkeeper of the opposition team, but if he tried to increase the pace of the ball so that it could get past the goalkeeper before he could reach it, his uracy would decrease just as much.

    He had not been able to find the right bnce to get the ball fast enough while ensuring his uracy was on point, especially since he had to be especially careful because of the wall of the yers in his way.

    He had asked for advice from Telles on how to go about taking a freekick with enough power and uracy and he had been getting better at it, but his progress was very slow, especially since he didn��t have too much time to spend training his set piece skills when there were other attributes that needed work.

    Thus for this free kick, he would have to try his best and hope that he could hit the target while making sure to add as much power as he could to the shot.

 Chapter 226: Dragon Style VIII

    Chapter 226: Dragon Style VIII

    The referee finished arranging the wall and stepped away from the wall after spraying white paint onto the ground in front of the wall.

    *Fweeeeee*

    After checking for any behaviors that didn��t follow the rules in the wall yers functioning as the wall and spotting none, the referee blew his whistle loudly for Jason to take the free kick.

    Hearing the referee��s whistle Jason took his first step towards the wall after locking onto a target.

    As he ran at the ball to take the free kick, Jason didn��t focus on the target but his first intention was to make sure the ball got past the wall first and hopefully, everything after that went well.

    With that thought he struck the ball with the topside of his boot and sent a curling shot at the Rangers goal.

    The Rangers yers acting as the wall immediately leaped up into the air to block the ball, but Jason had shot the ball with the intention of avoiding the wall so the ball took off to the right side of the wall and was seemingly heading for the center of the goal before it suddenly dipped and curled back to the left after flying past the wall.

    An McGregor who had been standing on the right side of his goal immediately took off towards the left where the ball wasing towards and jumped for the ball, but he had movedte and the ball brushed past his outstretched hand and mmed into the back of the. {GOAL!!!}

    {Too little, toote! Porto have established their dominance with yet another goal!}

    {They say lightning doesn��t strike the same spot twice but a free kick can be struck into the back of the twice! And all in one game!}

    {Rangers are sent back even further by this young boy-turned-man!}

    {He has been a thorn in the side of the Rangers team and has been at his creative best in the game, already gathering two assists, but now he has stamped his name into the scoreboard with a stunner of a goal!}

    {Magnificent! Absolutely magnificent!}

    {We can conclude that there��s no way back for the Rangers team now} Thementator��s mouth just wouldn��t stay shut and he kept spitting out line after line of poeticmentary.

    Jason however ignored thementator and had run to the sidelines before jumping into the air and pumping his fist before hended and was swarmed by his teammates.

    An McGregor, the Rangers goalkeeper could not stand up and sat on the ground with aplicated expression on his face.

    The same held true for the other Rangers yers who despite not sitting on the ground had veryplicated looks on their faces.

    If the match had been yed pre-lockdown when the fans were still allowed into the stadiums, the fans of the Rangers team would have been leaving in droves after seeing the current state of the match.

    In fact, it took all of their self-control for the Rangers fans to not break their screens in anger as they watched their team be absolutely trashed while they just took the loss and did not make any efforts to narrow the scoreline at least.

    It was infuriating, but they couldn��t even voice their displeasure to the yers because they were not allowed at the stadiums and this thought annoyed the Rangers fans even further.

    Many Rangers fans turned off their devices in annoyance and just went off fuming at whoever was nearby.

    Children whose fathers were Rangers fans immediately knew that this was not the time to gain attention from their fathers or Lord have mercy upon them, they might not survive the tough love that would follow.

    Back at the MSV-Arena, the celebrations ended and the Porto yers headed back to their half of the field but as Jason walked back he noticed his jersey number being held up in red by the assistant referee in charge of substitutions.

    It seemed the manager was calling for him to substitution and Jason immediately began heading toward the sidelines, irrespective of his thoughts or opinions about the manager��s decision.

    High-fiving and hugging Luis Diaz who wasing on for him, Jason stepped off the field and headed to the bench after receiving a few back pats from the head manager.

    Sitting down on the bench to rest, Jason began to watch the game intently from the bench.

    In a luxury hotel in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany��

    Ole Gunnar Solksjaer turned off the TV that was showing the Porto vs Rangers game.

    He hadn��t been watching the game because he was trying to gather information about his likely future opponents, but rather he had been taking a closer look at a yer he was interested in.

    Sending scouts to stadiums to watch a yer report back was no longer possible because of the current safety regtions tightly that did not allow for spectators at the stadiums, thus he had to resort to watching the game from the TV.

    The yer in question that Ole was on the lookout for was of course, Jason.

    The current Manchester United head manager had had Jason be brought up as an important target for the team��s front line.

    It was no news that the Manchester United front line needed an injection of fresh and spontaneous yers.

    To that end, Ole had acquired the young talent Daniel James with hopes that he could fill in some of the space that needed filling in the front, yet Daniel James�� performances were below average which for any team would be called a bad transfer, not to mention an hegemon like Manchester United.

    Luckily, there was a young talent in the Manchester United frontline who had been doing quite well these days and he had been able to fill in the space that Daniel James had left untended to, but what Solksjaer was looking for was a star yer who could make a difference in attacks.

    The young talent, Mason Greenwood had potential, but he needed time to grow and Solksjaer couldn��t wait that long hence why he had been looking for a prospective talent in the winger department and the two names that had hit his table as major fits for his requirement were Jadon Sancho and Jason Bolu.

 Chapter 227: Deliberations And Future Plans

    Chapter 227: Deliberations And Future ns

    Jadon Sancho and Jason Bolu were the names that had hit the table of the Manchester United Legend turned manager and he was having a hard time deciding on which of these yers to try and bring to the club.

    Jadon Sancho was a name that had been brought to his attention from very early in the 2019/20 season after a sessful transfer from the noisy neighbors, Manchester City to the German team, Borussia Dortmund.

    Jadon Sancho hadn��t been able to get into a stride at Manchester City, but as soon as he arrived at the Borussia Dortmund team, he began disying performances that almost had the Manchester City manager, Josep Guardi, regretting his decision�� almost.

    Needless of Pep Guardi��s thoughts about the decision, Sancho had gone on to establish himself as one of the best youngsters of his generation as he disyed performance upon performance that kept pointing at that notion.

    His dribbling skills were off the charts and his technical skills fit his style of y like a glove and he was almost unstoppable whenever he came charging at a team from the wing, but that was not all there was to Sancho��s skills.

    His vision was very impressive, and his passing skills that always helped him find the right person to start an attack, not to mention that he also had quite the eye for goal.

    These were all the kind of attributes that Solksjaer was looking for in a winger and it had almost been concluded that Jadon Sancho would being to Manchester United theing summer transfer season.

    The club had even gone as far as preparing the necessary funds and had even begun making ns for his arrival at the club�� and then all of a sudden Jason appeared. In a short half season, Jason took the footballing world by storm.

    His name wasn��t yet known that much due to the low presence of the Liga NOS on the grand football stages, but even the few performances that Jason had shown on the continental stage of the Europa League had already raised many eyebrows and impressed even more.

    As soon as Jason showed up, his name was added to the Manchester United watch list because of the potential he had shown, but the continuous impressive reports from the scouts keeping an eye on the situation had soon elevated Jason��s name to the top of the watchlist, but just when Solksjaer began pushing for Jason to be added to the top priority list for the club, the lockdown had happened.

    That had thrown almost all the transfer ns of the club out the window due to the tough financial situation that the club found itself stuck in due to the drastically reduced ie caused by the lockdown due to the coronavirus.

    That was the cause of the current problems Solksjaer was having.

    He had originally nned on bringing both Jadon and Jason to the club because why not?

    He couldn��t let such talent go when he knew about them, especially when his club was severelycking in that department and wouldn��t have a problem taking in the two yers, but now that the proposed budget for the transfer season had been drastically reduced, It was going to be hard to get even one of the two yers after filling in the other spaces in the team that needed filling.

    Especially with the price tag that had been stuck on the two yers.

    Borussia Dortmund had replied to his inquiries about Jadon and had stuck a price tag of at least 80 million on Sancho.

    Jason��s price tag had been even higher with the Porto team iming that they wouldn��t let him go without at least 100 million.

    Of course both teams were just bluffing and would probably settle for lower prices, but the problem was that the initial price tag was way too high.

    Even if they renegotiated the prices for the two yers, the prices would not be much lower and even that much money was a problem for the current Manchester United transfer budget.

    This brought about the situation where Solksjaer decided on taking only one of the two yers who had caught his fancy, but choosing between the two of them was just too hard for him.

    He didn��t want to let any of the two yers go, but the club also didn��t have the budget to acquire both of them�� in fact, even signing one of them would be hard for the club at this rate and Solksjaer was almost tearing out his hair in frustration at the thought that he wouldn��t be able to bring those two yers to the club.

    ��How much did you say the club has allocated to us as a budget for the transfer season again?�� Solksjaer asked the sporting director who hade along with the team to Germany because some of the club��s transfer targets were also in Germany and he wanted to take the opportunity to further the transfer talks.

    ��78 million Euros,�� the Sporting director responded from his seat as he looked at Solksjaer who was deep in thought.

    ��But about 60 million has already been allocated to signing Alex Telles and Edinson Cavani,�� the Sporting Director continued speaking, knowing that this was Solksjaer��s bone of contention.

    Unfortunately, the club needed an extra striker and left-back desperately as they only had a few First-team worthy yers capable of ying those positions.

    The problem was the budget and not the manager��s intentions.

    A team would always have an hole that needed filling, but Manchester United currently had lesser funds than required for the holes they needed to fill which not something that usually happened at a club of its stature, but due to the after effects of the coronavirus, they were already lucky that they hadn��t taken on more debt than they already had.

    ��What do we do?�� Solskjaer muttered while rubbing his forehead tiredly.

    ��Head manager, if I may���� The sporting director said from the side, an idea brewing in his head.

    ��What is it you want to say?�� Solksjaer asked with a raised eyebrow, wondering what this guy wanted to say.

    ��Ok�� So, its clear that we will have problems bringing any of those two yers to the club with the transfer budget we have been allocated, so why don��t we give up on those yers,�� the sporting director said.

    ��Give up?�� Solksjaer repeated as if he couldn��t believe his ears.

    ��What nonsense is this guy spouting?�� he thought as annoyance shed in his eyes.

    ��Yes, give up�� But only for this transfer window���� The sporting director continued,

    ��Since we can��t gain anything out of any transfer talks, why not give up and speak to the board to increase our transfer budget for the next season so we can bring in the two yers,��

    ��We can also contact the yers and their clubs in advance to ensure that they are sold oning to the club next season,�� the sporting directorid out his idea.

    ���� Hmmm, it��s not as if we wouldn��t survive as a team without those two yers for the next season,�� Solksjaer muttered, his mind beginning to create various ideas to ensure that he could acquire those two yers.

    ��For Sancho, let��s make a lot of noise and make it seem like we nned to sign him as soon as possible but we��ll make a behind the scenes agreement with Dortmund about our true intentions and they can help us blow up the matter,�� Solksjaer started saying, but the sporting director cut in with a question,

    ��Why are we making that kind of noise though?�� The sporting director asked in confusion.

    ���� Well first, it gives the fans something to look forward to, second it makes our intentions for Sancho clear so that there wouldn��t be any minorplications from other teams trying to sign him as well���� Solksjaer began exining,

    ��Well that wouldn��t stop the big teams from trying, but I suppose this is already the best we can do,��

    ��As for Jason, contact his agent directly and ask about his avability for a transfer to our club,�� Solksjaer began giving another step of instructions,

    ��From what I know, the kid only has a two year deal with Porto which will be expiring soon enough, and if we can get him to agree to a deal with us, we can get him for cheap, or maybe even for free if he��s willing to let his contract run out,�� Solksjaer stated.

    ��Oh, that��s a good idea,�� the sporting director��s face brightened up in surprise and admiration.

    ��I don��t think it��d be good to let his contract run out however, since it would be a lot harder to sign him if he bes a free agent,��

    ��Since his contract ends midway in the upper season, it��d be best to snag him up cheap at the end of next season,�� Solksjaer exined.

    ��Oh, I see, since his contract would be running out, Porto would want to get as much profit as they can from selling him even if it��s a lot below the price they had in mind, and since we��d have alreadye to an agreement with the yer, he can put pressure on the Porto side from within the club!�� The sporting director realized the Manchester United head manager��s n.

    ��Good that you understand, now get to work on it,�� Solksjaer said,ying back into his chair with aplicated expression on his face.

 Chapter 228: Here to Play and Not to Speculate

    Chapter 228: Here to y and Not to Specte

    *Fweeeeeeeee*

    {There goes the final whistle, bringing an end to an interesting game and it��s Porto who take the avable spot for the next round of the Europa League}

    {They win with quite the margin, but their performance deserved such a result}

    {Their opponents are dejected, but on stages like this, there is no sympathy for those who do not win and they have lost}

    {Rangers shall have to pack their bags not long after arriving and head back to Scond to reassess and try again next season}

    {The score endsPorto 5 : 1 Rangers} Thementator gave his finishingmentary as the match ended and the yers trudged off the field.

    There were two sets of yers as expected, the victors and the ones who fell short, and one did not have to be a genius to know who had positive emotions disyed on their faces and the ones who looked like they wanted the ground to swallow them whole.

    The deafening silence in the stadium was eerily simr to the silence of disappointed fans and this weighed heavily on the Rangers yers�� psyche. The Porto team however didn��t feel the same mental pressure, but they also didn��t spend too much time celebrating and soon began moving off the field since there wasn��t much need for fan service when the fans weren��t physically present.

    As the yers headed off the fields, some of the yers of both teams were approached by reporters for an interview and Jason who had been on the bench at the final minute wasn��t left out.

    In fact, there was no way he could be left out as he was the man of the match for the game after his ster performance and managing to get two assists to his name and even score a spectacr free-kick goal.

    Jason who was holding the Man-of-the-Match award in his hand as he faced a middle-aged man who held a microphone and asked him a question,

    ��Porto has won by quite a margin and will be going to the next round of the Europa League, how do you feel about that?�� The reporter asked Jason.

    ��Uhm, well, it��s hard to say anything other than it feels good to win and I hope we can keep winning, both for us and for the fans,�� Jason responded with a small smile.

    ��Haha, I��m sure the fans would be delighted to see you keep winning,�� the reporterughed lightly at Jason��s response.

    It was a professional response that was required to keep a good conversation flowing between an interviewer and the interviewee and this reporter was showing off his experience in this field as he immediately went on to ask another question as soon as he stoppedughing.

    ��It was a great win for your team and you guys looked sharp from the onset of the match. How did you prepare for the match and what were your feelingsing into the match?�� the reporter asked the second question.

    ���� Well, we��ve been in Germany for a few days and we��ve been hard at work training hard because we came here to win,��

    ��We��d like to win all our games going forward and if possible even lift the trophy and that��s what we��re working towards,��Jason answered after some thought.

    ��Wow, you��ve got big dreams, huh?�� the reporter replied quickly, seemingly amazed but it was just another professional reaction as Jason��s answer was something almost every yer would say and was nothing new, after all, you couldn��t admit that your team had no chances of winning even if it was true, could you?

    If one dared to do something like that, the media would have his head ced on every media tter possible.

    ��It doesn��t cost much to dream does it?�� Jason responded, not bothered by the reporter��s flimsy, characteristic response as this was something he was already used to from other reporters.

    ��You��re right, it doesn��t cost much to dream, but you haven��t just been dreaming, you��re also acting on your dreams, especially with your performance in today��s match,��

    ��2 assists and 1 goal, not to mention your ster performances for the team, on and off the ball, especially making sure that you tormented the Rangers captain with your dribbling, what do you have to say about your performance,�� the reporter asked another question, not yet willing to let Jason off.

    ��I don��t know what you mean by tormenting, I just yed like I usually do and got the ball to where it was needed, either by sending the ball ahead or taking it there myself, there��s nothing more to it,�� Jason responded with a grin, feeling amused by the reporter��s choice of words in asking his questions.

    ��Haha, true, you did mention something about not caring about a cautious style of y in the pre-match press conference so I guess it was to be expected,�� The reporterughed off Jason��s response which was a bit sharp.

    ��I did?�� Jason asked as if he didn��t remember saying those words.

    ��Huh? You don��t remember? You know what, never mind,�� the reporter was a bit surprised by Jason��s response, but he quickly handled the situation and moved on to the next question.

    ��Now that you have qualified for the quarter-finals, do you hope for a weaker opponent so that it can be easier to advance to the next round of thepetition?�� The reporter asked again.

    ���� It doesn��t matter what one wishes for nor does it matter whoes, we came here to win and that is what we hope to do irrespective of whoever we are up against,��

    ��Nothing else matters, we are here to y football to the best of our ability, not to specte and hope for a lucky draw,�� Jason thought for a while before giving an answer.

    ��That will be all,�� he said after answering and began walking off immediately he stopped talking, leaving the reporter behind.

    ��We��re here to y football and not to specte,�� the middle-aged reporter muttered under his breath as he watched Jason walk off with the MOTM award in his hand.

    ��Seems I found the headline for tomorrow,�� the reporter thought to himself with a smile as he turned away from the camera before giving closing remarks and ending the interview session.

    With that done, he started walking out of the stadium with his fingers already twitching and itching to write an article.

    In Porto��s locker room��

    Jason walked into the locker room with his award in hand after having done everything that needed to be done outside.

    He had done interviews and taken pictures before finally heading to his team��s locker room so he could get ready to leave along with the other yers.

    On getting to the locker rooms, he met his teammates and exchanged high fives as he responded wittily to his teammates��ments and congrattions on the MOTM award.

    After exchanging some words with his teammates, Jason quickly began freshening up and preparing to leave the MSV-Arena once the manager was back.

    Soon the Porto head manager arrived and he had a few words to say before the yers headed out.

    ��Good work out there guys. Your performance out there got us the win we wanted and hopefully, we can keep this up going forward,��

    ��There are a few other matches to be yed in the Round of 16, but I��ve heard that the draw for the quarter-finals will be on the 10th of the month�� that��s about four days from now, and our match will be sometime after that, depending on the draw,��

    ��That means we have till then to prepare for whatever is going to be thrown at us and I hope you��ll put forth your best so that we can repeat today��s sess again, or maybe do even better,��

    ��That��s all for now, let��s get ready to leave so you can have some rest since you won��t be getting a day off,�� Sergio Conceicao finished his address and led the yers out as they headed out of the stadium and boarded their team bus to leave the MSV-Arena.

    The days that followed were full of training for the Porto yers who made use of the field they had borrowed to train as much as they could in preparation for theiring match and there was hardly much time for breaks until their training for the day was over.

    For their safety, it was also rmended that the yers should not y tourists by exploring the streets of Germany for whatever entertainment they could find.

    Some yers were a bit disgruntled by this arrangement, but since it was for their own good, theyplied and didn��t leave their hotel any other time than when they went for training.

    Luckily, the hotel they were lodged in was truly a luxurious hotel so it had many facilities to offer that kept the yers entertained whenever they were not training.

    The yers also had to keep an eye on the other Europa Leagues going on to try and narrow down what team they would be put up against and like this, the days passed.

 Chapter 229: Europa League Draw

    Chapter 229: Europa League Draw

    **10th August 2020**

    At one of the conference rooms at theAlthoff Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg, the Porto yers were seated and watching the TV where the draw for the Europa League Quarter-finals was being shown live.

    Manchester United, Sevi, Inter Mn, Porto, Shakhtar Dsk, Basel, Copenhagen, and Wolverhampton Wanderers were thest eight teams in the Europa League after a hard-fought battle in the Round of 16.

    The draw to select who would be going up against who was what was currently being shown live on TV and not just the Porto team, but all the other teams involved in the Europa League, as well as the fans of those teams and even neutral fans from different teams, were watching the Europa League draw live.

    The difference between these sets of people was that the yers in the thick of it were wishing they got a weaker opponent while their fans were doing all sorts of prayer battles in the same direction.

    Even Jason who was in the conference room couldn��t help but wish that they had to face a weaker opponent since it would be easier that way.

    That was not to say he did not like a challenge, but when a trophy was involved, all he wanted was to hold onto it even if he had to do it by trashing up weaker teams.

    Anyway, he wasn��t the one doing the draw so why should he feel guilty because his team was ced against a ��weaker team��? While he was thinking that, the draw began and the first team to be drawn was Shaktar Dsk and they were put up against Basel.

    With this draw, the fans of the two teams had their heart rate return back to a normal rate as they had escaped being put up against the dangerous teams and would have to battle it against a much weaker teampared to the others.

    It could be called a battle of the mid, but the fans wouldn��t care as they could at least see a way forward unlike the two other weaker teams who were already in trouble if they were put up against the four dangerous teams remaining in the draw.

    The draw soon continued and Manchester United was the next team to be drawn and they were put up against Copenhagen.

    Seeing this draw, the Manchester United team and fans heaved a sigh of relief, and ease washed over them.

    The match wouldn��t be aplete ease, but it was not going to be too difficult to win.

    The Copenhagen fans on the other hand were already tearing out their hair while a few of the pessimistic Copenhagen yers began heading back to their rooms to pack up their bags because despite Manchester United��s fall from grace since Legendary manager Alex Ferguson left in 2014, they were still a team to reckon with and not someone that Copenhagen could just think about beating.

    The officials holding the draw did not know about all this and simply continued the draw with Inter Mn being the next team to be picked.

    Going up against them would be Porto.

    The moment this was shown on the screen, silence swept across the conference room where the Porto team was watching the draw.

    This was a tough draw.

    The Inter Mn team had finished second in the Serie A that season and had put up a performance worthy of that position in allpetitions.

    In the first ce, the Serie A was a higher-ranked league than the Liga NOS and the Inter Mn team was a very strong team.

    This was not to say that Porto couldn��t win, but it was very clear that it was going to be a very uphill battle if they were going to try and win the game.

    The Porto yers soon regained their color as they concluded that the match would only be difficult and wasn��t a losing game.

    They could still win despite this tough opponent, after all, if they didn��t even have the courage to face this, then they might as well just forfeit thepetition and go back home to Portugal.

    On the Inter Mn side, head manager, Antonio Conte began thinking up a suitable game n to go against the Porto team as he also knew that it was going to be a tough match.

    Whoever among the two teams slipped up first was likely to be the team to lose so his team��s defense must be strong and the attack even stronger.

    ��We must contain their attacks while making sure to push forward with ours and hit them on the counter as many times as possible,�� Antonio Conte thought to himself as he began creating the ideal game n to go against the Porto team.

    ��We must also find a way to keep that kid silent for that game,�� he thought, the image of Jason shing across his mind.

    Antonio Conte was among the managers who were enamored by Jason��s talent and had been looking to add them to his team, but the reason why Conte hadn��t had the Inter Mn team make an offer was that firstly, his preferred formation didn��t make use of wingers, but rather wing-backs who shuttled back and forth, and since Jason��s defense wasn��t the best so he wasn��t suited for such a position.

    Secondly, Jason hadn��t been on the scene for long and he still wanted to find out more about Jason��s talents, andstly, the Inter Mn team also didn��t have the resources to facilitate such a move at that moment.

    Normally, Inter Mn wasn��t a team that spent big money on transfers so there was no way they would be making an offer of a hundred million for a six-month rookie, rather, they were more inclined to wait until Jason��s contract would expire in theing years.

    For now however, Antonio Conte��s thoughts were on how to bring Jason��s performances to a halt against his team and not to bring him to the team so he immediately started devising defensive measures to keep Jason away.

    ��Ah, that��s right�� he hasn��t experienced Italian football yet,��The Inter Mn head manager suddenly came to a realization a smile that looked a bit devious.

    On the Porto side, Sergio Conceicao was also already trying to devise a game n to go against the Inter Mn team, but the officials holding the draw weren��t privy to this and went on to call thest draw which everyone already knew.

    Sevi would be going against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

    Finally, the dates for the matches were selected and as luck would have it, Porto would be facing Inter Mn the very next day.

    Things were looking serious for those two teams.

 Chapter 230: Blue and Black VS Blue and White I

    Chapter 230: Blue and ck VS Blue and White I

    {The day is the eleventh, the month is August, and the year 2020 and what a special day it is!}

    {Inter Mn will be going up against Porto for a ticket to the next round of the 2019/20 Europa League}

    {The Blue and ck against the Blue and White!}

    {Who wille out on top here at the Merkur Spiel-Arena!}

    {The yers have arrived, warmed up, and kitted up and now they��re marching out with a picture of determination stuck on their faces}

    {They sing their anthems with such zeal that you can already feel your hair standing on ends in anticipation for the match}

    {This is a match where its final results are impossible to predict as both teams have been showing their pedigree and grace all throughout thepetition}

    {On the home side, we have the runners-up for the Serie A title, and on the away side, we have the champions of Portugal and both of them are fighting for a chance to be champions of Europe�� sort of} {My name is Guiseppe Mezza and I��ll be in charge of thementary for today��s match. Also sitting in thementary box with me is n Mackenzie who will be joining me} Guiseppe Mezza who was thementator for the match introduced himself after giving out a satisfactorymentary intro.

    {Pleased to be here Guiseppe} n Mackenzie responded to being introduced as the pre-match proceedings continued on the field.

    {Pleased to have you here n. I have to ask, what do you think about the uing match?} Guiseppe asked n, their conversation being broadcasted around the stadium and across the world on TV.

    {I think it��s going to be a great match. It��s an interesting encounter for the two teams and would definitely be filled with sparks in all the right ces}

    {My only bone of contention is that at the end of the game, one team would inevitably have to begin packing their bags} n answered smartly to Guiseppe��s question, adding a bit of fanfare for the viewers.

    {I agree with you and I��m sure the fans of both teams are wishing that their teams are not the unfortunate ones, but at the end of the 90 minutes, I suppose we��ll see} Guiseppe said.

    {Or maybe after extra time, or even penalties�� I wouldn��t put it past either of these two teams to take it that far} n added.

    {You��re right n, it doesn��t seem too far-fetched, haha} Guiseppe added with augh.

    {Here are the line-ups for the two teams} Guiseppe moved on to begin calling the match line-ups.

    {Inter Mn is ying in the 3-5-2 formation which is a shape we��ve seen from them almost all throughout this season}

    {They have Samir Handanovic in goal and the three center backs guarding the defense line are Diego Godin, Stefan de Vrij, and Mn Skriniar}

    {ying wide on the right and left, but asionallying back to help the defense will be Ashley Young as the left wing-back and Alexis Sanchez as the right-wing back}

    {In the center of the midfield are Christian Eriksen, Borja Valero, and Marcelo Brozovic}

    {And finally, upfront, we have Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku, who is also the highest goal scorer in the Europa League thus far with five goals}

    {What do you make of this formation and line-up, n?} Guiseppe threw a question to n who was waiting patiently.

    {Well, I don��t know what to say other than that they look solid everywhere and if they y with as much dynamism as they have shown throughout the season, Porto would have a hard time keeping them out and an even harder time cracking them open} n answered intelligently, showing off his knowledge even though what he had said was something any serious football fan could say if they were asked the same question.

    {We��ll see about that then. Now for the Porto team line-up��}

    {They are ying in the ssic 4-4-2 formation which was a favorite of Arsene Wenger when he first arrived at Arsenal}

    {For the Porto side, they have Augustin Marchesin in goal}

    {Pepe and Chancel Mbemba will be defending the center while Alex Telles and Mattheus Uribe will be on the left and right respectively}

    {In the center of the park are Sergio Oliveira and Danilo Perreira while partnering with them on the wings are Luis Diaz on the left and Otavio on the right}

    {Up front for Porto, we have two strikers in persons of Tiquinho Soares and Moussa Marega}

    {A very solid formation as well, it seems, what do you think, n?} Guiseppe finished listing out Porto��s line-up and threw another question at n.

    {Like you said, it looks very solid. I think the Porto manager is looking to counter the Italian��s higher physicality and rougher style of y with the yers he��s chosen, I��m just a bit surprised that the young winger, Jason isn��t starting the match} n responded with a slightly questioning tone.

    {I��m sure the Porto fans are wondering the same thing, especially since his performance has been very good and he is always someone to look forward to, not to mention that he was the man of the matchst time out} Guiseppe replied.

    {I think the manager is trying to start with a cautious style of y and doesn��t want to take too many risks early in this match, but then that��s just my spection. We��ll see the manager��s n once the game starts, won��t we?} n continued after Guiseppe stopped.

    {That we shall, the match is about to start anyway} Guiseppe remarked as the twomentators�� eyes looked down at the field where the yers of both teams in their easily identifiable jerseys.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The whistle-blowing for kickoff burst through the ears of the yers at the stadium and the fans watched the match from wherever they were.

    {There it is, kick off!}

    {The battle for a chance in the semi-finals has begun!} Guiseppe shouted as the Inter Mn team kicked off the game with Romelu Lukaku sending the ball to Lautaro Martinez.

 Chapter 231: Blue and Black VS Blue and White II

    Chapter 231: Blue and ck VS Blue and White II

    The match between Inter Mn and Porto began on a cautious note with both teams ying to retain possession and keep their opponents froming anywhere close to their goal with the ball at their legs.

    Just as had been expected, it was a tough deadlock with both teams seemingly equally matched up against the other as neither of them budged defensively in the first few minutes of the game, but since they couldn��t stay defensively, they soon began to show bits of the attacking football they had in store.

    Porto was the first tounch an attack that looked like it could reward them and open up the match.

    #6th minute��

    Porto had gotten a free kick after Borja Valero had fouled Luis Diaz somewhere on the right side of the Inter Mn team��s half of the pitch.

    Alex Telles stood over the free kick while the rest of his teammates positioned themselves to receive the ball with most of them just edging outside of Inter Mn��s penalty area.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    As soon as the referee��s whistle blew loudly, Telles ran at the ball and swung it into the Inter Mn team��s penalty box where yers of both Porto and Inter Mn were running into. Running like a tank, Danilo Perreira used his burly physique to bulldoze his way through the Inter Mn yers and jumped for the ball, catching it on his head and sending it where he thought to be the direction of Inter Mn��s goal.

    The ball flew off Danilo��s head and flew at the Inter Mn goal while Samir Handanovic, Inter Mn��s goalkeeper ran for the ball and leaped, hoping to catch it before it fell into the but then,

    *CLANG!*

    The ball smashed against the top of the crossbar and flew out of y to the dismay of the Porto yers, especially Danilo himself who held his head in his hands in disappointment at the ball not going in.

    {Oh, it just skidded off the top of the bar!}

    {Inter Mn are lucky not to have conceded there} Guiseppe squealed with excitement at the chance that had just appeared but gone to waste.

    With Porto making this attempt anding so close to scoring, it was a given that the Inter Mn team would respond in kind irrespective of whether they were likely to score or not, so one thing was for sure, the time for cautious gamey was over.

    Just as Guiseppe expected, the moment Handanovic sent the ball in with a goal kick, it was brought under control in the midfield by Borja Valero who headed the ball to Brozovic, and Brozovic immediately sent the ball forward intending tounch an attack.

    Lautaro received the ball up front and had to deal with Porto��s defense but he was soon boxed in and could not dribble past any of the Porto defense so he opted to send the ball towards the right wing where Alexis Sanchez took control of the ball.

    Alexis Sanchez tried to break in from the wing but with a sessful double team of Sergio Oliveira and Alex Telles, he was sessfully driven out of y and lost the ball.

    Porto got the throw-in, but as soon as the ball got back into y, the Inter Mn team surged forward on a high press intending to sweep the ball and try to get a goal.

    #22nd minute��

    Ever since both teams put down their cautious attitude, the match had gotten a lot more exciting with both teams trying to get the ball past each other��s goalkeepers and be the one to break the deadlock.

    Shots had been sent flying at both ends of the field with a noticeably higher percentageing from the Inter Mn side of the field and this was a cause of rm for the Porto fans watching from their homes and the Porto manager on the sidelines.

    Sergio Conceicao didn��t like a deadlock, and he hated it when his team was being the one oppressed even more on the attack.

    It was clear that his team��s attacking power wascking a huge amount of variations that Jason��s dribbling skills and uncanny ability to get past his marker brought, but he had chosen this path because he believed that it was better to keep the Inter Mn team at bay in the first half and then try to go for the win in the second half when the Inter Mn team was exhausted.

    He was nning to bring Jason on at that time because he knew that Jason would have a field day ying around with the exhausted Inter Mn defenders and this could bring about more goal-scoring options for his team.

    This was not to say that Otavio and Luis Diaz were not doing well, but they weren��t running at the Inter Mn defense as much as he would like them to do and whenever they did, they were easily double-teamed and bullied off the ball by the rough defending style of the Italian team.

    This was also one of the reasons why he had not started Jason earlier.

    Jason��s physique was good and his physicality was even better, but even that could not help him in defending the ball against the Italian defenders who would smash into him at every moment, not to mention that there was a risk of Jason getting an injury if he started the game.

    His thoughts made it seem like he was okay with either Luis Diaz or Otavio being the ones to get injured, but that wasn��t true.

    As a manager, Sergio Conceicao knew that things like injuries were inevitable and unavoidable, but even then, he had formted a n and this n depended on Jason��s dribbling abilities and peculiar ying style, thus he could not afford to lose Jason before the appropriate moment.

    More than he wanted to admit it, he had been relying a lot on Jasontely even when there was a whole team of stars at his disposal, but he couldn��t help it as Jason for some reason kept on delivering and this was something that would get any manager��s attention and favor.

    ��Sh*t,�� Sergio Conceicao suddenly flinched when he saw a powerful shot that was sent at Augustin Marchesin by Christian Eriksen from just outside the box.

    Augustin Marchesin dived for the ball and got his hand, but it was not enough as the ball deflected slightly off his hand and smashed off the inside of the left post before rolling past the goal line.

 Chapter 232: Blue and Black VS Blue and White III

    Chapter 232: Blue and ck VS Blue and White III

    {Inter Mn are looking confident on the ball here, making pass after pass just outside the opponent��s box}

    {Porto don��t like this and they have been chasing hard to try and regain possession but somehow the ball remains elusive�� Oh, it��s Eriksen with the ball now, he��s looking dangerous!}

    {Erikseeeeennnnnn!}

    {GOALLL!!! He��s given Inter their lead with the first goal in this all-so-important game!}

    {What a stunner!}

    {Marchesin got a hand to it, but it just wasn��t enough to keep it out!}

    {Porto are stunned!} Guiseppe��s excellentmentary made it clear how he was able to be chosen as the mainmentator for a game in the Europa League.

    As hismentary reverberated around the stadium, the Inter Mn team celebrated their goal with Eriksen being surrounded by his teammates who jumped on him as they shouted in excitement. On the sidelines, Sergio Conceicao had aplicated look on his face as he watched the Inter team celebrate their goal.

    This was exactly what he was trying to avoid by choosing a defense-oriented line-up. It was all to ensure that the first half would go by without them conceding a single goal, but half of the first half hadn��t even passed by when his n began falling apart.

    He wanted to shout at his yers as he had expected someone to get in the way of the shot, after all, they had treated this in training.

    Inter Mn had midfielders who were good from long range and thus, the defenders and midfielders had to put as much emphasis on defending against the midfielders as when they were defending against the strikers, but his yers had somehow let Eriksen, the most dangerous from long range, get a shot away.

    It wasn��t a surprise that Eriksen could score as this was one of the things he was known for�� it was literally on his CV as a footballer, yet his yers had been caughtcking and had ignored this threat.

    Sergio wanted to pull out his hair in annoyance and rece the whole team while he was at it, but he maintained hisposure and barked out orders sharply at his yers.

    ��Don��t let them shoot from long range!��

    ��Keep them away from the center and push them wide!�� Sergio Conceicao shouted, aware that he was broadcasting his game n to his opponents, but this wasn��t the time to worry about that and he continued shouting.

    ��Luis! Otavio! Move more, don��t just stand there, take the ball forward, we need an equalizer!�� Sergio Conceicao immediately began giving damage control instructions.

    This wasn��t the time to be defensive, rather, this was the time to give it all they had until they could either get an equalizer or at least keep Inter Mn from scoring further.

    Sergio Conceicao knew from previous research that all their attacks were almost as good as blocked as soon as the Inter Mn team decided to sit back and he had to find a way back before then, especially now that they were behind.

    As Sergio Conceicao gave instructions, Antonio Conte watched him from a few meters away before calling one of his yers over as they headed back to their half of the field and he whispered a few words in the yer��s ear.

    The yer nodded affirmatively, a smile still on his face and once the manager was done, he nodded again at the manager before running back to the field and saying something to every one of his teammates that he came across.

    The game resumed shortly after.

    #34th minute��

    After the Inter Mn team had gotten their first goal, they had emboldened their y and began sending attacking waves at the Porto team more frequently, hoping to further their lead, but the Porto team somehow managed to hold out.

    Not only did they hold out, but they also asionally sent out attacks of their own, trying to get an equalizer, but so far they hadn��t seeded.

    It was quite obvious the Porto team was on the back foot and were being oppressed by the Inter Mn team, but they had bravely held on and this was giving their fans hope that they could somehow hold out and even manage an equalizer

    However, for the time being, it was the Inter Mn team that was leading the game in score, stats, and attempts at goal.

    Even now, they had a corner after Augustin Marchesin had just barely managed to keep another long-range effort from the Inter Mn team away from their goal.

    This time it was Marcelo Brozovic who had taken the shot and he was almost as good as Eriksen when it came to long-range efforts and he would have almost gotten away with it if not for the heroics of the Porto goalkeeper who saved his team at thest moment with a magnificent dive.

    Christian Eriksen stood over the corner on the right side of the Porto goal with his hand raised up to hint at his teammates the tactics that they would be employing.

    Seeing Eriksen��s raised hand, the Inter Mn yers began shifting around in different directions and the Porto yers immediately responded, but before they could determine the kind of tactic that the Inter Mn team was employing, the referee��s whistle blew loudly.

    *Fweeeee*

    Eriksen ran at the ball and with just enough power and precision, he sent the ball flying into the air and at Porto��s penalty area.

    As the ball was sent into the box, Stefan de Vrij who was standing at the edge of Porto��s 18-yard box suddenly dashed forward past Oliveira who was marking him and with surprising agility snaked past the other yers before leaping powerfully into the air to meet the iing ball.

    Timing his jump perfectly, the Inter Mn defender was able to catch the ball off his head and send it at the top right corner of Porto��s goal.

    Augustin Marchesin moved instinctively as soon as he saw Stefan de Vrij catch the ball of his head, but even that was not enough and the ball smashed past him into the back of the.

 Chapter 233: Blue and Black VS Blue and White IV

    Chapter 233: Blue and ck VS Blue and White IV

    {GOALLl!!! Inter!!!}

    {They have two!}

    {Scoring off the corner and bringing into existence the goal that we thought wasing!}

    {Attack after attack! They have their reward!}

    {It��s still early in the game, but they��re already pulling clear of their opponents!} Guiseppe��s ecstatic voice could be heard loud and clear all through the stadium as the Inter Mn team celebrated their goal excitedly while the Porto team looked distraught.

    The Porto yers could be seen withplicated looks on their faces as they watched the Inter Mn team celebrate their second goal barely ten minutes after getting their first against them, however not a single one of them had defeated looks on their faces as they strongly believed that it wasn��t impossible for them to get back into the game.

    It was going to be difficult for sure and they hated being pegged back like this, but they weren��t a team that would easily give up even in a situation like this.

    Unfortunately, most Porto fans could no longer afford such confidence especially when their team was already losing two goals to nil in just about half an hour since the game started. At this point, it only stood to reason that since their team was already losing like this, then they were even more likely to concede further, especially since their attacking attempts in the match had left quite a bit to be desired so far.

    A lot of the Porto fans still had hopes though, but even they couldn��t cheer for their team that much anymore and were just watching the match with scrutinizing gazes from wherever they were.

    The match soon resumed with Sergio Conceicao once again barking out orders to his yers from his position on the sidelines.

    The Porto head manager could no longer stay silent and do the silent manager thing he was so used to doing.

    This wasn��t the time for him to be feigningposure, rather he gave direct and clear instructions to the yers as y resumed.

    #43rd minute��

    The end of the first half was rapidly drawing closer and apart from a few more shots on target, Porto had nothing to show for their constant attacking attempts on the Inter Mn team.

    They had been doing their best to at least get one goal back but Inter Mn wasn��t budging and pushed them back with as much effort as the Porto team put in to push forward.

    The Porto yers who had been ying with a slight ease with their hopes high that they could get one back were now ying with a bit of desperation showing in their movements.

    Their desperation stemmed not only from not getting a goal back yet but also from the realization that the Inter Mn defense was quite the problem and now their hopes that they could get a goal back were slowly dwindling.

    Nevertheless, this was just starting and they hadn��t lost theirposure yet.

    They were only losing their cool a bit because time was rapidly passing them but there was nothing they could do about that part for the time being.

    Inter Mn was currently with the ball and Porto was doing their best to keep them away from the center of the field while also trying to retrieve the ball.

    The Porto team had upped their defense ever since going two behind and they weren��t leaving any space in the middle for the Inter Mn team to get the ball around and Inter Mn had no choice but to take the ball down the nks if they hoped to create anything.

    Thus Inter Mn had changed their tactics to sending balls into the box from the wings but due to the height advantage of the Porto defenders, the Inter Mn strikers weren��t able to do anything with the ball.

    This had probably caused the Porto defense to let their guard down and this was not a good thing in any match, not to mention a match they were already losing.

    On the right side of the field, Alexis Sanchez had just received the ball from Borja Valero and with smooth leg movements and an upper body feint, he tricked Telles and dodged his attempts at tackling the ball before sending a right-footed cross into Porto��s penalty box.

    The cross dipped before reaching the center of the box and the height advantage of the Porto defenders couldn��t be brought into y as the ball came down past their chest level.

    The Porto defenders didn��t mind this however and immediately reacted by trying to clear the ball, but somehow none of the Porto defenders were able to reach the ball and the ball just slipped past them and came in front of Romelu Lukaku who hadn��t been expecting the ball to reach him.

    Despite being unprepared, the moment the ball appeared in front of him, his body moved instinctively and he tapped the ball with the tip of his foot, tipping it in the direction of the goal.

    Augustin Marchesin immediately dropped to try and get his hands to the low ball but the ball passed under his hands before gravity could bring him downpletely and the ball rolled past the goal line.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {THREE!!!}

    {Porto are being bullied here!} Guiseppe��s voice erupted in shock and surprise as Romelu Lukaku took off down the sidelines to celebrate his goal.

    {Romelu Lukaku, a danger man, the current highest goal scorer in the Europa League, and a man that the Porto defenders should have kept their eyes on for every second of the game!}

    {Yet they had left him unmarked and somehow allowed the ball to reach him and he has unsurprisingly put that away} n added with a bit lesser fervor than Guiseppe but his voice was like a death knell to the Porto fans.

    {The dragons aren��t benevolent, but this is the third hit they have suffered in this match and they haven��t been able to respond!}

    {If we don��t see more from the Porto team soon, this game will slip away from their reach�� if it hasn��t already!} Guiseppe picked up thementary from where n stopped.

    The stadium was devoid of fans, but one could almost imagine the excited Inter Mn fans cheering and the dejected Porto fans falling into their seats with all their posters no longer being iled around but now resting peacefully and depressingly in their arms.

    That was exactly what was happening in the homes of the Inter Mn and Porto fans.

    On the sidelines at the Merkur Spiel-Arena, Sergio Conceicao could not find the energy to reprimand his team as he was currently watching their chance at the Europa League slip away from them and there was nothing he could do at the moment than to watch in dismay and shock at this sudden and shocking turn of events.

    He had thought his team had a fighting chance against the Inter Mn team, but he was being proven wrong by how Inter Mn was trashing his team.

    It was confusing, It was inexinable, but somehow, it was happening.

    ��How?�� he wondered, his mouth agape.

    ��Are we really this outmatched?�� Jason thought to himself as he watched from the Porto team bench his shock non-evident on his face, but his gloved hands were tightly clenched into fists.

    There was no one on the Porto side who wasn��t confused by what was happening.

    They had expected a tough battle against Inter Mn because they knew that when it came down to yer-to-yerparison, they were a bitcking, but it was only a little bit and did not warrant a 3-0 thrashing in the first half of the game.

    Unfortunately, such things happened in football every day and Porto was just the unfortunate team to have to bear it this time and there was nothing they could do about it.

    Porto had kicked a hard rock this time and things were already almost beyond them.

    It wasn��t impossible to get three goals back in the second half, especially since their opponents had done the same in the first half, but they knew that if by some luck they managed to score a first goal, and somehow managed a second, the Inter Mn team would immediately lock up.

    The Inter Mn team would not just give up a three-goal lead, especially with how good they were defensively, not to mention they had a master tactician who was especially good at a defensive style of y.

    ��

    The game soon continued after the celebrations of the Inter Mn team were over and the Porto team immediately kicked off.

    As soon as they kicked off, they immediatelyunched an attack as despite their crumbled mental states, they were a team with a high pedigree that had never been one to ept losses.

    Even if the match looked like it was already a confirmed loss, they wouldn��t stop trying to find a way back.

    A never-yielding mental state was not only a luxury, it was but a mere facy because no matter how one wanted to lie to himself that they would never crumble mentally, such a situation was inevitable in some cases.

    In such a situation, one simply needed to forget his mental state and remember his job.

    The world didn��t care about your mental health, it cared about your results.

    That was something that the Porto team knew well, so even if they were going to lose, they would do so fighting for the win that the Porto fans so dearly wanted.

 Chapter 234: Blue and Black VS Blue and White VII

    Chapter 234: Blue and ck VS Blue and White VII

    *Fweeeeee*

    {The halftime whistle has been blown, bringing an end to a shocker of a first half}

    {It��s the Europa League Quarter Finals and Inter Mn leads Porto by 3 to nil}

    {I have to say, the scoreline is a bit surprising, isn��t it n?} Giuseppe asked hismentary partner, his voice being broadcast live to the world.

    {Very surprising�� Inter Mn hit Porto with three back to back and Porto have been unable to respond}

    {This is a different side to the Porto team that sent Rangers packing just days ago}

    {I��m sure I��m not the only one asking myself this question, ��What��s going on out there?��} n responded through the microphone, his voice also being broadcast live to the world.

    {If only I can answer that question, but I��m just as confused as you are} {The Porto head manager has a lot to do if he still has ns for this game, but personally speaking, I think this game is already out of their hands} Giuseppe intoned, his thoughts about Porto��s chances being made clear.

    {I have to disagree with you on that one Giuseppe}

    {This is football and Porto is not a team that is afraid to shock the world, but that depends on a lot of things and everyone has a part to y if that is to happen} n responded, disying a contrary opinion to his partnermentator.

    {If that is going to happen, then just like you said, we��ll have to see a different side of them in the second half, otherwise my opinion stands} Giuseppe said, not agreeing or disagreeing with his partner.

    {Absolutely, Giuseppe, for now, we shall take a fifteen-minute break and will be back for the second half} n said, ending their debate and their discussion all at once.

    As they stopped, the broadcast changed and adverts began showing on every TV broadcasting the match.

    �� In the Porto locker room��

    The silence in the room was deafening as the Porto yers filed into the room and sat down with defeated looks on their faces.

    They didn��t even bother with drinking water or cleaning up a bit like they were so used to doing, but rather they just stared into the ground and into the distance withplicated gazes.

    Even Sergio Conceicao didn��t say anything for a full minute as he did not know where to start.

    Sure, his yers hadn��t performed exactly as he wanted and had beencking throughout the match, but it wasn��t like they did so purposely because they knew even more than him how bad it felt to lose in this manner.

    They were trying their utmost best but still ended up being massacred because it just wasn��t their day.

    This made itplicated for Sergio Conceicao as he didn��t know what to say first, but he opened his mouth anyway.

    He had a job to do and if he didn��t do it, an even worse result awaited them if they went back out just like this.

    ��Ok guys, we are going to change our formation to the 4-4-2 diamond shape and Otavio will be moving from the right midfield to the center attacking position while Jason wille on for Sergio Oliveira and take the right midfield position,��

    ��Luis will still be on the left while Danilo will be in the CDM position, the rest of you guys�� position will stay the same,�� he first started by making adjustments to the formation and making the necessary changes.

    ��We��ll also be changing from ying a possession-based style of y to a quick counter focused gamey,��

    ��When we are with the ball, we pass the ball around and keep them away, don��t avoid passing the ball all the way back to Augustin if we must, the point is to not lose possession,��

    ��If a chance appears, I want our wingers ready to burst through on the nks where our opponent is weakest and then cut in,��

    ��If a teammate is open in the box, do not hesitate to send the ball to him, but if that isn��t the case and the box is overloaded with their defenders, slow down and wait for Wilson, Telles, or Otavio to arrive just outside the ball and send the ball to them instead,��

    ��If they can receive the ball sessfully, I want shots�� You shoot on sight, you shoot as soon as you see the goal, you shoot as soon as you find some space, hell you can shoot through them if the space doesn��t appear,��

    ��Just make sure that there is always a shot flying at them at every possible moment,�� Sergio Conceicao exined while constantly drawing on the board to show his yers a depiction of what he wanted.

    As he exined, he had unintentionally forgotten about their situation for a slight moment and this frame of mind affected the Porto yers who were now listening attentively with serious looks on their faces.

    ��When we are not with the ball, I want you guys soaking up the pressure and I want everyone behind the ball but Tiqunho,��

    ��Everyone else will stay behind the ball and give our opponents the impression that we are parking the bus,��

    ��We��ll also not press them hard, but instead focus on diverting them wide and making sure they can��t stay in the center, and once they��re close enough to our goal, I want you guys tounch a heavy press and get the ball back by all means,��

    ��While whoever is near the ball isunching a press and trying to get the ball back, the ones that are too far away from the ball to join in the press should get ready to receive the ball andunch a counterattack as soon as your teammates can retrieve possession,��

    ��Everything after that is up to the way their yers are positioned, if they have yers in the middle, you take the ball down the nks and if they have yers on the wings, you go through the center,�� Sergio Conceicao continued exining with the aid of all sorts of scribbles he made on the whiteboard.

    ��Is that clear? Or do you have any questions?�� Sergio Conceicao asked as he paused to take a breath after saying all that at a stretch.

    ��Coach�� You said that���� Wilson Manafa raised a hand as he asked a question about the game n that Sergio Conceicao answered.

    After that, the Porto head manager continued exining the game n and answering the asional question from his yers.

    In this manner, the halftime break passed by, and the yers soon headed back out to the pitch with more ease and more determination on their faces than when they hade in for the halftime break.

    Throughout the break, nobody had mentioned the fact that they were three goals behind their opponents and that all the tactics they were adjusting were unlikely to have any effect on the grand scale of things.

    Instead, they had simply listened with rapt attention to their manager as he made adjustments to their tactics like he would in any other game and simply went back out with the intention of ying ording to their given roles.

    Almost none of the yers harbored the hope that they could somehow make aeback and equalize or maybe even win, rather they just went back out to the field with the intention of ying football.

    No strings attached.

    If they lost, then they already had iting, and if they somehow made aeback, then wouldn��t that be a surprise?

    It was not exactly what one would call a professional attitude, but at this moment no one could me them if they knew that that was what the Porto yers were thinking.

    Thus the Porto yers marched through the tunnels, met up with the Inter Mn yers, and headed out to the fields with nary a smile on their face.

    There was nothing tough about anyway.

    On getting onto the green, the yers headed to their half of the field which was not the same as the first half since they had switched ces.

    It was Porto who would kick off the second half as Inter Mn had been the ones to kick off the game.

    {The yers are back out, refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready for the second half of this Europa League Quarter Final} Giuseppe��s voice once again boomed through the stadium as the match��s live broadcast was resumed.

    {After a surprising first half, Inter Mn lead Porto 3 to nil, but you don��t win a game at halftime}

    {Inter Mn still have at least forty-five minutes of exciting football to y if they are going to end this game with their lead intact as Porto will be looking to recreate Inter Mn��s first-half performance in a form of their own}

    {Do you think they have made any changes to their tactics in the first half break, n?} Giuseppe threw a question to his partner after giving introductory remarks for the second half.

    {Definitely. I believe that the Porto head manager would have made the appropriate changes to the game tactics, but we wouldn��t know until the second-half whistle is blown}

    {What we can see however is that there is a change in the line-up with Jasoning on for Sergio Oliveira}

    {I don��t know what shape the manager has arranged his team, but I agree with him bringing on the young winger}

    {He has very quick feet and quite the tricky sets of movement that would aid him in getting past the Inter Mn defenders and this should add more versatility to the Porto attack and should help them create more attacking options up front} n gave quite the interactive response to Giuseppe��s question, showing his skill in keeping the fans entertained even as he info dumped his opinion on them.

    {You��re right about that yer n, I hope for Porto��s sake that he can perform at the level required of him}

    {Porto could really use a miracle right about now!} Giuseppe answered back, putting into words all that the Porto fans were thinking as they watched the second half begin with depressed looks on their faces.

 Chapter 235: Blue and Black VS Blue and White VIII

    Chapter 235: Blue and ck VS Blue and White VIII

    The second half of the Europa League quarter-finals between Inter Mn and Porto got off to a slow start with Porto not making much effort to attack immediately after they kicked off, rather they contented themselves with passing the ball around in their half of the field and doing their best to keep hold of the ball.

    Inevitably, they ended up losing the ball as it was impossible to hold onto the ball for too long in a game of football, but as soon as they lost the ball, they immediately dropped back ording to their newly adjusted game n and had all their yers staying behind the ball.

    This led to a situation where Inter Mn started racking up their possession stats even higher than they already had and they even took the asional shot at the Porto goal, but Porto��s defense stayed strong and took almost all the danger out of every Inter Mn attack before they could even get a shot away.

    Thus all Inter Mn managed after almost ten minutes were a few awkward shots from weird angles or worse shots from more eptable angles but impossible distances.

    #57th minute��

    It was almost a quarter of an hour since the second half resumed but the Porto team hadn��t evenunched an attack at the Inter Mn team and had simply focused on defensive football and made sure to stay behind the ball at all times while they searched for the perfect counterattacking opportunity.

    In another situation, the Porto team would have already lost theirposure and would have begununching attacks irrespective of their game n and this would have left them open to attacks from the Inter Mn team.

    But due to most of the Porto yers havinge into the match with a half-defeated mentality, they weren��t feeling the need to be in a hurry in a game that they already thought they would lose and this weirdly worked in their favor. The Inter Mn team was once again with the ball and they were trying tounch an attack, but the Porto team yers were staying very defensive-minded and weren��t budging in the slightest bit.

    On the right side of the Porto penalty area, Alexis Sanchez was facing off against Alex Telles who was following his every movement and not leaving an inch for Sanchez to pass through.

    Alexis Sanchez went back and forth trying to dribble past Telles but Telles remained undaunted, disying a defensive acumen that he seldom showed since he was a more attack-minded yer.

    After constantly trying to get past Telles and failing, Sanchez opted to pass the ball infield towards Borja Valero who was the closest Inter Mn yer.

    Without looking around carefully, Sanchez sent the ball infield, but Otavio who had been watching the ball from just outside his team��s penalty area saw that the pass was a little slow and Borja Valero wasn��t moving to meet the ball but rather waiting for the ball with ease.

    Not willing to let this chance pass by, Otavio suddenly burst forward and intercepted the ball before taking off down the field, his movements finally showing Porto��s first attacking intent of the second half.

    The remaining Porto yers who had been so willing to stay back and defend immediately surged forward the moment they saw Otavio snatch the ball and dart forward into the open space where there were fewer Inter Mn yers in front of him than behind him.

    Not wasting any time on any forms of trickery, Otavio immediately sent the ball forward towards Tiquinho when an Inter Mn yer appeared nearby to try and tackle the ball.

    Receiving the ball and skillfully turning on the spot, Tiquinho was about to begin darting with the ball down the center of the field at Inter Mn��s goal when he suddenly noticed Jason darting down the right side of the field at an incredible pace.

    Not wasting any time debating his next move, he immediately gave up on making a run and instead sent a lobbed pass over to the right side of the field.

    Jason darted past the halfway line in pursuit of the lobbed ball and due to the slow pace of the ball, he was able to gain speed and even run past the ball that was still in the air, but he soon noticed Stefan de Vrij dashing into his path.

    With his mind instantly making the calctions, Jason suddenly turned to face the ball while still moving and as the ball came down towards him, he flicked it back up smoothly over himself and over Stefan de Vrij who hade close enough.

    Completing the dangerous move that somehow worked and raised the ball over Stefan de Vrij, Jason made use of the split second that the Inter Mn defender was surprised at missing the ball to immediately dart after the ball and bring it under control before continuing down the right wing as fast as he could.

    Stefan de Vrij had been surprised at Jason��s ingenious tipping of the ball over him and had in his surprise allowed Jason to get past him, but he quickly recovered and was soon giving chase, but Jason��s pace wasn��t something that he could match and Jason only gained more distance despite Stefan��s efforts at catching up.

    Running down the wing, Jason was about to cut into the Inter Mn box when he noticed his teammates arriving near the penalty box, just a few meters behind him and he immediately opted to send a grounded cross into the penalty box.

    Being kicked while Jason was still in motion, the ball flew into the penalty box at an optimal pace, not rising off the ground as it traveled across.

    Before any of the remaining Inter Mn defenders could go at the ball to clear, Moussa Marega who had beening from behind met the ball with a powerful kick that seemed to unleash all his fury at the Inter Mn goal.

    The ball rocketed off Marega��s foot and flew to the top right corner of the Inter Mn goal.

    Handanovic, the Inter Mn talisman who had led his lead��s ranking of the most clean sheets in the season, immediately unleashed his full leaping ability as he jumped for the ball, intending to deny the Porto team, but this time, luck was finally on the Porto team��s side as he couldn��t reach and the ball settled into the back of the.

 Chapter 236: Blue and Black VS Blue and White IX

    Chapter 236: Blue and ck VS Blue and White IX

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Marvellous counterattack! Absolutely unexpected! Borderline crazy!}

    {Porto havee up with a response early in the second half that has finally given their fans some hope for this game!}

    {Do Porto have something here!?} Guiseppe��s voice burst out in excitement as he delivered primementary that excited the Porto fans to no end after seeing their team finally get one back.

    {They watched and waited, and now they have delivered!}

    {Wonderful wonderful counterattack!}

    {I don��t think it took any more than ten seconds to conclude the attack right from its inception with Otavio��s interception!} Guiseppe added, his voice still bursting with excitement.

    {I mentioned earlier that Jason added a lot of variation to the Porto attack and he has proven me right on that counterattack} {The way he got away from Stefan de Vrij earlier waspletely out of this world and that helped them keep the attack alive, and not only did he do that, but he still went on to send in a perfect cross that served as an assist to a long-awaited goal for the Porto side}

    {The Porto striker��s shot was unstoppable and there was nothing Handanovic could do to deny the Porto team this time} n added his ownmentary in a calmer voice, but his excitement was almost as palpable as Guiseppe��s as he described the situation with impressive precision and top-level storytelling skills.

    The Porto yers, however, weren��t swept up in excitement as they simply shared a few high fives and headed back to their half of the field, but their faces looked a bit lighter than before as a slight bit of hope had begun blossoming in their hearts.

    The Porto fans however had fully regained their hopes even though their team had only scored one goal and barely reduced their deficit.

    The fans were jumping cheering and beginning to cheer for their team once again with hopes that Porto could somehow stage aeback.

    The Porto yers didn��t know all this because of the deafening silence of the stadium they were in, but their steps had definitely be a bit lighter after getting a goal against their opponents.

    Since there were hardly any celebrations from the Porto team, the match soon resumed with Inter Mn kicking off for the second time in the game.

    Immediately after kicking off, the Inter Mn team immediatelyunched an attack, trying to break past the Porto team with all they had, even using their burly physiques that had been tempered by rough Italian-style football.

    It seemed that Porto��s goal had struck a nerve in the Inter Mn team and they were not going to rest until they reciprocated the favour.

    #64th minute��

    Due to the more frequent Inter Mn attacks, everybody on the Porto team had to fullymit themselves to defending the Inter Mn team who were ying like they were goal-starved.

    Even Jason had to y his part and had already made more than five interceptions so far which was reminiscent of a well-performing defender��s stats.

    What was funny about the situation was that Jason was a yer who wasn��t very inclined on his defending, not to mention that he was an attacking yer, and also he had only spent about twenty minutes on the field, thus he had the lowest interception stat on his team apart from Tiquinho who was the only one not behind the ball, and Augustin Marchesin, his team��s goalkeeper.

    That was how much the Porto team was being pushed back and oppressed with high attacking y, but Porto somehow withstood all that while waiting for another opportunity and the opportunity soon arrived with Danilo Perreira managing to bully Brozovic off the ball.

    Upon retrieving the ball, Danilo sent the ball to Telles who immediately brought the ball under control before sending the ball forward to Luis Diaz.

    Receiving the pass, Luis Diaz immediately made to take off down the left nk, but he was soon blocked by Alexis Sanchez and Borja Valero on his right while Diego Godin wasing at him from the front.

    Immediately assessing the situation and realizing that it was almost impossible to try and get through all those yers without losing the ball, he immediately changed his approach and sent the ball back to Telles who had arrived behind him.

    Telles caught the ball with his left leg, pushed it forward a bit, and then hit the ball powerfully, sending it forward in the direction of Inter Mn��s penalty box.

    The ball flew smoothly through the air, reached the apex of its flight, and dipped, seemingly going tond just meters outside the Inter Mn team��s penalty area.

    As the ball came down, Tiquinho Soares outjumped his marker to get his head to the ball, hoping to send the ball to his striking partner Moussa Marega, but due to some hassling from his marker, he headed the ballpletely away from the direction of it��s intended target.

    The ball ended up flying towards the right side of the field and Jason immediately ran for the ball, but he soon realized that he wasn��t the only one moving for the ball.

    Ashley Young, Inter Mn��s left-wing-back was also running for the ball at an almost equal pace to Jason.

    Jason��s brain soon began doing some mental calctions and he realized that he was more likely to get the first touch to the ball before Ashley Young.

    ��In that case,�� a thought appeared in Jason��s mind and immediately he got close enough to the ball, he acted,

    Stretching his leg out to reach the ball first before it reached the ground, Jason tapped the ball carefully using just enough force that the ball rolled in between the arriving Ashley Young��s legs before Jason evaded the Inter Mn yer himself and went behind him to collect the ball.

    Not pausing for a moment, Jason immediately pushed the ball forward as he was just a few yards away from the Inter Mn team��s box.

    With the goal in sight and remembering the manager��s words, Jason immediately pulled his leg back and unleashed a powerful shot from 23 yards away from the Inter Mn goal.

    The ball tore through the air at an rming pace, rising off the ground and moving towards the top left corner of the Inter Mn goal, but just when the ball was about to smash into the back of the, Samir Handanovic appeared in the way of the ball and he got his hand to the ball, deflecting the ball away from it��s intended path.

    The ball veered away from the goal after deflecting off Handanovic��s gloved palm and smashed against the left post before flying back into y but before anybody could react a shadow in blue and white stripes appeared at the corner of their vision, lunging for the ball in a flying tackle that sent the ball back from whence it came.

 Chapter 237: Blue and Black VS Blue and White X

    Chapter 237: Blue and ck VS Blue and White X

    {GOALLL!!!}

    {Porto are dragging it back!}

    {They have two and they are closer than ever to an equalizer!}

    {After a first half where everything went wrong for their side, the second half brings promise!}

    {You can see the joy and the anticipation on their faces as they embrace each other!}

    {Another burden has been lifted off their neck and they only have to put another one past the goalkeeper before they are once again back on level terms!} Giuseppe��s excited voice exploded the excitement of the Porto fans watching as their team gradually staged aeback.

    They had thought all hopes were lost but Porto already had two back just twenty minutes into the second half and had at least another twenty-five minutes to try and get an equalizer or do something even more shocking.

    Even the Porto yers who had seemingly given up on the game could not help having their hopes once again rekindled and a light of hope appeared in their eyes as they quickly headed back to their half of the field, not wasting any time on celebrations as they were still not yet in a position where they could afford to celebrate wildly. The game soon resumed with Inter Mn once again kicking off the game just a few minutes after they had done so earlier.

    #74th minute��

    After Porto��s second goal, they had be a bit bolder in looking for a third that would grant them an equalizer and had adjusted their game n as such because they couldn��t afford to stay defensive when they were the ones who needed a goal to gain anything from the game.

    Surprisingly, the Inter Mn team which people had expected would go on the defensive had instead shown even more ferocity in attacking the Porto team.

    They had retained enough caution with their defensive measures, but otherwise, they spent most of their time attempting to get a goal when they were with the ball, and chasing the Porto team with high enthusiasm when they were not in possession of the ball.

    This was also simr to the game style that the Porto team was employing as they were doing more of the same, though there was significantly a lot less caution in their steps than when they had just resumed the second half.

    Porto was chasing a goal with all they had and thus could no longer afford to stay back and wait for the counterattack.

    Luis Diaz had tried to break through from the left wing, but his path had quickly been blocked by his marker and a few other Inter Mn yers.

    Not wanting to lose the ball from attempting a risky dribble, Luis Diaz immediately passed infield to Danilo Perreira and the Inter Mn team immediately reacted by sending yers at the Porto man.

    With significantly lesser agility than Diaz, Danilo knew that there was no way in hell he could attempt to dribble past three Inter Mn yers who wereing at him and he quickly turned back and passed to Telles.

    Telles quickly put a stop to the rolling ball by bringing his foot on top of the ball and then sent a pass toward the center where Pepe and Chancel Mbemba waited.

    Perhaps due to a miscalction, Telles put a little too much power on the ball that he meant to pass to Pepe so the ball went a bit out of Pepe��s reach making him think that the pass was intended for Chancel Mbemba while Chancel Mbemba thought that Pepe would receive the pass.

    This led to a bout of confusion when the ball rolled past the two of them with neither of them moving to get the ball.

    Only after seeing the confused look in each other��s eyes did they realize what was going on and quickly moved to go after the ball, but someone else had been watching and waiting for an opportunity like this.

    Lautaro Martinez dashed past Pepe and Chancel Mbemba, quickly beating them for pace with his agility advantage and he soon caught up to the ball and kicked it forward taking it towards Porto��s goal.

    {Oh a mistake by the Porto defenders!}

    {Will Lautaro Martinez punish them for it!?} Giuseppe��s voice immediately rmed the Porto fans who had their hands slowly rising to the top of their heads in agony as they wished for Lautaro Martinez to miss as he squared off against Augustin Marchesin after entering the Porto 18-yard box.

    Lautaro Martinez disappointed the Porto fans and smoothly curled the ball around Augustin Marchesin with a skillfully taken right-footed shot that sent the ball into the bottom right corner of Porto��s goal.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {We expected a goal at one end but they��ve gone and scored at the other end!}

    {Inter was gifted a chance and they have taken it graciously!}

    {They have four! And Porto are once again pegged back just when everyone thought they would get an equalizer!}

    {This time, Porto��s defenders have nowhere to hide!} Giuseppe��s excited voice once again mmed into the microphone and was broadcast to the world.

    {What were the defenders doing there!? To gift such an opportunity to their opponent!}

    {Such mistakes must be avoided on the big stages like this but it seems that nothing is going well for Porto today}

    {They are once again pegged back and have a two-deficit to make up for if they intend to gain something from this game}

    {With time running out, could this be the end of Porto��s Europa League dream!?} n added his own burst ofmentary, not forgetting to mix in a little bit of his skills as a pundit in his words.

    The grim reality of the game slipping away from their hands once again mmed into the Porto yers and fans who had made the mistake of regaining their hopes.

    Negative emotions of all kinds could be seen on the face of almost every yer in Blue and White stripes while every possible positive emotion could be seen on the Blue and cks as they celebrated their goal with vigor.

    In their homes, the Porto fans looked at their screens with their hearts dropping into the depths of disappointment and sadness.

 Chapter 238: Blue and Black VS Blue and White XI

    Chapter 238: Blue and ck VS Blue and White XI

    #81st minute��

    Despite being pegged back and having an almost insurmountable wall put up in their way once again, the Porto team somehow managed to retain their hopes and soon resumed the game.

    On resuming they put forth more than a hundred percent of their abilities and tried to get a goal but that was when they discovered another problem.

    The Inter Mn team seemingly content with once again putting a gap in between them had contented themselves with staying back to defend.

    They yed as defensively as possible, seemingly intent on defending their two-goal lead to thest minute.

    This wasn��t good for the Porto team who needed a goal now more than ever.

    Unfortunately, Inter Mn didn��t care about Porto��s predicament and remained intent on killing the dreams of millions of Porto fans who watched the game with their fists tightly clenched.

    It was for these fans that the Porto team didn��t dare to give up on trying to gain something back from the game so the Porto fans could no longer dream of giving up, especially now that they were so close. With the Inter Mn team remaining defensive, Porto had most of the possession but they hadn��t been able to do much with it so far, but that didn��t stop them from trying.

    The ball was exchanged among the Porto yers as they tried to find space to get behind the Inter Mn defenders and create a goal-scoring chance.

    Jason who had been on the right side of the field slowly moved toward the center of the field.

    He had been trying to create something from the right but anytime he got on the ball three Inter Mn yers would immediately surround him, but instead of theming at him, they��d instead employ a zonal marking style and distance themselves away from him just enough so that even if he managed to dribble past anyone of them, the remaining defenders could quickly shut him down before he could do anything else.

    Of course, this didn��t stop Jason from trying to get past them either way, but all he had gotten for his troubles were hugs against the ground as he was constantly brought down by the Inter Mn yers.

    This annoyed and aggravated him, and currently being behind wasn��t helping matters so he decided to change his approach bying to the middle to receive the ball where there would be more support from his teammates than on the right nk.

    Kwadwo Asamoah, who had been substituted on for Ashley Young, was Jason��s marker and he immediately followed Jason ording to the instructions he had received from Antonio Conte.

    He didn��t know what Jason was nning, but it was his job to stop it and he ended up following Jason towards the center parts of the field.

    The ball soon came Jason��s way and Jason received the ball with his back to Inter Mn��s goal.

    Immediately after Jason received the ball, Asamoah moved to try and dy his movement while expecting reinforcements from his teammates.

    Garnering Asamoah��s intentions with a quick backside nce, Jason quickly lowered and shifted his body towards the left as if he intended to turn to the left.

    Asamoah couldn��t have that happening as his job was to keep Jason in ce and he immediately moved to block Jason��s path, but all of a sudden Jason��s body corrected itself and snapped back to the right with amazing agility, leaving Asamoah unable to react and helping Jason to get away from his marker.

    After circling around the stunned Asamoah, Jason immediately darted down the right side of the field that was now free of Inter Mn yers due to himing to the center, but he knew that it wouldn��t remain that way for long as the defenders who had beening to help Asamoah to contain and corner him were now correcting their running paths anding his way.

    The first Inter Mn yer to arrive was Nicole Bare who had been subbed on for Borja Valero.

    He immediately tried to tackle Jason from the left, but Jason immediately reacted to his movement and cut left as well, evading the tackle and darting past him.

    The three-man marking tactic they had been using against Jason was very effective and had rendered him ineffective, but now that they wereing at him one by one, Jason was able to evade them with more ease than before but he wasn��t going to overdo it and quickly sent the ball to Tiquinho Soares before the Diego Godin reached him.

    Despite his relinquishing the ball to Tiquinho, he didn��t stop running and moved past Godin and ran into the right side of the Inter Mn penalty box.

    With his body pulsating in anticipation, Tiquinho received the ball from Jason, immediately understanding Jason��s intent, but before that, he quickly did a Marseille turn and escaped Christian Eriksen��s outstretched leg with amazing dexterity.

    Coming out of a spin, he immediately chipped the ball towards the right side of Inter Mn��s 18-yard box.

    The ball flew into the air and appeared in Jason��s path as he ran towards the ball, but perhaps due to the silence in the stadium from the absence of the fans, he heard rapidly approaching footstepsing from his left, but he couldn��t afford to lose focus at the moment, but more than anything he knew that he couldn��t try to bring the ball under control anymore.

    His only option was a blind cross across the Inter Mn goal while hoping that his teammates could somehow receive the cross and put it away.

    Not having any other options, he slightly turned himself and hit the ball just as it was about tond, sending it across the penalty box, but this move left him stumbling as he lost his footing.

    Even as he slowly lost his footing, his eyes fell on the Inter Mn yer who was flying at him with an outstretched leg.

    Mn Skriniar had jumped up into the air intending to clear the ball before it reached Jason, but he had ended up jumping early because he thought Jason would try to bring the ball under control.

    Unfortunately, that didn��t turn out to be the case and he was still airborne as his outstretched leg smashed into Jason��s shoulder.

    A terrifying burst of pain shot through Jason��s arm as the two yers collided but as Jason fell after, his arm stung even more as it smashed into the ground due to the force of the collision.

 Chapter 239: Blue and Black VS Blue and White XII

    Chapter 239: Blue and ck VS Blue and White XII

    The ball flew across Inter Mn��s penalty box undeterred until Fabio Viera who had been running in from the left wing lunged at the ball and hit it first time, driving it past Samir Handanovic who had reacted on time but wasn��t able to get a hand to the ball.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Porto score yet again!}

    {They just will not stay down!}

    {Once again they are making a statement of intent! They haven��t given up just yet!}

    {Is there still time for one more!?} Guiseppe once again erupted in a splendid disy of excitingmentary, his words pumping up the Porto fans who had been extremely tense just moments ago.

    The Porto fans in their homes were cheering loudly as word after word came out of Guiseppe��s mouth.

    Porto hadn��t yet equalized, but they had once again given their fans hope for what was toe. {Great goal from another of Porto��s young and home-grown talent as he connected with another of Porto��s young to send the ball past the Inter Mn goalkeeper}

    {Jason��s ingenious move to move to the center had ensured that there was enough space on the right to run down as long as he could escape from his marker and he did just that and luckily, his gamble paid off}

    {He linked up with Tiquinho just like he had done on the first goal for the team, and he was able to once again deliver an excellent pass that found a teammat- Oh what��s this here?} n paused midway into hismentary as he exined Porto��s goal.

    The reason for the sudden interruption in thementary was that Jason, who had given the assist to the goal was not standing up.

    On the field, Jason clutched his shoulder where spasms of pain were shooting through continuously causing him to not dare to move around much.

    Not that he could do much moving as for some reason, his shoulder wasn��t responding to his attempts at moving it, all that he received as a response to trying to move his shoulder was a tearing pain that shot through his whole arm.

    ��Fu*k, fu*k, fu*kkk�� Jason groaned in pain, tightly shutting his eyes in pain.

    Annoyingly enough, Jason recognized the cause of his pain as he had felt something simr in his previous reality and he could easily determine that his shoulder was dislocated at the very least.

    Ignoring the pain and the long recovery period that was already guaranteed, the first issue Jason had was that he could no longer go on with the game.

    To Jason, that was the worst part of this whole situation at the moment.

    His team was currently losing to the Inter Mn team in the Europa League quarter-finals and when they were finally close enough that all that remained was onest burst of effort and they could equalize, he ended up getting an injury because of some annoying bastard who couldn��t keep his legs to himself.

    While all these annoying thoughts were going through Jason��s head, his teammates weren��t idle and had already called for the medical team on the sidelines who were alreadying to check on the situation.

    The referee as well as a few Inter Mn yers also came over and the first thing the referee did as he got to the scene was show Mn Skriniar a yellow card before he came over to check Jason.

    Seeing the look of agony on Jason��s face, he immediately called louder to hurry the medics.

    {Porto��s celebrations are short and this time, it��s not because of a call from the referee}

    {A yer looks to be injured and this is a cause of concern for the Porto team}

    {Looking at the looks of pain on his face, I doubt he would be able to continue with the match}

    {He seems to have gotten the injury due to his collision against Mn Skriniar earlier} n��smentary which had an element of calm that wasn��t usually present in Guiseppe��smentary was currently sending more shockwaves through the Porto fans than any of his partner��s earliermentary.

    Ignoring the fact that Jason was currently a fan favorite at the Porto team, his influence in the current match was not to be debated.

    Since he stepped on the field, he had influenced the team steadily towards aeback, being involved in all three goals of the Porto team and giving two assists, but now that they were at the most critical juncture, he had sustained an injury that was likely to leave him unable toplete the match.

    The Porto fans could not be more disheartened at the moment than ever before.

    Not that they didn��t believe in their team, but when the catalyst for a chemical reaction was rendered ineffective, then it only stood to reason that the reaction would slow down, and right now that was not something the fans wanted to see from their yers.

    They were finally so close, but Jason��s injury was as good as going behind by another goal.

    While the fans were in a dilemma, the medical staff arrived and quickly ran diagnostics and quickly determined that Jason��s shoulder was in bad shape and very likely to be dislocated.

    Due to theck of equipment to run a cleared diagnostics, the exact situation couldn��t be diagnosed, but one thing was clear and that was that Jason couldn��t continue the match.

    They were about to call for a stretcher when Jason used his right hand to prop himself up and made to stand up, after all, it was his left shoulder that had a problem, not his legs, so he could walk off the field.

    He didn��t want to be carried around in a stretcher unless absolutely necessary and though this was a close enough situation, he still didn��t want toy down on a stretcher and be carried like someone with a critical condition.

    As Jason walked to the sidelines with the aid of the medical staff, he contemted requesting permission to stay till the game was over so he could know how the game progressed, but his brain instantly told him that it was better to address any injuries as soon as possible so as to avoid the situation worsening and reducing the risk of re-injury after he had supposedly recovered from the injury.

 Chapter 240: Blue and Black VS Blue and White XIII

    Chapter 240: Blue and ck VS Blue and White XIII

    {The yer ising off and it seems like that��s where his part in this match ends}

    {Vincent Aboubakar is already warming up on the sidelines and will being on for the injured yer}

    {n what do you think happened to the yer?} Giuseppe asked hismentary partner as Jason walked off the field with the aid of the medical team.

    {Well, we can see from the rey that he was mmed into at the shoulder and he even fell on the same shoulder}

    {Going by the way he��s clutching his shoulder, I��m guessing maybe a sprain, dislocation, or in the worst case, a break}

    {Either way, the Porto fans will not like having this happen, especially with a new season in sight} n responded to Giuseppe��s question by stating the obvious but added amentary ir to his words.

    {I imagine so, a sprain can be considered light and should allow for him to recover in two to four weeks while a dislocation will keep him away from match fitness for at least four weeks and may even require up to eight weeks for a full recovery depending on the extent of the dislocation and his rate of recovery} Giuseppe replied, disying his knowledge about the issue.

    {None of those would sound good to the Porto fans and would sound even worse to the affected yer} {Wishing him a quick recovery} n added before bringing his focus back to the game.

    On the field, Abubakar ran onto the green and went up to Otavio to give him the manager��s instructions meant to cater to Jason��s substitution.

    Since Porto did not have extra wingers anymore, Sergio Conceicao intended for Abubakar to take up a striker position while Tiquinho Soares would move to the center attacking midfielder position.

    Otavio who was the former CAM would then move to the right midfield position.

    In a way, this was the best-attacking line-up that Porto could currently y within the absence of three of their wingers, and this was the lineup they would be relying on to find an equalizer before time ran out.

    On the sidelines, Jason watched his teammates rearrange themselves in their half for kickoff before he went along with the medical team into the tunnel.

    He was led to an already prepared ambnce where he was made to lie down in the back as the driver turned on the sirens and began driving to the nearest health center.

    As hey in the ambnce, looking at the ceiling of the ambnce, he wondered how things were going at the stadium.

    �� Back at the Merkur Spiel-Arena��

    The match once again kicked off and unlike before when the Inter Mn team had gone on the attack when Porto had been one goal deficit away from equalizing, this time the Inter Mn team decided to focus on defense since the match was already almost over.

    With their continuous passing of the ball among themselves, they aimed to keep the ball away from the Porto team but they weren��t ready for the way the Porto yers descended on them and stole the ball from them in less than thirty seconds after the kickoff.

    It seemed the Porto team had had enough of being behind and they yed with so much energy and enthusiasm that one would think the match had just started and wasn��t on itsst legs.

    For the next seven minutes after regaining possession, the Porto team dominated the match with over excessive attacking football that had their fans on the edge of their seats.

    Within that seven minutes, Porto managed to send three shots at the Inter Mn team with two of them being on target, but the heroics of Samir Handanovic kept the Inter Mn team from having to pick the ball out of the back of their.

    The end of ny minutes was rapidly approaching and the Porto team was running out of time with every second that passed and their movements became more frantic.

    On the sidelines, the assistant referee with the board held up the board to signify that there would only be two added minutes.

    The Porto yers realizing that they had only been given an extra two minutes to find an equalizer became more frantic than ever with their passes and everyone on the team moved forward trying to overload the Inter Mn defense.

    Yet time continued to run out and it was soon the 91st minute.

    Realizing that it was all or nothing at this point, the Porto teamunched a final attack.

    Fabio Viera who was on the leg nk suddenly moved to the center as he received a pass from Telles.

    Moving closer to the box until he was about 25 yards away, his right leg suddenly snapped back as if he intended to take a shot from there.

    Mn Skriniar who was nearby immediately jumped into his path, intending to block the shot but as he jumped into Viera��s path, Viera immediately changed his mind and faked the shot before opting to pass towards Soares who was on his left, and after making the pass, he moved forward.

    Tiquinho caught the ball with his left foot, shifted past Christian Eriksen with a quickly executed stico, and then sent a return pass to Viera who had moved past Skriniar.

    As the ball rolled into Viera��s path, he didn��t bother trapping the ball, instead, he immediately sent a grounded through pass into the right side of Inter Mn��s penalty box.

    The ball curled across the ground, sweeping towards the right side of Inter Mn��s penalty box, somehow managing to evade Diego Godin and Stefan de Vrij and rolling into the path of Otavio who suddenly appeared behind on the right.

    In his haste to equalize, Otavio did not bother getting the ball under control and instead just swung his leg at it with power.

    {OTAVIOOOO!!!}

    {Oh what a save! Samir Handanovic is equal to it!}

    True to Giuseppe��s words Handanovic had unleashed his full abilities and had performed a spectacr save, but the attack wasn��t over.

 Chapter 241: Blue and Black VS Blue and White XIV

    Chapter 241: Blue and ck VS Blue and White XIV

    Despite getting his hand to the ball to prevent a goal, Handanovic wasn��t able to keep the ball within his grasp and the ball bounced over towards the left where Fabio Viera who hadn��t stopped moving suddenly appeared and once again hit the ball at goal.

    Handanovic had quickly recovered from the earlier dive and once again maneuvered his huge body into the path of the ball, once again pushing the ball away from this goal towards the right.

    {Another save from Handanovic! He just wouldn��t let the ball pass!} Giuseppe squealed in a frenzy of emotions.

    The ball flew over to the right where Otavio still stood.

    As the ball flew in Otavio��s direction Stefan de Vrij jumped up to try and head the ball away, but he missed as the ball flew just over his head, skimming his hair as it flew over and dropped into the path of Otavio��s foot.

    Without surprise, Otavio��s foot smacked the ball with as much power as he could muster and the ball rocketed into the back of the.

    {This time their aim is true!}

    {GOALLL!!!} {Deep deep into injury time, Porto find an equalizer!}

    {The lifeline they��ve been looking to hold on to for a long while is finally in their hands!}

    {Look at their joy! The fans must be ecstatic in their homes!}

    {Porto have finall-! Oh, what��s this!?}

    {The assistant referee��s g is up for a possible offside call!}

    {Celebrationse to a halt for the Portuguese side and they��re already making their objections known to the referee!} Giuseppe��s voice didn��t go along with the rise and drop of the Porto yers�� mood.

    On the field, the Porto yers surrounded the referee and made their objections known about the offside call while the referee was doing all he could to calm the Porto yers who looked like they could mob him anytime if he dared to disallow their goal.

    After calming the Porto yers, he informed them of his decision of intending to check the possibility of the goal being onside with the aid of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

    After saying his bit, the referee took off to the sidelines while the Porto yers remained on the field waiting withplicated feelings.

    The Porto fans�� emotional state was even worse.

    They did not know whether to wait in anticipation or to lose hope and some of them began praying and hoping for the referee��s decision to be in their favor.

    The referee who was watching the rey took his time to check as he had a game-changing decision to make.

    A full minuteter, the referee began walking away from the sidelines, ced his whistle in his mouth, and blew loudly before crossing his hands.

    The goal was to be disallowed and the hearts of everyone supporting the Porto team dropped.

    The Porto yers had their hands on their heads while a few of the other yers still tried to convince the referee, but soon a rey of the goal was shown on the screen at the stadium as well as on the broadcast.

    It showed that when Fabio Viera had hit the ball after Handanovic��s first save, Otavio��s right hand was offside.

    It was just slightly and his fingers were barely a few centimeters behind Stefan de Vrij, but it was enough for an offside call ording to the rules of the game.

    It looked like a controversial decision to the Porto yers and the fans who didn��t want to ept that theirst-minute equalizer had been disallowed, but the referee��s decision had been made and it could not be changed.

    Even worse was that while there was a debate about whether the goal was offside or not, the match��s added time was already fast spent and the whistle would be blown any moment from when y resumed.

    Just as the Porto yers and fans expected just five seconds after the free kick to resume y was taken, the final whistle was blown and the match came to an end.

    {The final whistle has been blown and it��s been confirmed, Inter Mn are going to the Europa League Semi-finals}

    {They are the victorious ones, the acimed ones, and they have taken a step further at being the chosen ones for the Europa League title}

    {It��s been said that history only remembers the winners, but history will definitely remember Porto��s efforts}

    {After giving their all in what I��d im is the most topsy-turvy half I��ve seen in a while, they just fell short and I��m sure it must hurt}

    {They must be disheartened and their fans will be disappointed, but one cannot say that they didn��t try their best}

    {Perhaps they can learn from this and hold onto hopes for next season}

    {For now, we must go and allow the victors to celebrate their triumph}

    {Once again, I am Giuseppe Meazza, and from my partner n Mackenzie, we say goodnight to you all} Giuseppe gave closing remarks and the broadcast ended with the graphic design of the Europa League appearing on the screens of countless Porto fans who could do nothing more than to stare at their screen nkly.

    Reality was finally setting in that their beloved team had lost, but they had no words to express theirplicated feelings.

    After a disastrous first half, their team had put on a splendid disy that more than made up for the disastrous first half and they hade so close to equalizing the game.

    In fact, they had done so, but their efforts had been denied and disallowed.

    The Porto fans couldn��t even be angry at their yers and instead began hurling curses at the next possible target to relieve some of their lingering annoyance.

    That unfortunate target was the referee who was simply doing his job and ensuring that fair y was ensured in the match, but that had unfortunately struck the nerve of the Porto fans wrongly.

    It has been said that referees were either invisible to fans or hated by them and now it was clear that the referee for that game was no longer invisible to the Porto fans.

    Luckily for him, the curses wouldn��t mean much, or he would be drowning in misfortune before he could even leave the grounds of the Merkur Spiel-Arena.

 Chapter 242: Dislocation

    Chapter 242: Dislocation

    Jason didn��t know about all that was going on back at the stadium and due to not having his phone around, he couldn��t find out which left him feeling quite curious and even a bit anxious.

    However, he knew that excessive movement wasn��t exactly a smart move in his current condition so he refrained from making any movements.

    The thought of asking the medical personnel escorting him to the health center crossed his mind, but Jason immediately ignored the thought as he didn��t want to burden people who were already tending to him with as much care as possible.

    Also, his socially awkward personality kept his mouth mped tight.

    He never liked overly social behavior unless in a ce where he wasfortable and he was anything butfortable at the moment.

    Luckily they soon reached a health center where he was rushed into an emergency room to his surprise and the relevant medical personnel soon attended to him.

    All the fuss they were making on a shoulder dislocation surprised Jason a fair bit because, in his previous life, it was only when he had had a knee injury that tore his ACL that there was this much of a rush in treatment.

    Once again, Jason felt the disparity between the top teams in Europe and the bottom feeders. The doctor who came to help was a middle-aged man who spoke to Jason in English mixed with a heavy German ent.

    Quickly diagnosing Jason��s injury to be a shoulder dislocation with an X-ray scan, he quickly moved on to the next part of the treatment.

    ��Don��t forget to breathe,�� the doctor said to Jason as he began to manually manipte the dislocated shoulder into ce, causing Jason a lot of pain.

    Thanks to a bit of pain tolerance retained from his previous reality, the only reaction to the pain Jason was feeling was a few muscle spasms and flinching as his mouth stayed shut.

    That wasn��t to say that the pain was something he could handle, he was just able to handle it well enough that he wasn��t shouting in pain.

    Luckily, the doctor was soon done with setting his bone back in ce and soon went on with the rest of the treatment procedure which included helping Jason into a brace to immobilize his arm and allow healing and prevent further dislocation.

    Thanks to technology, the braces that Jason wore were lightweight, easily detachable, and inconspicuous, thus they wouldn��t cause him much difort.

    His affected arm was also hung up with a sling, so it wasn��t really inconspicuous, but Jason could manage this much.

    After this Jason was given pain relievers to manage his difort and was also administered anti-inmmatory medications to prevent swelling.

    After all the treatment, Jason was administered to the hospital as they would have to hold him for a bit to observe further.

    If the dislocation was more serious than expected, he might have to undergo surgery and as an athlete, problems with his physique were not wee so Jason agreed to stay at the health center for the night at least.

    While Jason was being treated, he had made a request to the medical personnel to have his stuff sent over and they had agreed to do so and Jason finally had his stuff brought over.

    With his phone within reach, he quickly went online to check the match results and his heart dropped when he realized what had happened.

    He wasn��t convinced and went further to watch the highlights of the match, but it couldn��t change the fact that his team had lost.

    A voice in his head tried to console him with the fact that even if his team had won, he wouldn��t have been able to y whatever uing matches they had for a while due to his injury, but Jason paid the voice no mind.

    Football was a team game and whether you were injured, on the bench, or in the reserve team, the team��s sess was collective and so was their defeat.

    It never felt good to lose and Jason definitely wasn��t feeling good at the moment, especially considering that he hade so close to a European trophy and he had blown it.

    With a heavy sigh, Jason turned off his phone��s screen and put his phone away as hey down on the bed, but he soon got back up and headed for the bathroom of the private ward he had been assigned.

    He had not washed up after the game due to his injury and he was beginning to feel a bit ufortable at the thought of going to bed while feeling dirty.

    Washing up with only one functional arm was a bit annoying, but he managed to somehow clean up well and put on his braces and sling once he was done.

    Once again going back to his bed, he settled in, waiting to drift off to bed, his body feeling a bit ufortable.

    As he waited for the embrace of the goddess of sleep, his mind wandered and he thought about what would happen after today.

    Due to his injury, he was going to be off the team��s roster for a while�� At least a month of his estimations were correct.

    In this situation where he would not even be allowed to do any training, it was already almost confirmed that he would be missing the start of the next season because of the hurry in the schedule.

    Due to finishing the 2019/20 seasonte because of the lockdown caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, the yers would hardly have a break as the season was starting as soon as early September.

    In fact, it was likely that pre-season friendlies may even start as early as August.

    The recovery time for his injury should be estimated soon, but with him being off the field for that long, who knows what changes the manager would make to the team to amodate for his absence?

    Despite his performances so far, it wasn��t impossible for him to have to begin fighting for a spot on the team��s starting lineup once again.

    There were already yers in the team that he waspeting with and he might have even morepetition when he recovers and rejoins the team.

    ��Well no matter, we��ll deal with that when it��s time,�� Jason thought to himself with more confidence than he used to have.

    His confidence in his skills were growing, unbeknownst to him.

    He finally drifted off to sleep not knowing the dilemma he was about to face the next day

 Chapter 243: A Bright Day and A Dark Shadow

    Chapter 243: A Bright Day and A Dark Shadow

    **13th August 2020**

    *12:31 pm*

    Jason stared into the wall of his private ward which had be a prison of sorts for him for the next fourteen days and let out a long defeated sigh while rubbing his forehead in exasperation.

    ��How did this even happen?�� he muttered tiredly, not even having enough energy and enthusiasm to be angry at his current situation.

    After losing the most important game he had yed in his life so far and even getting injured while at it, he had thought things could not get worse and had already begun thinking about his ns post-recovery.

    Unfortunately, the day that started with a bright morning had shown him that it wasn��t only on dark shadowy days that misfortune struck.

    It had all started earlier in the morning when a nurse hade by to collect a blood sample from him and also to tell him about his schedule with the doctorter in the day.

    Jason had simply taken it in stride and had allowed his blood to be taken before the nurse went off with his blood as they needed to run some tests that he didn��t know nor care about. With the nurse gone, Jason had gone to wash up and waited on his bed while surfing his phone for some online entertainment.

    When his door was once again opened, he noticed that something was terribly wrong, because why would hospital staffe to meet him wearing hazmat suits?

    Okay, maybe hazmat suits weren��t the right words, but it didn��t change the fact that the medical staff were dressed like he was carrying some extremely contagious disease and that they needed to be wary of him.

    Unfortunately, his morbid thoughts had hit the mark because apparently, when his blood was being tested, the person in charge had done a COVID test out of habit because of the recent situation and the test returned positive.

    Hearing the whole cock and bull story from the medical staff that he was infected with the COVID-19 virus and that he would have to be ced under quarantine since he hadn��t yet shown any symptoms which meant that he was either just infected and the virus was still in its incubation period or he was an extremely rare case of what is known as a ��carrier��.

    Jason not only had a hard time wrapping his head around the whole situation, he had a very hard time even believing the bullsh*t they were spouting.

    As a ��regressor�� of sorts, he not only knew about the virus before these people everprehended the possibility of such a virus hitting the whole world and causing a global pandemic, but he also knew the risks associated with the virus and the best ways to avoid it.

    How could he, ��a fu*kin regressor�� fall for the most obvious problem that he had to avoid!?

    Being the kind of person he was, Jason never took risks regarding his safety and the only possibility of him contacting the virus in his head was from Mylo��s numerous escapades with every woman he could get his hands on.

    If his stupid roommate��s antics couldn��t get him to contact the virus, then how the hell did it even happen?

    Back in Portugal, he always kept his nose and mouth covered with a nose mask if he so much as stepped out of his house and the only ces where his nose mask wasn��t on were at the team��s training center and at the stadium and those ces had been vetted so it couldn��t be from there that he contacted the virus.

    Hygiene was also a major thing with him so contacting it that way was impossible.

    That left his arrival in Germany, but even then he didn��t see any problems in his conduct.

    His mask almost always stayed on and he washed his hands at every opportunity he had.

    Even at the stadium, he maintained his caution and the only time things went out of the range of his control was when he had been injured and sent to the health center.

    ��Could it be from there?�� Jason had wondered in annoyed surprise.

    ��Just one involuntary slip-up and I��m positive for COVID? What in heaven��s mercy is this bullsh*t?�� his annoyance grew as it began to be clearer and more usible that this health center was the only ce where it was possible for him to have somehow contracted the virus.

    As for the specifics, he didn��t know.

    It could be the ambnce, it could be the medical staff, it could be the air he was breathing in as he came to the clinic, it could be the clinic, it could be the doctor that snapped his arm back into ce, it could be the emergency room, hell, it could be the room he was in at the moment!

    There was no way for him to know, yet the medical staff in their ��hazmat suits�� kept asking him for the likely location where he could have contracted the virus.

    ��You��re the fu*king medics, figure it the fu*k out,�� Jason had cussed them out in Portuguese, but he kept his voice low and his face stayed impassive so they didn��t have an inkling of his annoyance with them since they were speaking English, though he could tell they were German by the ent in their voices.

    Unfortunately, their not having an idea that he was pissed by their presence had them continue annoying Jason with their continuous questions about all sorts of things that Jason didn��t want to hear and corrte.

    After listening to their babbling for a few more minutes, Jason had had it and stood up with annoyance and walked over to the two medics in the room, his 6ft height standing above the two female medics.

    ��I��ll only be saying it once, so listen very clearly,�� Jason said in a very cold tone.

    ��I am not an idiot and I know about the coronavirus and its incubation time of about 14 days,��

    ��The mere fact that I��m not showing any symptoms at all means that it hasn��t been long since I contacted the virus,��

    ��So far, I��ve been in Germany for about ten days so I definitely didn��t contact it before my flight because we ran tests,��

    ��I couldn��t have contacted it at the hotel I was staying either because like I said, it��s been ten days,��

    ��If I was going to show any symptoms, by now I��d already find it hard to barely breathe,��

    ��It also couldn��t have been the stadiums or where we did our training, otherwise I wouldn��t be the only one testing positive and an outbreak would likely have urred earlier,��

    ��With all the ces I just eliminated, use your medical knowledge to try and pin the ��appropriate location�� where I could have contacted the virus instead of trying to pin the location on all other ces but the obvious one,�� Jason said hisst sentence while unconsciously poking his hand on the chest of the medical staff while his eyes gleamed with his annoyance in full view.

 Chapter 244: Face Enchantment

    Chapter 244: Face Enchantment

    ��Oh shit!��

    The soft feeling that Jason��s finger experienced as it pressed into soft flesh immediately alerted Jason��s mind which was slightly clouded by anger that he was poking the ��chest�� of a female.

    Not showing any panic on his face, he slowly took his hand away and turned away from the woman that he was boldly poking on her ��chest area�� just seconds ago.

    ��Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t!�� his head was now ringing in rm as he realized that he had literally been assaulting the woman by putting his finger on her ��chest��.

    ���� Sorry, my anger got the better of me, I��ve been through a lot between yesterday night and this morning,�� Jason said with a heavy sigh, immediately going into acting mode and using his face card to evade this incident.

    It had been said that as long as one was handsome enough, he could never offend a woman and Jason had no option but to test that hypothesis or risk bad media and even imprisonment.

    Turning back with a wry smile and running his right hand through his hair with a distressed look on his face, Jason apologized again,

    ��Sorry for my outburst,�� he said in a low tone, his voice instantly taking on the seductive type tone he usually used when he was at the peak of his ��fuckboy�� lifestyle that had been dubbed the ��bedroom voice��. ���� A-Ah, yes, we may havee on a bit too strong,�� the woman who Jason poked stammered out and took a step closer to Jason,pletely forgetting that she was supposed to be doing the opposite since Jason was an infected patient.

    ��R-Right, we apologize for the way we delivered the message, w-we, huh, we might put a little too much pressure considering the situation,�� the second medic in her ��hazmat suit�� also said as she stepped forward, her words running continuously like an ever-flowing tap, but her eyes made it seem like she didn��t know the wordsing out from her mouth.

    ��Oh, okay,�� Jason muttered a response as he sat back on his bed, but internally he was still a mess.

    ��Did it work?�� he wondered, but he wasn��t able to tell due to not being able to see their facial expressions because of how their faces were covered.

    ��Better safe than sorry,�� he thought, instantly making a decision to go even further.

    First closing his eyes for a few seconds and regting his breathing to ready himself for the next move he was about to pull off and once he was ready, he made his move.

    He began taking off the sling that held up his hand and after taking off the sling, he began pulling at his shirt with his functioning right arm, aiming to pull off his shirt.

    ��W-what are you doing?�� the first female medic asked with surprise in her voice as she saw Jason trying to take off his shirt and exposing his upper body bit by bit.

    ��Oh, you��re still here?�� Jason muttered as if he was truly surprised that they were still in the room.

    ��Anyway, I want to take a bath, so you can skedaddle now, unless of course, you��re trying to get in the bath with me,�� he continued with a teasing smirk.

    ��I wouldn��t mind���� the medic who was poked by Jason muttered.

    ��Huh? What��s that you said?�� Jason asked, not hearing her words clearly.

    ��I wouldn��t mind helping you out, after all, it��s our duty to help the patients!�� the second medic immediately shot out in excitement, more eager and straightforward than her fellow partner, but if Jason could see under the mask, he would see that her face had turned red.

    ��Haha, good one,�� Jasonughed off her response after seeing that all his diversions weren��t a waste as it seemed the ��assaulted one�� and her partner hadpletely forgotten about the earlier incident.

    Now everything would be all good as long as he could get her to leave his ward.

    If she somehow managed to remember that he had poked her chest and made any noise about it, Jason would deny it vehemently.

    Luckily, there weren��t any security cameras in the ward so if it came to it, they had no evidence and it would be his word against theirs.

    Anyway, no one would believe that a handsome guy like him would assault a medical officer at a health center without any definitive evidence to convict him, right?

    ��Weird that I��m wondering about an assault case when there��s a potentially life-threatening virus coursing through my body right now,�� Jason thought to himself wryly with a littleugh on the outside that slightly surprised the other people in the room.

    Hopefully, his healthy physique helped him in fighting off the virus otherwise he would probably make history as the first main-character-like person to die of a sickness that he already knew about from his past life.

    He would never live it up in the afterlife if that happened.

    Thinking all these irrelevant thoughts had his face light up in a smile that he didn��t even know was on his face and the ��handsome face enchantment�� that he had cast on the female medics became even stronger without him knowing.

    ��Anyway, I understand why you guys are here,��

    ��Don��t worry, I won��t say anything that can damage your clinic��s reputation to the media,�� Jason said in aughing tone that disyed how lightly he thought of the matter, and by the shocked looks in their eyes, he knew his words had hit the mark.

    The reason why the hospital had sent two medical officers toe to meet him and the only thing they were dwelling on was the likely location he had contacted the virus was because they were scared.

    They already knew that Jason was a high-profile character and that he was also a professional athlete.

    They were not fools after all and they knew that with the current safety regtions on sports, it was unlikely that Jason had contracted the virus from anywhere but their hospital.

    In fact, before the match against Inter Mn, the yers of both teams underwent a COVID test to guarantee that they did not end up spreading the virus to other yers and Jason had tested negative otherwise he wouldn��t have been allowed on the field.

    Taking all that into consideration, things weren��t looking good for them.

    If it became known that Jason had contacted the virus, then some jobless media personnel would begin sniffing around and if they somehow managed to get Jason to slightly insinuate that he contacted the virus at their health center, then they were done for.

    That would be the end of them and they had to avoid that, hence their actions, but unknown to them, Jason wasn��t the kind of person who would want to announce to the world that he had contracted a virus.

    He didn��t need that kind of PR.

 Chapter 245: A Good Deal

    Chapter 245: A Good Deal

    There was no point in getting the media to find out that he had been quarantined because of COVID-19.

    He considered such matters to be private and he did not need the media concocting all sorts of stories they wanted just cause they had smelt blood in the water.

    What they were already writing after Porto��s loss to Inter Mn was already annoying enough and he didn��t need any more.

    There was no time to be hung up against the media when he would probably be fighting for his life for the next two weeks.

    ��Anyway, you guys can go now, my lips are sealed and will remain sealed,�� Jason said to the two women.

    Avoiding an assault case for not shutting down their clinic�� It was a pretty good deal to Jason.

    Not to mention that he wasn��t selfish enough to do something that would cause a few hundred people to lose their jobs.

    If the health center was closed down, all the employees of the health center would be thrust into the world of unemployment and considering the state of the world after the lockdown, who knew what kind of trouble that was for the people who were just barely managing to live by with the wages they received from the health center. Jason was mostly uncaring about other people, but that didn��t mean he wasn��t unsympathetic.

    In some people��s words, he wasn��t a plete asshole��.

    ��I expect you guys to find how I contacted the virus though and make sure no one contracts it after me,�� he continued, making it clear that while he wasn��t going to cause trouble for the health center, he wasn��t going to allow them to cause any more trouble that could cause someone to lose their life.

    ��Absolutely, we��re already working on it,�� the first medic answered him immediately.

    ��Don��t just work on it, fix it�� And my mouth will stay closed,�� Jason replied with a smile that looked heart warming, but his words were anything but warming.

    He was downright threatening the two women at this point, but for some weird reason they didn��t seem to notice his cold words and were just nodding vehemently.

    ��See you around then,�� Jason said as he opened the door to the bathroom on the side of the room, stepped in, and shut the door behind him.

    ��Damn he��s so hot,�� the first medical officer muttered in a low voice, her hands involuntarily moving onto the spot on her chest that Jason had unknowingly been poking.

    Contrary to Jason��s thoughts, she had noticed Jason actions of poking her chest with his finger from the start, but she hadn��t reacted because of one small reason��

    Why would she react boriously and put a stop to something she was enjoying?

    Working as a doctor in one of the busiest health centers in Dusseldorf, she didn��t have much time for rtionships and the lockdown had increased her workload so it had been more than five months since she had had a genital meet and greet with the opposite gender, so why would she want a man as hot as Jason to stop poking her chest?

    In fact, if not for the current circumstances, she would have thrown herself on him right from the start.

    She hadn��t mentioned it, but she had been a fan of Jason since his debut at the Bayarena because she had been there watching the game with her friends.

    She even followed him on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, so she was more than just a regr fan.

    Jason putting his hand on her chest was more like a blessing to her as a devout fan rather than an assault and she wouldn��t have cared if he downright threw her on the bed and did unspeakable things as she was a bit of a freak under the nket herself.

    Unfortunately, Jason didn��t know all this and had made an borate n of getting her to forget his ��assault��, even now, he was hiding in the bathroom and waiting to hear the sound of the door of the ward being shut.

    *Click*

    A barely audible click sounded through the room as the two women left Jason��s ward and five secondster, the door of the bathroom opened slowly and Jason��s head popped out.

    His eyes nced across the whole room and only after seeing that the women were gone did he walk out of the bathroom and shut the door behind him as silently as possible.

    ��That was unnerving,�� he muttered to himself as he began putting his braces, shirt, and sling back on.

    Laying back on the bed, his eyes rose to the ceiling of the room as he just stayed in bed and watched the ceiling.

    After looking at the ceiling without doing anything for about ten minutes he began feeling around for his phone as he wanted to make a call to set a few things in order.

    Finally finding his phone after almost ten seconds of searching uncaringly, he dialed the head manager��s phone number.

    After getting on the phone with the head manager, he realized that Sergio Conceicao already knew about his situation.

    With that out of the way, Jason immediately told the manager about his wish to not have the information leak that he was COVID positive, and if it did leak the manager should stay silent and not give anyments to the media concerning the issue apart from their wishes for him to get better soon.

    Knowing the club��s annoying tendency to y with the media and say all sorts of things without informing him, Jason deemed this call that he was making very necessary.

    Luckily, the head manager also didn��t see any point in spreading the news because there was no benefit for the club in doing so, so after wishing him well with hopes that he��d get better soon, he told Jason to get back to the club as soon as possible after the quarantine period ended so he could begin his rehabilitation while being monitored by the club��s medical team.

    That would be the best way to ensure a quicker recovery for Jason and Jason didn��t disagree.

 Chapter 246: A Surprise Visit I

    Chapter 246: A Surprise Visit I

    After their loss to Inter Mn which signified the end of the season��s matches, the Porto team no longer had any reason to remain within the German hemisphere.

    They would have a week��s break because of the rushed schedule for the next season so some of the yers opted to fly to their home countries while the rest headed back with the team ne back to Portugal�� Except Jason who was still in quarantine.

    Due to their silent departure from Germany, there wasn��t much news about their departure from Germany and their arrival in Portugal.

    This helped to mask the fact that Jason wasn��t with the team that came back to the Portugal.

    Sergio Conceicao had to hold a press conference upon returning to Portugal to talk about the match against Inter Mn, as well as a few other things.

    At the press conference, Sergio Conceicao spoke about the yers performances in the match and apologized to the fans about the team��s performance in the first half.

    He also spoke about the team��s aspirations for theing season after being asked a question pertaining the matter.

    Finally, he was asked about Jason��s injury and he responded to the media, saying, ��Jason��s injury is an unfortunate event and he��s already patched up and recovering, I can��t make any spections about his return to the team as of now, but I��m keeping my fingers crossed for early next season.��

    After talking about a few more matters, he ended the conference.

    *7:57pm*

    **At Terminal Intermodal Campanha**

    The Terminal Intermodal Campanha was one of thergest bus stations in Porto and befitting it��s reputation, many buses of all colors could be seen going in and out of the bus station.

    One of the buses that came was a dark blue bus that was justing into the bus station after almost four hours of traversing from Lisbon to Porto.

    A beautiful girl that looked to be in herte teenage years stepped out of the bus briskly, squinting her eyes slightly at the darkness outside the bus.

    Not faltering in her steps, she walked off the steps to avoid blocking the path of the people behind her.

    When she was finally out of the way, she brushed away the strands of dark brown hair that blew into her vision.

    ��Maybe I didn��t n this well,�� she muttered to herself as she nced around at the darkness again.

    In reality, it wasn��t actually that dark because of the lights at the bus station, but Sofia was looking at the night sky and not the surroundings.

    She had left Lisbon just after 4 pm and had nned to arrive at Porto a bit earlier, but she had underestimated how long the trip would take.

    After watching Porto��s match against Inter Mn and seeing Jason get injured, she had been antsy all day and had made a sudden spur of the moment decision toe see how Jason was doing.

    Due to it being a spur of the moment decision, she hadn��t informed Jason about her decision toe see him.

    She had just made the decision while attending herst ss of the day at the University of Lisbon, thus she hadn��t even prepared much for the trip.

    Of course, she already knew that she wouldn��t be able to go back to Lisbon that same night, but she hadn��t anticipated that it would be thiste when she arrived at Lisbon.

    ��Anyway, where did he say he lived again?�� she wondered to herself as she began walking out of the bus station with her bag in hand.

    She pulled out her phone to check for Jason��s house address, but after checking, she realized that Jason hadn��t given her the exact address and had only given her a general location of the ce.

    Since she was already here without telling him, she didn��t want to give the surprise away by asking for his exact address.

    ��Ah, I can do that?�� Her eyes brightened up with an idea as she remembered Jason��s former roommate as well as the exact location of the dormitory where Jason used to live with Mylo.

    ��Mylo should know the ce, right?�� she thought to herself as she gged a taxi and got in.

    Telling the driver about her destination, she sat and waited in the back as the driver maneuvered the taxi through the streets of Porto.

    After almost an hour or driving, the taxi came to a stop and the driver called out to Sofia,

    ��Miss, we��re here.��

    Sofia quickly paid the fare and got down, checked the time and hurried her steps as it was already veryte.

    Quickly reaching the front of the dormitory, she rapped sharply on the door.

    After waiting for about ten seconds, she was about to knock again when she heard a click and the door swung open.

    Mylo nced at the visitor confused for a moment before he suddenly called out in recognition,

    ��Sofia? What are you doing here?�� Mylo asked as he suddenly remembered his former roommate��s ��prospective�� girlfriend.

    ��Ah good evening, sorry to disturb you thiste at night, but I need your help,�� Sofia went on to exin her reasons toe looking for Mylo.

    ��Rtionship people,�� Mylo thought to himself with a bit of annoyance and subtly rolled his eyes, but he didn��t disagree to help.

    ��I know the ce and I can give you the address, but I can��t let you go alone thiste at night, especially now that I know you��re going to visit Jason,�� Mylo said after listening to her words.

    ��Huh, what? There��s no need for that, I��ll go on my own,�� Sofia quickly replied.

    ��No, I insist�� Also, it��s been a while since I��ve seen Jason so it wouldn��t hurt to tag along and check up on him,�� Mylo quickly shot back and turned around to go get his jacket leaving the door open.

    ��Who knows what Jason would do to me if he knew I let his girl traverse the dark nights of Porto unprotected,�� he thought to himself not thinking that Jason would rather that Mylo stayed as far away from Sofia as possible instead.

    ��I��ll be back in a moment,�� he called out as he quickly went to find his jacket.

    Sofia stepped into the house and went to sit on the couch, quickly diving into her bag to pick up her phone, but she had barely turned on her phone screen when Mylo rushed out of his room, his hair a bit tousled, but he now had on a jacket and shoes.

    ��Let��s go,�� Mylo said, a bit out of breath.

    ��Oh!�� Sofia was a bit startled and quickly stood up, but in her haste, she didn��t notice her purse fall out of her bag as she went out of the dormitory.

 Chapter 247: A Surprise Visit II

    Chapter 247: A Surprise Visit II

    Mylo quickly gged down a cab and got in with Sofia before giving the driver the address of Jason��s ce.

    Nodding affirmatively, the driver quickly began driving while Mylo and Sofia conversed in the back seat.

    By coincidence or not, both of them were good conversationalists and they ended up chatting with each other the whole journey to Jason��s ce.

    With how animated their conversation was, the driver was thinking that they were either a couple or really close siblings, not knowing that he was not just off the mark, he was blindly thinking in all the wrong directions.

    ��It��s good to be young,�� the fifty-somethng looking driver chuckled as he drove, ncing into the mirror at the backseat.

    Mylo and Sofia were too enamored in conversation to notice the driver��s remark and knowing look.

    After a few more minutes of driving, the taxi pulled up in front of Jason��s house where Mylo and Sofia got down.

    Mylo was about to pay for the cab when Sofia instinctively reached into her bag and that was when she finally noticed that her purse was missing. Initially thinking that it had fallen inside the taxi along the road, she, Mylo and the taxi drivermenced a search for the lost wallet, but it was not to be found.

    At this point, Sofia began retracing their her steps in her mind and only then did she realize that her wallet had probably fallen at Mylo��s ce.

    Upon realizing this, Mylo settled the taxi fare and they sent the driver off, apologizing for trouble the poor guy.

    ��I owe you one,�� Sofia said to Mylo as they walked up Jason��s driveway.

    ��Don��t worry about it, I gotchu,�� Mylo replied with a grin.

    ��Rather than that, it��s a bit strange that there aren��t any lights on inside,�� he quickly diverted the conversation with an astute observation.

    The lights that lit up the way to the house had lit up as soon as they stepped into the driveway earlier so they had not noticed it earlier, but thinking about it now, it was likely to be that those lights relied on motion sensors and that��s why they were turned on immediately.

    Considering the expensive looking neighborhood and the fact that Jason��s house didn��t exactly look very cheap, that conjecture was making more sense the closer they got to the door and realized that there truly were no lights on from anywhere they could see.

    ��Anyway it doesn��t matter, he may be at the back or something,�� Mylo said, disregarding the thoughts that had popped up in his head as they reached the front of the door.

    *Ding Dong*

    Mylo pressed on the doorbell but after thirty seconds of waiting, they got no response and he pressed the doorbell again.

    *Ding Dong* *Ding Dong*

    Yet even after waiting for another thirty seconds, there was still no response.

    At this juncture, Sofia had already pulled out her phone and began dialing Jason��s phone, after all, it wouldn��t ruin the surprise visit if she told him toe open the doors for her, right?

    After ringing twice, she heard an audible click and Jason��s voice immediately came through the phone into her ears,

    ��Hey, what��s up, I was actually about to text you, I have something to tell you,�� Jason said truthfully.

    His phone was in his hand and he was already typing a message that he was going to send to her, but due to his currentcking arm mobility, he was only able to type at less than a half of his regr speed and it was while he was typing slowly that her call hade through.

    ��Oh? What a coincidence, I also have something to tell you,�� Sofia replied, her face lighting up in a smile as she heard Jason��s voice.

    ��That��s some crazy coincidence, anyway you first, what do you want to tell me?�� Jason��s surprised voice came through the phone.

    ��Before I do that, do you always keep your lights off by this time of day?�� Sofia asked in a mischievous voice.

    ��What? My lights? What do mean my lights are off?�� Question after question tumbled out of a confused Jason��s mouth before a jaw dropping intonation appeared in Jason��s head.

    ��Wait, where are you right now?�� Jason asked, his voice not having the excited tone that Sofia expected to hear, but she was being way to mischievous to realize it.

    ��I��m at the front of your ce, and I��m here with Mylo,�� Sofia replied.

    ��My house? Like the one I just rented and told you about?�� Jason facepalmed in the hospital bed he was lying in, but his mouth was still spouting stupid questions.

    ��Well, duh, what other house could I mean?�� Sofia shot back rolling her eyes.

    ��Anyway, open up, I can��t stand outside here for much longer with my tired legs and I need you toe carry me�� Or would you rather Mylo carried me away instead,�� Sofia said dramatically.

    ��Okay, there might be a slight problem with meing to open the door�� You see, I��m not really in Porto right now, hell I��m not even in Portugal,�� Jason spelled out slowly, ignoring her dramatic threat of having Mylo carry her.

    ��What!?�� Sofia heard the most shocking news of her day right at that moment.

    ��I was just about to tell you, I��m�� actually being quarantined right now, I got gged COVID positive at the hospital I received treatment from yesterday night,�� Jason began exining, trying to make sure that heid out the full story.

    ��I was only told this morning after they ran tests and determined that I was COVID positive, and then I was ced under quarantine and I can��t leave Germany right now,�� Jason continued his borate exnation.

    ��You��re being quarantined? How did you even contract the virus in the first ce? Are you okay? Why didn��t you tell me earlier?�� Sofia fired off questions at the speed of a gattling gun.

    ��In order of questions asked�� Yes, I don��t know, I am���� Jason began answering her questions all at once,

    ��And�� Long story, it��s difficult to exin, but I was going to tell you, I just didn��t think you��d go over to my ce all of a sudden,�� Jason sighed, finding the whole situation kind of touching, but annoying at the same time, because he was currently in a situation where he didn��t know what to do next.

    ��Are you saying this is my fault?�� Sofia��s reply had a bit of an edge to it that Jason noticed but ignored as he replied immediately.

    ��Yes, it is kinda your fault, you could have at least tried to confirm my location before doing something like that, you know?�� Jason replied, leaving some words unsaid.

    ��Who travels across the country to go do a surprise visit for someone who youst heard of being in another country?�� Jason thought to himself.

    Maybe his way of thinking was too harsh, but it was a truth that needed to be said.

    Also, despite the guilty conscience that tried to make him also feel like he was at fault as well, he shrugged it off.

    He was not obligated to tell anybody his whereabouts and he already had a lot going on, so he didn��t see himself being at fault in the slightest, but Sofia wasn��t seeing it from his point of view.

    Her reply made that very clear,

    ��Wow�� I��m at fault for caring enough toe and check up on you?�� Her tone dropped dangerously.

    ��What? I never said that�� When did that parte into the conversation?��

    ��What the hell are you even talking about?�� Jason��s reply perfectly expressed his confusion.

    He had only said she was at fault for not checking his avability in the first ce, he never said anything about anything else, so what the hell was going on?

    ��What am I talking about?�� Sofia asked incredulously, the tension filled day getting the better of her temper.

    ��Let��s not get into this right now, okay�� Let��s first figure out where you��re going to spend the night cuz�� I don��t think it��s possible for you to get back to Lisbon tonight�� I also wouldn��t rmend it,�� Jason immediately made to put a stop to whatever seemed like it was brewing as he didn��t want to deal with it right now.

    He didn��t care what it was, but at that momentp, he just needed some peace.

    Unfortunately, peace was going to be hard to get for either of them that night.

    ��I��ll figure it out, enjoy your quarantine in Germany,�� Sofia snapped and hung up.

    In Jason��s private ward in Germany, Jason looked at his phone screen with surprise and confusion.

    ��What the hell was that?�� He muttered to himself.

    He wasn��t experienced in these kind of things, but he could tell that whatever was happening, it wasn��t something he liked.

    Unfortunately, the best choice he could make at the moment was to let it blow over even though he felt uneasy about the whole situation.

    Back in Porto��

    ��Is everything okay,�� Mylo asked from beside Sofia.

    ��Yeah, he��s in Germany, so I need to find another ce to spend the night,�� Sofia replied, her voice sounding drained of energy.

    ��He��s still in Germany, huh? That exins everything,��

    ��Anyway, should I send you to your ce?�� Mylo asked.

    ��My ce? I don��t live here�� I mean I do, but I can��t go to my mum��s house, I��d be dead by morning if she knew why I was here,�� Sofia replied, turning away from Jason��s door and heading back onto thr driveway with Mylo following behind her.

    ���� Uh, you can stay at my ce, Jason��s room is still there����

    ��I��d have rmended a hotel, but I don��t have enough cash to pay for that, and I didn��t bring my debit card along�� Unfortunately, your purse is still lost,�� Mylo answered after some thought, not willing to leave her to her own devices and just leave, especially since he had followed her here.

    ���� I guess, I don��t have much of a choice,�� Sofia answered after a second of thought.

    With decisions made, they headed back to Mylo��s ce in another taxi.

    They had barely been inside the house when a knock came at the door and only then did Mylo remember that he had originally called two girls over and they were supposed to have a bit of a wild night.

    He hadn��t known that things would somehow end up like this, but he wasn��t going to let another man��s girl blue ball him and he let the girls in and the pre-nned nights events proceeded as nned.

    It was a truly wild night for Mylo who after waking up the next morning and light flowed into his eyes, bringing the image of the entire room into his brain, was hit with an unimaginable headache that wasn��t just an aftermath of his heavy drinking the previous night.

 Chapter 248: 14-days Quarantine in Five Minutes

    Chapter 248: 14-days Quarantine in Five Minutes

    After Porto��s exit from the Europa League, they left the German hemisphere, but the Europa League continued in their absence with Inter Mn who had knocked them out going on to defeat Shakhtar Dsk in the semi-finals of thepetition.

    However, they couldn��t go all the way and were defeated 3 -2 in a hard-fought final against Sevi who triumphed and went on to lift the famous Europa League trophy.

    All this happened while Jason was stuck in quarantine and unable to leave his private ward until it was confirmed that he didn��t exhibit any symptoms and waspletely rid of the virus.

    Luckily, his physique was a big help in resisting the virus and he hadn��te down with anything so far, but after being locked up for a few days, that was the least of Jason��s problems.

    Due to being injured, he wasn��t allowed to do any strenuous actions which included training, training, and training.

    Unfortunately, the injury did not only inhibit Jason from training, but it also restricted him from doing the next best thing in this situation which was ying games aimlessly.

    Some would argue that having an injured hand wouldn��t restrict one from having fun with games, but Jason as well as any other avid gamer would beg to differ.

    One-handed mobile games were at best helpful in passing time and one could only y for so long before they became bored out of their minds. Two-handed games on the other hand were what were actually qualified to be called games to such avid gamers and Jason was almost running out of his mind doing nothing but ying games like Subway Surfers, Temple Run, Railway Rush, and Jet Pack Joyride thanks to his injured and immobilized shoulder.

    He had yed a lot of other games, but these were the only ones he could y for more than an hour before feeling the urge to smash his phone against the wall after which he would switch to another game.

    However, after three days in the hospital, Jason had had enough and began doing some non-strenuous training that would at best serve as physical conditioning for him.

    In thest three days, he had made sure to note the intervals in between when he received visits from medical staff and after seeing that it was quite frequent, he began his sneaky training.

    Luckily, there wasn��t a CCTV in the health center, so Jason didn��t have to worry about getting caught.

    Over the days that slowly passed, the little bits of physical training here and there transformed into a full schedule of martial arts training for Jason.

    Since he didn��t have ess to a ball at the moment, he had first begun with just bare warm-ups and stretches on the first day of physical conditioning, which was also his third day at the health center.

    After seeing that as long as he was careful, he could train the other parts of his body as long as he didn��t move too much and disturb his shoulder��s healing.

    Starting with that in mind, Jason had gone on to add one-hand push-ups, squats, running on the spot, and a few jumps to his ��physical conditioning��, but then Jason had noticed that thanks to his experience as a martial artist, he had a lot more control on his body than he had expected at the start of his training so it was easy to do some more training than he had expected.

    Immediately realizing the use of his martial arts experience in maintaining his body��s bnce and helping him to train his body even a bit more, Jason ended up making the decision to once again add martial arts training to his training regime to try and regain his peak martial skills as it was guaranteed that the benefits he would gain from doing this wouldn��t be small.

    Hence why he was now doing martial arts training in his ward apart from the physical training aimed at conditioning his body and remaining match-fit for theing season.

    He didn��t know when he would be able to join the team again thanks to his injury, but the training he was doing here would help him in getting back on the team faster, and also help him to retain his ce on the team if he could continue performing.

    As the days passed by slowly for Jason in the hospital ward, the world outside hadn��t stopped moving for a single second and the football world was currently bustling with all kinds of news and transfer rumors due to the transfer season, the transfer season momentum not dampened by the previous lockdown in the slightest.

    Transfer talks were going on in all parts of the world and Jason who was still stuck in quarantine wasn��t uninformed of the transfer deals and rumors going on in the world.

    Kai Havertz who Jason had yed against in his professional debut had moved to Chelsea with Bayer Leverkusen being able to get a sky-high price of about $95 million.

    Ruben Dias who Jason had yed against as well had also moved to the Premier League with Manchester City being the ones to secure his services for a high price of about $85 million.

    There were also less talked about deals like Thomas Partey moving from Athletico Madrid to Arsenal for a price of $58 million, and Liverpool and Barcelona legend Luis Suarez moving to the Athletico Madrid side for reasons unknown to many.

    Some thought he had had enough of Barcelona��sck of continental qualification, or that he was looking for a more lucrative side that would pay him higher wages, but then that begged the question that why of all the teams he could move to had he chosen Athletico Madrid that was below Barcelona in every scale except defensive ability.

    Nobody knew what was going on in ��Vampire�� Suarez��s head when he switched clubs thiste in his career, but people didn��t remain hung up on his choice for long as other news quickly swept his matter away.

    There were talks about Manchester United wanting to acquire the services of Jadon Sancho, Alex Telles, Edinson Cavani, Donny Van de Beek, and even Jason himself.

    Since he already knew about Manchester United��s transfer interest in him from the start, he wasn��t shocked at the news flowing around and he simply ignored the news and focused on his physical conditioning and martial training.

    He had heard from Adele that she had been contacted by the Manchester side, and though they hadn��t made any offers or promises, they had set up a meeting with something in mind.

    He didn��t know what the Manchester United side was thinking that they had contacted Adele, but he knew that there was no point in specting as he hadn��t been informed by the Porto officials that the Manchester United side had made an official bid.

    Whatever the Manchester United side had to say to Adele would probably throw a light on the whole situation, but until then, he didn��t need to waste any time specting.

    As Jason continued his training, he finally remembered the transfer news pertaining to his own club.

    Alex Telles was already being courted by the Manchester United side and an official bid had already been submitted which Porto had epted, thus it was almost certain that Telles was already gone.

    Telles was not the only high-profile yer who would be leaving the Porto side as Tiquiho Soares had already agreed on personal terms with Tianjin Teda and had already flown off to China for his medicals.

    Vincent Aboubakar had also left the club and joined Besiktas on a free transfer, but as if that wasn��t enough, Fabio Silva and Ze Luis were also leaving the club which literally reduced Porto��s first team forwards from a robust number of four to only one.

    Danilo Perreira had also received a loan offer from Paris Saint Germain, a top-flight team in France and he was pushing the club to ept the offer as he wanted to broaden his horizons on shores that were not Portuguese.

    With all these transfers going on, it was already almost confirmed that the team would be undergoing a great change in line-up and even the team��s ying style would have to be adjusted to cater to the loss of valuable yers and the new yers who Porto were already working on bringing to the club.

    So far, Jason had heard about the club��s moves to bring in Zaidu Sanusi who would potentially fill in the left-back position that Telles was going to leave vacant.

    Sergio Conceicao was also going after Mehdi Taremi and Evanilson to fill in the spaces left by the team��s departed forwards.

    There were also a few other deals going on, but Jason wasn��t curious enough to dig through all sorts of tabloids and media to find out about the club��s targets.

    All he knew was that the team would be notified when a new yer was added to the team roster and that was all that mattered, after all, just like in his matter with Manchester United, there was no point in specting if the truth would sooner orter be revealed without him having to do anything.

 Chapter 249: Negative

    Chapter 249: Negative

    **28th August 2020**

    Despite how slow it felt to Jason, hisst day of quarantine had arrived.

    After a final test that determined that he waspletely free of the coronavirus, he regained his freedom.

    All the paperwork that needed to be taken off was quickly done while Jason packed up his stuff and headed out of the hospital with his bag in his right hand.

    He had taken off the sling on his hand and only had on a brace that was covered by his clothes so no one would notice his dislocated shoulder just by walking down the street.

    Dressed in a simple T-shirt and trousers, Jason covered his lower face with a facemask and left the health center.

    Due to his peculiar situation, Jason ended up spending his end-of-the-season break in quarantine and added with the fact that he needed to go back to the club to have his injury checked by the club��s orthopedic specialist so that they could check the healing process of his injury so far and estimate his remaining recovery period, Jason had to leave Germany soon.

    Knowing that the club already had a pre-season friendly match the very next day, Jason had Adele book a flight for him back to Portugal. Of course, he wouldn��t be able to y or even watch the match, but that was beside the point.

    Before heading back to Portugal however, Jason still had a few things to do in Germany before he left, and the first thing was a change of clothes.

    Thanks to preparing for a long stay in Germany due to the Europa League, Jason had had enough clothes tost him even in quarantine, but now he desired a major change in clothes since he hadn��t had anyundry done in a few weeks.

    Throwing his sports bag into the back of the 2020 Mercedes G-ss SUV that Adele had chartered along with a driver to take him wherever he wanted to go before he left the German hemisphere.

    The driver looked to be in his early twenties but he dressed up in a ck suit and looked like the chauffeur of a billionaire household and this setup was already getting Jason a few stares from the people passing by the front of the health center.

    However, Jason ignored the stares and didn��t even bother to adjust his mask to see if people weren��t seeing his face.

    It seemed he was slowly getting used to the attention he was receiving.

    The driver did not know what was going through Jason��s mind, neither did he care about the stares he was receiving as those stares weren��t going to give him anything anyway.

    He ran a small business where he worked as a driver for anyone willing to pay for his services and Jason happened to be a big customer, after all, it was not every day someone asked for the luxury package of his services.

    He usually rented the cars that he used to drive his clients around depending on how much he was paid, or if the client had preferences, but not only had the person who hired him for Jason paid in full and even threw in a bonus, the person had also asked him to rent a luxury car that he would usually not even be able to get behind the wheel of.

    That was why he was in this billionaire driver get up and treating Jason like his boss, because, to him, Jason was actually a boss.

    He had not seen the face behind the mask, but the gleaming blue eyes that stared boredly at him gave off a feeling ofplete ease andposure that was only seen by people with money.

    He quickly opened the door for Jason to get in and Jason who was injured in his left shoulder appreciated the gesture as he got in.

    Moving quickly, he pulled out ck sunsses from his pocket as he moved around the back of the car to get in the front seat.

    ��Where to, sir?�� He asked Jason as soon as he got in.

    ��First, what do I call you?�� Jason asked back, not looking at him as he pulled off his face mask.

    ��You can call me Joshua,�� the driver replied with a small smile as he looked into the rearview mirror, his eyes widening in an instant not because he recognized Jason but because of his surprise at finally seeing Jason��s face that was a lot younger than he expected��

    And more handsome than he expected as well.

    ��Joshua huh�� Do you know any good clothing stores around here, I need a change of clothes before we go to the airport,�� Jason asked.

    ��I know a few ces, it depends on the type of clothes you��re looking for,�� Joshua replied, starting the car with the push of a button.

    ��I��ll find out what I��m looking for when I get there, let��s go���� Jason said, ncing outside the tinted windows.

    ��Oh, and just call me Jason, that ��sir�� stuff makes me feel old again,�� Jason muttered half-mindedly.

    ��Ok, si-�� Jason,�� Joshua replied, missing the obvious contradiction in Jason��s sentence.

    Having received Jason��s instructions, Joshua drove the car through the streets of Dusseldorf, continuously marveling at the smoothness of the vehicle he was buying.

    Joshua wasn��t the only one enjoying the ride however, Jason was also enjoying the ride though for apletely different reason.

    Jason was more happy by the fact that he was finally out of the walls of white that surrounded him for days and was simply enjoying the moving scenery and ambient atmosphere.

    As for the car, Jason was also thinking that it wouldn��t be bad to get himself a Mercedes car one of these days.

    It seemed a bit morefortable than his BMW i8 and was a lot less eye-catching which would help Jason disguise himself more whenever he wanted to go to public ces without being recognized.

    He could solve the problem of being swarmed by fans by hiring bodyguards but Jason didn��t want to do such a thing as he didn��t really like it and it was also kind of a waste.

    If any dangerous individuals actually approached him, Jason by himself was more than enough to take them on�� As long as they weren��t holding any hot weapons of course.

    Though, if he also had hot weapons, it would be a different story, but why would Jason go around carrying a gun for no reason?

    This wasn��t America.

 Chapter 250: Cruising for Steeze

    Chapter 250: Cruising for Steeze

    True to his words about knowing a few ces, Joshua soon brought the car to a stop in front of a mall.

    ��It��s in here?�� Jason asked, looking at the huge mall through the tinted ss.

    ��It��s not really as much of a clothing store as it is a mall, but there are a lot of clothing stores from all sorts of brands so you could get anything you fancy from casual wear to something more formal,�� Joshua answered quickly.

    ��Okay thanks,�� Jason replied in appreciation and opened the door that was already unlocked.

    ��I��ll call you when I��m done,�� Jason said as he got down, not noticing Joshua��s mouth mp up behind him.

    Joshua was going to ask whether he should follow Jason, but Jason had already unknowingly rejected him before he could even ask.

    With his mask back on, Jason walked into the mall with smoothly measured steps, his left shoulder unmoving, but it wasn��t something that most people would even notice.

    Not long after entering the mall, Jason had alreadye across a clothing store, but a quick nce at the clothes inside and Jason walked past it, after all, no matter how much he desired a change of clothes, he wouldn��t be caught dead wearing female underwears just because of that. Jason skipped past the second clothing store as it had mostly children��s clothes and Jason might be young, but he was way bigger than the clothes the store had.

    The third store had formal clothes and after a few seconds�� nce, Jason walked past the store as well as he didn��t want to put on a tight-fitting formal wear when his shoulder was busted, that was just looking for pain.

    Jason was about to walk past the fourth store that had mostly beach wear when he stopped in his tracks as his eyes fell on a dressed mannequin.

    His eyes remained on the clothes that the mannequin wore for a few more seconds before Jason finally moved.

    Changing directions and immediately walking into the store, a young woman who looked to still be in her teenage years walked up to Jason.

    ��Wee to Cruisin Steeze, what kind of outfit are you looking for?�� She asked in English with a professional tone that surprisingly didn��t feel out of ce despite her young looks.

    ��I want that,�� Jason said in a very direct tone, his eyes directing the salesgirl to the mannequin he had been ncing at earlier and was once again ncing at.

    ��Oh, this,�� the girl walked up to the mannequin.

    On the mannequin��s body was a Hawaiian shirt and shorts with matching designs.

    The main color of the shirt was a dark blue and it had some leaf designs printed all over it, but apart from the aesthetically pleasing looks, what had especially gotten Jason��s attention was how oversized it was.

    It looked like it was meant for somebody of a much bigger size and Jason didn��t know what was the intention of the designer, but Jason was definitely putting that on.

    It was stylish and lookedfy, especially now with his injured shoulder.

    ��Take them off,�� Jason said with a nod as he wasn��t going to bother going through the stress of undressing a mannequin with one of his arms busted. It was the salesgirl��s job anyway.

    ��What?�� the girl��s face snapped back in Jason��s direction at a shocking pace.

    ��Clothes�� take them off?�� Jason repeated with a raised eyebrow.

    ��Excuse me?�� the salesgirl asked again, with her own eyebrow raised and a surprised look on her face.

    ��Take.the.clothes.off.the.mannequin,�� Jason spelled out with a roll of his eyes, having a feeling that there was amunication problem.

    ��I want them,�� he went on to say, affirming his earlier words if they were somehow still not clear.

    ��Oh�� sorry, that�� I thought you meant something else,�� the girl muttered and began taking off the clothes from the mannequin.

    As the girl took off the clothes from the mannequin, Jason��s eyes scoured over the other clothes in the store, looking for an inner shirt he could wear because as much as he was confident in his upper body, he didn��t like exposing himself, not to mention that it was cold outside.

    He didn��t have to look around for too long before his eyes fell on a in white T-shirt that looked oversized for him.

    As Jason fiddled with the hanger that the clothes hung on with one hand, the sales girl came back with the clothes that the mannequin wore a second ago neatly folded in her hands.

    ��I��m taking this as well, where��s the changing room?�� Jason asked, finally taking the white T-shirt off the hanger.

    ��It��s this way,�� the sales girl gestured with professionalism etched into her movements.

    With her leading the way, Jason found the changing room and went inside to change.

    With experience from his 14 days of quarantine, Jason smoothly took off his clothes, but midway through taking off his shirt, his hair that was tied up in a bun came loose, annoying Jason.

    He had spent almost ten minutes in the morning just trying to tie up his hair but now it was loose again and he couldn��t be bothered trying to tie it up again.

    He quickly continued with his undressing, making sure not to jerk his shoulder and a couple of minutester he was in totally different clothes than he had worn into the changing room�� unless of course, his tight whities but�� whatever.

    ncing into the mirror, Jason liked what he saw.

    Brushing his hand through his hair to free up any tangles and letting it flow freely down past his shoulders down to his back and on his chest, Jason nodded with a smile.

    Grabbing his own clothes, Jason walked out of the dressing room and came face to face with the girl sales girl he had left outside the changing room.

    *Gasp*

    An audible gasp escaped from everyone in the store who saw Jason step out of the dressing room.

    ��What�� is it bad?�� Jason immediately wondered when he saw everyone gaping at him and his right hand immediately went to his face and touched his bare skin.

    ��Ah�� I forgot the mask.��

 Chapter 251: Young Talent Joins the Team

    Chapter 251: Young Talent Joins the Team

    ��Ah�� I forgot the mask,�� Jason muttered in realization as he felt the skin of his cheek under his fingers.

    Looking into the eyes of the people staring at him, Jason managed to discern that none of them looked like they recognized him, so he quickly began moving.

    Pulling his card out of his pocket to pay, Jason walked to the counter to pay.

    The female checkout clerk at the counter somehow managed to operate theputer and enter in Jason��s purchase before swiping his card.

    ��Approved,�� she muttered and handed Jason back his card and bag which Jason put his former clothes in.

    Putting his mask back on before he grabbed the bag, Jason walked out of the store.

    He had just escaped from 14 days of boredom hell called quarantine and wasn��t willing to go back for any reason even though it was stifling to put on the mask after having his face free from the mask for a while.

    After acquiring a change of clothes, he didn��t have anything else he was looking for and headed back but on his way back he branched to a store that sold food. As Jason picked up a gummy bear pack and some chocte he suddenly remembered,

    ��Should I get souvenirs?�� He muttered as he nced at some lebukchen that were a bit excessively packaged.

    Lebkuchen was a soft gingerbread that was acknowledged as a German version of a cookie and it was usually vored with spices like cinnamon, cardamom, and mace.

    They looked especially delicious from where Jason stood, but they were packaged a bit too exotically for something that people would buy and eat on the go, hence Jason��s conjecture.

    ��Well, no one would say no to food,�� He muttered as he picked a few pieces.

    He also picked a few packs of chocte, gummy bears, cheese, and a few spices that he hoped to try in his future kitchen adventures.

    After buying quite a bit, Jason paid and left the store now holding two bags in his right hand.

    It was beginning to get heavy so he immediately headed out of the mall resisting the temptation to visit any other stores as he didn��t have the capacity to carry anything else.

    As he headed out, he had called Joshua to bring the car around so luckily for him the car was right in front of the doors of the mall with Joshua waiting outside to open the door for him.

    This gesture which would normally feel a bit extra to Jason now felt very helpful because Jason couldn��t spare another hand with one injured and the other holding bags.

    Once again, this scenery attracted attention, but Jason and Joshua remained just as unperturbed as before and smoothly finished their actions and the car drove out of the mall less than a minuteter.

    The car immediately headed to the airport at a respectable pace while Jason in the backseat opened a pack of lebkuchen, wanting to stave off the pangs of hunger that had begun to disturb him.

    ��Hmmm?�� Jason��s eyes widened slightly as he began eating one of the soft, deliciously-smelling softbread cookies.

    ��That tastes a lot better than I remember,�� He acknowledged internally with some surprise.

    This was not his first experience with the German shortbread cookies as he had eaten them in his past life when he yed for SV Elversberg in the 2. Bundesliga.

    That period would have been one of the peaks of his previous life��s football career, but he was merely a reserve member of the team and didn��t y more than 7 games in the two seasons he had spent in Germany in his previous life.

    He had ended up looking for greener pastures so apart from learning thenguage and experiencing the culture in Germany, he hadn��t gained much from his move to Germany in his previous life.

    Anyway, the past was past, but Jason was more than surprised to find out that the cookies tasted a lot better than he remembered them to be.

    ��Yeah, no more lebkuchen for Sofia, she��ll manage the chocte and gummy bears,�� he instantly made a decision in his head.

    As he munched on the cookies, the car finally arrived at the airport and Jason got out holding the bags he got from the mall while Joshua helped him hold his suitcase and other bag.

    Since he already had a COVID test done on him just barely two hours ago while he was still at the health center, there was no hassle with checking in and getting on the ne though it was a bit difficult to handle all the bag but Jason managed somehow and found his seat after boarding the ne.

    Taking his seat after struggling with his bags for a while, he reclined in his seat and pulled out his phone.

    As he scrolled through his phone to check for missed messages, he saw a message from Mylo that said,

    ��See you on the field soon��.

    ��What��s this idiot talking about now?��Jason wondered to himself as he went to check his emails and it was there he saw a notification from the club that was meant to notify him about an addition to the team.

    Due to the team��s current shortage of first-team strikers at the club especially considering the club��s predominantly used formation, the head manager who had already been looking for strikers outside to fill in the empty space had also decided to look inside and this was a boon for the yers in the second team and the junior team.

    After a lot of deliberations and tests in the club, Sergio Conceicao had chosen the first yer that he would be promoting to the first team for the 2020/21 season, and this yer happened to be Jason��s former roommate.

    *Addition of a new member to the team: Mylo Baumgartner*

    Jason stared at the title of the mail for almost a full minute before a small smile broke out on his face,

    ��That idiot actually managed to make it to the first team.��

    Jason had long known that Mylo was actually quite talented and could perform at first-team standard, though he didn��t know if he��d be exceptional on the first team, but he had met Jason��s criteria thest time they yed together and if there was one thing that was urate, it was Jason��s judgment skills.

    Jason had thought that as long as Mylo could cut down on his ��habits��, then entering the first team wouldn��t be far off.

    He didn��t know if Mylo had actually cut down on his habits because although Mylo was acting a bit mildly before he left the apartment, that didn��t mean much and Jason hadn��t particrly kept up with him enough to know whether Mylo had gone back to his habits.

    At least since there was no news about Mylo being arrested for breaking any safety regtions, that meant he didn��t go to any nightclubs at the very least, but that was just about it.

    Jason didn��t know what criteria the manager had used to judge the yers he was going to sign from the junior team and the second team, and neither did he know what had prompted the manager to pick Mylo out of all the avable options, but Jason was happy for Mylo.

    Now Jason could only hope that Mylo could do well for the team because the striker role that Mylo would be taking up was a position that was a driving force for the team and they needed all they could get from the frontmen if the team wanted to win anything in theing season.

    Of course, Mylo may not actually end up getting many chances on the team if the manager brought in a few good strikers and they performed well enough to keep them on the starting line-up, but that was Mylo��s business.

    Not bothering to read the rest of the email, Jason went back to reply to Mylo��s text.

    {Alright, I��ll miss the start of the season, but you could pop in a few goals in my absence} he typed into his phone and sent the text.

    Moving to Instagram to check for any interesting posts, Jason saw that the official Porto Instagram ount had posted about Mylo��s signing.

    There were pictures of Mylo signing the contract and shaking hands with club officials.

    Jason liked the post and was about to scroll past when he suddenly thought of a wittyment and quickly began typing in thement section.

    {Wee to the team�� How may Iassistyou?} Jason typed and pressed send.

    Aftermenting, he continued scrolling down and viewing other posts, but he soon started receiving notifications that his earlierment was already receiving a lot of likes.

    Before he could check, another notification popped up at the top of his screen and this time it was a message from Mylo.

    {A few goals? I��m taking the golden boot home with me!}

    {Nothing for you this season apart from the assist ranking}

    Mylo had sent two audacious texts and Jason couldn��t help but give a wry smile after reading the texts.

    {Your stupid a** would be lucky if you managed to join me in celebrating my goals from the bench} Jason typed in his reply and pressed send with a mocking smile on his face.

    {Ouch!}

    {I��ll prove you wrong though} Mylo replied back.

 Chapter 252: Duration of Recovery

    Chapter 252: Duration of Recovery

    The ne soon took off.

    Due to being in the first ss area and the necking a few passengers, Jason somehow ended up not having anybody seated beside him.

    He ended up sleeping throughout the three-hour flight, only waking up just before the ne was about tond.

    The ne soonnded and Jason got off, once again battling with his luggage but managing to handle all of it.

    After doing all the necessary things, Jason got out of the airport and got a taxi to take him straight to the CTFD Portogaia training center.

    As soon as the words ��CTFD Portogaia�� came out ofJason��s mouth, the driver did a double take and nced into the rear-view mirror trying to discern which of the Porto yers he was carrying and it didn��t take him long to recognize Jason��s blue eyes that stared right back at him through the mirror.

    Luckily, Jason had waited till he had gotten into the car before telling the driver his destination because the driver may have reactedpletely differently if he was not behind the wheel of his car.

    ��Can we go now,�� Jason asked while continuing to stare right at the driver through the mirror. ��Uh, yeah����

    ��Weren��t you injured?�� The driver asked in surprise as he was a major Porto fan who kept up with the news.

    ��I still am. You did see me lift like four bags with only one hand right which I wouldn��t have done if I had two functional arms,�� Jason replied with a bit of sarcasm in his tone, wondering why someone would be dumb enough to miss something so obvious.

    ��Good point����

    ���� Can I get an autograph from you, my son would like to have something like that,�� The driver requested as he began driving.

    ��Sure, do you have a pen and a jersey?�� Jason replied, not seeing any reason why he shouldn��t give the driver an autograph despite the question he had asked earlier.

    ��Ah, I only have a pen here, I left my jersey at home, I��ll check for a book,�� the driver scratched his head with one hand while his other hand stayed on the steering wheel.

    ��Ah wait a minute,�� Jason muttered as he pulled open one of his bags and took out a jersey.

    It was the jersey he had worn in the match against Inter Mn that they ended up losing and Jason had it with him because he wore it to the health center.

    Since there was no point in keeping a stockpile of jerseys at his house, especially when it was a jersey he wore in a match that the team lost, Jason didn��t mind giving it away.

    ��Where��s your pen?�� Jason asked the driver who didn��t know what was going on in the back seat.

    ��My pen?�� The driver repeated the question out of habit and quickly looked around for a pen and handed it to Jason in the back seat.

    Jason took the pen, ced the jersey on a bag on hisp, and quickly signed on it before the taxi that was currently at a standstill behind a red light began to move again.

    As he finished, he handed the pen back to the driver and then gave the jersey to the driver as well.

    ��Isn��t this one of your jerseys?�� The driver asked in surprise.

    ��Yeah, I wore thisst match, too bad we lost,�� Jason sighed.

    ��You can give it to your son,�� he continued as hey back in the back seat.

    ��Give it to my son? I��m keeping this���� the driver shot back, amazed.

    ����or maybe we can share it, he��s too small to fit into it right now anyway,�� the driver began to justify his actions after thinking his earlier words through.

    ��Just give it to the kid bruh���� Jasonughed, amused by the driver��s reaction to receiving his signed jersey.

    He had always heard about things like this back in his previous life, but he never experienced such a thing as nobody would want the signed jersey of a washed-up yer in the lowest leveled leagues in the world.

    If anyone did, it was likely a ploy of some kind�� or maybe the stupid thing called love was tampering with their brain cells.

    After receiving Jason��s signed jersey, the taxi driver who was already very animated became even more animated and kept talking all through the trip and Jason was relieved when the training center appeared within view.

    The taxi drove up to the gates of the training center and the security guards were about to turn it away when the back window slid down.

    Jason exined to the security guards that he needed the taxi driver to take him and his luggage to where his car was.

    After securing permission for the taxi to drive inside the training center, the taxi driver followed Jason��s instructions and soon parked beside Jason��s car which was still at the training center.

    Jason took out his keys and put his stuff into his car with the help of the driver before paying the driver before he drove off despite the insistence of the driver to make the ride free.

    With his stuff safely secured into his car, Jason locked the doors of his car once again and headed to the medical center on the training grounds for his appointment with the team doctor.

    There wasn��t much for that needed to be done apart from a scan to check how his recovery was going.

    ncing at the results of the scan, Luis Pinto gave Jason a verdict.

    His shoulder was already recovering but a full recovery was still a distance away.

    The dislocation wasn��t too severe but it would still take at least another four weeks of recovery before he could once begin physical therapy for at least two weeks and even then he wasn��t fully recovered and would have to keep wearing a brace to protect his shoulder for a few more weeks after that even if he could begin featuring in matches again.

    Thus earliest Jason could get back on the pitch was six weeks from then and depending on the manager, Jason could end up in recovery for a longer period, but Jason hoped not.

    Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do but wait patiently while preparing himself for his return to first-team football.

    Luckily, he had gotten injured just before the end of the season so by the time he recovered, he wouldn��t have missed any important matches.

    The only things he would be missing were the first few matches of the season and a few friendly games before that.

    That was the only thing that served as a constion for Jason.

    After getting the results of his test and finding out his recovery period, he got a prescription for a few painkillers as his shoulder still hurt like a motherfu**er.

    Taking the prescription, Jason bid goodbye to the doctor, walked back to the car, and turned on the engine before ncing at the time being disyed digitally on the car��s dashboard.

    *2:15 pm*

    ��Was it 196 miles?�� Jason wondered as he tried to remember the distance between Porto and Lisbon by road.

    ��I guess I should be able to make it there by 4,�� he muttered as he began driving out of the training center and onto the streets of Porto, his speed gradually rising until he was just below the speed limit as he sped through the streets of Porto.

    He soon made it out of the areas with high traffic and the needle that measured his speed began rising once again until it was over 90 degrees.

    A blue BMW i8 tore down the road between Porto and Lisbon, somehow managing to evade every car in its path despite the dangerous speeds it was achieving velocity at.

    Inside the car, Jason somehow managed to keep the car under control despite only driving with one hand, anyone who saw what he was doing would think that he was cutting things a bit too close with how recklessly he was driving, but Jason thought differently and wished he was able to achieve higher speeds.

    Unfortunately, the electrical limitations of the BMW i8 wouldn��t let him achieve this and as Jason drove, he was already considering adding another car to his collection.

    He had already been nning to buy a car forfortability and blending in, but now he was thinking of making an extra order and bringing along a car that brought to light the terms ��dangerously fast��.

    ��Maybe an AMG�� or should I go full psycho and get one of those supercars, maybe a Lambo�� or a Ferrari����

    ��They��re a bit above my pay grade for the time being though,�� Jason continued his internal deliberation that would have his previous reality��s self squeaking in jealousy.

    His previous reality self had quite the experience with cars and that was why Jason was able to handle a car going at speeds over 100 miles per hour with just one hand.

    In his previous reality, due to not having a good rtionship with his aunt Daphne, he had had a few financial problems and he had found a solution to it by doing illegal street racing.

    He never owned cars though, he just lent them from their owners and raced with them, and he had to give more than half of his earnings to the owner of the cars he used whenever he raced.

    It wasn��t a fair deal, but Jason was more than happy to take it, especially since he didn��t own the cars.

    After all, the cops couldn��t arrest him for illegal street racing if he didn��t even have a car to race with, could they?

 Chapter 253: University Once Again...

    Chapter 253: University Once Again...

    Chapter 253: University Once Again��

    Jason had used the funds he managed to raise from his racing outings to survive while once again trying to start professional football.

    Eventually, his efforts paid off, but due to his less-than-average skills at the professional level, he always had financial issues so racing had been something he had stuck to doing for most of his life even as he traveled to different ces around the world.

    He had to make ends meet and anything past street racing was way too illegal and dangerous for Jason.

    He could have used his martial arts skills to join underground fighting rings, but doing that was very dangerous and he could end up sustaining serious injuries.

    It was also not something he could hide as easily as his involvement in street racing, so he had avoided it.

    Racing wasn��t as easy to learn for Jason as martial arts, but luckily, he managed to win enough times to not enter debt and over the years he got better and morefortable behind the steering wheel.

    That was why he was able to keep his car under control with one hand at speeds over a hundred miles an hour.

    For him, it was easy to do this much, after all, with all of his experience, only at speeds of about 200 miles per hour could be termed as speeding. However, going above his current speed would be cutting it close, even for him with all his experience behind the wheel.

    Luckily, the speed at which he was moving allowed him to reach Lisbon in under two hours just like he had intended to.

    Driving through the foreign roads, Jason followed the map that was leading him to the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon.

    Sofia was studying to be a nurse so it only stood to reason that she had to be at the Faculty of Medicine of the University.

    Also, considering the kind of workload that students involved in anything that had to do with medicine were subjected to, then Jason was almost sure that she would probably still be at ss at 4 pm.

    Normally, there shouldn��t have been a reason for all this spection, but Jason hadn��t exactly told Sofia that he wasing and these were the consequences of his actions.

    He was doing exactly what Sofia had done fourteen days ago, but in his case, he already knew that Sofia could not be out of town for any reason.

    He had also sneakily confirmed her location by asking questions like,

    ��Aren��t you going to ss tomorrow, you should be sleeping by now?��, ��Did it rain at your ce?�� e.t.c., the day before.

    They had spoken a bit after that day and Sofia��s responses had first been a little guarded and it became clear that she was particrly annoyed at having her surprise visit gopletely wrong and that was why Jason had thought to return the gesture because despite her talking more thest few days, Jason felt there was something off about hertely.

    Thinking that maybe she was still peeved was what had prompted Jason to head straight to Lisbon after his arrival in Portugal despite his condition because even though he had purposely been putting the brakes on what was going on between them, he didn��t want to lose what they had.

    Thinking that maybe it was time to take the next step in their rtionship, Jason had decided to move fast before he managed to change his own mind again.

    This led to the current situation where a Blue BMW i8 with its colors especially pronounced in the light drove into the Cidade Universitaria, making it��s way to the Hospital de Santa Maria where the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon was located, attracting eyes as it moved through the grounds of the educational facility and came to a stop at a car park outside the Hospital de Santa Maria.

    Bringing down the windows of the car before turning off the car��s engine, Jason pulled out his phone.

    {Are you still in ss?} He typed in and pressed send.

    If Sofia was having a ss, then she might not see the message untilter, but if she by some luck wasn��t having a ss then she would respond soon enough.

    Either way, Jason nned to get some fresh air while he waited for her response.

    Taking dark-colored sunsses from the safe at the passenger��s side of the car that he wore to cover his eyes and putting on his nose mask as well, Jason pushed the button to open the doors and stepped out.

    After stepping out of the car, he went to go sit on the front of the car, thankful that the engine of the car was on the back and not in front, otherwise he��d have burned his ass off.

    Making a mental note to fill up his gas soon, he took a deep breath and just stared at the surroundings while waiting.

    He was so focused on just staring at the surroundings that he failed to notice the sounds of footsteps that slowly approached behind him.

    The footsteps seemed a bit out of sync for a person walking or running and sounded more like sneaking around, but Jason failed to notice and he only managed to react when two hands just appeared from behind him and covered his eyes.

    At the moment when the two palms had appeared in front of his eyes, Jason��s instinct red up and he almost instinctively struck backward to counter the sneak attack, but he managed to catch himself in time.

    His right hand instinctively rose towards his face to pull away the hands covering his eyes, but before his hands reached his face a scent that he recognized assaulted his nostrils.

    ��You know, when I left Porto to travel all the way to Lisbon, it was to surprise someone, why am I the one being surprised?�� Jason said as he pulled off the pair of hands that covered his eyes and turned to face Sofia.

 Chapter 254: Operation Cupid Bloom

    Chapter 254: Operation Cupid Bloom

    *Sigh*

    Jason sighed heavily as hey on the bed of the hotel room he had booked for his stay in Lisbon for the time being.

    As for how long he would be staying in Lisbon, Jason no longer knew.

    He had originally nned to leave the following day, but certain situations had arisen that Jason wasn��t able to ignore and were the cause of his ��indefinite till further notice�� stay in Lisbon.

    As for what the ��certain situations�� were�� what could they be other than rtionship issues?

    Despite hisck of understanding of certain emotions due to having no experience, Jason��s judgment skills had always been top notch and he was able to read people quite easily�� or at least he was able to read what was being shown, he was no match for skilled actors.

    Thanks to this certain trait, he had noticed that apart from the initial excitement that Sofia had shown when she had snuck up on him from behind, the usual exuberance around her that he was so used to had dulled considerably.

    At first, Jason had ignored it, coining it to exhaustion from her schedule, and considering the situation, his initial guess wasn��t far-fetched, but he soon had to set aside his first guess. Sofia had seemed distracted almost throughout the time they were together and most of the time it felt like Jason was talking to himself.

    There was also a weird feeling of a wall between them that Jason couldn��t quite put his finger on.

    He didn��t know what was happening, neither did he know the cause of what was happening, but he knew that it definitely wasn��t a good thing in this kind of rtionship�� though their rtionship was already kind of weird and ambiguous since the whole situation between them was unclear.

    The situation with the rtionship between him and Sofia was Jason��s fault and he knew that�� but it couldn��t be helped so far and now that he finally decided to take the much-needed step to progress their rtionship, this was happening.

    Internally, Jason had made a decision that he would stay in Lisbon until whatever was happening with Sofia blew over and while he was at it, he would also work on progressing their rtionship past the realm of confusion they were in.

    That was what led to the current situation.

    Luckily, this mission that he had undertaken would not affect his football career in any way.

    He was injured and didn��t have to go to training for a while.

    Of course, he had scheduled consultations with the team doctor to check the progress of his recovery, but those weren��t a problem since they weren��t a daily thing.

    With nothing in the way of operation ��Cupid Bloom��, Jason began doing research about the topic called Romanticism.

    He knew his capabilities and knew that if all he needed to do to progress his rtionship with Sofia was to have a genital meet and greet with her, then he��d have aplished this long ago, but that wasn��t what Jason was looking for.

    In his previous life, sex was nothing more than a way to cure his boredom and curiosity concerning the topic and it didn��t mean much to Jason.

    For him back then, it wasn��t even qualified to be something he did to relieve tension or stress, but rather it felt like doing an assignment because he was unable to feel any of those connections that people always spoke about.

    This was one of the reasons why Jason was still a virgin in his current life despite having more opportunities than anyone he knew, to lose his virginity.

    He had already experienced sex and didn��t feel any pressing need to sleep with anybody.

    All that stuff about youthful vigor didn��t mean much more to Jason than morning wood for an annoyingly long period of time�� there were also the annoying hard-ons atpletely random times of the day, but even that didn��t mean much to Jason who had every other part of his body apart from his dick under control.

    If the previous him had felt the emotions he was currently feeling, he wouldn��t have recognized what it was and would have avoided it as the previous him didn��t like anything that clouded his thinking and prevented him from being objective.

    Now that Jason thought about it, his previous self would be disgusted by his current self whose thinking was clouded by the emotions that he was trying to build up with Sofia.

    The old him would have prevented further loss of any brain cells by backing out the moment he realized that what he was feeling for Sofia was preventing objective thinking.

    This was what was the scariest part of his previous mentality�� all he cared about was football.

    Because of this, anything that would interfere with his objective thinking was avoided or destroyed as long as it would not benefit his football skills.

    He might not have known back then, but he was already blurring the thin line between mentally numb and sociopath back then, but luckily his efforts to change in this new life had helped him change his perspective.

    With all that said, Jason continued his research as he knew next to nothing about the topic of romance and he didn��t think the romance in those shows that his aunt always watched was what he should be aiming for as those shows were a riot of emotions in itself.

    Jason was merely a beginner and shows like ��Boys over Flowers�� were not helping his romantical dilemma.

    Hopefully, he could find something a bit milder than all of that, he thought to himself as he began looking for romance movies, shows, and books that could help him in his ns, but by the time Jason opened up a few sites and saw the huge volumes of romance movies and novels that endlessly filled the screen, he knew that he was in trouble.

    ��Sh*t���� he muttered to himself in agony and dived in, alreadymitting himself to an almost sleepless night.

 Chapter 255: 2020/21 First Pre-Season Friendly I

    Chapter 255: 2020/21 First Pre-Season Friendly I

    **29th August 2020**

    *1:52 pm*

    Inside the Campo Pequeno Shopping mall, Jason sat at one of the seats at the food court and pulled out a whooper burger that he had bought from a Burger King outlet near the mall.

    He hade to the mall to secure a few things that he would be using now that it was confirmed that he would be having a prolonged stay in Lisbon.

    Taking off the nose mask on the lower half of his face, he bit into the burger with relish especially since it was his first meal of the day.

    He had been up for most of the night reading romance novels and apart from a few bits of information, it felt like a waste of time, but even then, he had only gotten to go to sleep at almost 4 am in the morning.

    With him sleeping thatte, he didn��t wake up until past 11 am and only after lounging in bed for another hour did he finally get up.

    Realizing that he needed a few things if he was going to be in Lisbon for a while, he had decided to visit the mall, but before getting to the mall, he had branched at Burger King to get something to eat. He had then gone to the mall to buy the things he needed, but he decided to eat first before he went shopping.

    Halfway through his burger, his eyes fell on one of the televisions in the food court.

    ��Eh?�� his eyes widened in surprise as he saw Mylo on the TV in Porto��s warm-up kit as he ran across the field, shuttling between cones that were specifically arranged.

    Jason had known that Porto had a match today.

    Specifically a pre-season friendly against Rio Ave, but he hadn��t known the time of the match so he was a bit surprised to see the teams already warming up on the TV, but most of his surprise wasn��t from seeing the match already about to hold.

    One of the reasons for his surprise was that knowing that there was no love lost between Porto and Benfica, he was more than a bit surprised to see a Porto match being shown in a public ce in Lisbon.

    That wasn��t a normal thing, but who knew what the people who put the TV in the food court were thinking?

    For all he knew, maybe this was some sort of ��hate-watching�� thing that people in Lisbon did.

    That was by the side though�� in reality, the biggest reason for Jason��s surprise was seeing Mylo in a get-up that suggested that he was going to be starting the match.

    Sure it was a pre-season friendly, but even then��

    Jason couldn��t help but have a wry smile on his face as he watched the Porto team continue to warm up in preparation for their uing match.

    When he had joined the team halfway through thest season, the manager had left him on the training ground for weeks before finally adding him to the team line-up but even then, he was just a bench yer for a few games before he finally got a chance to y, but Mylo who had just been signed to the senior team just yesterday was already chosen by the manager to start the match.

    He understood that the team currently didn��t have strikers and they needed people to fill in the vacant space, moreover, it was a good chance for the manager to see what Mylo could do on the pitch since it was a friendly game, but knowing that it was a logical choice didn��t help and Jason couldn��t help but feel a slight annoyance, yet he quickly let it blow over.

    There was nothing he could do about it anyway, especially now that he was injured and wasn��t involved with the team for the time being.

    He went back to eating, but while he ate, the two teams finished their warm-ups, went for ast-minute tactical meeting with their managers, and began arranging themselves on the field.

    Before Jason could finish his meal, the match started and Jason involuntarily began watching the game, and his eating speed which was already slow, slowed down even more considerably.

    Porto arranged themselves in their usual 4-4-2 holding formation and the line-up consisted of;

    GK: Diogo Costa,

    LB: Zaidu Sanusi,

    RB: Mattheus Uribe,

    CBs: Diogo Leite, Chancel Mbemba,

    CMFs: Romario Baro, Joao Mario,

    LMF: Luis Diaz,

    RMF: Fabio Viera,

    CFs: Moussa Marega, Mylo Baumgartner.

    It was obvious that Porto wasn��t using their best team, but that was the whole point of pre-season matches as even the Rio Ave team had quite a few yers that Jason couldn��t recognize from the time he had yed against them just a few months earlier.

    However, barely five minutes into the game, it became clear that even though this wasn��t Porto��s strongest line-up, the Rio Ave team was still vastly outmatched against this much weaker line-up and were already on the defensive just five minutes into the game.

    The Porto team kept pushing the Rio Ave team back until the only thing they could do whenever they managed to get a foot on the ball was tounch a counter, but even that ended up as a waste before the Porto defense which ended up shutting them down before they could go anywhere.

    In the thirteenth minute of the game, the inevitable finally happened.

    Luis Diaz received a pass from Joao Mario on the left side of the penalty box and he ran at the box cutting past one Rio Ave defender before sending an inside pass to Romario Baro who was just outside the penalty box.

    Romario Baro initially nned to shoot the ball, but a couple of Rio Ave yers jumped into his path and he ended up faking a shot beforeying off the ball to Mylo inside the penalty box.

    Mylo��s back was facing the Rio Ave goal as he received the ball, but instead of turning, he simply sent the ball towards the right side of the box where Fabio Viera was running in from.

    Fabio Viera hit the ball with the side of his right foot on his first touch, sending the ball across the penalty box back to the left side where Luis Diaz appeared and slotted the ball into the back of the coolly.

    {GOAL!}

    {We��re off to an early start!}

    {Porto looking as sharp as they werest seasone up with a beautiful team goal}

    {They��re already showing off the performances that enabled them to end the previous season as champions} Thementator��s voice could be clearly heard in the food court where Jason was watching the match as he finally finished his meal.

    Checking his watch to see that he still had time to watch the match, Jason immediately stood up to go buy more food to keep his mouth busy as he watched the match since his stomach still didn��t feel full after his earlier meal.

    After filling up a tray with just about anything that could be eaten with one hand, Jason headed back to his seat, surprisingly remaining unnoticed by anyone in the food court despite not having a mask on his face because their attention was on the TV.

    Porto had just gotten their first goal, but immediately after the Rio Ave team kicked off, the Porto team swarmed them and snatched the ball once again before beginning to push them back, but this time the Rio Ave team managed to push back at the Porto team andunched an attack of their own.

    Unfortunately, they couldn��t hold off the Porto team for long, and soon Porto unleashed a devastating counter after snatching the ball off the Rio Ave left winger when he tried to initiate an attack.

    Mattheus Uribe sent the ball towards Romario Baro in the midfield and Baro took control of the ball and then sent it down the right wing into the path of Fabio Viera without hesitation.

    Fabio Viera beat his marker for pace and snatched the ball, pushing it forward and chasing after it with incredible pace, his marker only being able to chase after him from behind.

    As he approached the right side of Rio Ave��s 18-yard box, Viera sent in a high cross towards Moussa Marega who was just arriving into the box.

    Pushing against the Rio Ave yers in the box, Marega managed to take to the air and get to the ball with his head, but due to interference from opposing yers, he wasn��t able to get his head to the ball properly and headed the ball towards the right side of the goal.

    The ball looked like it would end up out of y on the right side of the Rio Ave goal when a leg in white socks with a hint of blue appeared out from behind a Rio Ave yer and poked the ball, changing its direction and sending it into the back of the before the Rio Ave goalkeeper could react.

    {And Oh! What a goal!}

    {Signed yesterday! Scores today! What a yer! Mylo Baumgartner stamps his name into the Porto home ground with a spectacr first goal for the club!}

 Chapter 256: 2020/21 First Pre-Season Friendly II

    Chapter 256: 2020/21 First Pre-Season Friendly II

    {Just four minutes after opening up the game, they��ve gone ahead and gotten another!}

    {This may just be a friendly game, but Porto aren��t leaving a way out for their opponents here!} Thementator continued with hismentary as the Porto yers celebrated their goal.

    The Porto yers soon began returning to their halves after their celebrations as the game was still just beginning, but there was a smile of ease on their faces as they walked aspared to the Rio Ave yers.

    On Mylo��s face was an especially big smile as he had just gotten his debut goal for the club and his first professional goal in the senior levels of football.

    Of course, it was merely a goal in a friendly game, but if he kept performing like this, then goals in morepetitive matches weren��t far off because the manager would have no reason to keep him on the bench if he kept performing well.

    All those thoughts were swirling around in his mind as he waited for the Rio Ave team to kick off, but immediately the ball began moving, all his thoughts were halted and he immediately chased after the ball, fulfilling his duty as a pressing forward that was to lead the press.

    The match once again resumed with the Rio Ave team being more careful on the ball than ever before.

    They made careful passes among themselves to avoid losing the ball carelessly and sent the ball back as far as the goalkeeper if it meant they kept the ball. Of course, even with their efforts, losing possession of the ball every now and then was bound to happen, but whenever they lost possession, the Rio Ave yers�� off-the-ball movement immediately covered every open space, effectively shutting out the Porto team��s chances at starting a counterattack or an attack of any kind.

    Thus the two teams were locked in a deadlock for a period of time when the only excitements in the game were the asional attacks from both sides that often fell short or ended with weak or off-target shots.

    Soon enough however, the Rio Ave team��s confidence surged as they thought their efforts had been able to keep the Porto team silent so far and they became more open with the ball as they tried tounch attacks hoping to get a goal that could help them get on track to equalizing the game.

    Unfortunately for them, the Porto team had merely been biding their time and waiting for such a reaction from them, and the moment they left open some space, the Porto team immediately burst through.

    #42nd minute��

    The Rio Ave team had just lost the ball after trying to break through the Porto defense and failing.

    The Porto team had tried tounch a counterattack, but the Rio Ave yers had quickly shuttled back and filled up the empty space, putting an end to their efforts, but the Porto team wasn��t giving up the attack and Fabio Viera tried to break in from the right wing.

    He tried to dribble past a Rio Ave yer and he had almost gotten past the yer when he was brought down by the no-nonsense Rio Ave defender.

    The referee immediately blew for a foul as the Rio Ave yer��s tackle on Viera had been a bit harsh, but the referee didn��t think it was worthy of a card and simply gave the yer a warning to let him know that he may have let it slide once, but the next time, a card woulde sliding out depending on the recklessness he disyed next.

    The yers of the two teams quickly arranged themselves inside the Rio Ave penalty box as the position of the free kick was too awkward for a direct shot and the ball would likely be crossed into the box.

    Romario Baro stood over the free kick since Porto��s Deadball talisman, Alex Telles, was now cruising the streets of Manchester after a sessful transfer.

    Raising his two hands to convey his intentions for the ball to his teammates, he waited for the referee��s whistle.

    *Fweeeeeeeeeee*

    Romario Baro ran at the ball and swung his right foot, deftly sending the ball curling into Rio Ave��s 18-yard box.

    The ball flew unhindered in its flight as it curled outward into the penalty box from the right side.

    The yers of both teams shuffled against each other and about three yers managed to escape from the others and rise to the air to meet the ball, but it was Mylo who got his head to the ball first and gave it a change of direction.

    The ball bounced off Mylo��s head and flew at the top left corner of the goal while the Rio Ave goalkeeper ran at the projected path of the ball and dived with all his power, trying to interfere with the ball��s flight.

    Unfortunately for the goalkeeper, his efforts fell short and the ball flew past his outstretched fingers, went past the goal line, and mmed into the back of the.

    {A Header from the Porto man��!!! A GOAL!!!}

    {The goalkeeper just couldn��t reach!}

    {Porto have three and the young striker has two!}

    {A brace on his senior team debut! I��m sure the manager can��t believe his luck to find yet another uncarved gem!} Thementator erupted in thementator��s box, but his words spread across the country in every ce where the match was being disyed.

    In the food court where Jason was watching the match while seatedfortably after finishing his second round meal.

    His sses were on his face and his nose mask was once again on his lower face, decisively blurring out almost all distinctive features that would enable anyone to recognize him.

    Perhaps because of this, the crowd of people who were seated nearby didn��t know the irony Jason was feeling as he listened in on their conversation.

    ��Can you believe those guys�� luck?�� A man who looked to be in histe twenties asked his two friends who were seated with him at the table next to Jason.

    ��Just earlier this year, they signed that Jason guy for free from God knows where and see how that kid absolutely destroys his opponents on the pitch,�� He continued but was soon interrupted by his friends.

    ��I know right, once that guy gets on a roll it��s almost impossible to stop him,�� one of his friends cut in.

    ��Bruh, the number of defenders he��s utterly destroyed just kept piling up. I thought I was watching a freestyler at some point,�� the other guy chimed in.

    ��Exactly! I��m telling you, bro, they need to fire our scouting staff for real, cuz what were they looking at to allow Porto of all people get that guy on their team!�� The first guy took control of the conversation once again, but his agony could be heard clearly in his voice.

    ��I don��t think it was their fault though,��the second guy said whileughing at his friend��s overly dramatic act.

    ��Yeah bro, these things happen in football,�� the third guy said while alsoughing.

    They were used to their friend being overly dramatic, especially when it came to football, but that did not make it any less funny to see when he acted dramatically.

    ��These things happen?�� the first guy asked, repeating the third guy��s earlier statement.

    ��Yeah man, it happens all the time, I mean we had Joao Felix just like two seasons ago while Sporting had that Rafael Leao guy, so I think they deserve one young talent, you know?�� the third guy expressed his opinion, but the first guy wasn��t having it.

    ��One young talent? Are you fu*king kidding me right now?�� the first guy asked like he couldn��t believe his ears.

    ��Ignoring that freak of nature called Jason, they have that Fabio Viera guy, then also have that Luis Diaz guy�� even though they bought him, and now this guy!?�� the guy continued talking while gesturing dramatically at the screen that was showing Mylo��s goal.

    ��This guy just scored a freaking brace in the first half of his senior team debut�� and you��re telling me they only have one young talent?��

    ���� Tell me�� have you been kicked in the head by a donkey!?�� he asked the third guy after all his arguments.

    ������ The third guy just looked at him dumbfounded.

    ��I mean, he does have a point, that Luis Diaz guy was already tearing things up in the first half ofst season before that Jason guy came out of nowhere and joined hands with Fabio Viera to absolutely shred the defenses of everyone they yed against�� and now, there��s this guy���� the second guy gave a simplified version of the first guy��s argument and sighed.

    ��Righttttt!�� the first guy echoed his support for the second guy��s words and he was not the only one.

    Other people in the food court who were fans of the Benfica team soon joined in on the conversation and openly disyed their grievances with Porto��s sudden burst of luck in the youth development area.

    ��By the time the season starts and all those guyse together into one team, especially after that Jason guy is recovered, we might be in troublerades,�� one of the people who had joined the conversation said.

    ��One would have thought that after losing so many of their first team yers, they would fall into a slump, especially in the attacking department, but who knew that another young dragon would pop up?�� a girl who looked to be in her early twenties who had joined the discussion asked Jason who was seated nearby.

    In reality, though the girl was also a Benfica fan, her motives for approaching Jason weren��t just because of sports banter.

    Even with dark sses and a nose mask covering most of his features, the little bit that was still exposed was enough to let people know with certainty that handsome features were under the mask, they just would overlook the extent of his handsomeness.

    The thirsty youthful girl��s eyes had fallen on Jason��s impressive visage and she quickly wanted to use this opportunity to kick up a rapport with Jason, but how was Jason to know this?

    Jason who had been hearing the Benfica fans agonizing over Porto��s luck was already feeling scared of this lot and did not want to risk his identity being exposed.

    Who knew what these Benfica fans would do to him if they knew that a major subject of their conversation was nearby?

    With this thought in mind, Jason replied to the girl��s question in very fluent English, reverting from the Portuguese that he usually used when talking to people,

    ��I don��t really know about football you know, I��m more into racing and martial arts�� I also y cards and stuff,�� He said in an unwavering voice.

 Chapter 257: Not Friendly

    Chapter 257: Not Friendly

    While Jason was caught up in his exnation, the friendly match between Porto and Rio Ave continued at the CTFD Portogaia with Porto already having a 3 �C 0 lead in the first half.

    With Rio Ave kicking off, they once again began exchanging the ball while trying to get at least one goal back, but their efforts were devoid of the desperation that one would normally see from footballers in a losing match.

    It was only natural for such ack of desperation since the match was just a friendly match with the aim being to get the yers back to match fitness, and there wasn��t really a huge requirement to win, especially against an opponent like Porto that they would find usually difficult to defeat.

    Soon, time ran out in the first half with neither of the two teams being able to disturb the scoreboard operator any further, and the yers headed to the tunnel after the referee blew the halftime whistle.

    In the Porto team locker room, the moods of the yers after such a positive first half for their team was very good and they had smiles on their faces as they listened to the manager��s instructions for them in theing second half.

    Even Sergio Conceicao��s instructions catered to the current situation as he wanted the yers to go further and get even more goals after already scoring three in the first half.

    He wasn��t nning on leaving a way out for the opponent as he wished to use the pre-season to make a statement to everyone that despite the team losing quite a few of their important yers, they weren��t adversely affected and still had it in them to be champions in theing season just as they had done in the previous season.

    Rio Ave was just unfortunate to be among the sacrifices for his n in the pre-season. The Rio Ave manager did not know Sergio Conceicao��s intentions for his team, but he could guess that Porto would not sit back in the second half against an opponent that they had already gotten three past in the first half.

    Thus he tailored his instructions for his yers to go on the defensive and do their best to prevent the Porto team from racking up their tally against his team.

    He didn��t want the embarrassment of losing with a higher goal difference between the two teams than the goal difference they already had.

    Soon enough, the fifteen minutes given to the yers for a half-time break were over and the yers were back on the training grounds of the Porto team, CTFD Portogaia, for the second half.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The referee blew his whistle and the second half began immediately after the st of the whistle.

    Following the instructions of their manager, the Rio Ave team tried to get into a tight defensive formation even though they were in possession of the ball, but the Porto team struck fast before they could react, sweeping past them in a sudden burst of attack.

    The Porto yers quickly surged into the Rio Ave half of the field and snatched the ball from the Rio Ave yers and the ball began moving forward along with the surge of the Porto yers.

    The ball moved from Mylo to Marega who made a quick back pass to Romario Baro.

    Baro quickly sent the ball to Joa Mario who was on his left with a one-touch pass and Joa Mario didn��t hesitate to send the ball into the path of Luis Diaz who was running towards Ri Ave��s penalty box from the left wing.

    Not bothering to trap the ball, Luis Diaz quickly sent a curling cross into the penalty box.

    The ball rose above everyone and flew into the middle of Rio Ave��s 18-yard box.

    Moussa Marega immediately rose to the ball, hoping to catch it off his head and send it past the goalkeeper, but the goalkeeper who had been watching the situation with utmost concentration right from the moment that his teammates lost the ball, quickly reacted.

    Running out of his goal line and jumping past Marega to punch the ball out of the box, he hoped to clear the ball, and luckily, he managed to get to the ball first and send it out of the box, the problem of making this decision came right after that.

    The ball flew out of the right side of the penalty box andnded close to Fabio Viera who immediately trapped the ball and looked to his left.

    Seeing Mattheus Uribe making an inside run after standing by for a while, Viera waited for a bit while holding off his marker before rolling the ball into Uribe��s path.

    Mattheus Uribe didn��t need an invitation and immediatelyunched his right foot with the fury of a rocketuncher and mmed the ball at the Rio Ave team��s goal.

    He had intended the shot to be a carpet shot when he had run up to the ball, but with the powerful but slightly clumsy attempt at the shot, the ball involuntarily took off from the ground in a manner simr to the taking off of an airne and thundered past everyone before mming into the top right corner of the Rio Ave goal despite the goalkeeper��s attempt at keeping the ball out.

    {What a shot! What a goal!}

    {Barely a minute after the second half whistle and Porto have once again made themselves a nightmare to their opponents!}

    {This is punishing!}

    {The heading of this game says ��Pre-season friendly��, but while this may be pre-season�� it is anything but friendly!}

    {Porto are at it again, they don��t know when to stop and they may be doing some psychological damage to their opponents now!} Thementator who had thought it would be a while before he would have to perform this much intensementary was taken by surprise and his tongue just wouldn��t stop working.

    In the food court that Jason was, not leaving as he intended to finish watching the game there, the atmosphere that had just barely quieted down after the banter between the fans cooled off a bit, once again took a strange turn.

    ��Sh*t,�� the guy that started the earlier argument didn��t have any words other than this singr word escape his lips.

 Chapter 258: Consequences of Loss

    Chapter 258: Consequences of Loss

    Normally, the Benfica fans had nothing to fear from the Porto team, but the truth of the matter remained that they had lost the title of champions of the Liga NOS to the Porto team the previous season, and even worse, they had been unable to defeat them in any of the three times that they had met in the previous season both in the season campaign matches and during a domestic cup campaign.

    Yet even with that, the Benfica fans were a fiery bunch who didn��t think they would keep losing to the Porto team just because that was the current sequence, but optimism and realism were two different things.

    The Benfica fans had optimism that their team could turn the tides in theing season, and when they heard about the Porto team losing quite a few of their important first-team yers, their optimism slowly started turning to confidence, but reality had thrown a harsh p in their face.

    The Porto team that had lost their important yers was currently decimating another team with less than their full power on disy.

    Moreso since this was their first pre-season game of the season which meant that the yers who had juste back from their holidays were performing at this level.

    With the knowledge that the Porto team had yet to return to full fitness, were using a much weaker line-up due to fitness and injury concerns, and yet were still smashing through their opponents, the Benfica fans�� confidence wavered and their optimism cooled off.

    This was exactly what Sergio Conceicao had hoped for when he had continuously given attacking-based instructions to his yers and wanted them to utterly decimate their opponents.

    He wanted a situation reminiscent of what was going on between Manchester United and Manchester City to repeat itself. In thest few years, Manchester City had established itself as the top team in the English football world, a position that once belonged to the Manchester United team�� or the noisy neighbors as some would call them.

    Some Manchester United fans, as well as a few others still tried to believe that ording to their past glory, Manchester United could somehow stand up to the Manchester City team.

    In reality, the difference between the two teams wasn��t much different in literally every section, except for their achievements.

    The two teams had yers of simr pedigree, they both had a lot of finances to spare, and they both had a huge following, but while the Manchester United side had history, the Manchester City side had recent achievements, and this had turned into a momentum that nobody could ignore.

    It was especially helpful for messing with the psychology of the opponents and Sergio Conceicao currently needed this effect.

    He wasn��t an idiot and he knew that there was no way Porto could match up to Manchester City in anything but history, especially with his team in a dire situation.

    The team had lost quite a few of their important yers and though the team had gotten some extra funds from the sale of those yers to reinvest into the team, he also knew that the funds were nowhere near enough to cater to all the needs of the team.

    With the funds he had avable, where was he supposed to find a yer as good as Alex Telles in attacking from behind, being an excellent ymaker, and also being a dead-ball specialist?

    Alex Telles was probably in the top five best-performing left-backs in the 2019/20 season worldwide, which meant there was a hole that big in their ranks after he left and Sergio Conceicao was supposed to manage that somehow while also catering to the loss of three of his team��s strikers.

    He might not show it, but it was currently a dire situation, and he was already making efforts to close up the hole�� Yet he feared that his efforts may not be enough.

    He had brought in a young left back with potential in the person of Zaidu Sanusi, but honestly speaking he didn��t think that guy could match up to Alex Telles in any aspect so far.

    That was how much the loss of Telles had cost him, but unfortunately, he couldn��t ignore the team��s desperate need for a forward and focus on bringing a yer as good as Alex Telles into the back line.

    Even if he could, how was he going to do it?

    With which funds?

    yers as good as Alex Telles would probablymand a transfer fee of at least 60 million Euros depending on their age and there was no way the Porto executive board would cough up that much money for a singr yer, especially with the current financial situation.

    Thus he was stuck patching all sorts of holes in all of his previous tactics due to the loss of many pivotal yers.

    Telles��s ymaking skill was gone from his game n options, Tiquinho Soares��s ball-holding and evading skills up front were gone, Vincent Aboubakar��s crazy physicality was gone, Ze Luis��s clutch moments were gone and now he had to adjust his tactics ordingly.

    The problem he had wasn��t changing the tactics, the problem was how long it would take his yers to adjust to such changes.

    The changes he would be making to the tactics would need an adjustment period from the yers and during the adjustment period, the team could end up losing important games that could make or break their season campaign.

    It would be even worse if such a thing happened on the continental stage.

    He was already doing all he could to make the necessary adjustments during the pre-season period so that the yers could adjust in time for the beginning of the season, but even now, the team was iplete.

    He hadn��t finished yer negotiations and some yers were still going to join the team after pre-season was over.

    There were also injured yers like Jesus Corona, Shoya Nakajima, and Jason, who would be joining the team muchter due to their injuries.

    All these factors aside, Sergio Conceicao could only hope that things worked out for the team in the end otherwise the uing season may end up spiraling out of their control.

 Chapter 259: 2020/21 First Pre-Season Friendly III

    Chapter 259: 2020/21 First Pre-Season Friendly III

    The friendly match at the CTFD Portogaia continued after the Porto payers were done with their celebrations and were back in their half of the field.

    The Rio Ave team that hade into this half with hopes of defending and potentially getting a goal or two back had been unstabilized even further by Porto��s goal and were already having problems keeping the flow of the ball constant, but after a while, it seemed they had settled for a defensive game and chose to stay back and let the Porto team have the ball while they defended.

    The Porto yers didn��t need an invitation and quickly took control of the game and began applying pressure to the Rio Ave team.

    They pushed the Rio Ave team further back until they were exchanging the ball only in the Rio Ave team half while the Rio Ave team chased after the ball.

    Despite spending most of their time chasing after the ball, the Rio Ave team still managed to keep the Porto team at bay for a while, but the Porto team stayed patient, knowing it was only a matter of time.

    In the 54th minute of the game, Otavio came on for Joao Mario, and the game continued once he was on the pitch.

    Coming onto the pitch, Otavio immediately began using his fresh legs to oppress the Rio Ave defenders and it was quite clear that his marker couldn��t keep him in check, but Otavio kept going at the Rio Ave defenders until he finally found space in the 59th minute.

    Otavio had just received the ball from Viera on the right wing and with a drop of his shoulder to the left, he deceived his marker into thinking he was going left, but with a feint, he escaped the guy and charged towards the ball and sent a pass to Mylo, not stopping his run as he evaded a Rio Ave yer. Mylo didn��t bother taking an extra touch and simply sent a through pass behind the Rio Ave defense and into Otavio��s path.

    Receiving the ball behind the Rio Ave defense and just barely managing to stay onside, Otavio smoothly curled the ball behind the Rio Ave goalkeeper without dy.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {He��s only been on the pitch for five minutes but he��s already gotten one past the goalkeeper!}

    {Absolutely fabulous team y and exchange of the ball between the Porto team and they were rewarded with a goal for their efforts!}

    {They have five now, and one cannot help but think that there is still more toe} Thementator��s excitedmentary showed itself once again in the match and at this point, almost everyone watching the game was already numb to the Porto team��s continuous racking up of a goal difference.

    Even then Rio Ave fans were no longer bothered by the loss and were now scared for theing season instead as losing with such a huge difference in the pre-season did not bode well for their uing seasonal campaign.

    The yers on the pitch were unaffected by any external factors thanks to the empty stands, and soon the match continued.

    Just like before, the Porto team continued on their all-out attack against the Rio Ave team with most of the defenders forsaking their defense positions and moving forward to join the attack.

    Yet despite this tant disregard for their defense, their attacking pressure left the Rio Ave team unable to make use of the open opportunity.

    However, despite their little sess in attack, the Rio Ave team were finally having some sess in defending and they somehow managed to hold the Porto team away from adding to their tally until the 80th minute.

    Due to the shortage in the striker position, Sergio Conceicao had been trying various efforts to make sure that theck of presence in the striking position didn��t affect the team and one of the experiments he wished to try out was a position conversion of one of his avable yers and the yer he had chosen for the job was Sergio Oliveira.

    Sergio Oliveira was a central midfielder who was a major part of the team, but due to the congestion of yers in the midfield position, he hadn��t been able to get much game time.

    Even in the uing season, Sergio Conceicao wasn��t sure he could guarantee him much game time in the central midfield, and that was one of the factors that had made him choose Sergio Oliveira for his conversion project.

    He nned to y Sergio Oliveira in the center forward position and hoped that Oliveira could somehow manage ying in that position and it would be even better if he performed well upfront.

    Of course, he had made this decision knowing that Sergio Oliveira had an eye for goal and now he hoped that talent could help the team upfront in the uing season.

    Thus Sergio Oliveira had been substituted for Mylo at the 65th minute but so far, he had been quiet.

    Apart from a few touches on the ball to keep the passes flowing like he normally did in the midfield, he also joined the team in pressing from the front, helping the team to shut down the Rio Ave team before they could even make it to the defense line, but in his attacking endeavors for the team, he hadn��t been able to get anything going.

    However, that was about to change.

    The Porto team had been on the attack as they passed the ball around the Rio Ave��s yers just outside the Rio Ave 18-yard box.

    Suddenly Otavio tried to break through the Rio Ave defense line by dribbling past his marker, but this time, no matter how many tricky movements Otavio made, the guy just wouldn��t be shaken off and Otavio ended up turning and sending the ball back to Pepe.

    Pepe received the ball and waited for a Rio Ave yer toe at him before sending the ball down left to Zaidu Sanusi.

    Zaidu quickly moved the ball down the left side of the field and passed the ball to Toni Martinez in his path while continuing his run on the outside.

 Chapter 260: 2020/21 First Pre-Season Friendly IV

    Chapter 260: 2020/21 First Pre-Season Friendly IV

    Toni Martinez who had been subbed on for Luis Diaz quickly trapped the ball and made as if to cut inside, but a Rio Ave yer was in his path but that didn��t deter him at all as that was part of the n.

    Buying enough time for Zaidu to run past him towards the left by making all sorts of movements to slow down the game, Toni Martinez finally sent a pass down left into the path of Zaidu Sanusi.

    Not taking a touch to control the ball��s pace, Zaidu sent a curling cross inside the penalty box with his left foot.

    As the ball flew into the penalty box, a Rio Ave defender in the middle of the penalty box jumped into the path of the ball aiming to clear the ball as soon as it reached him, but he didn��t get the chance to do so as Sergio Oliveira somehow appeared like a shadow in his path and got his head into the path of the ball first with a diving header.

    Needless to say, the goalkeeper was no match for the header and the was sent bulging for the third time in the second half, signaling Porto��s sixth goal of the game.

    {Diving header! Goal!!!}

    {Again they get past the Rio Ave��s goalkeeper! Porto just wouldn��t stop!}

    {They have their sixth!} {When the manager subbed on the goalscorer, we were all wondering what the manager was doing bringing on a yer who normally functioned in the midfield, but now, we wonder no longer!}

    {He��s proven himself upfront with an absolute peach of a goal!} Thementator��s excitement was once again revived by the Porto team and he did not hesitate to share his excitement with all the viewers and listeners of the game.

    The Porto fans who had been keeping their eye on the game were ecstatic at their teams racking up the score and levels of excitement that only welled up in them during league games began to show up on their faces as they watched their team dominate and decimate the Rio Ave side.

    Anticipation for the new season immediately filled their minds as they began to have confidence in winning the Liga NOS title back-to-back three times.

    Back at the CTFD Portogaia, the Porto yers didn��t know what the fans were beginning to conclude in their minds, but they personally felt excitement and were already anticipating the new season.

    But that didn��t mean the match was over so they quickly went back to their half of the field, nning to push on with this burst of energy till the finish line.

    The match soon resumed and the ball soon started flying around the field once again, letting the viewers and the Rio Ave team know that Porto weren��t done yet with racking up their tally.

    As for whether they would be able to trouble the scoreboard operator even further, that remained unknown, but it was clear that the Porto team was already working on making that thought a reality.

    #86th minute��

    The Porto team had been looking to get another goal, but perhaps because it was the dying minutes of the game, the Rio Ave team had suddenly been bursting out with attacking attempts that had managed to push the Porto team out of their half and the game alternated between Porto defending while Rio Ave attacked and vice versa.

    Rio Ave were currently in possession of the ball and were passing the ball around cleverly while evading the Porto yers, but as they passed the ball, one of the Rio Ave midfielders who was with the ball tried to make a pass to his team��s right winger, but Wilson Manafa suddenly burst off his line and interrupted the pass.

    Intercepting the pass with a burst of movement, he pushed the ball forward and burst out on a counterattack, running towards the Rio Ave half of the field.

    He didn��t keep the ball for long however and soon sent the ball forward to Otavio who quickly took control of the ball and continued the counterattack.

    The yers of the Rio Ave team were already running after the Porto yer who had burst forward with the ball, but they hadn��t been able to catch up and Otavio was nearing the final third.

    As he neared the final third, he saw Sergio Oliveira running ahead of him and he didn��t hesitate to send the ball into Oliveira��s path.

    Oliveira received the ball while adjusting his body position to shield the ball away from his marker as he brought the ball under control.

    Holding his marker off, he charged into the box and unleashed the ball with righteous fury, sending the goalkeeper sprawling and unable to reach as the ball mmed into the bottom left corner of the goal.

    {What a beautiful disy of counter-attacking football!}

    {Pace, off-the-ball movement, precise passing, and perfect finishing, they had it all and got a goal!}

    {Their seventh goal of the game!}

    {A full stop after spelling the words RIO AVE!}

    {The Rio Ave manager is covering his eyes in agony, and we can rte!}

    {He has a lot to do to prepare his team for the uing season after this relegation-worthy performance from his yers!] Thementator��s words didn��t pull any punches and cut in deep into the Rio Ave yers, their manager, and the team��s supporters.

    While this was happening at the stadium, Jason stood up from his seat at the food court, after checking his time and seeing that he was already runningte if he nned to meet Sofia after her lectures.

    The things he wanted to buy would have to wait as he had spent his time watching his teammates, but after seeing the seventh goal, he estimated that there weren��t likely to be any more goalsing from the Porto team.

    Quickly walking out of the food court while making sure to avoid the crowd of Benfica fans who were discussing earlier, he quickly drove to the University of Lisbon��s facility of Medicine.

    Luckily, he managed to get there on time to pick up Sofia who was just leaving sses.

    Waving goodbye to a group of her friends, Sofia got into the car and unlike the previous day when she had mmed up while they were together, she began pouring out her grievances about the day to Jason.

    Jason listened as he drove to where he had nned for them to have dinner, smoothly controlling the steering wheel with one hand.

    ��Can you imagine that this guy still gave us a term paper and an assignment after giving us a quiz, and it��s just a mathematics ss, what do I need mathematics of this level for as a nurse,�� Sofia spoke animatedly.

    Suddenly remembering something he had seen in his research overnight, Jason suddenly interrupted her,

    ��See, this is why I hate maths, they��re always talking about x and y when they should be talking about u and i.��

 Chapter 261: Two Weeks in Lisbon, Fourth Week of Recovery

    Chapter 261: Two Weeks in Lisbon, Fourth Week of Recovery

    ��See, this is why I hate maths, they��re always talking about x and y when they should be talking about u and I,�� Jason smoothly delivered the pick-up line with nary a nce in Sofia��s direction, but the silence after he finished talking made him involuntarily look over at Sofia.

    Jason locked eyes with Sofia who was looking at him over five different emotions in her eyes that made for aplicated look before she turned away with a littleugh as she muttered,

    ��Good one.��

    Sofia went back to talking about what she was saying earlier, but her tone had noticeably softened.

    The evening passed in a blur and Jason was already seeing improvements in their rtionship, but it wasn��t yet time to move even further because, despite the improvements, he knew he could not be hasty.

    Or at least that��s what the chronicles of romance that he was spending all his time researching pointed at.

    *12th September 2020**

    The days had passed by quickly for Jason. For him, it was a cycle of waking up, doing a bit of training at the hotel gym, doing research on matters of romance, watching the asional friendly match, making the asional trip to Porto to get his shoulder checked by the team doctor, and finally, evening and weekend dates with Sofia.

    So far, everything had been going well with his shoulder steadily recovering and no longer hurting as much as before and he could already move his shoulder a bit, though it still hurt to move his shoulder.

    The team doctor said that he would soon start physical conditioning to regain motion in his shoulder which meant that his holiday in Lisbon wasing to an end soon.

    The Porto team had done well in pre-season, managing to win six out of seven games that they yed, only losing one to Oliveireinse due to being hit with a lightning-fast attack in the first minute of the game and somehow being unable to return the favor due to Oliveirense defending all through the match.

    Overall, the pre-season could be said to be a sess.

    The head manager had alsopleted the deals to bring in the two forwards Mehdi Taremi and Evanilson to the club, once again filling up the spaces avable in the front of the team��s attack.

    However, with the performance of Sergio Oliveira and Mylo in the striking position during the pre-season, the manager would have a headache setting the line-up as Mylo and Sergio Oliveira had more than proven themselves capable of being able to fit into the team and operate very well from upfront.

    This was currently giving the head manager a headache because he now had a lot more considerations to make concerning the team��s line-up and game ns for the quickly approaching season, but Sergio Conceicao didn��t mind as this was a good kind of headache as far as he was concerned.

    From worrying aboutck to worrying about having too much, who wouldn��t like such a situation?

    All this didn��t bother Jason as he didn��t feel that his position on the team could be in danger yet, because, despite the team��s current overpoption in the attacking department, it was still a bitcking in the wingers department which for Jason meant a quick return to the line-up after his recovery�� hopefully

    Leaving the matter of the team aside, Jason felt that the training he was subjecting his lower body to during this period would have helped him improve his motor skills and that his stamina had probably improved quite a bit, but so far he wasn��t able to test that yet as he did not dare to push himself too much at a time like this because of the risk it carried to his injury.

    However, he was eagerly anticipating his full recovery so he could see how much improvement he had made.

    Finally, regarding his rtionship with Sofia, there had been some progress, but there had also been an unexpected hindrance.

    Jason had kept meeting up with Sofia and they had progressed through all the stages ording to the romance chronicles he had read.

    Holding hands, putting his hand in herp, first kiss�� and then they had stopped.

    The cause for the stop was a bit unclear, but also unclear to Jason.

    This was a confusing way to say it, but it wasn��t wrong.

    During the time that Jason had been in Lisbon, he had taken a few pictures at the instructions of Adele to post on social media.

    Adele��s reasoning was that Jason needed to show his fans that he was recovering and he was fired up to get back on the field.

    It was a purely business idea, and since it wasn��t good for a yer building up his brand to avoid contact with his fans for too long, Jason had acquiesced and updated some aspects of his time in Lisbon.

    He had made sure not to post any pictures of him training as it wasn��t appropriate for him to be training already, but he posted other pictures.

    Jason had also posted a few pictures of him and Sofia together, though he always made sure to cover her face with a huge emoji at her bequest.

    Apparently, Sofia didn��t want to be disturbed by reporters due to her rtionship with Jason which was something Jason understood and respected.

    He knew that some people didn��t want fame of any kind and just wanted a normal life far away from shing cameras, constant interviews, and their every move being scrutinized by the public.

    The problem had arisen on the night of their rtionship��s greatest progress.

    After grabbing something to eat, they were walking through the streets when someone bumped into Sofia and somehow spilled some alcohol from a sk he was holding onto Sofia��s face mask.

    The culprit had apologized quickly on seeing what he had done, but neither Jason nor Sofia had reacted as they saw that it was an honest mistake and the guy was even apologizing.

    Letting the guy off, they left him and continued their walk, but before long, the scent of strong alcohol started making Sofia uneasy so they moved to a less crowded ce and Sofia had taken off the mask to breathe some fresh air and clean her face a bit.

    Seeing Sofia��s pink lips on full disy, Jason couldn��t resist making a move, or the temptation of her lips, and had slowly slid down his mask under a guise.

    ��I don��t think it smells that bad,�� he had said as he brought his face closer seemingly to try and smell the alcohol, but once he was within striking range, his eyes locked on her eyes first and then on the target and in a split second he moved before she could catch on to his movements.

    His agility came on full disy as he captured her lips with his own, eliciting a shocked gasp from Sofia who was unable to respond and was seemingly in a daze.

    After about three seconds, he pulled away from her, while keeping his eyes on her face as he muttered,

    ��Tastes as enticing as it looks.��

    ��Y-You, You kissed me,�� Sofia muttered as her hands went to her lips with shock and surprise written all over her red face.

    Jason��s response to her was another target lock and attack on her lips.

    Sofia who was still in a daze from the earlier kiss was even more unprepared for Jason��s second kiss which was two seconds longer this time before he pulled away.

    ��Y-You did it again!?�� Sofia stammered out with her tanned face showing a shade of red that was noticeable to Jason as her eyes darted around to ascertain if they were being looked at before her eyes fell on Jason��s face again, but before she could even react, Jason did it a third time.

    This time, he slowly took his time nibbling her lips and employing his long dormant lip skills on Sofia who despite her reaction after Jason kissed her, was seemingly never able to react during the kiss and could only be a recipient of Jason��s smooth and caressing lips.

    Jason��s tongue was about tosh out but he managed to control himself before he went past what was fitting for a first kiss�� plus, they were still in the middle of the streets.

    Pulling away for the third time, Jason��s face finally moved to a distance that was safe for Sofia��s lips and his right hand went up to his lips as he swiped his thumb across them.

    ��The first time was a taste, the second was a confirmation, and the third was simply for my enjoyment,��

    ��That��s the answer to the question swirling across your mind right now���� Jason said with a shifty smile, but theposure in his voice was fake.

    He was internally feeling as anxious as when he was to take a penalty in the penalty shootout in the previous season.

    ��Y-Y-You!�� Sofia didn��t have any words to say and just continually stammered as she nced at Jason with indignation written all over her face.

 Chapter 262: Liga NOS is back!

    Chapter 262: Liga NOS is back!

    Despite how Sofia was ring dangerously at Jason, Jason himself did not feel any danger from her stare and simplyughed off her attempts to look dangerous.

    There was nothing Sofia could do about it at that point and her fingers involuntarily went to her lips more than five times as they headed back the way they came, but her fingers would stop on touching her mask.

    In her eyes were a rush of various emotions that made for aplicated gaze in her eyes as she stared at Jason��s back while he led the way.

    Jason did not dare look back as he was already at his wits end trying to maintain hisposure after what he had just pulled off.

    In the end, neither of them was able to continue their earlier conversation so they were silent until they parted wayster.

    The problem came the next morning when Jason woke up the next morning to a link that Adele sent him.

    The link led to a tabloid that had a picture of him kissing Sofia on the front page with the title being,

    ��Youth Football Sensation sighted in Rival City scoring off the pitch. Even injuries can��t stop him from getting a win.�� ��What the fu*k is this sh*t?�� Jason had no words.

    Apart from the horrendous title that made absolutely no sense, he was annoyed by what the tabloid itself was depicting.

    He did not need to read the tabloid to know that whatever was written there was untruer than even rumors which was to be expected from a tabloid and there was nothing he could do about it.

    He could sue them, but that was just about a waste of time as there was no point since the article was already out and there was nothing to gain from sueing them either.

    The only good thing so far was that whoever was sneakily taking the pictures wasn��t able to get a clear shot of Sofia��s face.

    The only time they could have gotten a clear shot of her face that night was when she had taken off her mask, but Jason was all over her lips at that time so there was no clear snapshot of her face which made it look like Jason had a mystery girlfriend, though that was no big deal as Jason was not hiding it.

    The problem was Sofia��s reaction to the whole thing�� If she noticed at all.

    Jason hoped she didn��t see the tabloid since it wasn��t a famous one, but he underestimated the extent that journalists would go to create a sensation, especially during the transfer season.

    Soon other media channels began to send out articles about Jason��s appearance at Lisbon during the transfer window and soon all sorts of rumors broke out about a possible transfer to Benfica for Jason.

    That was bullsh*t and Jason knew this, but other people didn��t and soon he started receiving calls from people about the rumors that was floating about.

    After finally managing to convince Porto��s head manager that he was merely in Lisbon for a holiday and not signing any contract deals behind the team��s back, Jason finally managed to get some peace.

    The fact that the manager had even called him in the first ce was already strange as it was this same guy that had put a hundred million Euros tag on his head before the transfer season window even opened.

    The head manager of all people should know how difficult it was for any club to pull out a hundred million Euros, not to mention a club like Benfica.

    He wasn��t denying the history of the Benfica club, but the club was more likely to be the one selling a yer for that amount than buying a yer for that amount.

    As a matter of fact, transfers that went above the fifty million mark in the Liga NOS were already rare enough so the chance of a transfer deal of a hundred million was almost an impossibility.

    Or at least, that was what Jason thought, but who knew what could happen.

    Before Jason could enjoy a bit of peace after answering all calls from his teammates and manager, another call came in and this one was from Sofia.

    Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, Sofia had seen the tabloid, but her face wasn��t shown so there was no harm done, but to avoid being continuously pestered by the media, especially now that it was known that Jason was in Lisbon, they couldn��t meet as often anymore�� ording to Sofia.

    To Jason, this way if thinking was wed as he couldn��t care less whether he was seen or not, but as Sofia had a problem with it, he didn��t have much of a choice.

    There weren��t much private ces they could meet at unless they nned on doing private deeds and their rtionship wasn��t that far gone yet.

    With that causing a halt on all of his other romance ns, Jason didn��t bother dying and headed back to Porto to start his rehabilitation period.

    The season was already approaching anyway and he had to be ready to jump in the moment he recovered as the longer he was off the field, the harder it would be to get back on the field.

    This wasn��t only referring to his fitness, but also the chemistry of the lineup.

    The manager had to take into ounts the chemistry of the lineup and if the yer chemistry deteriorated instead of increasing when he brings Jason back into the lineup after his injury, he may have to bench Jason for a while.

    Jason wasn��t about to be fall down the pecking order in the club so he immediately headed back to Porto.

    It was time to regain focus.

    He had spent two weeks chasing love, but the returns were slow and he couldn��t afford to wait any longer.

    With Jason heading back to Porto to begin his rehabilitation, time flew by even faster.

    As he focused on recovering full motion in his shoulder, he also began doing light football drills to further elerate his return to match fitness.

    He didn��t want to have to wait till his shoulder was fully healed before he touched a ball again.

    He hadn��t stopped physical training right from the start, but it had been a while since he had had a training session that involved a ball as it was dangerous and Jason epted that fact, so he had avoided it.

    The first of thest four weeks of Jason��s spected recovery period passed by and the long awaited time finally arrived.

    **19th September 2020**

    *9:00pm*

    {The new season had arrived and it is Porto��s first match day of the Liga NOS 2020/21 season}

    {For everyone who was hoping for an exciting match for the new season, we have Porto vs Braga!}

    {The dragons will be hosting Braga here at the Estadio do Dragao in a match that guarantees excitement worthy of our patience till this point!}

    {The two teams have met many times in thispetition and many times outside thispetition and while one would think the Dragons to be the stronger opponent, Braga have proven that they have what it takes to be dragon yers in thest few seasons}

    {Will the defending champions of the League title continue their run fromst season, or will they suffer a setback right here at the start of their season campaign, we��ll have to wait and see} Thementator got to work, building up even more excitement for an already anticipated first game of the season.

    Porto fans everywhere had set other things aside at this time of night, ignoring sleep and staying glued to their screens to witness with excitement, the first Porto game of the season.

    Not only Porto fans, but fans of other teams, and even a few neutrals who didn��t have anything else going on tuned in to watch the game.

    Jason was also in front of his TV in his house holding a slice of pizza that he had ordered.

    Unfortunately for him, his left shoulder had not recovered to the point where he was able to cook without risks so he had to settle for buying food ever since he was injured and that wasn��t something he fancied too much, but beggars can��t be choosers.

    He bit into the slice of pizza as he watched his teammates step out of the tunnel in the newly designed home jersey for the 2020/21 season.

    It was still blue the familiar blue and white colors but the design was different with the blue stripes being thinner and more numerous than on the previous season��s jersey.

    To him, it looked almost exactly the same, but who didn��t know that football clubs changed their jerseys every season so they could get people to buy jerseys every year.

    However, he wasn��tining as that was a part of the game and was a way for the fans to support the club.

    Though that didn��t stop Jason from thinking it was funny.

    It was the same thing that a particr multinational American technologypany that sold phones with almost the same features, or even lesser features with each release and people kept buying because it was socially uneptable to some people to not use thatpany��s products.

    Jason could understand buying a new jersey with a different design every season because it was cheap, and it was something done for passion, but he could not understand buying a new phone almost every six months because of a trend.

    ��I can never understand these Gen-z kids,�� he muttered to himself as he watched the match kick off.

 Chapter 263: Liga NOS is Back! II

    Chapter 263: Liga NOS is Back! II

    Porto would be using their usual 4-4-2 formation and the yers in the starting line for the match against FC Braga were as follows;

    GK: Augustin Marchesin,

    LB: Zaidu Sanusi,

    CBs: Pepe, Ivan Marcano,

    RB: Wilson Manafa,

    CMFs: Mattheus Uribe, Otavio,

    LMF: Luis Diaz,

    RMF: Fabio Viera, CFs: Moussa Marega, Sergio Oliveira.

    Porto and Braga��s first game of the 2020/21 Liga NOS kicked off with a sharp st of the referee��s whistle at 9:00 pm sharp and the game took off.

    With both sides being rtively well matched, the first few minutes of the game were spent testing each other, but by the fifth minute, the ball had begun flying from one corner of the field to the other with both teams already looking to get the game to a quick start.

    By the time another ten minutes psed, the teams already had a few shots at their opponent��s goal, but it was hard to tell who had the upper hand as they were still matching each other pace for pace.

    In the 21stminute of the game, however, the bnce of the game was broken, and surprisingly it was done by the Braga team.

    Despite all the talks about the two teams being equally matched, even the neutrals would pick Porto as more likely to win so when the Braga team got a ball past the Porto goalkeeper everyone was surprised.

    The Braga team had been on the attack, the ball moving fluidly but swiftly among them and the ball had ended up being crossed into the penalty box by Ricardo Horta and found Andre Castro who was making his debut for the Braga team.

    Andre didn��t hesitate to make a dreame through with a thunderous smack at the ball that sent it flying into the top right corner of the Porto goal.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Before the game began, we debated whether Braga had it in them to be dragon yers, and now they have taken a step in that direction!}

    {Dream strike from the new Braga man! He��s gotten a goal on his debut!}

    {Is this a sign of good things toe for Braga!?} Thementator did not hesitate to get to work and his excitedmentary filled up the stadium that was devoid of physical cheers.

    The Porto fans watching the game felt their confidence take a hit as they saw their team go behind, but they kept their heads up as they had unwavering trust in their team to still be able to pull off aeback.

    At the Estadio do Dragao, the match soon resumed after the Braga team was done with their celebrations.

    Unlike the fans of the Porto team expected, after the kickoff to resume the game, Porto didn��t make any special efforts to go above and beyond what they were already doing.

    It wasn��t that they didn��t want to equalize the game, but they knew more than anyone else how important it was to keep one��s shape after conceding a goal if they wanted to avoid conceding even more.

    They could not afford to lose their cool especially now and go behind even further just because they were rushing to equalize.

    There was still time.

    Thus the Porto team first secured their defense and shut down all the spaces that the Braga team was able to slip through earlier and from there they gradually went on the press to retrieve possession.

    After retrieving possession, they settled for keeping possession and slowly advancing up the field.

    Inevitably, they lost the ball a few times, but they always managed to snatch the ball back before the Braga team could get into a dangerous position, and from there they went back on the attack, pushing the Braga team back.

    The end of the first half was rapidly approaching but Porto hadn��t yet gotten the equalizer that their fans so dearly wanted to see.

    On the sidelines, the assistant referee held up the board to show that there would be an additional three minutes of injury time.

    Almost as if on cue, the Porto team suddenly burst out on another attack after seeing the time that had been allocated to them as injury time.

    Fabio Viera who was with the ball on the right wing tried to dribble past his marker down the right wing, but even though he managed to create a bit of space after a quick cut to the right, it was not enough for him to get a cross in so he passed back to Wilson Manafa behind him.

    Manafa didn��t hold the ball for long and quickly released the ball to Otavio who was on his left and just a few meters outside Braga��s penalty box.

    Otavio received the ball on the move andid the ball off to Moussa Marega who was in the Braga penalty box but had his back facing the goal.

    Otavio had begun moving forward after giving the pass and his marker immediately chased after him thinking that Marega would return the ball to Otavio toplete a one-two pass routine, but Marega instead made a tricky move of making a pass to his left with a fancy flick and Sergio Oliveira was there to receive it.

    {Oh, a cheeky pass��! Can he find someone!?}

    Sergio Oliveira rammed the side of his right foot into the ball from the edge of the penalty box and sent the ball flying into the bottom left corner of Braga��s goal.

    {Oliveira!? GOAL!!!}

    {Porto have their equalizer! And it��se just before half-time!}

    {There couldn��t be a better time to get an equalizer for the Porto team!} Thementator once again burst out in excitement,menting excitedly for all he was worth, fully disying his impartiality to the fans of the two teams.

    He was only subservient to the team that performed ys worthy of his excitedmentary and that was clear.

    However, the Porto fans could not be bothered to care about that at the moment as they were instead more focused on celebrating their team��s equalizer just as much as the Porto yers at the stadium.

 Chapter 264: Liga NOS is Back! III

    Chapter 264: Liga NOS is Back! III

    #45+2��

    *Fweeeeee*

    The referee blew the whistle to resume the game and the Braga side kicked off.

    Immediately after kick-off, the Braga yers swarmed into Porto��s half of the field, giving support to the yer on the ball as they wanted tounch ast attack before the whistle to end the first half was finally blown.

    They were a bit anxious at having their lead snatched away from them just before halftime and theyunched an attack intending to immediately take back the lead.

    The ball flew from one Braga yer to another as they overloaded Porto��s half of the field.

    Soon the ball reached Porto��s final third and the Braga left winger sent in a cross, hoping to create a chance for his strikers, but Pepe had been watching the ball all the while and as soon as the ball came into the box, he lunged into the path of the ball and kicked it away to clear the ball.

    Due to the ball being too fast, Pepe wasn��t able to kick the ball out of y like he intended as the ball flew towards the middle of the field instead where it was brought under control by Fabio Viera who had moved to the middle of the field. With most of the Braga yers having charged forward in an all-out attempt to regain the lead before the halftime whistle, the yers in front of Viera were less than half of the Braga team which presented the opportunity for a counterattack.

    Viera did not waste any time and immediately began pushing forward, but before moving three meters in the direction of Braga��s goal, his left leg snapped back and he sent a through pass down the left that carved through the already dwindled Braga defense.

    Luis Diaz was the one the ball was intended for as he charged down the left of the field to catch the ball, leaving his marker to have a face full of his dust.

    Despite leaving his marker behind, another Braga yer immediately appeared to block his path, but Diaz had already gotten to the ball in the final third of the Braga half.

    Slowing his pace so he could have more control over his movements, he kept his head up as he did a few step-overs to confuse the Braga yer before suddenly darting down the left again to create just enough space to send the ball into Braga��s penalty box.

    Moussa Marega was there in the penalty box to receive the ball, but with time running out, he knew he had to move fast and he put his foot into the path of the ball with just enough power to bring the ball to a halt in front of him while he swiftly changed his body position into a more optimal position for a shot.

    This didn��t take more than a second and as soon as he was ready, Marega unleashed a powerful shot at the Braga goal, but before he could rejoice a Braga defender jumped into the path of the ball and deflected the ball just enough to send the ball flying out of y instead of the back of his team��s goal.

    Unlike the disappointment that one would expect to see from the Porto yers, the Porto yers close by immediately held up one hand and began calling for the referee.

    ��Handball, ref!�� Marega called out as he ran to the referee while tapping his right arm with his left.

    To the Porto yers�� joy, the referee��s whistle followed after with his hand pointed to the penalty spot in the Braga spot.

    {What��s this? It seems like a penalty!}

    {They barely managed to stop Porto��s counterattack that would have ended in a goal, but it seems the Braga defender��s hand was touched by the ball!} Thementator��s words immediately got the Porto fans in a frenzy as huge smiles appeared on their faces, while some of them even began hugging themselves in celebration as if their team had already scored the goal.

    The Braga yers weren��t going to just allow the penalty to be decided without getting a word in and the Braga captain immediately went to the referee to try and convince the referee that it was a ��ball-to-hand�� instead of a hand ball, but the best he could manage to do was to get the referee to consult the VAR.

    Less than a minuteter, his efforts were rendered to oblivion as the VAR agreed with the referee��s decision to call a penalty as the yer��s hand was already in an unnaturally high position.

    With the penalty given, Marega immediately took the ball to the penalty spot and stepped back to take the penalty.

    The referee quickly set everything in ce and less than a minuteter, the whistle was sted loudly followed by Marega sting the ball into the bottom left corner of the Braga goal out of the reach of the goalkeeper who had dived the correct way.

    {Well taken penalty! He smashed it without any care for trickery and the goalkeeper couldn��t match his efforts!}

    {With that, Porto take the lead for the first time in the game and it��s only been less than three minutes since they got their equalizer!}

    {What powers of recovery!}

    {They��re showing their opponents what it means to be defending champions! They just wouldn��t stay down!} Thementator��s excitedmentary once again filled the stadium but the Porto yers weren��t even listening as they chased after Marega who had run to the sidelines and jumped into a slide.

    The Porto fans weren��t listening either as they were cheering loudly while shouting down the hate-watchers who were with them and telling them not to underestimate their team.

    ��Can your team make aeback within 3 minutes of injury time!?��

    This was a question that a lot of Porto fans were using to shout down the non-Porto supporters who were hate-watching the game with them.

    ��It��s just a penalty, you��ll see Braga make aeback as well in the second half,�� was the most heard response to that question, but the Porto fans just scoffed at those non-believers who refused to see the light.

 Chapter 265: Liga NOS is Back IV

    Chapter 265: Liga NOS is Back IV

    After the Porto team had performed a dramaticeback at the end of the first half, the first half ended and the yers headed to their locker rooms for a much-needed fifteen-minute rest.

    Due to theeback, the conversations the managers of the two teams had with their respective yers had drastically changed from what they had originally intended, and unlike Sergio Conceicao who was happy with the change, the Braga coach wasn��t happy with the change.

    All Sergio Conceicao had to do was make minor adjustments to a game n that was already working and give a few yers more instructions on how to shut down their opponent��s attacks, and find spaces to get more goals.

    However, in the Braga locker room, the manager had to function as a motivational speaker, a strategist, and a cold general to his yers all in a bid to ready them for the uing second half.

    Time passed quickly with all that going on.

    *Fweeeeee*

    The referee��s whistle blew to start the second half and Braga was the team that kicked off the second half of the game.

    After passing the ball around for almost a full minute while warding off the Porto yers from stealing possession, they quickly began implementing their manager��s instructions. Quickly sending the ball down the wings where the Porto defense was slightly weaker, they tried to work their way into the Porto penalty box, but despite managing to break past the defense a few times, they had been unable to equalize thanks to heroics from the Porto goalkeeper or the terrible luck of the Braga yers.

    The clock continued running down but neither of the two teams managed to score another goal and soon the managers turned to their bench.

    yers from both teams were substituted on and off to try and break the deadlock in the second half of the game.

    For the Porto side, Jesus Corona was the first yer toe on the pitch.

    Coming on for Fabio Viera in the sixtieth minute after his injury against the Braga team in thest game of the previous season.

    After Jesus Corona was Mylo who came on for Sergio Oliveira in the 72nd minute.

    However, despite the changes made by the two managers to the lineup and their game ns as the game continued, neither of the two teams managed to score a goal even by the 85th minute of the game.

    With the end of the match approaching, the Braga yers let go of all reservations at the bequest of their manager and they stormed forward into the Porto half with the intention of getting at least an equalizer since aeback was looking almost impossible for them at this point.

    The Porto manager��s response to that was another substitution, but instead of the defensive yer that almost everyone was expecting, the manager had instead chosen to bring on one of the new strikers who had just joined the team in the transfer window, Mehdi Taremi.

    Mehdi Taremi did not need much of an adjustment period after joining Porto as he was already ying in the Portuguese League hence why he could quickly be a part of the Porto head manager��s ns.

    Sergio Conceicao��s counter n to the Braga team��s all-out attacking strategy was a counter-attacking strategy of his own.

    When the Braga team had done something simr in the first half, the Porto team had been able tounch a devastating counterattack that although didn��t directly lead to a goal, led to the penalty that gave his team the lead.

    The Porto manager nned to exploit this weakness hence his addition of fresh legs to his team��s front line.

    In the 88th minute of the game, just as Sergio Conceicao had expected, the Braga team had lost the ball and left themselves open to a counterattack and ording to his instructions, his yers didn��t hesitate and immediately burst forward with the ball.

    The ball flew from yer to yer as the Porto team burst forward, running into spaces where there was and sending the ball ahead when the space was narrow.

    Soon the ball reached the final third of the pitch, but due to the Braga team��s efforts, they were almost recovered and were gradually blocking the counterattack.

    Jesus Corona who was with the ball saw the space closing up and sent ast-ditch through pass forward to no one in particr, but Mehdi Taremi chased after the ball and got behind it just as it entered the right side of the penalty box, but though there wasn��t a single yer in front of him, the angle he was standing at was too awkward for him to take a shot and hope to get a goal.

    Knowing that his agility would not allow him to right himself while evading his marker who was right behind him, he decided to do the next best thing.

    Changing direction slightly so he was in a slightly less awkward position and made as if to shoot the ball, rming his marker and causing the guy to lose his head and sh into him from behind.

    The moment he felt the Braga yer crashing into him from behind, he didn��t waste any time in going along with the flow of force and even jumped a bit to add a bit of exaggeration in as he fell to the ground in Braga��s penalty box.

    *Fweeeeee*

    The shrill sting of the referee��s whistle from somewhere behind him let him know his n had worked as he sat up with a hint of a smile on his face and held his hands up to call even more attention to his situation.

    Taremi didn��t have to overreact further as the referee was already pointing to the penalty spot for the second time in the match and it was still against the Braga team.

    With his aim already achieved, Taremi was pulled up by Jesus Corona without much fanfare, but there was an evident smile on his face as he watched the Braga yers argue with the referee that he had hardly been touched and that he had dived.

    In truth, Mehdi Taremi also knew that he had dived, and a lot of other people could see it as well, but the problem was that the Braga defender had aided his performance by mming into him from behind, thus despite his over-exaggeration of the situation, the penalty was rightfully given.

    In the end, the Braga yers weren��t able to convince the referee and Mehdi Taremi put the ball down on the penalty spot as he was to take the penalty.

 Chapter 266: Liga NOS is Back V

    Chapter 266: Liga NOS is Back V

    *Fweeeeee*

    The referee blew his whistle loudly and Taremi stepped up to the ball and hit it towards right down the middle of the goal but unfortunately for the Braga goalkeeper, he had chosen to dive to the right.

    Without any suspense, the ball smashed into the back of the and Mehdi Taremi took off down the sidelines while pointing at the Porto logo on his shirt with excitement all over his face.

    {Right down the middle! Cheeky penalty, but he��s gotten away with it}

    {It��s his first for his new club and his first in new colors!}

    {You can see the excitement on his face which shows how much it matters to him to hit the ground running!}

    {The Porto fans will hope to see more from their new man in the uing season after a wondrous disy on his debut!} Thementator��sments didn��t stop there, but while he continued hismentary, almost no one was paying full attention to his words.

    The excitement had already permeated to the Porto fans away from the stadium and they were already celebrating loudly. Some of them had already taken off to social media to show off their team��s win despite the clock still running.

    The Porto yers at the stadium were also excitedly celebrating the goal with Taremi while the Braga yers�� countenance was in shambles.

    Just when they were so close to getting an equalizer, they had gone on to concede another goal one minute to the end of the ny minutes originally allocated for the match.

    If aeback was impossible before, it was an equalizer that looked even more impossible now.

    The Braga manager and the Braga fans all thought the same because despite not wanting to give up hope, they still had to look at realistic tendencies and events.

    It was already hard enough to get an equalizer when they were merely a goal behind, but now they were two goals behind, had quite literally run out of time, and had to face a Porto team that would do anything to protect their lead.

    The Braga yers trudged back to their positions with their heads down but as soon as the referee��s whistle was blown, they forgot their situation and began ying with even more ferocity than before.

    They had internally decided that even if they could not get an equalizer, they could at least reduce the goal difference and significantly lessen their future efforts to ovee the setback of losing the first game of the season.

    Unfortunately for Braga, despite their ferocious efforts, they were equally matched by a Porto team that wasn��t willing to let them get past their goalkeeper another time.

    After four added minutes of hard and fast football, the final whistle of the game was blown and the match came to an end with the scores; Porto 3 �C 0 Braga.

    {The final whistle has been blown and Porto bask in their win!}

    {For them, it��s the perfect start to the season!}

    {Despite the early setback, they showed calmness andposure to pull off a fantasticeback and their efforts have been crowned with their first victory in the Primera Liga 2020/22 season}

    {The yers are happy, the fans are happy, and the manager will not be scolding his yers for a few days, that��s for sure!}

    {Fantastic debuts from Andre Castro and Mehdi Taremi, both scoring a goal, but one has taken victory for his team while the other will have to wait a little longer for his first victory with his club}

    {My name is Marcus Estrelda, thank you for watching}

    {The anticipation is over, the Liga NOS is back!} Thementator gave ending remarks as the yers walked off the field with one side more positive than the other.

    At Jason��s house, he took a picture of the match on the television screen before the scene changed to a studio and posted the picture with a congrattory caption on Instagram and Twitter.

    After that, he turned off his TV and headed to his bedroom, as it was already past 11 pm.

    Watching the match had gotten his blood boiling and he wished more than anything that he had already recovered and could jump on a field immediately, but the slight pain stilling from his shoulder whenever he overexerted it in the slightest denied him that thought.

    With a heavy sigh, hey in his bed, making sure to avoid putting any pressure on his shoulder as he didn��t want his recovery period to extend any longer than it already was.

    Turning off the lights, he reactivated his preset rm for 6 am and slowly went to sleep.

    **26th September 2020**

    The past week had passed by quickly with Jason throwing himself into his rehabilitation and doing everything he could so he could rejoin the team even a day earlier.

    He was already able to move his shoulder quite a bit and his physical examinations showed that he was recovering well, but his recovery was still following the estimated period and it was unlikely that he would bepletely recovered in less than the original two weeks left of his estimated recovery period.

    In the end, Jason couldn��t cheat nature, but his efforts weren��t without reward as he was already considered a match fit in all but his shoulder.

    This meant that as long as his shoulder recovered to the point where he could be given the green light to join the team again, he could immediately join the team��s line-up�� As long as the manager selected him of course.

    Of course, he��d still have to keep his brace on for a few weeks even after he was cleared to rejoin the team to greatly reduce the risk of re-injury but Jason didn��t mind bearing with that much if he could be on the field with a ball at his feet.

    While Jason had his full focus on his recovery, the second match Liga NOS matchday for the Porto team had arrived and they were to face off against Boavista at the Estadio do Bessa.

    While Jason had only his couch pillows forfort as he watched the match from his television, his teammates were already warming up for their match against Boavista at their opponents home stadium.

 Chapter 267: 6th Week of Recovery

    Chapter 267: 6th Week of Recovery

    The match between Boavista and Porto began at 9:00 pm sharp and less than ten minutes into the match, Porto had stamped their superiority in everyone��s face.

    Despite not yet getting a goal, Porto had fully controlled the game and the Boavista yers had hardly been able to step foot into Porto��s penalty box during the few times they had been in possession of the ball.

    By the tenth minute, Porto had already registered three shots at the Boavista team with one of them being on target, but the Boavista hadn��t yet been able to register a single shot at the Porto team.

    As a team with the qualifications to be in the top-flight Portuguese league, Boavista had slowly upped their efforts and were soon matching the Porto team in theter minutes of the first half as opposed to the first ten minutes of the game.

    Every minute that passed, the end of the first half drew nearer but neither Boavista nor Porto had managed to get the better of each other��s goalkeepers.

    After a few more minutes, the referee��s whistle blew loudly, bringing an end to a goalless first half.

    Despite Porto having the upper hand for most of the first half, they hadn��t been able to convert their chances into an advantage for themselves and had ended the first half without registering a goal on the scoreboard much to the surprise of the viewers of the game and the dismay of the Porto fans.

    After fifteen minutes of rest and reshuffling of game ns by the managers of the two teams, the second half finally began with another st of the referee��s whistle. Porto kicked off the second half andunched an attack.

    The Boavista yers were slow to react and couldn��t stop the Porto team who cruised past them and soon a grounded cross from the left of Boavista��s 18-yard box found Jesus Corona in front of the goal and he didn��t disappoint everyone��s expectations.

    He quickly slotted the ball past the Boavista goalkeeper and ran off to celebrate his goal with his teammates.

    The Porto fans immediately perked up and joined in the celebrations as their team had swept away all their unease merely two minutes into the second half.

    The celebrations quickly came to an end and the match resumed, with the Boavista upping their efforts and trying to quickly get back on equal terms with Porto, but the Porto yers invalidated all their efforts twelve minutes after their first goal.

    Porto took a corner kick and Sergio Oliveira beat everyone in the air to get his head to the ball first and sent the ambling for the ball, but unable to stop the inevitable.

    With that Porto doubled their advantage over the Boavista team.

    The Boavista team that had been doing their best to try and equalize the game had now been pegged back even further and no longer dared to sit back.

    They sent forward their yers in droves, trying to overload the Porto team��s half of the field and pressure them into making mistakes.

    Unfortunately for the Boavista team, Porto wasn��t a team that would easily crumble under pressure, especially against teams of their level.

    The individual skills of each Porto yer were disyed whenever they had the ball and they yed the Boavista team like a fiddle.

    The Boavista team wasn��t able to do much and could only chase after the ball as hard as they could, but this only tired them even further and the Porto yers took advantage of that to begin attacking.

    Pass after pass after pass until Jesus Corona found Moussa Marega in the penalty box with a high cross that Marega didn��t hesitate to head home in the 67th minute.

    {GOALLL!!!} Thementator��s excited shout followed as the ball nestled in the back of the while Marega was celebrating with his teammates.

    After the goalless first 45 minutes of the game, Porto had gotten into their stride and had already put three past their opponents in half the time they had spent in the first half.

    The Porto fans couldn��t be more ecstatic with the current state of things and even Sergio Conceicao had a rare smile on his face as he nodded while he watched his yers celebrate their third goal.

    Not stopping with a smile, he called Mylo who was on the bench, and told him to warm up and prepare to get into the game.

    Normally, he wouldn��t make a decision to bring on a yer like Mylo whose abilities weren��t clear yet in a match when it was more beneficial to rack up the scoreline, but this time, Sergio Conceicao was willing to let things run their course and use this chance to give Mylo some minutes on the pitch.

    Of course, this was also a calcted decision on his part and wasn��t done out of frivolity.

    The team��s line-up was a limited resource and he would only pick the best yers that had the capability to lead the team to a win thus he could not keep giving Mylo a ce on the team just because he did well in a few pre-season games.

    The team was no longercking strikers and now the fight for a striker position was a survival of the fittest battle.

    Mehdi Taremi had already started proving himself in thest match and though he had put Mylo on as well in the previous match, Mylo hadn��t been able to do much with the ball apart from get a few shots at goal, but Sergio Conceicao was willing to give him a few more chances to prove himself as he was still a greenhorn, hence his decision to bring Mylo on.

    On hearing the head manager call for him, Mylo quickly warmed up, put on his jersey, and adjusted hisces before going to the manager.

    Sergio Conceicao quickly gave him a few instructions while the match went on.

    Soon the ball went out of y and an assistant referee held up the board to signify a substitution.

    On the board was the number 27 in red and the number 20 in green.

    Sergio Oliveira soon came running over and high-fiving Mylo before stepping off the pitch while Mylo ran onto the pitch.

 Chapter 268: 6th week of Recovery II

    Chapter 268: 6th week of Recovery II

    Running onto the pitch at a quick pace, Mylo soon settled into his position up front alongside Moussa Marega and the game quickly resumed.

    After scoring their third goal of the game, Porto had changed from being a littleid back and had fully loaded their cannons, firing shots at the Boavista team at every opportunity.

    The ball flowed fluidly among them as they worked their way through the Boavista yers.

    Despite just being subbed on, Mylo fitted perfectly into the formation and he yed his part in keeping the ball flowing.

    All this was thanks to his training with the senior team since the pre-season period, thus there was no sense of alienation in his movements, and with him being a striker, he had no need to run at the defenders so he didn��t lose the ball needlessly and simply passed to whoever was open whenever the ball reached him.

    Soon the Porto team was on another attack and the ball flew from yer to yer as they looked for a space to send the ball through.

    With youthful exuberance in his eyes, Mylo locked eyes with Jesus Corona who was about to receive the ball from a pass by Otavio.

    Seemingly understanding Mylo��s hunger for a goal, Jesus Corona smoothly got rid of his marker with a perfectly executed Cruyff turn before sending a through pass behind the Boavista that Mylo was already running ahead to receive. With his marker now chasing behind him, Mylo chased after the ball, outpacing his marker thanks to his fresh legs.

    Seeing that his defenders had been taken out of the picture with that pass, the Boavista goalkeeper wasn��t about to let Mylo get to the ball and potentially score a goal so he rushed off his goal line.

    Unfortunately, the goalkeeper had underestimated Mylo��s agility as Mylo burst forward even faster as he saw the goalkeepere off his line.

    The goalkeeper immediately realized that Mylo would reach the ball first after seeing his increased speed, but he couldn��t back off anymore and rushed forward even faster, pulling out energy reserves he didn��t even know he had.

    As expected Mylo reached the ball first and he immediately tried to chip the ball over the goalkeeper who was off his goal line, but the Boavista goalkeeper immediately lunged upward as he had anticipated Mylo��s actions due to his experience.

    Managing to get the tip of his fingers to the ball, he elevated the path of the ball than Mylo intended and instead of dropping into the back of the, the ball bounced against the crossbar and bounced back towards the field, but before either Mylo or the goalkeeper could react, Marega burst past the two of them and stomped the ball mid-air into the back of the with dramaticism.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {They have four!}

    {Boavista are being swept away in this second half!}

    {There��s still neen minutes left till ny, how many more wille!?} Thementary filled everyone��s ears as they watched the Porto team celebrate yet another goal in the second half.

    Marega celebrated his brace happily with the team and Mylo who was a bit down at not having put the ball away himself joined the celebrations with a smile on his face.

    The Boavista yers did not know what to feel as they watched the Porto team celebrate another goal against them while they were powerless to resist.

    Or more like they had tried to resist, but their efforts werepletely invalidated against their opponents and they had to keep on picking the ball out of their goal.

    Unfortunately for the poor Boavista yers, the Porto team wasn��t done with them yet and another ten minutester, Marega sent a pass to Luis Diaz who tipped the ball in between his marker��s legs before cutting in from the left wing and evaded the other Boavista yers before unfurling a curling carpet shot at the top right corner of the Boavista goal.

    The Boavista goalkeeper did not hesitate to dive for the ball but the ball flew just over his gloved palms, crashed against the inside of the top right side of the right post, and flew into the back of the.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Off the bar and in!}

    {Splendid run from the left wing and he just couldn��t be stopped!}

    {The Boavista yers have nowhere to hide! Their ipetence in defending remains ringly obvious and they are punished yet again!}

    {The Boavista manager has a lot of work to do in re-arranging his team��s backline after this game�� Hopefully, that remains a major concern for him rather than a search for a new job} Thementator��s words were harsh but nobody doubted them.

    The Boavista manager would be lucky if he didn��t lose his job after such a showing from the Boavista yers even though it wasn��t his fault that his team was losing so badly.

    Of course, he wasn��t free from me as he was the one who set the game n and picked the yers who were in the lineup, but there was a limit to what a manager could do and most of the work on the pitch was done on the pitch.

    Whether it was the Porto yers that were too hot to handle, or that the Boavista yers hadn��t been up to par to be able to at least not lose so badly, the Boavista board wouldn��t care and the manager was the one who would face their wrath.

    Such was the nature of professional football and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

    Even legendary managers weren��t absolved of this part of the game.

    The Boavista manager was just the unfortunate one to be caught in the jaws of the Porto team and unfortunately for him, the nightmare wasn��t over yet as Porto was once again on the attack.

    The ny minutes of the game was already over and the match had already had two minutes of overtime and had at least another two minutes left.

    Porto moved the ball forward, looking like they wanted to go out with an explosive bang.

    The Porto fans in their homes had sat up in anticipation as they saw the ball move from one Porto yer to the other.

    Soon the Porto yers passed their way to the front of the Boavista 18-yard box and Otavio tried to break through the defenders and darted towards the left and the Boavista yers followed after him.

    With Otavio drawing the Boavista yers to the left side of their penalty box, the right side was a bit freer of yers and Otavio had anticipated this when he took the ball to the left.

    Quickly doing a back pass to Mattheus Uribe who quickly sent a pass to Mylo who had run into the space created by Otavio.

    Mylo didn��t hesitate and immediately drove his foot into the ball as soon as it came into his path.

 Chapter 269: 2020/21 Liga NOS; Matchday 3

    Chapter 269: 2020/21 Liga NOS; Matchday 3

    The ball took off at a high pace and mmed into the top right corner of the Boavista goal despite the goalkeeper��s efforts to keep the ball from going in.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Six of the best!}

    {Finishing with a bang and it was a finish with a bang!}

    {It��s the young yer��s first goal for the club and you can see the excitement on his face as he celebrates with his teammates, happy to have impressed the manager!}

    {The fans must be impressed by his efforts as well and now have another yer to look forward to} Thementator delivered hismentary with fluency despite his excitement.

    Sergio Conceicao on the sidelines noddedas he saw that his gamble had paid off, however, this did not automatically mean that Mylo had gotten a first-team spot yet.

    All this goal had done was buy him more time to impress the Porto head manager and only if he proved that he could score goals consistently would Sergio Conceicao even consider elevating him toa first-team position. Less than two minutester, the referee blew the final whistle, bringing an end to the game with the score of Boavista 0 �C 6 Porto.

    With that Porto catapulted themselves to the top of the table with their absurd goal difference of+8after just two matchdays in the new season.

    Things were already looking for the defending champions as they once again rooted themselves at the top of the league table.

    What was needed from the Porto team now was consistency in their results and the Porto fans did not have doubts that their team could stay on top of the league table.

    The Porto yers were also confident that they could retain their position at the top of the table by continually giving out good performances like this one and their confident attitudes could be seen on their faces as they walked off the pitch.

    ***

    After the match, the Porto team spent the night at a hotel before returning to Porto the next morning with a week oftraining imminent.

    There would be one more match before an international break between the 5thand 14thof October, 2020.

    Jason had never received an international call-up before this time, and he wasn��t likely to receive one with him still in recovery from an injury.

    As for whether he would receive an international call-up another time, he didn��t know yet, but he hoped to receive one and had already been nning for it.

    He was eligible to receive an international call-up from two countries which were Nigeria and the USA.

    Jason had tried to be objective with his choice between the two teams, but no matter how he tried to think about it, he was more biased towards Nigeria than America.

    While the internationalpetitions the two teams would be exposed to were around simr levels, the chasm between the talents avable to the Nigerian team and those avable to the American team was vast.

    The talented yers Jason currently knew to be in the Nigerian national team included Victor Osimhen at Napoli, Kelechi Ihenacho from Leicester City, Samuel Chukwueze at Vireal, Alex Iwobi at Everton, Zaidu Sanusi who yed at the same club as Jason, and many others.

    Yet the only two yers that came to Jason off the top of his head when he thought about the American national team were Christian Pulisic who yed for Chelsea, and Weston Mckennie who yed for Schalke and among those two, it was clear that Christian Puliscic��s nationality as an American was due to his birth in the United States as he also had a Croatian nationality.

    Jason didn��t know what Christian Puliscic was thinking when he chose the American national team over the Croatian national team, but Jason found it hard to make the same decision.

    Thus at the moment, Jason was more inclined to the Nigerian national team than the American team, but his choice still depended on who came calling.

    However, he believed that as long as he kept ying well, he should have the right to make a choice.

    **3rd October 2020**

    *6:30 pm*

    Matchday 3 had arrived for the Porto side and they would be hosting Maritimo at the Estadio do Dragao.

    As usual, Porto was using the 4-4-2 t formation and their line-up was as follows,

    GK: Augustin Marchesin,

    LB: Zaidu Sanusi,

    RB: Mattheus Uribe,

    CBs: Pepe, Chancel Mbemba,

    CMFs: Otavio, Fabio Viera,

    RMF: Jesus Corona,

    LMF: Luis Diaz,

    CFs: Mehdi Taremi, Evanilson.

    The pre-match formalities did not take much time and the match soon kicked off.

    Right from the start of the game, the two teams went at each other, matching each other��s efforts and letting everyone know that it would be a tough game for both teams.

    It didn��t take too long to open up the game and this was done by the Maritimo team.

    In the 24th minute of the game, they caught Porto on the counter.

    Nanu had sent a through pass to Rodrigo Pinho who darted through the open space and smoothly put the ball past Augustin Marchesin before running down the sidelines to celebrate.

    The hearts of the Porto fans watching the game sank, but with utmost trust in their team, they thought to themselves that Porto could make aeback.

    The match continued soon after and time ran down, but just before half-time, the Porto team got a corner after a shot from Evanilson was blocked by a Maritimo defender.

    Jesus Corona was the one who was to take the corner kick and at the referee��s whistle, he sent the ball curling inwardly into Maritimo��s penalty box.

    The yers of the two teams crashed against each other as they fought to get into position, but Pepe outmuscled his marker and leaped into the air to connect with the ball and send the ball flying into the top right corner of the Maritimo goal.

    The Maritimo goalkeeper had dived and hoped to get a hand to the ball, but his hope remained that�� hope, and he could only watch the ball smash past him and into the back of the.

 Chapter 270: Nothing or Nothing

    Chapter 270: Nothing or Nothing

    {GOAL!}

    {Equalizer! They��re back on level terms!}

    {On the cusp of halftime, they��ve gone ahead to make a statement of deration, giving their fans anticipation for the second half!}

    {The Porto captain outjumped everyone to reach that! He may y from behind, but he doesn��t hesitate to lead from the front when needed and his team needed this!} Thementator went on and on, but no one on the Porto side cared about that.

    They were too busy celebrating their goal to bother with thementary of the game that was meant for the fans in the first ce.

    The Porto fans were also excited that their team had scored, but more than excited, they were more relieved than excited because finally, it didn��t seem like their team was ying a losing game.

    The game soon continued, but not long after, the halftime whistle was blown and the two teams trudged off the field for their fifteen minutes of rest.

    In the locker rooms of both teams, the managers were doing their part in preparing the yers for the second half. The managers admonished those who needed to be admonished andmended those who neededmending.

    They also made adjustments to the game ns and gave improved instructions to the yers and soon the fifteen minutes of second-half preparation were over and the yers marched back to the field.

    With a st from the referee��s whistle, the second half of the game kicked off.

    The two teams once again went at each other, not forgetting to incorporate their manager��stest instructions into their gamey but surprisingly it was the effects of the Maritimo manager��s instructions that were first seen.

    In the 52nd minute of the game, the Maritimo team took the lead once again.

    Rodrigo Pinho had managed to find Nanu with a splitting through pass that Nanu managed to get to after stepping behind the Porto defense line.

    Using his pace to make sure the Porto yers stayed behind him as he cut in from the right, he smoothly curled the ball around Augustin Marchesin.

    The Porto yers had immediately called for offside, but after a VAR check, it was determined that Nanu had managed to stay onside so the goal was allowed.

    The Maritimo team was overjoyed as they went back to celebrating after the goal was allowed while the Porto yers could only look on in a daze.

    The Porto fans were just as dazed as the Porto yers but they kept up their hopes as it was still early in the second half and there was still ample time for the Porto team to make aeback.

    Unfortunately for the Porto fans, the Porto yers were seemingly thrown off by Maritimo��s second goal and were unable to equalize the game even as the time ran down quickly

    By the 70th minute, even Sergio Conceicao was feeling anxious and he started making substitutions.

    He took off Evanilson and Mehdi Taremi to bring on Moussa Marega and Sergio Oliveira.

    He also took off Mattheus Uribe and brought on Wilson Manafa.

    After using all his subs, he called for an all-out attack from his team because the sooner they could equalize, the easier it was for them to make aeback.

    Sergio Conceicao wasn��t about to lose the third game of the season and sent as many yers forward as possible, but still, Porto wasn��t able to get the equalizer they so dearly wanted.

    The goal just wouldn��te for them.

    When the end of the 90 minutes was only a few seconds away, an assistant referee held up the board to disy that there would be six minutes of added time.

    On seeing this, the Porto yers began ying with more frenzy than ever before, but not only did this not work in their favor, it also worked against them as spaces began appearing in their defense.

    Spaces that the Maritimo team did not hesitate to take advantage of and soon another splitting-through pass that found it��s way to Nanu yet again.

    Nanu received the ball and danced around Zaidu Sanusi with dainty steps and sent him sprawling before sending Augustin Marchesin flying after the ball but unable to reach it.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Maritimo have three!}

    {Surely there��s no way back for Porto now!}

    {With this goal, Maritimo are just a few minutes away from being called dragon yers!}

    {This goal scorer has been very instrumental in this lead with him having a hand in every goal for his side!} Thementator gave Nanu his much deserved des, while his words to the Porto team were harsh, but the Porto yers couldn��t refute him.

    It was a disheartening moment for the Porto yers and their fans.

    Sergio Conceicao couldn��t even find the enthusiasm to be furious at his yers and simply watched with a steely look on his face as the Maritimo yers celebrated their goal.

    The celebrations of the Maritimo team were soon over and the game kicked off again.

    The Porto team kicked off the game once again and started exchanging the ball among themselves.

    Before long, they started advancing into the Maritimo half of the field, making sure to not lose possession.

    At this time, even though the added time had run out, the referee still did not blow his whistle and let the match go on, and the Porto yers immediately considered this a chance to reduce the goal difference.

    Keeping the passes flowing, they teethered just outside the Maritimo 18-yard box, but the Maritimo team didn��t n on letting them get past and just sat back.

    The Porto team, however, couldn��t remain patient when they were already out of time and Otavio who had just received the ball decided to just take the shot.

    It was a nothing-or-nothing moment.

    He knew that if he took the shot and missed, the match would end with their loss, and even if he managed to score, they would still end up losing as the referee would blow the whistle immediately after.

    But that didn��t stop him, and he stepped forward with the ball, drawing his marker at him because of his movements and skillfully evading the Maritimo yer��s tackle.

    By evading his marker��s tackle, he managed to create a bit of space and he immediately let the ball fly from the edge of the box where he stood.

    The ball flew towards the left side of the Boavista goal and the Boavista goalkeeper immediately followed after the ball, looking like he could be a hero and stop ast-ditch effort of the Porto side, but one of his defenders suddenly tried to clear the ball instead.

    The Boavista defender swung his leg at the ball, but missed just slightly and only deflected the ball away from his goalkeeper��s path and into the back of the.

 Chapter 271: Recovery Ends

    Chapter 271: Recovery Ends

    The match ended with a scoreline of Porto 2 �C 3 Boavista.

    Porto had lost.

    Theirst-minute goal could only serve as a constion for them and helped to reduce the goal difference lost from their loss.

    It did nothing to mitigate the loss and Porto was left with nothing but a minimized loss.

    The Porto yers and fans were disheartened, but they soon perked up as it was still early in the season and they could still recover from this loss.

    All they needed to do was to keep winning and avoid situations like this one from happening often.

    It was almost impossible to go undefeated throughout the season so it was very likely that this wasn��t thest loss that the Porto team would experience in the season, but they had to make sure that the wins they had more than covered for their losses.

    That was the only way to avoid losing the title of champions. Luckily, Porto was a team that knew how to do just that so the minds of the fans remained at ease.

    The results of the match had seen Porto drop to the 6th position on the league table, but the yers quickly put that behind them as the days of the international break arrived.

    yers like Luis Diaz, Zaidu Sanusi, Pepe, and some others who received international calls ups left to join their national teams while the rest of the yers were hard at training every day at the CTFD Portogaia.

    The head manager and club staff were also not idle as it was still the transfer season.

    On the 5th of October, Danilo Perreira finalized a loan deal with the French hegemon, Paris Saint-Germain.

    It was a loan deal with an option to buy at the end of the season and though Sergio Conceicao was a bit sad to see Danilo go, Danilo himself had pushed for the deal and wanted to move to greener pastures�� Or so he thought.

    In the end, Danilo Perreira had left the Porto squad and would be heading straight to Paris after the International break as he could not leave yet due to being part of the Portuguese national squad.

    With that Porto��s already thinning midfield became thinner and to counter that Sergio Conceicao pushed forward his ns to loan a few yers he had eyes on earlier.

    A transfer deal was currently impossible as he only needed the yers to fill in should a situation require so.

    One of the yers Sergio Conceicao had his eye on was Felipe Anderson who yed as a winger who yed for the English team, West Ham.

    Due to squad issues, Felipe Anderson had not been involved in the West Ham starting lineup for a while so he would be open to the deal, the Porto head manager hopes.

    He knew that despite currently being ousted from the starting lineup, Felipe Anderson��s quality couldn��t be denied so he wished the deal would go through and luckily it did.

    Felipe Anderson was open to the loan deal as he did not wish to permanently leave West Ham yet, but also desired more ying time.

    Perhaps he hoped that if he performed well enough with Porto, he would be more involved in the West Ham manager��s ns in the future.

    Either way, everything worked out for both sides and on the 6th of October, 2020, Felipe Anderson joined Porto on a season-long loan deal.

    Apart from Felipe Anderson, Sergio Conceicao had also gone ahead to loan a midfielder, Marko Griujic from Liverpool, and a defender, Mng Sarr from Chelsea.

    The loan deals werepleted consecutively on the same day and the yers quickly joined the Porto squad in training.

    After transfers werepleted, the new yers were quickly incorporated into the team and joined the Porto team that were training extra hard to make up for their loss in thest match.

    The match they would be having after the international break was against Sporting CP so the Porto team had a lot to do if they wanted to ensure a victory against such an opponent, especially when they wereing from a loss in theirst game against Maritimo.

    The days moved by swiftly and the day that all Porto fans as well as quite a few other football fans had been anticipating impatiently finally arrived.

    On the 13th of October, Jason finally resumed training with the Porto team.

    The news made waves in the media and the many Porto fans took off to social media to announce the return of the ��Rose Dragon�� to the squad of the dragons.

    Meanwhile, Jason did not care about the media storm that was brewing because he had returned to training, but instead was just happy to bepletely recovered and could join the team training sessions again.

    He had arrived at the training grounds first and had a talk with Sergio Conceicao who weed him back to the team and told him to take it easy with his training as neither of them hoped for Jason to be injured again.

    After easing Jason��s mind with a promise to include him in the team��s line-up soon, he sent Jason to the field to join the remaining team members.

    Quite a few members of the team weren��t at the training ground due to having received international calls ups, but Jason didn��t mind and joined the yers who were around.

    As Jason joined the yers who were already training, he received wees from his teammates.

    Not forgetting to personally introduce himself to the new members of the team, he answered his teammates with a few wittyments and soon threw himself back into training just like he usually did before his injury.

    A few teammates, especially the new members were surprised by how hard Jason was training when he just came back from an injury, and quite a few trainers tried to tell him to reduce the intensity at which he was training but after responding like he had heard them, he went on to train just as hard or even harder than he was already doing.

    A few trainers had wry smiles on their face as they told the trainers trying to tell Jason to reduce his intensity, that this was how Jason normally was and he wouldn��t listen if they tried to make him slow down his training.

    A few members of the team, especially the new guys were seemingly motivated by Jason began to train harder and faster, but before long, they were soon wheezing and struggling for breath.

 Chapter 272: A Glance at the Top

    Chapter 272: A nce at the Top

    *7:10 pm*

    Jason was still at the CTFD Portogaia training ground for the Porto senior tram, hard at training.

    Everyone else had left, even the trainers, and Jason was the only one still on the training ground juggling the ball.

    He had single-mindedly been juggling the ball for almost two hours.

    It had been two full months before he could simply lose himself in training like this and Jason didn��t let go of the first opportunity he got to train as much as he wanted with the ball.

    The team doctors would disagree with him training this hard, saying that it could increase the risk of re-injury, but their thoughts didn��t matter to Jason who thought to himself that since he was using his legs mostly for the training and not his previously injured shoulder, there should be no problem.

    However, he also didn��t want to overdo it, so he brought his training session for the day to an end and went to wash up before packing up his things and beginning to leave.

    As Jason walked toward the car park while enjoying the evening breeze, he thought he heard a noiseing from the training ground of the Porto juniors as he walked by the training grounds. Normally, Jason would have ignored it, but it was already evening, so it was a bit strange to hear the sound of a ball at the training grounds.

    Jason had an borate thought process and he knew that he was a special case, which was why he was able to train till now, and it was something he was proud of.

    Suddenly feeling the urge to see who the like-minded individual who was still training at this time, Jason headed into the training ground and soon came to the side of the green field.

    On the field was a figure d in green and red training gear that had the Portuguese national team��s emblem on its chest, running back and forth between cones with a ball at his leg, before unleashing a powerful shot that made Jason��s hair stand on end.

    As Jason caught a glimpse of the figure��s face, his mouth dropped open in shock.

    How could he not be shocked when a figure who stood out in the football world as the image of hard work, unwavering dedication and determination, and egoistic pride that was supported by results, was training right in front of him?

    Jason wasn��t someone who focused on the news a lot, but while ncing at the news in passing in thest few days, he was sure he had seen something about the Portuguese national team being unable to use their stadium in Oeiras for home matches for a while and apparently, they would be using other stadiums in Portugal for the time being.

    Jason did not know why the stadium in Oeiras could not be used as he had only nced at the news in passing since it didn��t really concern him, but Jason had not expected to see a yer from the Portuguese national team at the Porto training ground.

    What was even more shocking was that the yer was Cristiano Ronaldo.

    ��Am I dreaming right now?�� Jason thought to himself as he pped a palm against his right cheek and winced slightly at the pain, immediately confirming that he wasn��t dreaming.

    The p had seemingly shaken Jason��s brain into functioning and he realized that the stadium that was probably selected to be used by the Portuguese national team this time was probably the Estadio do Dragao.

    If that was the case, then it wasn��t too far-fetched that CTFD Portogaia could be used as a training ground by the national team, but despite realizing that, Jason��s nervousness did not disappear.

    ��Should I go meet him and ask for an autograph? Or maybe a picture? Or maybe we can train together?�� Different thoughts started running through the mind of a hopeless Cristiano Ronaldo fan.

    Just like how Jason had quite a few fans now, Jason was also a fan�� a staunch and unredeemable fan of Cristiano Ronaldo.

    He had been a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo in his previous life despite both of them being of simr ages, Cristiano Ronaldo stood out to him as what he aspired to be.

    Rising over everyone with not just talent but unwavering dedication and hard work that put him in the same picture as Lionel Messi, the greatest football talent to have ever graced the football field.

    Ronaldo was that guy, and Jason could not help but respect him.

    One of the major pirs of Jason��s drive to strive to be the best was inspiration from Cristiano Ronaldo who showed that with enough hard work, even the insurmountable could be mounted.

    Cristiano Ronaldo was the personification of everything Jason had aspired to be but failed, but even now that he had gotten another chance and was on track to bing a yer as great as Cristiano Ronaldo, Jason still couldn��t keep his excitement in check.

    He was internally fanboying hard, but then a sudden thought struck him as he saw Cristiano Ronaldo nce at him for a second and then continue with his training.

    ��Even though he stands at the peak of more than what I hoped to be, he��s still here training hard while I��m already leaving the training ground,�� this thought suddenly appeared in his head and immediately cooled off his excited thoughts.

    Right now, he had merely embarked on his journey to arrive at the top, and he was still not even in his prime age yet, but Ronaldo who was already at an age where most footballers had either retired or were nning to was training harder than him without getting distracted for a second.

    Jason suddenly felt ashamed of himself.

    Various thoughts that could justify his actions popped up in his head.

    He was justing off an injury and had already overdone his training, excessive training could prove to be harmful, e.t.c.

    All those thoughts swirled around in his head and tried to make him feel better, but Jason couldn��t ept it.

    He had already failed to reach the top once, but even after getting another chance he was still not doing the best he could possibly do.

    As for the thought that he had already done his best, Jason called bullshit on that thought.

    Jason didn��t know when Ronaldo arrived, but estimating that Ronaldo came earlier than his teammates and was still here, it was impossible for Jason to have trained more than him, yet Jason��s muscles were already screaming.

    If his muscles were screaming, then Ronaldo was probably going through worse especially since he was double of Jason��s age, yet he still stubbornly persisted.

    ��I��m not doing enough,�� Jason thought to himself as he turned around and headed out of the training ground and went to his car.

    He was too embarrassed to walk up to Ronaldo who he admired and wanted to surpass when he wasn��t even doing enough.

    Jason quickly drove home and despite the hunger pangs that were hitting him waves, he went to the room where he kept his gym equipment and hopped on the treadmill.

    From that day henceforth, he nned to train till he was half-dead.

    Merely surpassing the limits wasn��t enough, he had to surpass the surpassed limits time and time again until he could stand above everyone.

    Maybe at that time, he wouldn��t be embarrassed to stand beside a yer like Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.

 Chapter 273: A Glance from the Great

    Chapter 273: A nce from the Great

    **14thOctober 2020**

    *6:03 am*

    Jason arrived at the CTFD Portogaia at a time earlier than he had ever done before and he quickly headed to the training ground for the Porto senior team, hoping to get in a few hours of personal training before the team training began.

    On his way to the senior team��s training field, he was passing by the Porto Juniors training field when he suddenly had an urge to check whether Ronaldo had already arrived and was training.

    Sure as can be, when Jason went in to check, he came across Ronaldo doingps around the field and it was clear that Ronaldo had already been there for a while.

    Thus Jason��s first internal confrontation against Ronaldo ended with his loss.

    Ronaldo had left the training groundter than Jason the previous night and though Jason had done some physical training at home, to him, it didn��t count as he knew that while he would not be having a match until at least the seventeenth of the month when Porto would be going up against Sporting CP, Portugal was having a match that very day.

    It was a friendly match against Serbia, but Jason knew that it was almost impossible for Ronaldo to not feature in the match, yet here he was training like that was all that mattered in the world. Shaking his head at his own inadequacies, Jason turned around and began walking away, intending to go and do his own training as it was clear that his work ethic was still quitecking.

    As he walked away from the field, he didn��t see Cristiano Ronaldo nce at him with an interested smile as he ran.

    Though he usually spent most of his time in his training, it was impossible for Ronaldo to not know about Jason who had been making waves in the football world ever since his appearance on the Porto team rooster midway through the previous season.

    Jason��s face was also especially difficult to forget if one had seen it once, not to mention that they were under the same agency so it was impossible for Ronaldo to not have seen or heard of Jason, especially now that he was in Porto and the news was full of Jason��s return to training.

    When Jason had stopped by the day before, Ronaldo had immediately recognized him and knew that it was his first day back at training after an injury thanks to the noise the media was making about it, yet Jason had trained tillte even after his teammates had left.

    To Ronaldo, that was already worthy ofmendation, but it seemed that Jason wasn��t satisfied with himself after seeing Ronaldo himself at the training ground after him.

    Ronaldo could see through all this because Jason��s emotions could be seen in his eyes which was not a normal thing for Jason, but it seemed like his agitation at seeing Ronaldo had brought down his mental defenses quite a bit without him noticing.

    It also helped that Ronaldo could recognize the look easily as it was a look that Ronaldo himself usually had on his face.

    He was never one to ept that someone else was putting in more effort than him and he quickly noticed that trait in Jason.

    Thinking to himself that the future of football was bright, Ronaldo returned his full focus back to his training.

    There was nothing for him to do as it seemed like Jason was already on the right path, and he wasn��t going to go out of his way to help someone else get better when he still had work to do.

    Thus the path of those two personalities once again diverged aftering to a brief intersection.

    Whether there would be another intersection in their paths, neither of them knew, but they also knew that if it truly happened, then it would happen on the green.

    When that happened, neither of their previous thoughts woulde up and all they would think about was how to get the better of the other person.

    ***

    Jason headed to the training grounds for his team and began his own training.

    He first began with warm-up exercises to heat up his muscles and prepare them for the training session, and once he was done warming up, he began with a light jog.

    He might have called it a light jog, but he nned to runps around the field for an hour and he quickly got to it, keeping his breathing constant and his motions rhythmic.

    This was a stamina-building exercise as Jason knew that despite his current stamina that seemed to be high, it wasn��t enough to support his high-octane movements throughout a full 90-minute match.

    That was why there were periods of silence from him in games that he yed the full 90 minutes.

    His body simply couldn��t keep up with all the movements he wanted them to do for as long as 90 minutes so he usually conserved energy and only burst out whenever there was an absolute need for him to do so.

    He could decide to maintain the same tactic, but he knew that his opponents in the future would soon grasp onto that weakness ande up with a tactic to keep him silent for most of the game.

    The other teams weren��t stupid, hence he had to keep improving and covering up his shorings.

    His solution to the stamina problem was an improved stamina and a restructuring of his movements to consume less energy to get past an opponent.

    Neither of the two solutions was easy to achieve, but he had time so he had picked up the easier solution for the time being which was improving his stamina, as restructuring one��s movements wasn��t something that could be done easily because as at this point, all his movements were more of habits that he had gained through repetitive training than conscious movements.

    He did them without thinking about his next move and his body usually moved before his mind caught up in some situations hence it wouldn��t be easy to change the movements that had been so deeply rooted they were more of muscle memory than actual memory.

    Increasing stamina was way easier so he would focus on improving stamina while slowly restructuring his movements.

    With those thoughts, he kicked off his training and began jogging around the wide field.

 Chapter 274: Liga NOS 2020/21, Matchday 4

    Chapter 274: Liga NOS 2020/21, Matchday 4

    **17thOctober 2020**

    {The international break was over and the yers had returned to their clubs for the professional leagues around the world to continue}

    {Today is matchday 4 for the Porto team who will face Sporting CP here at Estadio Jose Alvde in Lisbon}

    {Porto have a lot to do if they are to redeem themselves after theirst loss against Maritimo, but Sporting CP who currently stand at the top of the Liga NOS rankings will not make it easy for them}

    {The yers step on the green with full focus and the determination to win written all over their faces}

    {As usual, Porto seem to be arranging themselves in their usual 4-4-2 formation that gives them enough control defensively and in the midfield, while also allowing them to quickly strike from all sides and overload the opponent��s penalty area when they are on the attack}

    {The line-up for the Porto side features Augustin Marchesin in goal as usual}

    {The team captain Pepe will be pairing up with Ivan Marcano in the defensive center while they will have Zaidu Sanusi and Wilson Manafa on the nks} {In the middle of the park, we have Otavio and Mattheus Uribe in the center hoping to control the midfield while supporting their teammates both offensively and defensively once the situation arises}

    {On the wide sides of the midfield are Jesus Corona on the right and Luis Diaz on the left. They will y along with the two in the center to keep the ball moving while also making runs down the wing to supply the forwards when they can find some space}

    {Speaking of forwards, Porto has a striking partnership between Sergio Oliveira and Moussa Marega and they will be hoping to get one or two past Sporting CP��s goalkeeper today}

    {The Sporting CP��s line-up sees the return of a yer that the Porto fans have been waiting eagerly for. Jason Bolu is back on the team, but the manager doesn��t seem to n to risk starting him yet and he is on the bench}

    {However, the Porto fans would be hoping to see him get some minutes in the second half as long as the manager��s gamen concurs}

    {The Sporting CP lineup is as follows��}Thementator went on to dictate the rest of the Sporting CP��s line-up. With the pre-match formalities over the game kicked off.

    Sporting CP was the one that kicked off the game.

    The game got off to a quick start with sporting CP beginning to pass the ball around while evading the Porto yers and slowly moving the ball forward, advancing through the Porto midfield.

    Porto didn��t just let them through but did their best to push them back, but Sporting CP did not give up and kept pushing forward and soon they found a chance.

    Goncalves soon found Pedro Neto on the left side of Porto��s penalty box with a through ball.

    Pedro Neto stepped past Wilson Manafa and sent a cross inside the penalty box, Santos leaped into the air, out-jumping everyone and getting his head to the ball first.

    The ball flew to the right side of the post after bouncing off Santos�� head.

    Augustin Marchesin dived after the ball, but couldn��t reach and the ball nestled into the back of the.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {It��s sporting CP��s who score first!}

    {Pass after pass, they broke down Porto��s defense and smashed one past the goalkeeper!}

    {Porto are stunned! Things are already not looking good for them!}Thementator shouted in excitement as the sporting CP team went on to celebrate in joy at having scored first against a tough opponent like Porto.

    The Porto fans could only watch in dismay as their team conceded a goal in less than ten minutes of the game.

    They could only keep their fingers crossed and hope that their team could make aebackter in the game.

    The celebrations were soon over and the game resumed.

    The minutes that ensued were rough for both sides. Almost as if they had chosen violence within the next fifteen minutes, three yellow cards were shown to yers from both teams.

    Goncalves was the first person to get a yellow card and he was shown a yellow card by the referee just two minutes after his team went in the lead.

    This was because the Porto team had reacted quickly and vigorously as they tried to get an equalizer after conceding so quickly but sporting CP wasn��t nning to allow them and they reacted quickly.

    Gonalves soon brought Diaz down when he tried to dribble past him.

    A freekick was yed and the game continued, but with fouls from the sporting CP side bing more frequent, the Porto team quickly became impatient and started returning the violent challenges in kind.

    Jesus Corona and Zaidu Sanusi soon got yellow cards as well in the 19th and 20th minutes respectively.

    Despite the match getting rougher the Porto team did not lose sight of the goal, which was to equalise as quickly as possible.

    Soon, the chance to do so arrived for them, with sporting CP making a mistake and losing the ball in the final third of the field.

    Otavio quickly snatched the ball and took off down the field as fast as he could, before long he sent a through pass down the left wing towards Luis Diaz, who took control of the ball with a smooth flick of his foot.

    Stepping over the ball a few times to trick his marker before suddenly darting towards the left and sending a cross into the penalty box of the sporting CP team.

    The ball rose over every one and flew towards the middle of the box where Sergio Oliveira awaited with his body poised to jump.

    As soon as the ball reached him he caught it off his head and sent it flying towards the right side of the goal, but the sporting CP goalkeeper reacted quickly and lunged for the ball, managing to get the tip of his fingers to it and deflected the ball.

    *CLANG!!!*

    The ball smashed off the right post and bounced back into y but before it could move further than a few metres, Jesus Corona appeared behind the ball and smashed it back into the.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Just 15 minutes after going behind the have equalised!}

    {The keeper got to it the first time but couldn��t react when it was rebounded back into the back of the by the Porto man}

    {They are back on equal terms!}

 Chapter 275: Ups and Balances

    Chapter 275: Ups and Bnces

    With Porto back in the lead, they began to y more boldly, took more shots at the sporting CP team, and used their momentum to push the sporting CP team back.

    The sporting CP team did not easily give in to the pressure from the Porto team and fought back as hard as they could, but it was clear the Porto team was pushing them back.

    This continued for a while, and soon the end of the first half was rapidly approaching.

    Porto had the momentum and they wanted to convert that momentum to a goal before the first half ended.

    With an eye on the clock, they passed the ball around among themselves and soon the ball made its way to the edge of the sporting CP team��s penalty box.

    The Porto yers exchanged the ball among themselves while preventing the sporting CP yers from getting a touch on the ball.

    Otavio soon found a chance to send the ball forward, and he didn��t hesitate to do so.

    The ball swept across the field towards the right where it was brought under control by Jesus Corona who quickly sent in a low cross. The ball found Moussa Marega in the penalty box and he unleashed a dastardly shot at the goal, but the goalkeeper quickly reacted and jumped into the way of the shot, barely managing to reach it and push it out of the way for a corner kick.

    With time running out, neither of the two teams wasted time and quickly ran up into the penalty box for the corner kick.

    Otavio quickly took the corner and sent the ball flying into Sporting CP��s penalty box where the yers of both teams jumped into the air to contest for the ball.

    Sergio Oliveira from the Porto team was the one who managed to get his head to the ball first, but the ball had hardly flown at the Sporting team��s goal when it was blocked by a yer and bounced back.

    Mattheus Uribe happened to be inside the box but couldn��t jump for the ball but when the ball came his way he quickly reacted and sent the ball flying at the goal with a resounding thump.

    The goalkeeper wasn��t able to react on time and by the time he could finally react the ball had already flown past him at a thunderous pace, smashing into the back of the.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {A testament to their powers of recovery, a beautifuleback goal just on the cusp of halfrtime}

    {That has changed the dynamics of the game! Beautiful, beautiful goal!}

    {Despite starting off on the wrong foot, it seems like things are finally going right for the Porto side} Thementator��s excited cheers rang through the microphone and were broadcasted to the viewers.

    It served as the perfect apaniment to the Porto team��s celebration and the Porto fans watching the match joined in on the celebration from their homes.

    The Sporting CP team couldn��t understand what had happened and how they were suddenly pegged back especially when they were the ones who had opened up the game.

    But there was no time for them to think and the game soon continued only for the first half to end a few minutester.

    The yers of both teams quickly trudged to their locker rooms for a rest and a tactical meeting among themselves and their managers.

    In the Porto locker room, the head manager did not waste much time on apuding his yers but quickly went into the game n for theing half.

    Despite them taking the lead, he knew that they could just as easily be pegged back once again, hinch was something he wanted to avoid at all costs.

    Thus he gave the appropriate instructions to each yer on every side of the pitch and once the fifteen minutes of rest was over he sent his yers back out to the field.

    The Sporting CP team had had a simr conversation, but they were more focused on how to bring out the best of their attacking side so that they could quickly get an equalizer and then focus on taking the lead once again.

    With the fifteen minutes of rest over, the match once again resumed with both teams once again tearing at each other and vying for a victory over the other, but despite the presence of excitement at both ends of the pitch, the scoreboard remained the same.

    It didn��t take long for the managers of the two teams to start making substitutions.

    On the Porto side, Sergio Conceicao first took off Sergio Oliveira and put Mehdi Taremi on, while also taking off Zaidu Sanusi to bring on Chancel Mbemba.

    With them having three center backs on the team, the Porto head manager thought that the team would be safer against attacks from the opponent, and the team transitioned into a 3-5-2 formation from their usual 4-4-2.

    But despite the changes to the line-ups from both teams, time continued running out without either of them being able to make a difference to the scoreline and soon there were only about ten minutes left in the game.

    Looking at his bench, Sergio Conceicao decided to go full defensive instead of attacking and trying to get an extra goal which could leave the team vulnerable.

    With that thought in mind, he made onest change which was to bring on Diogo Leite for Wilson Manafa which led to his team having 4 center-backs on the pitch, however, their shape remained the same and instead the newest defender was given a free roaming duty to move to anywhere the ball was and shut down the opposition yer while the other three CBs would stay in ce.

    For a while it worked, and then suddenly the Sporting CP team which despite making chances earlier had been unable to cause any waves suddenly pushed forward, overloading the Porto team��s half of the field and sweeping through them.

    The ball moved quickly among the green and white shirted yers while evading the Porto yers and soon, they had arrived in front of the Porto pass.

    Neto quickly evaded Diogo Leite and sent a pass to Vietto who took the shot with his first touch on the ball, sending it towards the bottom left corner of Porto��s goal.

    Augustin Marchesin immediately dived after the ball, but he was unable to reach and could only watch as the ball rolled past his outstretched palm.

 Chapter 276: Prelude to UCL Opening Game 2020/21 Season

    Chapter 276: Prelude to UCL Opening Game 2020/21 Season

    {Goal!!!}

    {We thought it was over! But they are dragging it back!}

    {In the dying minutes of the game, sporting CP have gotten their equalizer!}

    {Is there still time for one more!?} Thementator shouted exuberantly, his excitement almost palpable enough to see.

    {The Porto team are stunned to have their lead snatched from them in the dying minutes of the game!}

    {Whatever shall they do next!?}

    Sergio Conceicao was stunned at what was happening and he couldn��t keep his voice down as he shouted at his yers who had let the ball get past them.

    Even the Porto yers couldn��t believe what was going on and could only stare in confusion and disappointment as their opponents celebrated wildly in front of them. The poor performance of the Porto defenders that led to the goal left the fans livid and they began to openly swear at the yers who did not shots down the sporting CP yers in time.

    The sporting CP yers and fans did not care about the Porto yers or their fans and only cared that they had equalized the game in the dying minutes.

    The game soon resumed with Porto��s kick-off, and immediately after kick-off, the Porto team charged into the sporting CP��s half of the field, trying to reim their lead, but the sporting CP team seemed to havee to an agreement that they would rather and end the game in a draw.

    Thus despite Porto��s attempts and efforts to try and regain their lead, the sporting CP team stayed defensive, not budging from their half of the field.

    With that, time continued running until it ran out.

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    The referee blew the final whistle, and the game came to an end.

    The final score wasSporting CP 2 �C 2 Porto.

    Overall, it was not a bad result for either side, but Porto wished they had won instead because this merely the fourth matchday yet they are had dropped points again.

    Sporting CP had also dropped points but they had only dropped to the second position while Porto remained in the sixth position only due to their high goal difference.

    The fans were not happy either even though they had fought a team like sporting CP to a draw. It was still early in the season yet their team was already dropping so many points and they were not happy about it.

    Unfortunately, the game was already over, and there was nothing they could do about it.

    Once again, they could only look forward and hope that this string of bad performances hade to an end, but they doubted whether their team could win their next game.

    The next opponent of the Porto team was Manchester City and it was also the opening game of their Champions League campaign, and it did not need to be said that it was going to be a tough game for them.

    The Manchester City team was no soft persimmon and was definitely a harder nut to crack than Sporting CP, yet Porto hadn��t even managed to defeat sporting CP and the Porto fans could not help having doubts about theing game.

    They could only hope that their team had it in them to not be defeated too badly by Manchester City.

    As the yers headed off the field, they exchanged words with each other. Jason had expected and hoped that the head manager would give him a chance but clearly the manager had other ns and Jason wasn��t able toe on.

    He knew it would take some time before he could be back on the pitch but he hoped it could be earlier and wished that the manager had given him a chance in the game but the manager had not even considered him.

    Hopefully, he could be part of the team in the next match.

    Those were Jason��s thoughts as he avoided the reporters and headed into the tunnel.

    He didn��t know what the reporters were thinking that they were looking to interview him when he hadn��t even stepped on the pitch, but whatever their reasons, he didn��t like it because it felt shady, hence he avoided them and headed to the team locker.

    In the team locker, Jason started preparing to leave and it didn��t take long for him to get ready since he hadn��t yed, but just as he was zipping up his bag, the manager finally arrived in the locker room and he did not look happy.

    Given that the results of the game weren��t too bad, Sergio Conceicao did not look like an angry dragon, but more like a slightly peeved cat, yet even that was enough for the yers to know that he wasn��t pleased with what had happened on the pitch.

    ��I��m not going to sugarcoat itds, you yed shit in the second half����

    ��You were especially sloppy in thest minutes of the game, but you didn��t do well enough to further our lead within all that time and you even lost it,��

    ��We need to correct that if we are going to have a chance against Manchester City on Wednesday,�� Sergio Conceicao let out his inner thoughts to the yers, but didn��t let his anger at drawing the game make his tone harsher than it should be.

    ��With that in mind, I expect to see all of you in training tomorrow, we have a lot of work to do,�� the Porto head manager said his final words and headed out again, leaving the yers behind in the locker room to finish packing up.

    The locker room once again filled up with conversations as the manager left.

    The yers weren��t too burdened by their draw against the Sporting CP team, rather they were more infuriated instead and had to let out their aggravation by talking about it.

    Some med themselves, some med others some simplyughed it off, some took the opportunity to make jokes out of the situation, and a rare few had already put the match behind them and were focusing on the next game.

    Jason was among the rare few who were already focusing on the next game, but he joined the guys making jokes to make fun of some of the other guys.

    When the Porto team finally got on the busughing and joking with each other, the people who saw them thought they had won the game instead due to how animated they were.

 Chapter 277: The Blue Side of Manchester I

    Chapter 277: The Blue Side of Manchester I

    **Wednesday, 21st October 2020**

    *8:03 am*

    The Porto yers had begun arriving at the CTFD Portogaia as early as 7:00 am because they were supposed to leave for Ennd that morning by 9 am, thus they had arrived early and started packing their luggage into the bus and getting on the bus.

    Jason had arrived a bitte which wasn��t like him but since he had been training tillte the day before, he had not rushed himself that morning as he didn��t want to exhaust himself any further.

    He wasn��t feeling too tired, but he didn��t want to stress himself in any way that morning and had woken up just before 7 and leisurely cleaned up before strolling out of his house, grabbing his previously packed luggage, and getting into his car.

    Despite all this, he still managed to get to the training center before 8 am.

    With his earpods in his ear, he hummed as he climbed the stairs leading up to the bus,

    ��Yeah, I��m in this bit*h with the terror, got a handful of stacks, better grab an umbre,�� ��I make it rain, I make it rain,��

    ��I��m in this bit*h with the terror, got a handful of stacks, better grab an umbre, I make it rain,��

    ��I make it rain on them h*es, I make it rain,�� Jason sang while bobbing his head as he looked around for an open seat and found one beside Fabio Viera who was calling him over.

    Dapping Fabio before he took his seat, Jason sat down and took out his earpods from his ear, briefly pausing his music and asked Fabio,

    ��Where��s Coach?��

    ��He stepped out to get something, but he said we��ll be leaving in about ten minutes. If you came anyter, you might have missed the bus and the match,�� Fabio responded to Jason.

    ��Why are you justing though?�� He asked, knowing that Jason was normally not punctual because he usually arrived ahead of the appointed time.

    ��Nothing really, I just wanted to sleep in for a bit,�� Jason replied half-mindedly.

    ���� Alone, or something you were doingst night had you weak in the knees?�� Mylo who was seated behind them suddenly chimed in.

    ��Fu*k off man, not everyone is like you,�� Jason shot back in an annoyed tone as he immediately understood what Mylo was getting at.

    ��Hey, I was alonest night,�� Mylo protested immediately as he felt his honor being poked at.

    ��And how many times this year is that?�� Jason asked him, turning to look back at him.

    ���� Not including the lockdown period���� Jason added as he remembered the lockdown period when they were stuck in their homes.

    ��Hmm, that��s 1, 2, 3���� Mylo immediately began counting with the aid of his fingers.

    ��I think it��s like my seventh time this year,�� Mylo finally answered back with a grin.

    ��Exactly,�� Jason scoffed as Mylo had just proved his point, but the others who were listening to the conversation couldn��t believe their ears.

    ��Wait, what!?�� Fabio Viera eximed incredulously.

    ��Bruh, what the fu*k?�� Otavio couldn��t believe his ears either.

    ��Chill guys, seven is a lot, I know, I��m literally a virgin at this point,�� Mylo cut in, speaking tearfully.

    ��You say what?�� Zaidu Sanusi eximedughingly in a thick Nigerian ent.

    ��Do you like, have a girlfriend�� Or like two?�� Fabio Viera asked curiously.

    ��I wondered the same thing at first when I first started living with him, but after seeing ten different girls in seven days, I stopped wondering,�� Jason answered the question before Mylo could open his mouth.

    ��Cheiiii! Ten girls in seven days! How!?�� Zaidu Sanusi asked in shock, his Nigerian ent making his reaction moreical than it actually was and a few other guys were alreadyughing hard.

    ��This guy is a menace to society,�� Jason said as he picked up his earpods again.

    ��The real question is where does he even find many girls?�� Fabio Viera immediately asked the most important question.

    ��I don��t even know bruh, but I started being thankful that my sister is in heaven instead of being on the same with this guy,�� Jason answered with a littleugh, but he actually meant his words as there was no way he would have wanted a female family member of his to be anywhere around someone like Mylo.

    ��Hey!!!�� Mylo finally couldn��t take it anymore and shouted

    ��I got respect for you bro, but no, I wouldn��t trust you with anything that has a hole,�� Jason shot back in response to Mylo��s aggravated shout.

    ��Hey!!!�� Mylo shouted aggravatedly again as he could hear his reputation being tattered.

    ��I��m with Jason on this, stay away from my sisters should you ever have the luck to even meet them,�� Otavio immediately began taking steps to protect his family.

    ��Heyyyy!!!�� Mylo shouted incredulously and was about to defend himself when Sergio Conceicao got on the bus, putting an end to the conversation.

    ��I��m guessing everyone��s here,�� The Porto head manager spoke as his eyes quickly swept across his yers, and not noticing any face missing from the ones he had selected, he immediately gave orders for the driver to begin moving as he also took his seat.

    The bus quickly began moving through the streets of Porto and soon reached the airport.

    Without much of a hassle, they headed onto the team��s private jet.

    The necessary checks had already been done before the yers arrived and it wasn��t long before they were in the air.

    The ne was in the air for about two and a half hours before the passengers noticed the ne beginning to descend, letting them know that they had arrived in Manchester.

    The ne touched down at the Manchester Airport (MAN) and the yers swiftly deboarded as they had to quickly head to their amodations for a short rest before they began their final preparations for the game.

    After finishing the check-ins, the Porto yers got on a bus that had been loaded with all their luggage and the bus headed out.

    On the bus that drove towards the Dakota Manchester hotel where the team had made a reservation, Moussa Marega pulled out a Bluetooth speaker.

    ��If we��re in the UK then we gotta have some UK music, innit?�� He said, his voice taking on an overly exaggerated British ent.

    ��Both hands on the back when I tap it, grab it, and p it, Becky a savage,��

    ��Let me show you a magic trick, you can have this dick after that man vanish,�� the speaker sted out the remix track of the Drill track; Keisha & Becky by Tion Wayne, Russ Millions, Aitch, Swarmz, Sav��o, and JAY1.

    The music enthusiasts who knew the song rapped along as much as they could, while the others just ignored Marega��s antics.

    The bus carrying the yers soon arrived at the Dakota Manchester hotel at almost 1 pm and the yers got off and moved into the hotel and checked in, receiving keys to their rooms.

    Before heading to their rooms, the yers first had lunch at the restaurant in the hotel before heading to their rooms to rest till 4 pm.

    Jason headed to his room as well and as soon as he got into the room, he set an rm for 3:30 pm before jumping onto thefy bed and immediately falling asleep.

    *****

    *BRNGGGGG!!!*

    Jason��s phone rang loudly and immediately put an end to a slumber he was enjoying, but duty called and he didn��t dare to snooze the rm.

    He immediately got up and headed to the bathroom to wash his face.

    Washing his face with the refreshingly cool water, the remnants of sleep that remained in his eyes quickly disappeared and Jason nced at himself in the mirror.

    His gleaming blue eyes stared back at him, but there was nothing to see apart from a face he saw in the mirror every day.

    Soon a slight smile appeared on his mostly impassive face as he once again remembered that he was about to be part of a Champions League game for the first time in his two lives.

    ��Who would have thought?�� Jason wondered to himself, unable to wipe the smile on his face away.

    Looking back at his previous life when he had thought his dreams were over, he would never have believed that he could take part in a Champions League game as anything more than a spectator because anything above that was not open to him.

    He couldn��t even be a pundit or amentator in a Champions League game in his previous life.

    He simply didn��t have the qualifications for that��

    But now, everything has changed.

    He was about to head to a Champions League game as a yer and even though he wasn��t sure if he would y or not as the manager hadn��t announced the starting line-up, Jason knew that even being on the bench was something he could never hope to achieve in his past life.

    That being said, Jason wasn��t about to settle for just being on the bench and he hoped that the manager would give him a chance on the pitch, even if it wasn��t a starting position.

    With these thoughts in mind, Jason began dressing up in a ck suit.

 Chapter 278: The Blue Side of Manchester II

    Chapter 278: The Blue Side of Manchester II

    A ck bus drove into the grounds of the ETIHAD stadium and parked in front of the opening into the stadium.

    The Porto yers began toe down from the bus looking smart in their ck suits as they walked into the stadium amidst the shes of dozens of cameras capturing all their movements.

    Jason also came down behind Fabio Viera and Mylo but Jason��s dressing was a bit different from the rest as he wore a double-breasted overcoat over his suit due to the cold temperature of the surroundings�� or at least, that was his excuse for looking like a Peaky Blinder.

    He looked more like somebody going on a business trip to off somebody than somebody who had a football match to y in a few hours.

    Waving at the cameras as he walked by, Jason quickly made his way into the ETIHAD stadium with his teammates as they headed to the locker room assigned to them.

    Once in the locker room, the Porto yers began to undress out of the stuffy suits that they had worn into the stadium, and dressed up in morefortable sportswear that they would use to train before the match.

    while most of the yers began to get ready for the pre-match training Sergio Conceicao and Pepe, the team captain, and Sergio Oliveira, the team��s vice-captain headed out for a pre-match press conference.

    Despite the manager, captain, and vice-captain leaving the yers behind, the other club staff, namely the assistant coaches, led the yers to the field to begin their training. ***

    in the Porto locker room, the yers were back inside afterpleting their pre-match training. the head manager had alsoe back with the other yers that he took along with him to the press conference.

    With all the physical preparations done and the match��s starting time rapidly approaching it was time for the manager to select the team��s starting line-up,the bench yers, and the game n.

    the lineups would be shared through the media after the yers in the starting lineup were selected by the manager,but the game n of thePorto team would not be shared with the media.

    ��All right boys, let��s get into it,��

    ��Our formation would remain the same 4-4-2 as usual,��

    ��For the starting lineup, Augustin Marchesinwill be in goal,defendingthe sticks,��

    ��Our two center-backs will be Pepe and Chancel Mbemba,I don��t need to tell them their jobsI believe, I��ll be expecting them to take out every threat to our defense shoulde too close forfort,�� Sergio Conceicao began filling out the jobs of each yer in the formation.

    ��In the right back position we will have Wilson Manafa,and in the left back position,we will have Zaidu Sanusi, I expect them to do their defensive duties while also staying open enough to help on the counter should the opportunity present itself,��the Porto head manager said while looking at the two concerned yers.

    ��In the center of the park, Otavioand Mattheus Uribewill partner up to control the midfieldand contribute to the attacking and defending jobs of the team,��

    ��If we have the ball I expect those two to keep the ball moving around.they should be the connectionbetween the forwards and defenders,andonce the ball is in the final third I want them to be just behind the strikers,��

    ��There,�� Sergio Conceicao said as he pointed to the spot on the whiteboard where he was to exin the formation.

    ��They must be ready to support the strikers if they ever get boxed in,once they receive the ball, I want them to send it down the nks where there should be more space��the manager further exined.

    ��Ignoring that, they also should help the defensive efforts of the team when we do not have the ball,��

    ��Moving on, the left winger will be Luis Diaz,while the right winger will be Jesus Corona,��

    ��I want the two of you to run down the wingsat every opportunityyou get,��

    ��Our opponents have especially fast wingbacks which means that we cannot usually outrun them, but because of the attacking nature of their team, the wingbacks usually go up to join the attackers which meansas long as we��re fast enough we can break through from the nks, especially from the right,��

    ��We will be depending on you two for that.If the opportunity to run into the boxes, don��t hesitate. Still, if the wingbacks can get back in time to stop our attacks,then you can send the ball into the penalty box instead,�� Sergio Conceicao made it clear what he wanted to see from the wingers.

    ��Our two strikers for the match will be Mehdi Taremi and Sergio Oliveira, who will be partnering with each other to try and break past ouropponents whenever they leave themselves open,��

    ��I want you guys to run into spaces once they open up so that your teammates can send the ball to you,�� Sergio Conceicao said as he drew the line with an arrowhead trying to depict what he wanted the strikers to do.

    ��I think you guys have the idea of what I want to see from you in the match,��Sergio Conceicao said with a gesture at the board that was now filled with all sorts of drawings and lines.

    the yers nodded affirmatively as the manager had been descriptive enough with his instructions.

    ��On the bench are the rest of you who did not hear your names in the starting line-up,�� Sergio Conceicao said to finish up the basics of the meeting.

    While the confirmed line-up of both teams was released to the public, the yers and their managers stayed in the locker rooms to continuously go over the game n and give even more specific instructions to each yer.

    the time passed quickly and soon it was time for the yers to head out to the field with the starting Time of the match quickly approaching.

    **

    {It is finally here, the long-awaited, long anticipated, and long-expected day for the Porto and Manchester City fans has finally arrived}

    {Today is theirteam��sopening day in the Champions League, the firstgame that either of the two teams would be ying in thispetition}

    {Thefans have waited patiently, and they finally will be satiated with this exciting encounter between the Champions of Ennd and the Champions of Portugal}

    {What should we expect from the game!?}

    {My name is DerekRae and my partner in comentary is n McKenzie} The mainmentator of the game gave his introductory remarks as the yers of the two teams stepped out of the tunnel and walked onto the pitch.

    {The Champions League football is back again in the 2020/21season of football}

    {It began yesterday with other teamsalreadyhaving their opening match and now we are here in what is arguably the biggest matchof thenight, it isManchester City versus Porto here at the ETIHAD stadium}

    {Porto will have to be careful in this match against this opponent if they hope to gain anything from the game as we��ve seen many teams crumble in front of this club,especially here at their home ground} n McKenzie added his ownmentary to the game.

    {Let��s go straight into the lineups of the two teams} Derek Rae once again beganmenting.

    {The Manchester City sideseems to be arranging themselves in their usual 4-3-3formationthatwe��ve seen and known to be a personal favorite of their manager Pep Guardi}

    {The Brazilian Ederson will be in goal}

    {Kyle Walker and Oleksandr Zinchenko will be the wingbacks partnering up withJohn Stonesand Eric Garcia in the Center of the defense to keep the Porto forwardsat bay}

    {In the central defensive position isthe legendary Fernandinho Who is also the team captain,and with him are Ilkay Gundoganand Bernardo Silva inthe midfield}

    {Up front,we have Riyad Mahrezon the right, Raheem Sterling on the left,and Sergio Agueroin the center}

    {Manchester City will be looking to control possession of the game which Porto is also known for sowe may end upseeinga battle forpossession, or maybeeither of the two teamshas somethingdifferent in store for us}

    {Moving on to the Porto side��} Derek Rae went on to list out the yers inPorto��s starting lineup while the yers arranged themselves on the pitch while waiting for the whistle to kick off the game.

    The captains of the two teams waited while the referee did the coin toss and itnded on heads.

    With Fernandinho having chosen heads, the Manchester side had won the toss and Fernandinho chose to pass first.

    With that, Pepe selected a side and shook hands with Fernandinho before the two captains went to join their teammates telling them of the final decision.

    While the yers arranged themselves on the field and waited for the referee��s whistle to start the match, the bench yers of the two teams settled in their seats, waiting patiently for the match to start.

 Chapter 279: The Blue Side of Manchester III

    Chapter 279: The Blue Side of Manchester III

    *Fweeeeee*

    The whistle in the mouth of Andris Tremanis who was the referee for the match sted loudly as he blew into it, signifying the start of the match.

    The Manchester City team was the one to kick off the game and it was Aguero who stood over the ball and sent it back into his team��s half of the field, the ball rolling towards Ilkay Gundogan who quickly got it under control and sent the ball back towards Riyad Mahrez on the right.

    The Porto yers immediately rushed at the Manchester City team that was looking to start an attack.

    With the Porto yers fanning out and blocking any forward passingnes, Riyad Mahrez didn��t have any way to send the ball forward and he quickly opted to send the ball back instead of trying to get through the Porto yers by himself.

    He didn��t have that kind of agility and even if he did, he didn��t dare to go against the team��s ying style as that was a surefire way for him to get taken off by his manager.

    With Mahrez sending the ball back, the Manchester City team fell back a little so that they could keep the ball moving and avoid losing possession.

    Soon enough, however, they began moving forward with the ball and tried to break through the Porto yers, but they inevitably ended up losing possession of the ball as the Porto yers weren��t leaving any space for the Manchester City team. #14th minute��

    The match had been underway for almost a quarter of an hour, but apart from a higher percentage of the possession stats, Manchester City hadn��t been able to get anything going as opposed to the Porto team which had lesser possession but had already created a few chances.

    Porto was currently ignoring possession and trying to catch Manchester City on the counter.

    To do this, they would soak up pressure and once the Manchester City defenders were far enough from their positions, the Porto yers would increase their defensive efforts and try to snatch the ball so that they could quickly strike their opponents on the counter.

    This ying style had been working for the Porto team so far as they had already been able to strike the Manchester City team on the counter three times and already had two shots, one of which was on target and had been barely saved by Ederson because of the awkward position from which the shot was taken by Sergio Oliveira.

    Of the other two counterattacks, the Manchester City defenders had been able to get back in time to stop one, and the other was shot off-target by Jesus Corona.

    Currently, Manchester City was once again on the attack and trying to get their first meaningful shot of the game away, but the Porto yers weren��t budging and were holding down the fort defensively, leaving the Manchester City team with no other options but to keep the ball moving.

    Gundogan had just received the ball and he quicklyid off the ball to Bernardo Silva who smoothly escaped a tackle from Mattheus Uribe but wasn��t able to do the same with Otavio who immediately pounced on him from behind and hassled for the ball.

    With no options for a pass, Bernardo Silva opted to pass back to Fernandinho who trapped the ball under his foot and without wasting any time sent the ball towards Kyle Walker on his right, but just as the ball was about to reach Kyle Walker, a figure in a Porto blue and orange jersey burst forward and intercepted the pass while kicking it forward all in one smooth movement.

    Luis Diaz immediately raced after the ball that he had just snatched from the Manchester City team, catching up to it in less than two seconds and immediately taking off down the left nk, running for all he was worth.

    He quickly crossed the halfway line and kept running down the left nk, not daring to change direction as he could hear someone running behind him.

    As Luis Diaz entered the final third, he began to slow down his pace slightly, and once he reached the left side of Manchester City��s penalty box, he suddenly made as if to stop his run, surprising Kyle Walker who was already preparing to tackle him from the right once he started cutting inside.

    Trying to stop himself from running past Diaz, Kyle Walker almost slipped and barely managed to slow himself down enough, but in that short moment, his legs were a bit too far apart from each other, allowing Luis Diaz to flick the ball in between his legs and jump over his outstretched right leg.

    This time Kyle Walker wasn��t able to react well and tumbled on himself while Luis Diaz who had gotten past him ran after the ball and quickly cut into the penalty box before sending a pass towards Sergio Oliveira who had just arrived outside the penalty box.

    Luis Diaz had made the pass because of John Stones who stood in his path, but after making the pass, Diaz didn��t give up on the attack and kept moving while making sure to stay onside, and just like he expected, Sergio Oliveira who had received the ball immediately caught on and sent a pass back the moment John Stones tried tomit to tackling Sergio Oliveira instead of marking Luis Diaz.

    Luis Diaz immediately burst out to catch the pass and without taking a touch to get the ball under control, he wiped his foot swiftly against the ball, curling it around Ederson and watched it settle into the back of the before running off to the sidelines to celebrate.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Porto open up the game early with a devastating counterattack that Manchester City wasn��t able to stop!}

    {A clever interception, an absolutely splendid run from the goal scorer that left his marker tumbling and unable to recover, clever thinking with his pass to the nearby teammate, and he crowned all his efforts with a splendid finish!}

    {We saw iting from early on and now Porto has converted one of their chances and taken the lead against their opponents!}

    {Manchester City has struggled to make an impact on the game so far and now they have been pegged back, What will happen from here!?}

 Chapter 280: The Blue Side of Manchester IV

    Chapter 280: The Blue Side of Manchester IV

    There was a short pause in between celebrations because some Manchester City yers had tried to im the goal as an offside goal, but after a check with the VAR, the referee allowed the goal as Luis Diaz had somehow managed to stay onside, though narrowly.

    With that, the celebrations of the Porto yers continued.

    While the Porto yers celebrated their goal at the ETIHAD stadium, the Porto fans who couldn��t be at the stadium did not show less enthusiasm and excitement as they celebrated from their homes.

    On the sidelines, Sergio Conceicao clenched his fist and a hint of a smile appeared on his face as he turned away from the yers celebrating.

    He would not admit it, but he was more than a little happy at having taken her lead first, but he also knew that it was too early to get overly joyous at scoring a goal.

    He knew how dangerous his yers�� opponents were, especially when they were on the back foot, and it was his job to remind his yers before they got carried away.

    As the Porto yers headed back to their half of the field, Sergio Conceicao repeatedly told the yers to maintain their focus andposure and the yers nodded affirmatively as they took to their positions on the field.

    Soon the game resumed with another kick-off from the Manchester City team after a shrill whistle st from the referee. #24th minute��

    The match between Manchester City and Porto had heated up after Porto had scored and now the Manchester City team was raining down attacks in the form of yers and balls into the Porto team��s penalty box.

    It was like the Manchester City team had chosen to no longer take a no from the Porto defenders as an answer and they somehow managed to squeeze the ball into the Porto penalty box and past the Porto yers.

    At first, Porto was able to keep up with most of the attempts by the Manchester City yers, but soon they were being overwhelmed by the Manchester City yers�� constant rotation.

    The off-the-ball movement of the Manchester City yers was impossible to keep up with as every yer on the Manchester City team was always moving to keep themselves free which always left at least one or two options open for a pass to the yer with the ball.

    Unsurprisingly enough, even with all the confusing movements from the Manchester City yers, it was only the Porto yers who were confused and finding it hard to keep up.

    The Manchester City yers were bing freer and settling into their element and the Porto team��s defensive grasp on them was rapidly loosening and after a few wasted chances, Oleksandr Zinchenko found Raheem Sterling with a through pass.

    Raheem Sterling had just run past Wilson Manafa as he received the pass, smoothly bringing it under control and cutting inside the Porto penalty box from his wing.

    With Raheem Sterling having escaped from his grasp, Wilson Manafa immediately began to chase him down, not willing to let him get away, but he had barely touched Sterling from behind with a n to hassle him off the ball when Sterling crumbled to the floor like his skeleton was made of air.

    Wilson Manafa��s hand immediately went up in the air to signify that he had barely touched him, but as if the universe had decided to throw all the bad luck in the world his way, the referee��s whistle sted loudly behind him.

    Wilson Manafa turned to face the referee pointing at the penalty spot and he immediately ran up to the referee to defend himself that he had barely touched the opponent, but the referee wasn��t budging and all he did was put a hand to his ear and consulted the VAR.

    However the VAR recorded that Manafa had indeed touched Sterling but as for how hard the collision was remained undecided which meant that it was up to the referee to decide whether to give the penalty or not and unfortunately for the Porto team, he decided to grant a penalty to the Manchester City team.

    The Porto yers could not believe that the referee actually gave the penalty and went up toin, but apart from a threat that they would receive yellow cards forining further, they gained nothing and could only watch the Manchester City team set up for a penalty.

    Sergio Aguero took the ball to the penalty spot as he was the one to take the penalty for his team.

    He set the ball on the spot and used the spikes of his boot to create space behind the ball for a clean hit before stepping back and waiting for the referee��s whistle.

    The referee made sure everything was in ce before putting his whistle to his mouth and blowing hard on it.

    *FWEEEEEE*

    Aguero ran at the ball with ease in his steps before smoothly hitting the ball down the middle of the goal while Augustin Marchesin had already dived down the left side of the goal.

    {Straight down the middle and he puts it away!} Derek Rae shouted into the microphone with excitement

    {That was very cheekying from Aguero and he would have been aughing stock if the goalkeeper stayed in the middle, but luckily the goalkeeper misjudged him} n McKenzie calmly analyzed the goal, his tone not having as much excitement as his comentator.

    {I don��t think it was as much luck as it was experience and skill as we��ve seen him do this quite a few times} Derek smoothly put out his own opinion and ensured a non-stop flow ofmentary.

    {I don��t know about that Derek, but what I do know is that Manchester City have equalized with that penalty} n took up thementary a gain.

    {Porto will be kicking themselves if they don��t end up winning this game, what are your thoughts on the penalty decision, n?} Derek asked his partner in the box.

    {It was clear that the Porto defender dide in contact with the Manchester City winger, but I don��t think such a touch warrants a penalty, but the referee made the decision and the penalty was given} n replied without a pause, keeping thementary flowing.

    {You��re right that the referee��s decision cannot be changed and because of it, Manchester City has gotten their equalizer. Porto has a lot to do from now on if they want to keep Manchester City from building off the momentum of their equalizer and going on to score another} Derek Rae said as Porto once kicked off to resume the game.

 Chapter 281: The Bue Side of Manchester V

    Chapter 281: The Bue Side of Manchester V

    The match resumed with both teams back where they started and once again doing their utmost to take the lead in the game.

    Porto once again settled behind the ball and continuouslyunched counterattacks at the Manchester City team, but time and time again, they were repelled by the Manchester City team which seemed to have found a way to hold back Porto��s pacey wingers, Luis Diaz and Jesus Corona.

    The Manchester City left-back, Oleksandr Zinchenko had been instructed by Pep Guardi to stay behind with the two center-backs so he could join hands with them to stop Jesus Corona should he be the one to start a counter.

    Unlike the pace attributes of Kyle Walker, which allowed him to track back and catch up with Luis Diaz whenever Porto was on the counter using that nk, Zinchenko did not have anywhere near enough pace or even defensive acumen to hold back Jesus Corona.

    In the first ce, he was originally a center attacking midfielder who was only ying in the left-back position because there was no space for him in the midfield with yers like Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Rodri, Fernandinho, Bernando Silva, and even Phil Fodenpeting for spots.

    Thus he had been converted to a left back and thanks to Pep Guardi��s ying style that allowed wingbacks to influence the team��s attacking options, he had been performing quite well, but that was only offensively.

    His defensive skills still left a lot to be desired, hence the manager��s choice of tactics.

    Luckily for the Manchester City team, they were able to keep the Porto team at bay with this change in tactics, but before long, misfortune struck them when Kyle Walker suddenly developed a cramp as he chased Luis Diaz down on one of Porto��s attempts at a counter-attack. The referee quickly blew a whistle and called for medical attention for Kyle Walker who sat down while holding his thigh, no longer able to stand due to the pain shooting his leg.

    The medics quickly ran to the field and started checking his leg, but even after spraying painkillers and massaging his legs, Kyle Walker still felt too much difort to be able toplete the match and was soon helped off the field by the medics while Joao Cancelo began to warm up on the sidelines.

    Kyle Walker was helped off the field and Joao Cancelo ran onto the field, taking his position, and the match resumed with a drop ball.

    With a new injection of fresh legs, Luis Diaz who had been managing tounch a counterattack every now and then for the Porto side was now kept in check by Joao Cancelo and was unable to do much for his team.

    Porto tried to find new avenues for an attack, but they were unable to do much on the attacking side any longer and were stuck with defending the Manchester City team��s constant attacks and despite some close calls, the two teams held each other to a draw by half time.

    With the referee blowing for halftime, the match paused and the yers of both teams walked off the field tiredly, needing a rest after such an intensive first half.

    The Porto yers arrived in their locker room where their head manager waited patiently for them, looking to be deep in thought as he tried to think of how his yers should approach the second half of the game.

    So far, things were going reasonably well with them staying on the defensive, but with Manchester City adjusting to their attacks and finally being able to put a stop to almost all their counterattacks, it remained to be seen if they could go on to win by staying on the defensive.

    Sergio Conceicao doubted that they could win by staying defensive, but he was even more apprehensive about opening up his team��s defense and putting more focus on attacking.

    This stemmed from the fact that by staying defensive, they were just barely managing to keep the Manchester City team in check, and opening up would inevitably lead to them conceding a goal.

    By going on the attack, the game would be a matter of who could outscore the other rather than who could keep the other in check, but Sergio Conceicao knew that his team did not have as much attacking power as the Manchester City team and would most likely lose in a scoringpetition against them.

    This was not a spection on his part, it was a known fact, especially after checking the records of the Manchester City team in the previous season where almost all their matches ended with them scoring at least three goals past their opponents, whoever they were.

    The Porto team also had a lot of attacking firepower, but the Manchester City team was just a lot more than they could handle and Sergio Conceicao did not want to take such a risk on the first game of their Champions League campaign.

    This was no time for experimentation, they had to get as many points as possible in every match in the group stages and a drop in morale was thest thing they needed.

    ��Good work boys, we��ve done well to keep them at bay in the first half, but we need to do more in the second half,�� Sergio Conceicao pulled himself out of his thoughts and began addressing his yers.

    ��We stick with what we are already doing, stay defensive, keep ourselves sharp and ready for the counterattack,��

    ��Diaz has done well so far, but you guys also need to step up. There should be more of you guys bursting forward on the counterattack,��

    ��It��s a team effort and not a single person��s job,�� Sergio Conceicao stressed his words as he began to give instructions to the other yers on what he expected from his yers in the second half.

    The fifteen minutes of halftime quickly came and went and the yers were soon back on the field and the match resumed.

 Chapter 282: The Blue Side of Manchester VI

    Chapter 282: The Blue Side of Manchester VI

    #65thminute��

    The second half of the match between Manchester City and Porto had been on for a quarter of an hour and the two teams had been tearing at each other every opportunity they had.

    ording to their game n that had been settled by their manager, the Porto team stayed on the defensive, hoping to get another goal on the counter or at least manage to keep the current scoreline till the final whistle, but the Manchester City, on the other hand, were doing their best to go against that.

    Chance after chance came from the Manchester City side but Porto somehow held on and did not let the Manchester City team gain anything more than a wasted shot.

    However, as the game progressed, the Manchester City side got more aggressive, both on the defensive and on the attack and they had already recorded three yellow cards from Bernardo Silva, Eric Garcia, and Joao Cancelo just a few minutes after the beginning of the second half.

    With Manchester City ying aggressively, Porto had no choice but to up their tempo and do their best to their opponents away from their penalty box which led to the current situation where Mattheus Uribe had Bernando Silva just outside the penalty box of the Porto team.

    The free kick was 22 yards away from the goal and was directly in front of the goal which was a very dangerous position for a team like Manchester City which had a way with free kicks thanks to yers like Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan on their team.

    Unfortunately, Uribe did not have a choice when he made a tackle and he had simply done his best to stop his marker from creating a goal-scoring chance. The Porto yers arranged their wall as Gundogan set the ball down in front of them.

    *FWEEEEEEEE*

    The referee sted his whistle loudly and Gundogan ran at the ball while curling his upper body and smashing the side of his right foot against the ball, sending a curling shot at the wall.

    Mylo who had just been subbed on for Mehdi Taremi a few minutes earlier was stunned to see the ball flying and immediately turned his body to block the ball but he had turned a bit too much and instead, his movement created just enough space for the ball to fly past him, just skidding off his back and smashing into the back of his team��s goal with Augustin Marchesin being unable to react.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Manchester City!!!}

    {They��ve taken the lead for the first time in the game and finally seem to be doing justice to the expectations of their fans who will no doubt, be ecstatic with the development of the goal!}

    {Wonderful strike and the goalkeeper was stunned to immobility!} Derek Rae shouted into the microphone with his excitement clear in his voice as he watched the Manchester City yers celebrate their goal on the pitch.

    {It was a well-taken free-kick, but I have to ask what that yer was thinking when he dodged the ball instead of blocking it} n asked the question that all the Porto fans had in their head as they watched the rey of the goal, but the question, unfortunately, was to remain unanswered for the near future as the Porto manager was already making moves on the sidelines.

    After seeing the ball smash into the back of the, bringing a change to the scoreboard and putting his team at a disadvantage, Sergio Conceicao quickly reacted and turned to the bench, looking for the best move he could make to counter this situation.

    His eyes fell on Fabio Viera, and Jason who was seated beside him and he immediately pointed to the two of them,

    ��You two, get up and start warming up, right now, you have a minute to get ready,�� he said with urgency in his voice.

    The Porto team was past the stages where they could afford to y it safe and he could only bring out cards that had the potential to be wildcards even in games like this.

    It was a dangerous move to bring on two young yers who had never had experience with the Champions League in a game where they were losing against an unimaginably strong opponent, but Sergio Conceicao was out of options�� even though it was a hypocritical thought when he had already brought on Mylo earlier.

    He could only go out on a limb and bring on thebination of yers who had helped the team out of tough situations like this one in the past and hope that the team could manage to gain something from the game.

    Jason and Fabio were definitely not going toin that they would finally step on the field and were even a little happy that their team was losing which had gotten the manager to finally turn to them.

    Especially after seeing Mylo who had done less for the team than them stepping on the field earlier than them in a Champions League game.

    They quickly got to their feet and began warming up, and after a minute, they headed back and started putting their kits in order.

    As they adjusted their kits with the manager talking to them about what he wanted them to do once they were on the field, Jason nced over at the Manchester City stands and saw three yers also getting ready to get on the field as well.

    Recognizing the three yers immediately to be Aymeric Laporte, Ferran Torres, and Phil Foden, Jason nodded to himself as he started trying to internally calcte what the addition of these three yers would mean to the current match, but he wasn��t able toe to a conjecture and simply stopped thinking about it.

    He��d think more about it on the pitch.

    ��Jason, I want you on the left side doing exactly what Luis was doing all through the first half. Run at your marker, get rid of him and get the ball forward, simple,�� Sergio Conceicao said and turned to Fabio Viera,

    ��I want you in the center, but you��ll also have to keep your eyes open and follow after Jason so you can support him should he be in a tight location,�� Sergio Conceicao continued exining while the match went on and finally, the ball flew out of y in the 68thminute of the game.

 Chapter 283: The Blue Side of Manchester VII

    Chapter 283: The Blue Side of Manchester VII

    On the sidelines, an assistant referee held up a board to signify a substitution as soon as the ball was out of y and the yers who saw their numbers in red began heading to the sidelines.

    Jason and Fabio Viera stood on one side of the referee while Phil Foden, Ferran Torres, and Aymeric Laporte stood on the other side as they waited for their teammates to arrive on the sidelines.

    Feeling a bit to finally get back on a pitch after a long period of injury, Jason looked over at the Manchester City yers beside him and stretched a fist over, half expecting to be ignored as he was doing it for fun and expected tough at himself after he was ignored.

    Surprisingly though, Phil Foden responded and fist-bumped him, and then Ferran Torres did the same, and finally, Laporte fist-bumped Jason as well.

    This scene was caught on camera as the cameras were on the yers who were about to get on the pitch and it brought a smile to the fans of both teams as well as all the other people watching the match on their screens.

    {A disy of sportsmanship from the fresh yers, It��s almost like they��re telling each other ��No hard feelings, bro��}

    {Wonderful to see this from the young yers as theye on the pitch} Derek Rae didn��t hesitate to say something about it as the new yers finally ran onto the pitch after their substitution.

    For the Porto side, Jason wasing on for Luis Diaz on the left side of the midfield and Fabio Viera wasing on for Mattheus Uribe on the left-center side of the midfield. On the Manchester City team, Ferran Torres wasing on for Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden for Bernardo Silva, and Aymeric Laporte for Eric Garcia.

    {Jason Bolu, It��s his return to the team after his injury in the Europa League quarter-finals match against Inter Mnst season}

    {He��ll be looking to hit the ground running, but with his team currently losing the game, it may be a bit difficult to enjoy his return to the field after such a long recovery period} n did his job as a pundit, giving the listeners the facts about Jason��s long-awaited return to the pitch.

    {I personally think that he can do something here. We��ve seen him be very instrumental for his teamst season, disying results that one would think to be impossible from someone his age} Derek Raemented.

    {I concur, hopefully, he can pull some of that out before the end of the game, Porto could use some ofst season��s Jason right now} n agreed with Derak as the match continued.

    #72ndminute��

    It had been a few minutes since the substitution, but it had been quiet all over the pitch with neither of the teams managing to do much more than pass the ball around among themselves in thest few minutes.

    Jason had gotten a few touches on the ball, but he hadn��t been able to get anything going thanks to the Manchester City yers who seemed to be keeping him strictly under guard and not giving him any space to start anything.

    It seemed like the Manchester City manager didn��t underestimate him and saw him as a variable that could be a dangerous threat if left alone and he didn��t want to give Jason enough time even to get a feel of the ball and befortable.

    Jason also didn��t push his luck because despite how he wasn��t mentally scarred from his injury due to his numerous injuries in his past reality, he was still a bit shaken and was a bit apprehensive at too much contact at the moment.

    He was trying to calm himself and getfortable on the ball, but the Manchester City yers didn��t seem inclined to allow him even a yard of space, hence apart from urately passing the ball to a teammate, Jason hadn��t done anything else since he hade on apart from helping to defend the nk he was positioned at.

    Currently, Manchester City had a freekick on the left side of the Porto penalty box after an attempt from Raheem Sterling to break into the penalty box was stopped by Wilson Manafa who had defended his corner stubbornly.

    Wilson Manafa managed to stop the attack, but he gave away a free kick and was booked a yellow card by the referee who probably felt his tackle was a bit too rough.

    The free kick was close enough to be in a dangerous position, but it was not likely to be taken directly because of its awkward angle from the goal, and thus the yers of the two teams were arranging themselves and getting ready for the free kick.

    On the sidelines, the board was held up, and it seemed that the two managers had turned to their benches once again.

    Pep Guardi had decided to take off Fernandinho and bring on Rodri, while Sergio Conceicao had gone for a double substitution.

    Felipe Anderson would being on for Jesus Corona, and Diogo Leite would being on for Wilson Manafa who had gotten a yellow card.

    The Porto head manager did not want to take the risk of leaving an already booked Wilson Manafa with a tricky and agile yer like Raheem Sterling as that would inevitably lead to either another yellow card for Manafa, or less defensive pressure on Sterling which could be bad.

    Once the new yers were on the pitch and had taken position, the referee blew his whistle and Gundogan ran at the ball and sent a cross into the penalty box.

    With yers like Aymeric Laporte, John Stones, and Pepe fighting for the ball, the penalty box looked like a battlefield of giants, but Pepe by virtue of his experience advantage managed to evade the Manchester City yers trying to attack the ball and got to it first with a header to try and clear the ball.

    The ball flew outside the penalty box, but unlike the counterattack that Porto was looking forward to, It was Phil Foden who got to the ball first just a few yards away from the box.

    Quickly bringing the ball under control, he pushed the ball back towards the penalty box with nothing in his eyes but the Porto goal and he immediately unleashed a shot.

    The ball took off at once, but before it had traveled a few yards, Zaidu Sanusi��s outstretched leg appeared in the path of the ball from the right of Foden��s view and blocked the shot from going at his team��s goal.

    The ball deflected off of Zaidu��s leg and flew towards the left, flying over the penalty box and seemingly heading out, but not everyone gave up on the ball.

    Raheem Sterling was inside the box and near the estimated path of the ball and he quickly noticed that the ball wasn��t unreachable and he quickly made a run for it.

    His movements were noticed by Chancel Mbemba, but Mbemba was a step toote and Sterling had already managed to get to the ball and keep it on the pitch with an amazing disy of skill and ball control.

    Chancel Mbemba immediately rushed at Sterling, hoping to clear the ball away before the situation got worse for his team, but Sterling who was currently in a state of high alert after disying inhuman-like ball control, feinted left and tricked Chancel Mbemba before flicking the ball to the right and immediately sending a grounded through pass across the Porto goal.

    Due to the ball moving too fast and at a bit of a distance from the Porto goalkeeper, he only kept his eye on the ball and followed it as much as he could, but all of a sudden Ferran Torres weaseled his way between all the yers in the penalty box and appeared in the path of the ball and poked it with his foot.

    Augustin Marchesin immediately jumped at the ball, but he wasn��t able to reach and the ball flew past him into the back of the goal.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {CITY!!!}

    {They make it three!}

    {They are pulling clear here and it��s beginning to look like a game set-in match!}

    {The goal scorer has only been on the pitch for a few minutes, and already, he has scored!}

    {He wasn��t the only substitute, but he��s the only one that has left a mark on the game so far!} Derak Rae shouted into the microphone, not masking his excitement as he delivered hismentary, making for an animated scene with the Manchester City yers celebrating their goal.

    Needless to say, the Porto team looked down after Manchester City��s goal and even the manager was short of words and didn��t know what to do at that moment.

    He had chosen to go defensive, but that hadn��t worked due to his terrible luck, yet even after deciding to risk everything, he hadn��t seen any other change than an even more negative one.

    Things weren��t going his way at all, and with the little time left in the game, his hopes were dwindling.

    The Porto fans in their homes felt the exact same way.

 Chapter 284: The Blue Side of Manchester VIII

    Chapter 284: The Blue Side of Manchester VIII

    The match resumed once again with Manchester City having taken a two-goal lead over the Porto team and had finally had enough of staying defensive.

    The yers went forward boldly as they no longer had anything to lose and staying back would allow the Manchester City team to continue dictating the game and giving them more opportunities to score more goals.

    With this in mind, they yed more boldly, but Manchester City wasn��t easily giving up their control of the game and continued pressing hard against the Porto team.

    Thus the match went into a stalemate with the ball moving up and down the pitch, but neither of the teams managed to create any dangerous chances.

    #78th minute��

    Manchester City had just gotten a corner kick after they tried to break in from the left wing, but Diogo Leite had managed to block Sterling from getting past him and had sent the ball out for a corner kick.

    Ilkay Gundogan ran over to take the corner kick while the other yers arranged themselves inside the Porto penalty box.

    *Fweeeeee* At the sound of the referee��s whistle, Gundogan whipped the ball into Porto��s box with a high cross while the yers of the two teams began pushing against each other as they tried to get closer to the path of the iing ball.

    Making use of his burly body, Pepe pushed his marker out of the way and jumped up to get his head to the ball first and clear the ball out of the danger area.

    The ball bounced off Pepe��s head and flew outside the penalty area towards the right nk where Jason and Fabio Viera of the Porto team along with Zinchenko from the Manchester City side waited.

    Jason immediately sent a knowing nce at Fabio after seeing that the ball wouldnd nearer to him, and Fabio immediately understood Jason��s gaze.

    Immediately after that, Jason turned and took off towards Manchester City��s half of the field, running down the right nk while Fabio Viera moved closer to the ball and caught it on his foot, bringing it under control.

    With Jason already making a run towards the Manchester City penalty box, this was a perfect opportunity for a counter, but Fabio Viera had to first escape Oleksandr Zinchenko before he could send the ball to Jason.

    Knowing that he couldn��t take too much time on the ball if he did not want to be tackled from behind, Viera immediately feinted to the left before snapping back and drawing the ball to his right, creating just enough space for him to send a long through pass forward.

    Sweeping the ball with his left foot, Viera immediately sent a curling pass forward at Jason.

    Hearing the sound of contact, Jason nced back to see the ball flying and curling into his path, but he also took that opportunity to take notice of the other yers�� position and he immediately noticed Joao Cancelo advancing on him at breakneck speed, as well as a few other yers moving forward.

    After swiftly making internal calctions, Jason took to the air and caught the ball on his right leg, taking all the power out of the pass and bringing it under control before gravity took control and he came back to the ground with the ball.

    Without a pause, Jason kicked the ball forward and continued running as he could already hear Joao Cancelo��s approaching footsteps getting louder.

    After moving forward a few more yards, Jason began cutting inside as he was already near the penalty box of the Manchester City team, but Joao Cancelo wasn��t having that and wanted to take him out before he got into the penalty box, hence he flew into a sliding tackle, homing at Jason��s legs like a missile, but Jason who had made sure to remain cautious immediately noticed Cancelo��s tackle.

    Flicking the ball upward just enough so that Cancelo couldn��t reach the ball in his sliding tackle posture, Jason smoothly jumped over Cancelo��s tackle and continued his run, leaving Cancelo behind and unable to recover in time to stop the counterattack.

    As Jason ran into the penalty box of the Manchester City team, he stayed on the edge of the penalty box and didn��t cut in any further, causing Aymeric Laporte who had been marking Mylo to move forward a bit and try to tackle him, but this was what Jason was waiting for and immediately Laporte was at a safe distance away from Mylo, Jason immediately sent a quick grounded pass at Mylo who didn��t hesitate to smack the ball past Ederson.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Porto have lit a fire of hope with that goal!}

    {There��s only one in it now!} Derekmented excitedly as he watched the ball go in.

    {It was a splendid counterattack, with both individual efforts and teamworking into the fray to create a masterpiece of a goal} nmented at a much steadier pace than Derek, hismentary focusing on analyzing the goal instead of hyping up excitement.

    {That makes it the young striker��s first goal in the Champions League and it was all thanks to a splendid assist from the young winger}

    {Porto seems to have great luck in their youth development area these days} n continued to talk while Mylo had picked the ball out of the goal and was moving back to the halfway line, understanding that this was not the time to be frivolous with a celebration as they were still losing the game.

    The other Porto yers also understood this fact and quickly headed back to their half of the field as well, eager to build off the momentum of the goal and go on to equalize.

    On the sidelines, Sergio Conceicao looked quietly at his yers with his right hand on his mouth as he tried to think whether he needed to give his yers any new instructions that could potentially help them to get an equalizer, but even after a minute of thought, he couldn��t think about anything and just stayed quiet.

    #82nd minute��

    Manchester City had increased the pressure they were putting on the Porto team, doing their best to kill the Port yers�� momentum, but the Porto team responded in kind and was doing their best to keep their hopes alive.

    The two teams matched each other aura for aura as they shed for the win.

    On the right side of Porto��s box, Ferran Torres tried to get past Zaidu Sanusi, but no matter the step overs, or feints he made, Zaidu stuck to him like glue, not giving him an inch of space and in the end, Ferran Torres didn��t have any choice but to pass back.

    Jason lunged for the ball, trying to intercept the pass, but he missed and the ball found its way to Joao Cancelo who immediately passed the ball infield to Gundogan.

    Fabio Viera immediately ran at Gundogan, but as if they had made a n to keep the ball moving, Gundogan immediately sent a pass to Foden on his left.

    Receiving the ball just a few yards outside the center of Porto��s penalty box, Foden pushed the ball forward and faced off against Otavio.

    Quickly feeding the ball towards his left leg, Foden tried to push past Otavio and Otavio immediately reacted, but perhaps due to his exhaustion, he ended up a bit behind Foden, giving him a clear view of the goal and Foden immediately pulled back his left leg.

    {He lets fly of the ball!?}Derek Rae��s voice was filled with anticipation as Foden took the shot.

    The ball thundered off Foden��s foot, immediately flying towards the top left corner of the goal with Augustin Marchesin following after the ball, doing his best to get in the way, but he fell short and the ball smashed into the.

    {GOAL!} Derek Rae shouted in excitement as Foden immediately took off to celebrate his goal.

    {We thought a goal woulde at one end, but the ball had gone in at the other end!}

    {Porto are pegged back again and it��s looking like the end of the road for them!} Derek��s excitedmentary was syed all over the faces of the Porto yers, the manager, and the fans.

    {I believe I speak for everybody when I say that none of us saw that shoting from anywhere} n began saying his bit of thementary.

    {It was an absolute stunner, for us and for the Porto team, and with time running out, can the Porto team find it anywhere within them to recover from this shock}

    {Strangely this reminds me of Porto��s loss against Inter Mn in the Europa League justst season where Porto had lost the game}

    {Porto have an uphill battle to fight and this trauma wouldn��t make it any easier for them} n said as he could clearly see the negative expressions of the Porto yers from inside thementary box.

    Sergio Conceicao on the sidelines didn��t even have it in him to shout at his yers, but it was his job and he did it regardless.

    pping his hands from the sidelines, he shouted at his yers,

    ��We still have at least eight minutes, we can score three!��

 Chapter 285: The Blue Side of Manchester IX

    Chapter 285: The Blue Side of Manchester IX

    pping his hands from the sidelines, Sergio Conceicao shouted at his yers,

    ��We still have at least eight minutes, we can score three!��

    Sergio Conceicao��s words sounded like a joke to everyone who heard it as it was an almost impossible task to score three goals against Manchester City in the Champions unless one had the best of the best yers on their team.

    The Porto yers were very good yers who wouldn��t have too hard a time fitting into any top team in the world, but it was too much of a stretch to call themselves the best of the best.

    However, their internal deliberations were of no use as the match wasn��t over yet and the Porto yers had no choice but to keep going, irrespective of the final scoreline of the game.

    It was their job to do so.

    The match soon resumed once again with the Porto team kicking off once again and they immediately went on the attack immediately after the kickoff, but it seemed that Pep Guardi had finally decided to give up on attacking football for the day as the Manchester City yers began to focus more on preserving their lead rather than trying to rack up the scoreline.

    Pep Guardi didn��t want to take any further risks after getting a good two-goal lead over his opponents and his instructions to his yers were more inclined towards time wasting and preserving their lead. This was not to say that the Manchester City team did not attack at all, but rather they focused more on keeping possession whenever they were with the ball instead of trying to create goal-scoring chances, and they only tried to attack whenever Porto left a clear space in their defense line.

    This did not happen often though as Porto was currently raining fire and thunder on the Manchester City yers at whatever chance they got, but their attacks weren��t proving to be very effective.

    The Porto team however wasn��t going to give up.

    #89thminute��

    Porto was once again on the attack and they were exchanging the ball among themselves carefully, doing their best not to lose possession of the ball, yet passing with enough pace and precision to keep the me of the attack alive.

    Soon, the ball found its way to Jason on the left side of the Manchester City penalty box and unlike the nearest yer was expecting, Jason didn��t pass the ball and instead began cutting into the Manchester City penalty box.

    He had had enough of their attacks onlying to dead ends and decided to take a risk.

    AsJason cut into the penalty box, he came face to face with John Stones who stood tense, watching his every move, ready to react at the slightest movement from Jason, but that wasn��t going to deter Jason from making his move.

    Stepping over the ball a few times before suddenly making as if to cut right, Jason kept his eyes on John Stones, waiting to see his reaction before making his next move, but to Jason��s surprise, John Stones had been so tense and eager that he had already reacted and jumped to the right, prompting Jason to cut back to the left and the resulting effect of this move stunned everyone watching.

    As if he had been shot in the head, John Stones suddenly froze mid-movement and fell to the ground on his back.

    {Oh he��s fallen over!} Derek shouted into the microphone.

    {It seems like Jason tapped into his ancestral voodoo for a second there!} Even n couldn��t resist making a snarkyment.

    Jason ignored all the words from thementators and immediately moved past the fallen John Stones who was the only obstacle between him and Ederson earlier.

    Ederson didn��t know whether to run at Jason or to stay on his line and his internal deliberation made him a bit too slow to react and by the time he reacted, Jason was already about to take his shot.

    Ederson immediately put up his hands and rushed out, hoping to either block the shot or intimidate Jason into shooting the ball off-target, but Jason wasn��t so easily intimidated and already had a n in mind.

    Instead of trying to curl the ball around Ederson, Jason immediately hit it as hard and as straight as he could, ensuring it didn��t leave the floor.

    Before Ederson could react to the shot, the ball flew in between his legs and mmed into the back of his while Ederson copsed to the floor like agging goalkeeper in a football game.

    {He scores!}

    {Porto have three!!!}

    {Is there still time for one more!?} Derek shouted into the microphone while Jason immediately ran around Ederson, picked the ball, and began running back to the middle of the field, while nodding to his teammates who ran along with him, all of them fired up to go all out and try to get an equalizer before time ran out.

    {Porto looks to be on a mission to try and get one more before that final whistle, but I��m sure the Manchester City team would not want to give up their lead that easily}

    {This match is shaping up for a fric finish}n began his own stretch ofmentary after Derek was done doing his hypementary.

    At this time, Jason had already put the ball down in the middle of the field and had gone to stay on his side of the field, awaiting the kickoff once again, but the Manchester City yers were instead taking their sweet time to walk back and kick off the game once again.

    This infuriated some of the Porto yers to no end and they immediately reacted explosively, but they were soon calmed down by their teammates and the referee.

    The referee immediately hurried the Manchester City yers and the match resumed once again.

    On the sidelines, an assistant referee held up the board to let everyone know that there would be at least five minutes of added time.

    The Porto yers immediately had their motivation increase a bit and the trepidation in their hearts reduced a bit after noting that there would be five minutes which should be ample enough for them to gain something from the game, while the Manchester City yers braced themselves for a five minutes of thorough battering.

 Chapter 286: The Blue Side of Manchester X

    Chapter 286: The Blue Side of Manchester X

    The ny minutes of the game had psed and the match was currently in the third minute of added time, yet Porto had been unable to even get a single shot away ever since they scored their third goal due to the Manchester City team getting to the ground with their defensive efforts and defending their goal like their life depended on it.

    It had to be said that Manchester City wasn��t a defensive team and the only way they managed to keep people away from their goal was by being the ones dictating the game and the asional disy of individual brilliance from their world-ss defenders, but for thest few minutes, the Manchester City team had defied expectations in the defensive department as the whole team dug in at the back and somehow managed to keep the Porto team at bay despite the desperate efforts of the Porto yers.

    The Porto yers sent yers forward, sent through passes, tried to overload the Manchester City half of the field, tried to overload the Manchester City 18-yard box, yed aggressively, and sent countless crosses into the Manchester City penalty box, but Manchester City stood against their every effort, waving them off like they were but mere specks of dust.

    Yet, the Porto yers didn��t give up and continued striving for that one goal that would allow them to share the spoils of the match.

    On the left side of the field, Jason, Viera, and Zaidu Sanusi exchanged the ball among each other, trying to create some space to try and breakthrough, but Manchester City didn��t seem to want to budge.

    Receiving the ball from Viera, Jason once again decided to try again and breakthrough from the wing.

    As he brought the ball to a stop while shielding the ball away from Joao Cancelo, he finally made his move.

    Making as if to turn towards the left before suddenly snapping back and sweeping the ball around and escaping Joao Cancelo, Jason immediately took off towards the Manchester City penalty box, but he wasn��t running for long. Joao Cancelo had quickly recovered and chased him down before bringing Jason down with a sliding tackle just a few yards before he could step into the penalty box.

    Jason tumbled over a few times from the tackle, and his annoyance red up as he immediately got up despite the pain in his body from falling over and he began advancing towards Joao Cancelo, his anger taking over and making him want to send Joao Cancelo to sleep with a roundhouse kick.

    This wasn��t the first time he had been brought down since he got on the pitch, but it was beginning to be very annoying, especially when his team was already losing.

    Fabio Viera immediately intercepted Jason before he could reach Joao Cancelo, but Zaidu who was nearby went to intercept Joao Cancelo and it was clear that he wasn��t happy either.

    {Tempers are ring here!}

    {I can��t say I me the kid, he��s been brought down over five times already in this match despite this being his first match after his injury}

    The referee soon came over to settle the matter after it almost delved into a full-blown fight between the two teams.

    After showing Joao Cancelo his second yellow card of the game, followed by a red card and sending him off, the referee gave the Porto team a free kick.

    Jason took the ball to the spot depicted by the referee and set it down as he was to take the free kick.

    Due to the awkward angle of the free kick, Jason couldn��t take it directly and could only choose to cross, but with time running out, he couldn��t just cross the ball in and leave everything to chance so he decided to take a gamble.

    Calling Fabio Viera over, he whispered a n into his ear,

    ��I��ll cross the ball over the middle of the penalty box and let it dip only after crossing the middle of the penalty box, so just run over from the right side and try to catch it as it reaches you,��

    ��It��ll be best to catch it on the volley if we want to catch them by surprise,�� Fabio Viera mused, adding to the n.

    Quickly getting over the specifics of the n down in less than five seconds, Fabio Viera quickly ran towards the area where the other yers were, but he stayed outside the penalty box, to the surprise of some Manchester City yers.

    They had seen him talking to Jason and thought that the two of them hade up with a n, but with Fabio Viera waiting outside the penalty box, they couldn��t be bothered to send anybody to mark him when they had to put more focus on defending the penalty box, especially now that they were one man down.

    The yers were soon done arranging themselves and the referee blew the whistle to give Jason the go-ahead to take the free kick.

    After raising a hand to signal to Fabio Viera, Jason ran at the ball and hit it deftly, sending it towards the pre-agreed location with Viera.

    The ball flew into Manchester City��s penalty box where the yers of the two teams ran at the ball, but before long, they noticed that the ball was flying a bit too high for it to be meant for someone in the middle, but that was Jason��s and Viera��s n all along.

    Fabio Viera had begun running into the penalty box from the right after Jason raised his hand and was already almost at the location where the ball wouldnd when he noticed Mylo jump for the ball, intending to get to it with his head and with how high he jumped, it seemed like he would reach the ball.

    ��That idiot!�� Jason and Viera immediately thought as they saw Mylo jump for the ball.

    At the height the ball was, there was no way Mylo would be able to head it downwards which would mean the chance would be wasted as opposed to their almost sure n to score.

    Luckily, Mylo couldn��t reach the ball enough to head it towards the goal and it skidded off his head before continuing its flight towards Fabio Viera��s path.

    Due to skidding off Mylo��s head, the ball rose a bit higher and would likely reach Viera at a higher position than he expected, but Viera could cope with that and immediately angled his body.

    As the ball reached him, Viera whacked the ball first time with his left foot and sent it flying at the top right corner of the Manchester City goal.

    {Viera!!!!!!!} Derek shouted as he saw Viera hit the ball.

    {GOALLLLLL!!!!} n joined in as he and Derek shouted at the top of their voices into the microphone as they saw the ball smash into the back of the, Ederson unable to reach it.

    {They��ve equalized atst! And they��ve done it with a stunner of a goal}

    {Absolutely fantastic attempt and effort!}

    {This is a bitter pill to swallow for Manchester City!}

    {Porto have validated themse-!}

    {Oh what��s this!? the assistant referee has a g raised for offside!}

 Chapter 287: A Familiar-Looking Loss

    Chapter 287: A Familiar-Looking Loss

    {The assistant referee��s g is up, indicating the possibility of an offside call}

    {The Porto yers obviously disagree with the raised g and they are making their discontent known to the referee} nmented as he watched the Porto yers run up to the referee to argue over the offside call.

    For once, Jason also ran up to the referee as he knew that there was no way Viera was offside especially since he had been watching him all along, but the referee ignored the Porto yers�� ims and put his hand to his ear, indicating that he was consulting the VAR.

    After a few seconds of listening, the referee decided to go and check the VAR himself as the results were inconclusive.

    The Porto yers had no choice but to wait and pray�� At least the ones who were religious prayed, while the others just waited and wished for luck.

    The referee took his time to check the rey and only after almost a full minute did he head back to the field and give his verdict.

    The offside call was correct and the goal was offside.

    The hearts of everyone supporting the Porto team sank as they saw the referee��s verdict and before they could unleash their arguments, the rey of the goal was yed on the screens. The rey began with Jason running at the ball and at the moment he hit the ball, the video paused and a straight line that depicted the position of thest defender of the Manchester City team appeared on the screen.

    On the screen, it could be clearly seen that Fabio Viera was not offside, but Mylo edged slightly over the offside line.

    Then the video yed and showed the ball skidding off Mylo��s head, hence making his involvement in the goal a clear picture.

    With that, it was clear that the goal was offside.

    {It was a splendid effort from Porto but the call has been made, offside!} Derek shouted aggravatedly.

    {After their excitement at finally getting an equalizer, Porto are pulled back by the referee��s decision to where they were three minutes ago} n added, his voice not rising, but his tone contained a bit of pity towards the Porto yers and fans.

    At that moment no one on the Porto team looked happily at Mylo and even the Porto fans felt like getting on the earliest flight to the UK and tearing Mylo apart.

    What would normally have been attributed to enthusiasm to helping the team take the lead had been repainted in the worst of ways and everyone that supported the Porto team currently did not have any good feelings towards Mylo.

    Jason and Viera were feeling most annoyed at this moment as they had made and executed a surefire n to finally get an equalizer but their efforts had been rendered useless by Mylo��s unneeded involvement.

    At that moment, Jason wished to ask Mylo a few very important questions of which a few were,

    ��Who begged you?��

    ��What do you make of yourself that you tried to reach a ball at a height of two and a half meters?��

    ��When did your name change to Mylo Airlines?��

    ��Even if you changed your name to Mylo Airlines, why did you crash your first flight?��

    ��Like, who send your papa work?�� Jason was fuming so much that he did not realize when his internal voice reverted to a Nigerian ent.

    Unfortunately, none of the Porto yers could disy too much of their displeasure against Mylo, and they had no choice but to quietly ept the referee��s decision, no matter how infuriating it was and head back up the field, hoping that they could find another goal before the final whistle.

    But the referee had other ideas and as soon as Ederson sent the ball up the field from the free kick, the referee blew the final whistle.

    Porto could only ept the final scores of the game that had ended in their loss.

    {The final whistle has been blown and a very exciting and hair-raising first match of these two teamse to an end}

    {The final scorese to a tally of Manchester City 4 : 3 Porto}

    {Manchester City have ended the match with a win and Porto are gutted}

    {Porto tried and tried, but the goal just wouldn��te} Derek began giving the closing remarks as the yers of the two teams.

    {Oh the goal dide, it was just disallowed} n cut in.

    {Either way, you want to say it, it doesn��t change the fact that after a hard-fought battle, they have lost}

    {Manchester City would be happy to go home with the full three points from the game and they owe it to a stupendous strike from the youngd Phil Foden whosest goal was the difference maker between the two teams} Derek replied to n��s earlier words.

    {What a game, especially the second half, it was almost like a battle of the young talents don��t you think, Derek?} n asked another question.

    {Yeah, It first started with Ferran Torres�� goal to put Manchester two up over Porto, followed by that beautiful counterattack from Porto with Jason unleashing a beautiful run and going on to provide the assist to Mylo Baumgartner}

    {Foden then went on to score that 21-yard stunner against Porto, once again putting Manchester City two up before Jason responded with the third goal of the Porto team. That was an especially funny goal to see, with John Stones falling over in confusion} Derekughed a little as he said.

    {It was almost like Jason��s movements made his brain circuits hit ��pause�� and hepletely fell over. That��s definitely going to be a YouTube reel in a few hours, that��s if it��s not already trending} n added to Derek��sment.

    {Hahaha, John Stones would probably avoid social media for a while after this game} Derekughed and said.

    {Anyway, Jason and Fabio Viera came up with ast-minute n to get an equalizer and they did get it, but their efforts were thwarted by the efforts of one of their teammates which would leave them feeling displeased for sure. The Porto locker room would be feeling stuffy for Mylo for a little while, Haha}

    {Overall, it was a good game, with goals flying in at both ends and while Porto would not be happy with the results from this game, their performance makes us believe that they have the potential to bounce back from this loss in theing matches}

    {With that, I want to wish you all a very good evening from both of us here at the studio and we��ll see each other again next week} Derek said just before the scene of the field changed.

 Chapter 288: Damned Tabloids

    Chapter 288: Damned Tabloids

    Jason walked off the field along with Fabio Viera, regting his breathing and calming his excited heart now that the match was over.

    Neither of them said a word to the other person as there was nothing to say.

    No�� It wasn��t that they didn��t have anything to say, but rather that they had too much to say, yet it was best that they said nothing as there wasn��t a point in making a big issue out of the earlier situation.

    Mistakes were inevitable in the game of football, and losses were even more so and they weren��t immune to it either.

    Today, Mylo had caused a carefully structured goal to be offside because of his enthusiasm to help the team get the same equalizer that they wanted to get, and they could fault him for it, but it wouldn��t change the fact that they had already lost the game.

    Today it was Mylo��s mistake, but on another day, it could be someone else, and they as human beings were also not exempt from making mistakes.

    Hence it was best to just ept the reality and move on instead of dwelling on a singr mistake and causing a rift between the team because of one game that wasn��t even that crucial on the grand scale of things.

    This wasn��t their first loss of the season anyway. As the two of them walked, they finally began talking about the match and began reviewing what they could have done better to make the game go their way.

    As they discussed, they came across other yers, both of their team and the Manchester team and they elbow-jabbed everyone they came across.

    As Jason elbow-jabbed Phil Foden, he suddenly remembered that he had fist-bumped him earlier which wasn��t exactly following the safety regtions, but it seemed that due to the situation, nobody had made a big issue out of it.

    ��That was a pretty sweet goal you scored against us back there,�� Jason said to Foden with a smile.

    ��I know man, I don��t even know what I was thinking when I just put my foot through with it, I��m as surprised as you guys that it went in,�� Phil Foden replied to Jason, unable to hide his happiness from his face as he spoke.

    ��You were pretty good out there as well, man you had that old man falling over like he had an epilepsy or something,�� Fodenughed as he nced at John Stones who seemed to be hurrying into the tunnel and avoiding every reporter in the way.

    ��Blud��s running from the camera too, he doesn��t need any more stress from the reporters after you vited him like that,�� Foden added, being a little talkative and unhinged due to his excitement.

    He was also a young yer like Jason and was also trying to break into the Manchester City first-team squad, but even though the manager let hime on every now and then, he knew that he had way too muchpetition for him to be at ease because the manager yed him asionally.

    His performance in this match would at least have the manager ncing his way a bit more often, and with a manager like Pep Guardi and thepetition on the team, that was definitely something to be happy about.

    Jason couldn��t exactly rte to Phil Foden as even though his team had lost the game, he didn��t have too much of a problem with being on the line-up and was at the very least an important yer on the team and would almost always find his way into the managers line up due to the lesser amount ofpetition in the winger department on his team.

    But that didn��t mean Jason was free of all selection worries either and he knew his performance should have once again cemented his importance to the team so despite the loss, he wasn��t feeling too down either and was easily caught up in Foden��s enthusiastic attitude.

    ��Does he not actually have a condition, I don��t think Jason��s dribbles cause people to fall over like that,�� Fabio Viera suddenly jumped into the conversation his English sounding a little wobbly, but it was clear enough for Foden to understand.

    ��Even if he didn��t, he probably has a Jasonphobia by now,�� Fodenughed, not feeling the slightest bit offended as they made John Stones��s situation into a joke.

    ��Hopefully, he doesn��t keep falling over like that every time I do a step over in front of him, people might start thinking I��m using some African juju on him,�� Jason said half-seriously, not putting it past the media to say just about anything they wanted.

    ��That��s true, the media is a bit crazy around here when ites to gossip like that,�� Foden said with a snicker and a thoughtful look, inwardly wanting to see something like that happen in the future.

    He didn��t care if his teammate was the sacrificialmb needed to bring it to reality.

    ��The media is crazy everywhere bruh,�� Jasonughed.

    ��Those tabloids and media blogs especially,�� he added,ughingly, remembering the bullsh*t they were saying about him the previous month.

    ��Man, those guys, ugh,�� Foden let out an exaggerated sound of disgust.

    ��One of those suckers reportedly made reports about me having like secret rendezvous with like five different girls in two weeks,�� Fodenined.

    �� Man, that��s crazy,�� Jason��s eyes widened in surprise.

    �� My girl wasn��t having it bruh, I had to beg her for almost a month before she finally stopped mentioning it,�� Foden��s aggravation with the tabloid people was heard clearly in his voice.

    ��You��re a henpecked husband at 20? Man, that��s tough,�� Mylo who wasing from behind suddenly interrupted the conversation when he heard Fodenining about his rtionship issues.

    ��Better a loyal henpecked husband than you who switched between twenty girls in one week,�� Jason snapped back at Mylo.

    �� Twenty!?�� Foden eximed rmedly as his head snapped in Mylo��s direction and he couldn��t hide his surprise.

    ��It wasn��t up to twenty, just a little over ten,�� Mylo countered, not wanting Jason to nder his good name.

    ��Even ten is more than too much!�� Foden��s surprise didn��t dwindle in the slightest when he heard Mylo��s response.

 Chapter 289: Thrust into the Unknown

    Chapter 289: Thrust into the Unknown

    ��You know what you need in your life?�� Jason asked Mylo.

    ��What?�� Mylo asked back.

    ��A little attention from the media guys, especially them tabloid ni**as, I��m sure they��d love reporting on matters concerning you,�� Jason smirked, really wishing it would happen, and with Mylo beginning to gain attention on the pitch, Jason knew he��d soon be a new treasure trove for the media to dig into.

    ��I��ll have to pass on that, I can do without,�� Mylo replied immediately, horrified by the thought, now that the image popped up in his head.

    He could do without the cameras following him to his every rendezvous to perform a genital meet and greet.

    Before they could continue their conversation, they had reached the sidelines and had to go do a few interviews, so they parted ways with each one of them heading to their former seats on the bench to take their stuff before they headed to the interviews.

    Jason took the coat that had his team��s emblem printed on its chest and wore it to stave off the cold weather that was now settling into his body now that the match was over and he was no longer exerting himself physically and thus keeping himself warm.

    Jason was soon led to where the post-match interviews were being held and it was soon his turn to be interviewed. Surprisingly, the interview wasn��t the traditional one where they were questioned directly by the reporters, but rather, there was a screen set in front of the background where the yers were to be interviewed and the interview was to be done online.

    It seemed to be a new arrangement and Jason had heard about it a while ago.

    It started when the television channel, CBS acquired the broadcast rights forthe Champions League in the year 2019 and they were said to be starting a show called ��Champions League Today��.

    Apparently, the show was originally set to start in the 2021/22 season, but due to the stringent safety regtions made by the governing football bodies, the channel had decided to take the opportunity to start the show much earlier.

    The host for the show was Kate Abdo who Jason had heard was a particrly well-known TV host before she joined CBS, and she was joined by Jaimie Carragher, a former Manchester United yer, Micah Richards, a former Manchester City yer, and Roberto Martinez who was the current manager of the Belgium national team.

    To Jason, it seemed like an interesting idea, but he hadn��t really focused on it much in his past life, though even if he did, it wouldn��t matter as the anniversary of Jason��s disappearance from his previous reality passed a while ago and he was already thrust into the unknown at this point.

    All his advantages were gone now, and he had to face the daunting task of bing the greatest footballer to ever grace the field with nothing else other than what he had already prepared as there was nothing else left for him.

    Jason didn��t mind though as that was what it had felt like from the start.

    He had strategically nned his every move till this point right from when he had just been thrust into this new reality.

    The fact that he had not joined an academy may seem like a flimsy move on his part, but Jason knew why he had chosen to do so.

    Jason��s method of football training was conventional yet non-conventional. He knew about better ways of training that were developed in the future, but for him, that wasn��t nearly enough.

    Jason��s current skills were a perfect mixture of everything he had involved himself with in his previous life to better his football skills.

    The flexibility and quick reaction were due to the martial arts he had learned, the skills he used were a result of millions of repetitions of the same move till they became second nature.

    There were many other such things Jason did because he knew that he wasn��t a genius, in fact, he was below average in terms of talent and all he had going for him was his eleration ability, thus he knew that joining an academy would streamline and constrict him and he wouldn��t be free to train the way he wanted thereby slowing his growth in the best periods for growth, hence his decision.

    His choice of waiting until he thought he was ready to finally go for a football trial was also a strategic idea on his part.

    Since he didn��t join an academy, he couldn��t be signed the conventional way and thus had to make a big ssh when he finally appeared so that whoever ended up signing him would feel more eager to put him on a pitch than those guys who were signed conventionally and did not end up appearing on the field until muchter.

    ording to history, Jason knew yers who started professional football at ater age than he currently was and still became great footballers.

    Andrea Pirlo didn��t make his debut until he was 21, but he won 2 Champions League titles, and 6 Serie A titles, and was a legend of the midfield.

    Didier Drogba signed with Guingamp at 22, but still won 1 Champions League Title, and 4 Premier League titles, and is Chelsea��s all-time top goal scorer to this day.

    Luis Suarez signed with Groningen at 20 but still went on to win 1 Champions League title, and 4 La Liga titles, and is currently one of the best strikers in the football world.

    Finally, Jamie Vardy signed with Leicester City at 25 but still won a Premier League title, and 1 FA Cup title, and is a prolific striker that no one could deny all over the world.

    If those guys could do that much after starting professional football at over twenty years of age, then Jason starting at 18 was already pretty good.

    Most footballers couldn��t even crack the first team at this age like he did, so he considered this an already pretty good start for his story to be a legend so he wasn��t bothered by much else.

    He had already started, he was doing pretty well and was on the right path as far as he was concerned so nothing else really mattered.

    All he had to do was to keep doing what he was already doing and he��d hopefully see the results at the end of the day.

 Chapter 290: Champions League Today

    Chapter 290: Champions League Today

    Jason was fitted with the microphone so he could listen respond and interact with the CBS hosts at the studio.

    The professionalism of the staff was in full disy and they quickly fitted Jason with the microphone in a few seconds and Jason watched the show going on on the screen.

    {We bring you the live interview of one of the yers who had a major influence on the game, Jason Bolu} Kate Abdo said as everyone in the studio turned to the huge screen behind them that was ow disying Jason��s face that was being recorded live from the stadium by the videographers at the stadium.

    {Oh, there he is, the man of the hour!} Micah Richards said boisterously as befitting of his mboyant and charismatic personality.

    ��Well, we didn��t win the game so I don��t know if I can be called the man of the hour,��Jason responded with a wry smile.

    {Aw shucks, it doesn��t change much about your performance in the game. I think you did exceptionally well for your first game in the Champions League. I��m sure others would agree} Jamie Carragher immediately countered Jason��s words, speaking with his characteristic ent flowing freely in his voice.

    {I agree, a goal and an assist in your first Champions League game and against Manchester City no less, I think that��s worthmending} Roberto Martinez supported Jamie Carragher��s statement, his vocalization of the Englishnguage weaker than everyone in the studio.

    ��Haha, thanks,�� Jasonughed lightly as he suddenly felt a wee bit better after hearing the praise from the guys in the studio. {We all know you should have gotten more from that game if not for that unfortunate offside incident. How do you feel about that?} True to her job as the main host, Kate Abdo immediately asked one of the prepared questions for Jason, steering the interview back on track before they wasted too much time doing anything else.

    ��Well�� As you said, it was an unfortunate incident, but these things happen in football and we cannot not ept it, you know, it was a bit disheartening to lose though,�� Jason responded after a pause, his eyes gleaming a bit in annoyance as he suddenly remembered the scene of the goal being called offside because of Mylo��s actions.

    {You seem to have epted this pretty quickly} Kate Abdo said in a surprised tone.

    {Yeah, he��s just brushing it off withposure, that��s a man not easily shaken right there} Micah Richardsughed.

    ��Oh, I��ve epted it, but I��m not brushing it off, we��re heading back to training and we are going to work on how to make sure that this kind of result doesn��t repeat itself�� and well Mylo will have a lot of appeasement to do, both to the guys and the fans, cuz I��m sure, the fans would want to have his head right about now,�� Jason said jokingly, with his eyes smiling, but internally he wasn��tughing.

    ��The fans would want Mylo��s head after the stunt he just pulled off and as a member of the team I��m automatically a fan as well�� unfortunately, there��s no opportunity to beat Mylo up legally,�� Jason thought to himself.

    {After a blunder like that, he has to do at least that much, doesn��t he? } Jamie Carragherughed off Jason��s response.

    ��Yes, he does,�� Jason replied.

    {Anyway, for your first game in the Champions League, it has to be said that you��ve done exceptionally well, recording a goal and an assist aftering off the bench and only ying for just about half an hour}

    {That��s very impressive, and considering that it��s your first game after your injury the previous season, that��s even more impressive. How did you feeling into the game?} Kate Abdo asked with a glowing smile after praising Jason��s performance.

    {To be honest, I wasn��t sure the manager was going to put me in, but I��ve been preparing to return to the team and even though we didn��t win, I��m happy that I was able to get some game time and get moving again, you know, it��s been a while} Jason answered honestly.

    {Well it didn��t look like it��s been a while with the way you got on and began tearing the game} Jamie Carragher said before Kate Abdo could talk.

    {Yeah, our team��s defenders were having a hard time just keeping you in check. It��s like your form didn��t drop at all even though you��ve been off the pitch for over two months} Micah Richards also jumped into the conversation.

    ��There��s not anything to it, I just came on and did my best, it��s what I always try to do, though this time, it��s hard to say whether it was enough or not, cuz we did lose,�� Jasonughed a little, not knowing what to make of the situation.

    The team had lost, but he had performed reasonably well, so his emotions were on the fence.

    {Oh, I think you definitely did your best, John Stones will have nightmares for days because of you despite Manchester City��s victory} Jamie Carragherughed, his words especially meant to dig into Micah Richards who was a former Manchester City yer and a current Manchester City fan.

    {You know, it��d be fun to see you go up against big Meeks and send him sprawling like that} Kate Abdo immediately joined in the fun as she was not one to let an opportunity to tease Micah Richards slide away.

    {Ohe on now, you don��t think he can get past Big Meeks, do you?} Micah Richards immediately stepped up to defend himself.

    {After what I��ve seen, I don��t think you have a chance} Roberto Martinez who had been silent for a while, said.

    {You wouldn��t just be sent sprawling, you would fly} Jamie Carragher added.

    {You��d break an ankle just keeping up} Kate Abdo also added with augh.

    {Wow, so little faith in me} Micah Richards was stunned at this betrayal from his fellow hosts.

    {What say you Jason, do you think you can get past me that easily?} Micah Richards turned to Jason on the screen.

    ��Hmmm���� Jason paused to think for a while, and an answer popped up in his head.

    ���� Well, if your defensive skills are as thin as your hairline, then it shouldn��t be a problem,�� Jason answered after a pause and everyone��s mouth dropped open.

 Chapter 291: Champions League Today II

    Chapter 291: Champions League Today II

    ��Did I say that out loud?�� Jason suddenly muttered in surprise as he hadn��t meant to actually say it to Micah Richards though the thought did pop up in his head.

    The mouths of everyone watching the Champions League Today show on the CBS channel dropped open along with the mouth of three of the show��s hosts.

    The surprisedughter followed after as everyone but Jason and Micah Richards beganughing.

    No one had expected such a response from Jason and this single reply from Jason got him the attention of everyone watching the show.

    {Here is a living example of when you let your intrusive thoughts slip out} Kate Abdo managed to say in betweenughs.

    {And ooh does it burn} Jamie Carragher added as heughed as well.

    ��Sorry Micah, your hairline is perfectly fine, don��t mind what I said earlier,�� Jason said with a wry smile, doing his best to hold back hisughter.

    {I don��t know whether to believe you now} Micah Richards replied,ughing a little and not taking Jason��s earlier words too seriously. ��Nah, you should, I��m sort of a hair expert,�� Jason pointed to his hair, putting his hand through the band that held his hair up in a bun and pulled it out, letting his hair fall and frame his face while the rest fell down his back.

    {True, he does have gorgeous hair} Kate Abdo responded as she looked at Jason running his hand through his hair to pull it out of his view.

    {Oh, does somebody sound jealous?} Micah Richards quickly picked on the tone of longing from Kate as she looked at Jason��s hair in admiration.

    {I won��t deny that he has beautiful hair, but I wouldn��t say I��m jealous} Kate Abdo immediately became defensive.

    {Sure you are, his hair is curlier and even longer than yours, and you��re the woman here} Micah Richards did not let up and quickly took this chance to shift the audience��s attention from Jason absolutely viting him earlier.

    {What does my being a woman have anything to do with my hair?} Kate Abdo asked Micah Richards immediately.

    Roberto Martinez��s mouth twitched as he saw the conversation moving toward hair.

    {Guys, guys, we��re getting a bit off topic here} Jamie Carragher quickly interrupted before they got carried away with arguing over hair.

    {Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be back with the Hair Warster, but for today, let��s get back on track} Roberto Martinez quickly aided Jamie Carragher in helping the show get back on track, wanting to end the discussion before one of them turned on him who had absolutely no hairs on his face apart from his eyebrows.

    {Okay�� Porto have lost their first Champions League game of the group stages, how would you say that affects your chances of making it to the knockout stages?} Kate Abdo asked Jason.

    ��Uhm, well, I��ll say I��m optimistic about our chances. After losing the first game, I know we don��t want to lose any more points so we��ll be doing our best in theing games and hope things work out well,�� Jason replied with ease, not caring that he was the cause of the earlier racket.

    {We��ll hope to see Porto go further as well and will look forward to having you back on the show next week} Jamie Carragher nodded.

    {Thank you for your time} Kate Abdo said in appreciation as they prepared to move to the next part of the show.

    ��Thank you for having me, I��ll see y��all next week then,�� Jason said a quick goodbye.

    The second half of his sentence sounded like a mere formality, but it was Jason making a deration to himself that he would perform well enough to be called for an interview at the end of the match.

    With that the interview was over and Jason removed the microphone and handed it over to the CBS technical staff before heading off, picking up his stuff heading into the tunnel, and heading to the locker room.

    On entering the locker room, Jason went to wash up and prepare to leave the stadium.

    Minutester he was done cleaning up had packed his bag and was waiting for the others.

    Pulling out his phone to check his messages, Jason came across a message he had been expecting.

    It was from the little Miss Agent.

    Just before the end of the previous season, Jason had gotten an offer from a perfumepany called Scentual Escapades, and though he had stalled it for a while, he hadter signed the deal, but heter had to put it off for a while because of his injury.

    Luckily, the perfumepany didn��t need to rush him as they only wanted him in amercial for a new product that was to be released around the end of the year.

    Now that Jason had recovered, he wanted to fulfill all the needed obligations so he could once again put a full focus on his football and that was what led to him awaiting a message from Adele.

    Thepany Scentual Escapades was based in the UK and Jason had reasoned that he could make use of the time that he was to be in the UK to quickly get it over with, hence he had told Adele to arrange everything with thepany.

    Like the professional she was, Adele had quickly responded and had contacted thepany and they hade to an agreement, and the details of the agreement were to be sent to Jason that evening.

    Looking at the messages that had the details of the agreement, Jason nodded mentally.

    He would stay back in the UK for a few more hours to shoot his part of themercial, and also take a few other promotional shots after which he would head back to Portugal.

    Everything worked out okay as he had a day off after the match and he could easily deal with one of hismitments.

    He got the money, they got his services, everything works out and everyone��s happy.

    Once he was done checking the messages and taking note of everything they had to say which simply stated the time and ce he would be going to, as Adele would take care of everything else, Jason closed the messaging app and opened the YouTube app, the number one time-wasting app he had on his phone.

    However, before he could lose himself in the ocean of videos, Sergio Conceicao walked into the locker room.

    First ncing around the room to see if every member of the team was in there, he didn��t notice anyone missing and his lips parted,

    ��Good work out there guys, we may not have won the game, but I cannot deny your efforts,��

    ��Things did not go our way, but I believe we can do better in uing games and bounce back from this minor setback,��

    ��That being said, our performance out there still needs a lot of work and I expect your full focus in theing training sessions to improve from this loss,��

    ��I didn��t see what I expected from some of you guys and I know you can do better, your teammates expect more from you and the fans expect even more from you,��

    ��Don��t let them down,�� Sergio Conceicao finished his post-match speech and began to head out to the team bus with the Porto yersing after him.

    Soon the Porto yers had all boarded the bus and headed back to the hotel where they would be staying the night before heading back to Porto the next day.

    ***

    **22nd October 2020**

    *9:30 am*

    A ck G30 BMW 5 series luxury car drove through the streets of Manchester, easily cruising at almost 60 mph due to the little traffic.

    In the backseat of the car, Jason read through a sheet of paper that held his part of themercial shoot that he was heading to.

    Adele had gotten across to the Scentual Escapades management and told them of Jason��s visit to Manchester and about his avability for the shoot and the shoot had been arranged to be held that very day and in Manchester as well.

    The Scentual Escapades management had previously been searching for a location for the shooting and it seemed like Jason��s location had helped them make a decision.

    Manchester was a ce with a vibrant cityscape and modern architecture which was exactly what they needed and thus the shooting was scheduled to be held in Manchester, ensuring that Jason wouldn��t have to get on more than one ne that day.

    With the club management pre-informed about his movements, Jason had separated from the team at the hotel and gotten into the car that Adele had rented to take him to where they needed to be.

    On getting in the car, Adele handed over the piece of paper that Jason was currently reading through.

    The paper held a summary of what themercial shoot was supposed to be like and Jason easily found his part in themercial after reading for less than a minute, and all he had to say after reading his part was,

    ��What the absolute fu*k?��

 Chapter 292: Scentual Escapades Commercial

    Chapter 292: Scentual Escapades Commercial

    ��What the absolute fu*k?�� Jason muttered in surprise, but his voice was loud enough to be heard by the people in the car.

    �� Huh?�� Adele turned around, looking at Jason from the passenger��s seat. The driver remained professional and didn��t even react, acting like he didn��t hear Jason��s words.

    ��I mean, it��s not that bad, but still, what the fu*k?�� Jasonughed as he read his part of themercial once again.

    ��Who even wrote this thing, they��re so tantly optimistic,��Jason continuedughing instead of responding to Adele, leaving the other two people in the car confused as to why he wasughing.

    Adele was especially confused as she had already read the summary of themercial, especially since she was the one who printed it out in the first ce.

    She also had to read it and make sure that the perfumepany wasn��t overreaching their payment and breaking any rules of the contract as one could never tell with most organizations.

    Thus Adele had already read through the summary to try and check if there was anything in there that could affect Jason��s reputation negatively, but after scanning through it, she didn��t see anything strange which made her confused as to why Jason wasughing.

    Unfortunately for her, it was something that was only funny to Jason so it stood to reason why she was confused. In essence, themercial was about a perfume that was of a feminine nature; literally, it was meant to be used by women and only women.

    The person who had written themercial had probably had a sh of inspiration after seeing or smelling the perfume and had decided to make themercial something of the seductive nature and Jason��s part in themercial was as the person to be seduced.

    Themercial would begin with a woman dressing up for a dinner party, and spraying on the perfume before she heads out of her house.

    The next scene would be at a hall where she would arrive and her beauty would arouse interest from everyone in the hall�� except for one person, Jason.

    Jason would be acting as some cold, CEO-type character that had seen everything in a woman and was not shaken by the woman arriving, but then as the woman walks past Jason, he catches a whiff of her scent and then he has to act like she has enamored his interest.

    That was quite literally what themercial entailed, and it was funny to Jason because they wanted him to literally convince everyone(especially the women) watching themercial, that a mere perfume could gain his interest.

    If that was not hopeful thinking, then Jason did not know what to term it.

    He had no issues pulling interest from women with his appearance, especially now that he knew how devastatingly handsome he was, but it didn��t work the same way when the tables were turned.

    Jason was very different from how he was in his previous life, but that didn��t mean that he just got interested in people willy-nilly.

    That part of his previous life hadn��t changed.

    The only woman he was currently interested in was Sofia, and he couldn��t even exin why he was interested in her, but one thing was for sure, it definitely wasn��t her perfume.

    ��Anyway, it��s just acting, I��m pretty good at that,�� Jason muttered, as he finally stoppedughing.

    If there was one thing Jason knew from his past life, it was that people who were a bit too different from the norm would have annoying problems and unneeded attention directed towards them, sort of like a main character in those novels and movies.

    Jason wasn��t a main character in his previous life, and he wasn��t going to im to be one in this life either, but in his previous life, he had quickly realized the problems that came with being different, especially emotionally, hence he had to act slightly normal.

    It wasn��t a total cover-up of his apathetic nature, but it was just enough to prevent him from being bothered by other people, while not straining himself to try and hide his true character that much.

    It was probably like him acting like Bruce Wayne to cover up an Ayanokoji-like character.

    Both were characteristically cold people but Ayanokoji was fundamentally different, and that was the kind of acting Jason had to keep up all through his previous life and in most of this life as well.

    He was slowly changing, but he was still who he was.

    ��Wanna exin what��s so funny?�� Adele finally asked, unable to resist asking out of curiosity.

    ��Don��t worry, you wouldn��t understand,�� Jason waved her off, but Adele wasn��t having it especially after he had already aroused her curiosity.

    ��Just talk, how would you know I wouldn��t understand,�� she immediately shot back at him and the driver nodded slightly, unnoticed by either of them.

    He fully agreed with Adele��s rebuttal, he was also curious and could almost not keep his curiosity in check as well.

    ������ Jason looked at Adele with a smile still on his face fromughing earlier.

    ��Ok, you��ve read this thing, right?�� Jason asked Adele, deciding to humor her.

    ��Well, yeah,�� Adele replied, not knowing what Jason was getting at.

    ��Well, it��s part of your job anyway, but ignoring that, you��ve seen what they want me to do, right?�� Jason continued.

    ��Uh, you��re supposed to get all decked up in a seat, act like some big cold CEO in those light novels that people are reading these days, and then ignore every other woman, but when you catch a whiff of the perfume, you act intrigued and gain interest,�� Adele began recalling what she had read.

    ��Go on,�� Jason continued.

    ��And then you get up, and go try to talk to her, after then, the scene ends with them showing whatever words they want to show�� what��s funny about that?�� Adele asked as she finished recalling, not getting what Jason was driving at.

    ��Everything��s funny�� �� Jason, almostughing again as he thought about it.

    ��First, I��m not some novel character, and even if I was, I��m not a handsome CEO with a frigid personality, just a young footballer,�� Jason began exining.

    ��A handsome footballer with a frigid personality,�� Adele interrupted, also acting out an exaggerated shiver.

    ���� Good point, but not the one I��m driving at����

    ��Anyway, I��ll act like someone with a cold personality, though it��s not really acting if I��m just being me,�� Jason continued.

    ��Here��s where everything bes hrious���� he paused, his silence building up momentum.

    ��If I was going to be moved by something as flimsy as a perfume, then why was I ignoring all the other women in the first ce?�� Jason asked the most important question.

    ��You don��t exactly believe that all the other women in that hall aren��t using any perfumes when they��re at a dinner party event like that, do you?��

    ��You know what��s even funnier, why is none of the other women using the same perfume? News sh baby girl, there aren��t that many perfumes�� or rather, there are, but the high-end ones aremonly used among the rich people,��

    ��If you go to any dinner party with rich people, I��m willing to bet that at least two people used the same perfume, especially if it��s one of the high end ones, and if it��s not, then all the more reason for there to be more than one user, yet, I��m supposed to be intrigued and interested in one girl to the point of personally making a move just because of a perfume?�� Jason asked afterying out the whole thing.

    ��Just because she smells nice?�� he reiterated.

    ��You know what that smells like?�� he asked.

    ��Plot�� stupid but invincible plot armor,�� Jason beganughing again as he covered his eyes, imagining the stupidity behind themercial.

    ��Which Webnovel author wrote thismercial?�� he managed to put out in betweenughs, noticing that Adele had also startedughing at the absurdity of themercial now that she was looking at it objectively.

    ��Haha, when you put it like that, it doesn��t make any sense,�� Adele said in realization as she alsoughed.

    ��Righttttt?�� Jason drawled.

    ��If I became interested in women because of how nice they smelled, I��d be in your DMs everyday, though it��s more likely I��d have already slept with you,��

    ��Do you even know how nice you smell?�� Jason said stillughing, but not putting much thought to his words.

    ��What?�� Adele asked in surprise, not having yet stoppedughing.

    ��He not capping tho, you do smell very nice,�� the driver confirmed Jason��s words and also took this opportunity to shoot his shot at the beautifuldy seated next to him.

    ��Thanks,�� Adele replied in appreciation, stillughing a bit, but not thinking too much about his words.

    ��So can I have your instagram or something,�� the driver continued off his momentum, his professionalism immediately disappearing immediately he thought he saw an opportunity to score a beautiful woman.

    ��No thanks,�� Adele said with a smile, her tone very dismissive and making it clear that the guy had no chance.

    ��Damn!�� Jason burst into another bout ofughter in the back seat.

    Afterughing for almost another whole minute, Jason patted the driver��s shoulder,

    ��They say, there��s a man for every woman and a woman for every man�� luckily you��ve confirmed something today,�� Jason said to the driver.

    ��And what��s that?�� the driver asked in a somber mood.

    ��You��re a man,��

    ��She��s a woman,��

    ��Stick to driving,��

    ��Or I��ll send you flying,�� Jason said with a grin.

 Chapter 293: Scentual Escapades Commercial II

    Chapter 293: Scentual Escapades Commercial II

    ��You��re a man,��

    ��She��s a woman,��

    ��Stick to driving,��

    ��Or I��ll send you flying,�� Jason said with a grin, but his eyes showed irritation despite the toothy smile on his face.

    ��Yes sir,�� the driver nodded, almost feeling sweat beads appear on his head despite the car��s air conditioner.

    A secondter Jason sat back with the smile still on his face, but inwardly he was wondering why he had acted like that earlier.

    It wasn��t really much of his concern if the guy decided to shoot his shot at Adele as she simply worked for him, but for some reason, he had felt some irritation when he saw the guy trying to score points with his assistance, even though that wasn��t Jason��s goal.

    ��His voice is really annoying,�� Jason thought to himself, convincing himself that that was the only thing that could have caused his irritation, otherwise, there was no meaning to his irritation. The car returned to silence with Jason and Adele having the asional conversation until they arrived at the location of themercial shoot.

    Jason put on a face mask as he and Adele stepped out of the car while the driver drove off to park the car nearby where he��d wait till they were done.

    Jason quickly met with the director for themercial and had a few words with him before he was dragged to a room to be dressed up and put on make-up.

    As Jason was being taken to the room where he was to be dressed up for themercial, he felt a bit grateful that he had hired Adele.

    It was a good thing that he had hired someone who took her time to pay very specific attention to his likes and dislikes.

    She knew that he didn��t like wasting time going around meeting people and deciding on all sorts of deals, hence she made sure to do quite literally more than was required of her and the only time she bothered Jason was when she had to inform him of something, ask his opinion, or get him to sign something.

    ��Seems like she was the right choice after all,�� he nodded to himself confidently.

    This was thanks to his foresight and good judgment of people, he concluded.

    They soon reached the dressing room and Jason was handed over to the dressers.

    After being seated in the chair, it was time for Jason to be dressed up ording to his role, and to start with they had to first get his hair in order.

    The hairstylist stood behind JAspn and asked,

    ��We should work on your hair, do you have any specifications or restrictions on what we can do to your hair,�� the hairstylist asked Jason as he knew from experience that people with hair as long as Jason��s didn��t usually like having their hair handled anyhow.

    People with long and well-groomed hair usually put a very long amount of time, effort, and care into their hair to have it look as beautiful as possible because long hair could go wrong in many ways.

    ��As long as you don��t bring any des near my hair, then we shouldn��t have a problem, you can go crazy,�� Jason replied, a bit interested in seeing what the hair stylist could create from his hair.

    He had been craving a new hairstyletely anyway and he was willing to let the professionals surprise him�� even though he didn��t really like surprises all that much, he was willing to allow it once.

    The hair stylist��s eyes brightened at Jason��s response and his eyes lit up as his inner artist woke up at top speed.

    Despite the restriction on des which meant no cutting, there were still almost an uncountable number of ways he could style long hair and this brought the hair stylist joy.

    It was not every day he got to work with people who had hair like Jason so he immediately got to work.

    Knowing that he wasn��t going to be getting up any time soon, Jason plugged in his ear pods before the hair stylist started and made himselffortable.

    Not long after, the hair stylist began working on Jason��s hair while Jason drifted to sleep,pletely unbothered by the hair stylist working on his hair.

    It helped that the woman was a professional and wasn��t tugging on his hair harshly so Jason was able to get some much-needed sleep.

    Today was an off day for him anyway so he drifted off and was in a state where he could be considered to be half asleep, but retained a little consciousness of his surroundings, hence he wasn��t too disturbed by the hair stylist working on his hair.

    About an hourter, Jason woke up to a tap on his shoulder.

    It was the hair stylist letting him know that she was done with his hair.

    ncing at the mirror while stifling a yawn, Jason was a little surprised by what the hair stylist had done with his hair.

    The top part of his hair had been bundled up, while the hair on the backside had been left free and allowed to flow down his back.

    Coupled with that were a few braids on the right corner of his head, starting from his hairline and ending before the bun, while on the left corner of his head, a few strands had been left to frame that side of his face.

    It wasn��t anything overlyplicated, but it allowed Jason��s face to especially stand out while his hair took a backseat, doing nothing but framing his face and acting as a finishing touch to his face��s handsomeness.

    ��Not bad, not bad at all,�� Jason muttered.

    ��I mean, it does make me look a bit like a Viking, but I like it,�� he nodded and shed a smile of approval at the hairstylist.

    The hairstylist heaved a breath of relief as she saw Jason��s approval.

    She was confident in her work, but working on Jason��s hair was especially unnerving.

    It was very hard to meet someone who already looked perfect before they started working and she knew that she had a lot to do if she wanted to get him to look even better and she had gotten to work.

    When she saw the end product she thought it looked good, but she didn��t know how Jason would think it looked due to him being asleep, and that bothforted and unnerved her.

    Normally she was not one to care as long as she did her job and made the client look good, but for Jason, she wanted to impress him for some reason�� his being very hot only made it worse.

 Chapter 294: Scentual Escapades Commercial III

    Chapter 294: Scentual Escapades Commercial III

    With the hair out of the way, they moved to the next part which was the clothes and they had already been selected and prepared.

    Jason��s outfit for the shoot was very basic.

    It was just a ck suit with a bow tie, which was a ssic outfit for dinner parties and Jason wasted no time in getting dressed after which his outfit was straightened up and set to perfection by the dressers.

    At this point, Jason was already tired.

    He had spent almost two hours at this ce and they were still only preparing for the shoot!

    This was his day off and he already felt himself dying off.

    Unfortunately, there was more toe as Jason was made to sit down in another chair again under the guise of make-up.

    ��I��m the most perfect-looking man on the face of the earth, why do I need make-up?�� ��I��m not trying to escape from reality, being handsome is my reality,�� Jason had almost cried out.

    Of course, Jason did not actually believe his own words�� except for the second sentence, but at this point, he was ready to say anything that would get these dressers to stop fawning over him and let him go.

    Even if it meant sounding narcissistic which was something Jason was anything but.

    Unfortunately, his persona didn��t allow for him to cry out like an aggrieved kid so Jason just stayed quiet, his expression growing colder by the second.

    Finally, after almost another half hour, Jason was finally released from his despair and was taken back to the set where everything was already arranged.

    At this point, the expression on his face was so cold that he didn��t have to get into character as he was already at synchronization of 1000% just by the expression on his face alone which made the air around him appear heavy.

    Of course, the hair appearing heavy was just an exaggeration, but anyone looking at Jason would have that impression.

    Jason truly looked the part he was supposed to be ying, leaving the technical staff wondering if Jason had experience acting and not actually knowing that Jason was truly in a bad mood now.

    Looking around for Adele to ask how much longer of this he would have to take, he saw her already approaching him and he waited for her to arrive.

    ��When is my flight to Porto?�� Jason asked sharply as she arrived, but the underlying meaning of his words was very clear to Adele.

    ��The flight is scheduled for 5 pm so if we leave by 3 we should be able to make it,�� Adele answered even though she understood the underlying meaning of his words, there was nothing they could do about it.

    The contract was already signed and Jason would have to go through with it.

    Jason immediately nced at the watch on his wrist which was part of his costume for the shoot and saw that the time was just approaching 12 pm.

    He would have to put up with this for another 3 hours at least, he realized, but there was nothing he could do.

    ��Maybe I shouldn��t have epted this thing, I knew it looked too good to be true,�� heined internally but soon got over it.

    His bone of contention with the whole thing was that he was stuck doing something boring on his day off when he could be doing something else.

    For Jason, he didn��t see any point in dressing up for almost three hours just so he could shoot amercial that wasn��t even a minute long.

    Of course, there would be a photo shoot as well, but that shouldn��t take more than ten minutes either if the people taking the pictures were actual professionals, Jason thought.

    The exchange rate was literally out of this world.

    Hours of preparation just for a one-minutemercial and a quarter-hour photo shoot��

    ��Now that I think about it, this is what I do for a living,�� Jason suddenly thought in realization.

    He trained for years all for 90 minutes of football.

    ��No wait, it��s not the same,�� Jason thought out loud.

    ��What��s not the same?�� Adele asked, hearing Jason��s words.

    ��It��s nothing,�� Jason muttered, waving her off.

    He was about to dive back into his thoughts when Adele nudged him and pointed with her eyes in one direction.

    ��I��m guessing that��s your co-star,�� Adele said to Jason in a low tone Jason turned his eyes in the direction she was gesturing at and saw a beautiful-looking woman dressed in a morous, red evening gown.

    ��Hmmmm���� Jason hummed as he nced at her.

    Her appearance didn��t ring any bells so he concluded that she was probably not very famous, but then considering the scale of thepany that hired them, it was pretty much to be expected.

    In fact, thepany was only able to get Jason to join in themercial after paying him about half a million Euros and that was the best they could do.

    Putting aside the fact that he was male and not suitable to be endorsed by a female perfume-makingpany, thepany probably could not hope to actually be able to pay him if they wanted to offer him an endorsement deal.

    Especially with the way his value is rising these days.

    The intion in the football world had made that almost an impossible endeavor for thepany, so it stood to reason that the person who was endorsed by thepany could not be someone with a lot of star power.

    There were countless beautiful models or actors who would be willing to jump on the offer of being a gship of a mid-level perfumepany as they had everything to gain and nothing to lose.

    In fact, it was very likely that Jason was being paid more than she was, as it was very clear that Jason was the star power they were looking to use instead of the virtually unknown model, whoever she was.

 Chapter 295: Scentual Escapades Commercial IV

    Chapter 295: Scentual Escapades Commercial IV

    Do you recognize her?�� Jason asked Adele despite his thoughts.

    ��Maybe she��s someone famous that I don��t know, things are not exactly the same as in my previous life,�� Jason thought to himself.

    It didn��t really matter, but Jason had suddenly developed an interest in the entertainment sector after realizing that there were quite a few changes from his previous reality.

    Normally he wouldn��t have cared, but it was beginning to be annoying when he suddenly felt like listening to some of the songs he liked from his previous life but was unable to find them because, for some reason, they didn��t exist in this life.

    Of course, there were also a lot of new songs from people he had never heard about in his previous reality and some of them did catch his fancy, but that didn��t scratch the itch nearly enough.

    Putting that aside, it was clear that there was a lot of difference between the entertainment sector he used to know and what he was currently seeing so it could be him who was ignorant.

    Jason liked selective ignorance, which was an act of not giving a flying fu*k about some specific things, but in this case, he could not afford to bepletely ignorant about his situation.

    ��It��s not my field, but she��s no big name that I know about,�� Adele confirmed his earlier thoughts. �� Right�� She looks alright, but not enough to gain my attention, even if she smelled nice,�� Jason muttered.

    �� How does that perfume even smell like?�� Jason asked Adele, suddenly realizing that he didn��t even know the scent of what he was about to ��half-endorse��.

    ��I don��t know, I reckon you��ll find out soon though,�� Adele replied, her eyes moving off the model and beginning to sweep across the set, checking the surroundings to estimate how much longer until they could start.

    She didn��t have to look around much as the director soon called for Jason and the model who would be the face of the new perfume.

    Jason soon found out about his co-star.

    Her name was Sasha Morgan and she was a musician and model, an uing one who wasn��t really all that known, but it seemed the perfumepany had high hopes about her potential to amass star power.

    It was either that or there were probably some underground agreements, but that wasn��t of Jason��s concern.

    The entertainment world was an ocean filled with uncountable faces trying to gain a little more fame by hook or by crook.

    Jason didn��t think he could judge anyone in the entertainment sector who gave a few favors or sold themselves to gain what they wanted.

    It wasn��t something he would do, but he understood their desperation.

    He had been there and he knew what it felt like when one had humongous aspirations but didn��t have the talent or skills to back it up.

    In his previous reality, if there had been a chance for him to join a big European team, and all he had to do was sleep with a woman who wasn��t his taste, he might have done it.

    It was more unlikely than likely, but he would have considered it, though that was just about the most underhanded thing he could acquiesce to.

    Anything above that was an outright rejection for him no matter how much he stood to gain as he knew one major truth.

    Doing underhanded things might help one seemingly progress, but it wouldn��t change the fact that one��s talent and skills didn��t match the level one was aspiring for, so unless he could personally elevate himself to that level, there��d be no point.

    At most, he��d experience something good for a while, but he��d still be exposed as being no good and would end up being discarded.

    There were countless examples of yers who had reached a height of fame that was not easily matched, but once people discovered that their skills didn��t match, those people drifted into oblivion.

    It was simply a high, and once the hype was over, the yer was discarded.

    Mario Gotze was a good example.

    After scoring the goal that won Germany the World Cup in 2014, he was hyped up so much that his prestige rose to match the greatest footballers of his time for a while, but soon enough his inconsistent results began to show up which made his fall all the greater.

    Fame was a poison as it gave birth to expectations that couldn��t be easily matched unless one was capable, but who was Jason to give a lecture concerning that to anyone?

    It wasn��t his business anyway.

    It wasn��t his life, nor was it his body, and he didn��t even know whether his thoughts were true or not, so what did his opinion matter?

    He just did what he needed to do which was to look sharp for the camera as they started with the photoshoot.

    The photographer sounded like an Italian as he spoke very heavily ented English as he called various poses for Jason and Sasha.

    Surprisingly, Jason kept up with the photography session as he was able to disy the perfect expressions and posture to match the photographer��s requests.

    It seemed his hours of practicing various expressions in front of a mirror in his previous reality all in a guise to fit in was finally paying off.

    After that we were finally done with the photo shoot, they finally moved to the arranged location for the shooting, and for another 1 hour, Jason experienced what it was like to be an actor shooting a scene.

    Luckily, it was a shortmercial and Jason didn��t even have any lines.

    All he had to do was look the part and disy the correct expressions at the right moment, it didn��t take much time to shoot the scenes that Jason needed to be in.

    The director shot the same scene more than five times so that he could pick out the best ones and after a ton of editing, it would be done, but that was no longer of Jason��s concern as he had already left the set once he was done.

 Chapter 296: Renegotiate

    Chapter 296: Renegotiate

    Jason didn��t bother having the hairdressers undo what they had done to his hair as he quite liked it and didn��t want to change it for a while.

    Since he was in a hurry to leave, he didn��t remember to take off the suit until he was in the car, but at that point, he didn��t want to go back.

    ��They shouldn��t mind you taking it,�� Adele told him after he told her that he wasn��t going back.

    ��Even if they did, I still wouldn��t be going back,�� Jason rolled his eyes as he told the driver to start moving while he pulled off the bowtie from his neck and unbuttoned the top buttons of the white shirt, freeing his neck.

    The car quickly made its way to the Manchester Airport where Jason and Adele got off as they were both heading back to Portugal.

    Putting on a nose mask to cover his face, Jason walked into the slightly crowded airport while carrying his bag.

    Adele followed behind him dragging a much heavier suitcase as she had been in the UK for much longer than Jason since she had to be here to oversee the arrangements.

    ��Wouldn��t the gentlemanly thing to do be to take my suitcase as well,�� Adele called out to Jason as she walked behind him, her suitcase a bit heavy for her. ��Equality, innit?�� Jason replied with a smug smile as he turned back.

    ��Oh please,�� Adele rolled her eyes in annoyance.

    ��Luckily for you, I currently look like a gentleman so hand it over,�� Jason said with a littleugh as he grabbed the handle of the suitcase, dropped his bag on top of the suitcase, and began pulling them together.

    ��Thank you,�� Adele said in a sing-song tone.

    From there, they headed into the airport, and a few minutester, they boarded the ne that would take them back to Porto, Portugal.

    ��What about the other endorsement deals with Gillette, Skin Serenity, and Chi?��

    ��When do I sign the deals?�� Jason asked Adele as they sat side by side in the first-ss section of the ne.

    ��About that, I want you to hold on for a while,�� Adele quickly responded, before beginning to exin.

    ��You know they made the offer to youst season when you were just beginning to gain a little fame, so their offers are a little lowpared to the current you,��

    ��Your value has skyrocketed since back then and I want to renegotiate the offers with them otherwise they��d get you for cheap if you sign with them right now,�� she exined.

    ��I was going to ask you about itter whether I should go on to renegotiate with them even though there��s a risk of them pulling out if they can��t bring up an offer matching the current you, or would you rather sign the deals as they are,�� Adele asked.

    ��Renegotiate,�� Jason said curtly, not taking a single second to think it over.

    He wasn��t so short of money that he would have to sign endorsement deals tying him up for years without relevant benefits.

    It was a given that he wanted more money, but he wasn��t desperate for it either.

    ��Okay then,�� Adele noted.

    The ne slowly filled up and before long it was in the air flying directly to Porto.

    Two and a half hourster, the ne touched down in Porto.

    Jason and Adele deboarded along with the other passengers, grabbing their luggage before they got down.

    They quickly finished their checks and came out of the airport.

    Adele got a taxi first and left while Jason got into the next cab and told him the address of his home.

    As the car drove through the now-recognizable streets of Porto, Jason suddenly realized that no one had recognized him at the airport.

    He had gotten a few stares, but that was about it.

    It was probably because of thebination of the new hairstyle, his nose mask, and the dark sses covering his eyes.

    Well, it was nice to not be bothered by people every once in a while as it could get tiring.

    With how stressed he was from shooting themercial earlier today, he probably wouldn��t have taken nicely to being surrounded by a crowd.

    The taxi soon reached his house and Jason paid the fare and got off, heading into his house.

    On getting inside, he first threw his bag aside and headed to the kitchen.

    Washing his hands first before taking out a container of baked chicken from the refrigerator and putting it in the microwave.

    He needed to satisfy his famished stomach first before doing anything else.

    A few minutester, Jason was chewing the chicken meat off the bone and thinking about the previous day.

    He had finally yed his first Champions League game and despite it being a match to remember, his team had lost the game.

    Of course, he had scored and given an assist, but that hadn��t changed the results of the game and now, he was thinking about the repercussions of the game.

    Firstly, looking at their group, there was a good chance that Porto could still qualify for the knockout stages which was a good thing for him and the team.

    Also, with how Jason had yed in the match, the manager would definitely keep his name in mind when selecting the next team lineup, thereby cementing Jason��s return to the team.

    Lastly, Jason began looking at his inadequacies in the match which was quite a lot the more he thought about it.

    The team had been lucky enough to get a counter which ended with him getting an assist with a pass to Mylo.

    He had also been lucky enough that John Stones was unstable for some reason and had fallen over, freeing him and allowing him to score.

    Other than that, he hadn��t been able to do anything else apart from the free kick that was ruined by Mylo.

    During the game, he had hardly been able to dribble past his marker and Joao Cancelo had kept him in check for most of the match.

    He had barely been able to take on only Joao Cancelo and hadn��t dared to take on more than one Manchester City defender at a time because he knew he was vastly outmatched after going up against them once.

    With this, it was clear that he had a lot to do if he wanted to be capable of going against defenders from much better leagues.

    ��I guess it��s back to the training ground then,�� Jason sighed as he put the down bones of the chicken wing he had just stripped bare with his teeth.

 Chapter 297: 2020/21 Liga NOS, Matchday 5

    Chapter 297: 2020/21 Liga NOS, Matchday 5

    **24th October 2020**

    *9:30 pm*

    The lights of the Estadio do Dragao shone down brightly on the inviting green field as two sets of eleven yers led by a group of referees walked out of the tunnel onto the field for the fifth match day for the Porto team in the Liga NOS.

    The Porto yers looked smart in their blue and white jerseys and the expression of determination on their faces as they lined up for the pre-match formalities crowned it off and gave the Porto fans watching the game a feeling of anticipation for what was toe.

    The Gil Vicente yers who Porto would be going against matched them in personality as they readied themselves for the game.

    If one didn��t know about the history of both clubs, one would think they were long-standing rivals with the way the Gil Vicente yers disyed unhidden defiance at the Porto team.

    The Porto yers however didn��t put them in their eyes at all and acted as they would for any other match.

    {Here is the lineup for the Porto team} thementator directly delved into the team line-ups after spending a minute on weements. {The Porto team are arranging themselves in their usual 4-4-2 formation}

    {With Augustin Marchesin standing between the sticks and a defensive lineprising Nanu on the right, Zaidu Sanusi on the left, and Pepe partnering with Diego Leite in the center, Porto will be looking to keep all balls out of their goal}

    {In center midfield, we have Fabio Viera and Shoya Nakajima while on the nks are Luis Diaz who is on the left, and Jason Bolu who is on the right}

    {Up front, we have a striking partnership between Mylo Baumgartner and Evanilson. They��ll be looking to put a couple past the opposition goalkeeper today}

    {Porto have been on a bit of bad formtely, having not been able to get a win in theirst three games and today, they��ll be looking to rectify that}

    {Today, we see a return from Jason to the starting lineup for the Porto team. It��s his second game after his injury, but it��s his first match in the Liga NOS this season and the Porto fans will be hoping that he can pull off a performance that can help the teame out of their current slump}

    {He��s done it the previous season, so there��s little doubt about his capabilities} Thementator was soon done with hismentary on the Porto team��s lineup and went on to talk about the Gil Vicente lineup and formation.

    *******

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    The match kicked off after the pre-match formalities were over and the match got off to a quick start.

    The two teams did not hesitate to go at each other with each one fighting for victory.

    Porto was currently out of the top five ranks in the league standings and as defending champions of the league title, that was uneptable so they yed with a furious intensity that the Gil Vicente team was already having a hard time coping with a quarter of an hour into the game.

    The Gil Vicente defenders had been doing their best to keep the Porto yers away from their final third, but the Gil Vicente midfielders and forwards were not helping matters as they were unable to hold onto the ball for a full minute, always ending up with the possession of the ball stolen by the Porto team.

    With a high percentage of possession, Porto pressured their opposition, leaving their opposition chasing shadows as they ran after the ball from one Porto yer to the other and it didn��t take long for huge holes to begin appearing in the Gil Vicente team��s defense.

    On the wings, Jason and Luis Diaz were having the time of their lives ying with Gil Vicente��s full-backs.

    They constantly ran at them with the ball and either dribbled past them or wasted their energy beforeying off the ball to a teammate as they looked for a goal-scoring chance.

    #27th minute��

    Jason had just received the ball from Fabio Viera and he had chosen to move towards the center instead of down the right nk, causing confusion among the Gil Vicente yers.

    Jason made use of that split second of indecision to survey the field while moving the ball forward and by the time a defender charged at him to tackle, Jason had already made his decision and sent a through pass behind the defense line down the left nk where Luis Diaz was making a run.

    Luis Diaz��s marker didn��t leave him to just run after the ball and chase hard after him, but Luis Diaz got to the ball first and with a few flicks of his foot sent the defender into a daze while he moved away undeterred.

    With his marker out of the way, Luis Diaz immediately sent a high cross into the box where Mylo awaited.

    Jumping into the air to catch the ball, Mylo did something none of the center defenders expected.

    Instead of heading the ball in the direction of his goalpost, his target was Jason who was in the penalty box along with him and Jason gratefully caught the ball with the side of his right foot and sent it past Gil Vicente��s goalkeeper with his first touch.

    {Goal!!!}

    {Wonderful, wonderful goal!}

    {We saw iting, and now it��s a reality, Porto score first, taking the lead} Thementator gave hismentary excitedly while Jason ran down the sidelines to celebrate with his teammates.

    The Porto fans in their homes joined their team in celebrating the goal while the Gil Vicente fans just let out groans of dissatisfaction with their yers.

    The Gil Vicente fans were already used to more losses than victory and even though the match wasn��t over yet, it was already shaping into a loss and the fans had little confidence that their team could somehow pull off aeback against Porto.

    ��Poor form my ass,�� some of the Gil Vicente fans thought as they remembered the words of thementator during the opening of the game.

 Chapter 298: 2020/21 Liga NOS, Matchday 5 II

    Chapter 298: 2020/21 Liga NOS, Matchday 5 II

    #41stminute��

    After Porto��s first goal against the Gil Vicente team, they hadn��t let up their efforts.

    They had continued pressing their opponents hard, continuously striving towards furthering their lead. Still, the Gil Vicente team had stood up to them for a while, making it difficult for the Porto team to bring their efforts to fruition.

    The Gil Vicente yers knew that letting the Porto team score another goal to further their lead would take the game away from their hands because at that time Porto would be able to dictate the flow of the gamepletely.

    They were already struggling against a Porto team that was putting their full focus on attacking so it would be even worse if Porto scored another and decided to slow down the game to consolidate their lead.

    Thus, the Gil Vicente yers had yed their hardest to keep the Porto yers away from their goal and for a while, their efforts kept them at bay, but it didn��t take long for them to once again begin slipping past them.

    Porto was currently in possession of the ball and were passing it around in midfield.

    The ball moved from Shoya Nakajima to Fabio Viera in the center and Fabio Viera tried to move through the middle, but was soon blocked by the Gil Vicente defenders and he had to turn back, sending the ball back to Shoya Nakajima. Nakajima received the ball and with a nce across the field, noticed that Jason was free on the right nk and he immediately sent the ball rolling in Jason��s way.

    As the ball rolled towards, Jason who stood just a few yards past the halfway line, he looked around for the nearest pass as he had already seen two Gil Vicente defenders running at him and he didn��t want to go up against them.

    While he looked for the nearest pass, he suddenly saw Luis Diaz throw a hand forward and start making a run, calling to him for a pass.

    Jason didn��t hesitate and after taking a touch to set the ball in the best position, he sent a high cross-field pass over to the left wing where Luis Diaz was already running at.

    Due to making the run before Jason released the ball, Luis Diaz had a headstart and was already closer to the path of the ball than anyone else.

    The Gil Vicente defenders immediately gave chase with some of them raising their hands to call for offside, but the referee��s whistle didn��t blow and they could only give chase.

    Luis Diaz soon caught up to the ball and caught it off his chest before letting it fall and then feeding it forward before running after it while the Gil Vicente defenders chased him down from behind.

    Diaz continued pushing the ball forward while cutting into Gil Vicente��s penalty box to meet the Gil Vicente goalkeeper who was already rushing off his line.

    With the goalkeeper off his line and bearing down on him, Luis Diaz immediately let the ball fly, aiming to send the ball past the goalkeeper, but the goalkeeper somehow managed to stretch himself fully before the ball could get past him and the ball bounced back off his body.

    Luis Diaz could only watch in shock as the ball flew past him after bouncing off the goalkeeper, but before he could rue his missed chance, he saw Evanilson pushing past theing defenders and mming the ball back towards the goal.

    The Gil Vicente goal keeper immediately jumped for the ball again, but he wasn��t lucky a second time and the ball flew just past his fingers and mmed into the back of the.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {What a perfect time to score! On the cusp of halftime, Porto stretch their lead to two!}

    {The Gil Vicente better be nning to recite some spells on his yers during the halftime break, otherwise, this game is already out of their reach!} thementator shouted excitedly, his voice entuating the Porto team��s celebrations.

    ***

    The game soon resumed with a kick-off from Gil Vicente, who started trying to attack the Porto team immediately after kicking off, but the Porto team quickly put an end to their attacking efforts and once again took possession of the ball.

    The Porto team began oppressing the Gil Vicente team once again, looking like they were going to score their third, but the halftime whistle soon came to the rescue of their opponents.

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    {It��s half-time and Gil Vicente are saved by the whistle}

    {Porto looked like they didn��t want the first half to end and were already on the path to scoring their third, but the referee��s whistle had given their opponents a moment of respite�� a brief one, but a needed one}

    {Porto would be looking to further their lead in the second half while the Gil Vicente team will be doing everything they can to stop them}

    {For now, the scores remain Porto 2, Gil Vicente nil} the refereemented as the yers headed into the tunnels for the half-time break.

    #57thminute��

    After a much needed fifteen minute rest, the second half had started and once they were back on the pitch, Porto picked up the game from where they stopped, beginning to once again, heavily press the Gil Vicente yers so that they could slip up and leave an opening, but the Gil Vicente manager had changed his team��s tactics over the half time break.

    The Gil Vicente team was now ying with all of their yers but their striker behind the ball.

    It seemed the manager had switched to a counter-attacking tactic where they soaked up pressure and then burst out on the counter, but unfortunately, all the Gil Vicente team yers had managed to do so far was to soak up pressure and they had been unable to do anything on the counter.

    Currently, Porto had a corner kick after a foray down the left nk by Luis Diaz had been obstructed and the ball had ended up out of y after bouncing off a Gil Vicente yer.

    Jason was the one who stood over the corner kick while his teammates arranged themselves in Gil Vicente��s penalty box, pushing against opposition yers as they awaited the iing cross.

    *Fweeeee*

    The referee��s whistle didn��t give Jason much time to think and he immediately ran at the ball after hearing the whistle before sending the ball into Gil Vicente��s penalty box.

    The yers of the two teams had been pushing against each other, but Mylo had craftily used Pepe as a shield against the Gil Vicente yers, thus giving himself enough time to take to the air and meet the ball with his head.

    The ball bounced off Mylo��s head and smashed into the top right corner of the goal with the Gil Vicente goalkeeper unable to react.

    {He��s risen to it��! Goal!}

    {What a goal!}

    {The youth department of the Porto team strikes again, devastating their opponents and leaving them no way back into the game!}

    {Just over a quarter of an hour since the second half began and Porto are at it again!} Thementator didn��t hesitate to do his job, singing the praises of the Porto team and hyping up their actions, giving their fans more joy to celebrate.

    With a third nail in the coffin of the Gil Vicente team, they were as good as gone, but they kept trying to get at least one goal back against Porto.

    Unfortunately, they were unable to deny the Porto team of a clean sheet, but they managed to hold Porto to the 3 : 0 score at full time.

    Thus the score at the end of the game wasPorto 3 : 0 Gil Vicente.

 Chapter 299: First Leg against Olympiacos

    Chapter 299: First Leg against Olympiacos

    **27th October 2020**

    The days flew by quickly for Jason who had settled into a monotonous routine of waking up early every day, having a quick yoga routine before going to have his bath, and then heading to CTFD Portogaia for training.

    He usually made sure to arrive earlier than everyone so he could get a lot more personal training done before the rest of the team arrived.

    Jason had finally started arriving at the training grounds earlier than Fabio Viera, but Jason didn��t take that milestone to heart as the person he strived to surpass was not someone whopared to Fabio Viera�� No offense to Fabio of course.

    After training with the team untilter in the day, the team training for the day was usually over, but that didn��t hold for Jason who always waited behind to train until almost 8 pm every day.

    Only then did he usually head home and even then he usually had a quick meal before heading to his makeshift gym to do more training; usually physical training.

    It was a rigorous and monotonous routine and Jason��s social life was feeling the brunt of it, but Jason didn��t have much of a social life in the first ce so he didn��t care much.

    The only thing that concerned him a bit was progress in his rtionship with Sofia which had slowed to a crawl. For some strange reason, their rtionship felt overlyplicated sometimes, and at other times it felt clearer than still water.

    To Jason, there wasn��t much else he could do after taking the bold step of kissing her and it felt a bit weird(to him) to ask her to be his girlfriend as in his mind his thoughts went like,

    ��He already made the bold move of kissing her�� What could be a clearer indicator than that that he liked her and wanted a deeper rtionship?��

    ��Was she purposely acting ignorant of what was happening?�� he asked himself, but there was no answer to his question.

    Sometimes, Sofia acted like they were a week from getting married to each other while on other days, it seemed like there was an unseen boundary between them.

    Jason had determined that the best way to deal with his emotional insecurities was to make the bold move of asking the ��question����

    That��s where the problem was, he didn��t want to ask a question that would make things be very linear.

    Asking a girl that question could only go one of two ways.

    It was either a YES or a NO.

    The so-called ��give me time to think about it,�� response was just a veiled rejectionpared to the worse rejections like;

    ��E��,

    ��Are you kidding?��,

    ��Why would you ask me something like that?��

    ��Don��t do that to us,��

    ��You��re like a brother to me.��

    Of course, Jason didn��t think he would get any of those answers by virtue of who he was, but the fear of rejection was still present for Jason.

    He was Jason fu*king Bolu�� But he was still scared of rejection no matter how miniscule the chances of hearing it may be.

    He didn��t need emotional turbulence in the middle of the season, especially now that things were beginning to go so well, so Jason had decided to put off asking the question till further notice.

    ***

    Putting aside the inner thoughts that had swarmed up as he listened to the head manager discuss the game n for the match, Jason refocused his attention on the manager��s instructions.

    Porto would be going up against Olympiacos for their second game in the group stages of the Champions League and the Porto team was currently having theirst tactical meeting before they headed out for the match to start.

    The manager had already informed the yers of the lineup and the starting lineup was as follows;

    Goalkeeper: Augustin Marchesin,

    LB: Zaidu Sanusi,

    RB: Wilson Manafa,

    CBs: Pepe, Chancel Mbemba,

    CMFs: Otavio, Fabio Viera,

    LMF: Jason Bolu,

    RMF: Jesus Corona,

    CFs: Moussa Marega, Mehdi Taremi.

    After giving out a few more instructions concerning their shape and their roles in every part of the field, the Porto yers finally began heading out to the tunnel to get ready for the game.

    The tunnel was soon filled up with the yers from the two teams going against each other in the match a few minutester, the two sets of 11 yers were done with the pre-match formalities and had already arranged themselves around the field, waiting for the referee��s whistle to kick off the game.

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    The Porto kicked off their second match day which was being held at their home ground, Estadio do Dragao.

    It was an advantage for the Porto team to be ying on their home ground, but considering their pedigree as a team, it was their opponents who needed advantages in this match against the Portuguese football giants.

    The match unraveled exactly as one would expect with Porto taking control of the game early on and beginning to push the boys from Greece back into their own half.

    Hardly ten minutes after the game started, Porto had already sent three shots at the Olympiacos team with two of them being on target, but the Olympiacos goalkeeper had showed up to work with as much professionalism as he could, making sure to do his job and keep the balls from getting past the goal line.

    Unfortunately for the Olympiacos goalkeeper, the Porto attackers had shown up to work with even more professionalism and kept striving to send shots his way, and soon another goal-scoring chance appeared for Porto.

    #11th minute��

    The Porto yers had been passing the ball around in midfield when they had suddenly shifted their momentum when Jason had run into the center of the midfield to help the midfield overload the center.

    Jason quickly received the ball from Fabio Viera and sent a forward pass to Moussa Marega who returned the ball back with a first touch pass, confusing the Olympiacos yers who were running after the ball.

    On receiving the ball, Jason chose to hold onto the ball, giving Fabio Viera time to make a run from the midfield and just as he was about to get past thest man, Jason released a through pass behind the Olympiacos defense line.

 Chapter 300: First leg Against Olympiacos II

    Chapter 300: First leg Against Olympiacos II

    Fabio Viera burst out with amazing speed to chase after the ball after he ran past thest man of the Olympiacos defense line.

    The Olympiacos goalkeeper also rushed off his line, not intending to give Viera any time to get to the ball and limate himself to the situation, but the goalkeeper had miscalcted as Viera got to the ball and with a smooth tap of the underside of the ball, chipped the ball over the goalkeeper��s outstretched leg but under his arm and the ball flew and dropped into the bottom right corner of the goal.

    Viera watched the ball go in before running down the sidelines to celebrate, pointing at Jason as he ran before jumping into a slide with a huge smile on his face.

    {GOAL!!!]

    {Porto!}

    {We thought it woulde, and Porto have delivered!}

    {They have fulfilled the expectations of their fans and if they keep ying with this much optimism, Olympiacos may be in a bit of a rough patch here} thementator shouted excitedly into the microphone, hyping up the Porto fans�� excitement in their homes as they watched the match.

    The Olympiacos yers looked a bit down after going behind, but they didn��t lose theirposure as they retained some hope that they could equalize, after all, there was still a lot of time.#35 minute��

    After opening up the game in the eleventh minute, Porto kept applying pressure to the Olympiacos team and kept the Olympiacos team on tenterhooks, giving them little opportunity on the ball and not allowing them to create anything whenever they had possession.

    The Olympiacos team however didn��t give up and kept pushing and soon a chance opened up for them on the counter as the Olympiacos left winger somehow managed to skip past Wilson Manafa and cut into the penalty box looking for a teammate to cross the ball to.

    Unfortunately, the yer didn��t see anyone free enough and decided to just cross the ball while hoping that his teammates could fight off the Porto defenders.

    The ball flew into Porto��s penalty box and the Olympiacos yers pushed against the Porto yers trying to find some space, but Porto��s defenders weren��t so easily brushed off and Chancel Mbemba got to the ball first courtesy of a powerful leap into the air and he headed the ball out of the penalty box.

    However, Porto wasn��t out of danger as an Olympiacos yer ran at the ball that hadnded at the edge of the box and hit it with as much power as he could muster.

    {He shoots!} thementator shouted in anticipation as he watched the Olympiacos yer hit the ball.

    {Oh! It flew just over the bar!} The yer put his hands on his head as he saw the ball fly off target.

    {They��ll be gutted to miss that. It could have been their way back into this game} thementator added as Augustin Marchesin collected a ball from one of the ball boys and prepared to take the goal kick.

    #43rdminute��

    {Halftime is fast approaching and neither of the two teams has managed to worry the scoreboard operator after Porto��s first goal of the game in the eleventh minute}

    {Porto look happy to end the first half with a one-goal lead and will be looking to further their lead in the second hal-�� Oh, what��s this, Jason��s broken away from his marker!} Thementator was giving hismentary while keeping an eye on the game when Jason suddenly did a Cruyff turn as he received a pass from Otavio, using the turn to maneuver around his marker.

    After getting the ball past the marker, Jason immediately pushed the ball forward and rushed after it, cutting into Olympiacos��s 18-yard box from the left wing.

    As he ran into the penalty box, Jason slowed his pace as he came face to face with an Olympiacos defender who was obstructing his path to the goal.

    Not taking too much time to think, Jason did two stepovers before flicking the ball to the right to create a bit of space for a shot and he immediately followed after with a swing at the ball, sending the ball to the right side of the post.

    The Olympiacos goalkeeper immediately lunged for the ball and luckily, he managed to get the tip of his fingers to the ball, deflecting it enough for it to veer off its intended path and��

    *CLANG*

    {Oh, it��s hit the bar and bounced back into y!}

    {It��s found by Marega! Maregaaaaa!!!} thementator shouted as he saw the ball that had bounced off the bar smashed into the back of the by Moussa Marega.

    {Porto have scored another!}

    {They aren��t waiting till the second half to further their lead!}

    {It��s them saying, ��No better time than now!��. They have two!} Thementator continuously fired sentence after sentence, his mouth��s pace reminiscent of a Gatling gun as hemented at high pace and intensity while the Porto team celebrated their goal.

    #62ndminute��

    After scoring their second goal just before halftime, Porto had finished the first half on a high note and enjoyed their halftime break beforeing out again for the second half with their objective unchanged.

    They nned to win and to do so spectacrly, much to the bad luck of the Olympiacos team.

    Thus they resumed the match on a high note and began putting pressure on the Olympiacos team at every opportunity they had, bringing much difort to the Olympiacos team which was still hoping to gain something from the game.

    The Olympiacos team managed to get the asional shot away, trying to find something to sustain themselves in this game, but so far they had not seeded in doing much more than troubling the goalkeeper.

    Augustin Marchesin still had his clean sheet intact and was on the route to getting his first clean sheet for the 2020/21 Champions League.

    Currently, Porto had a corner kick after Mehdi Taremi had sent a powerful shot at the Olympiacos goal, but was obstructed from adding to his season��s goal tally by the Olympiacos�� goalkeeper.

    Jason stood over the ball on the left corner of the Olympiacos half of the field while raising his hand to signal to his teammates just like they had done so many times in training.

    It was a practiced routine they had worked on in training and at the referee��s whistle Jason sent the ball flying into the penalty box and the yers of the Porto team rose into the air as soon as the ball got close enough.

 Chapter 301: First Leg Against Olympiacos III

    Chapter 301: First Leg Against Olympiacos III

    Pepe was the one who managed to get to the ball first and he boldly put his head into the path of the ball, directing it goalwards.

    {Puts his head to it!}

    {GOAL! Pepe!}

    {The captain has led from the front and struck the opponents down even further!}

    {The way back for Olympiacos is gradually closing and it��s beginning to look like a game set-in match} thementator shouted like he had joined the Porto fans in their homes in screaming jubntly as they swept away their opponents with the third goal of the game.

    The Olympiacos yers could not help but look defeated as they watched the Porto yers celebrate.

    They had been ying with hopes that they could somehow still find something in the game, but Porto had gone ahead to dash their hopes with no hesitation in their steps.

    #85th minute�� The game was nearing its end and it was all but confirmed that Porto would be winning the game, yet they weren��t slowing down and kept pushing seemingly looking for another goal much to the chagrin of the Olympiacos yers.

    Soon an opportunity opened up for the Porto team once again as Jason received a pass on the edge of the throwing line on the left nk.

    Jason fed the ball past his marker and immediately chased after the ball.

    His high eleration allowed him to burst past the tired Olympiacos defender, allowing him to catch up to the ball before it rolled out of y.

    On catching the ball, Jason flicked it forward and ran with the ball down the nks, but he had miscalcted slightly and kicked the ball farther than he intended to.

    However, he didn��t give up on the ball and chased after it and he was soon about to catch up, but by then the ball was almost rolling out of y.

    With an Olympiacos defender chasing after him from behind, Jason had run out of time and could no longer cut into the penalty box as he intended, so he did the next best thing which was to hit the ball into the penalty box and hope his teammates could do something with the cross.

    {Hopeful cross from Jason}

    {Can it find a teammaaate? Oliveira with the header!}

    {Goal!!}

    {Porto hit four!}

    {They say the third time��s the charm, but Porto aren��t satisfied with just three!} Thementator��s voice was like a death knell to the Olympiacos yers and fans who were already feeling hurt watching the Porto yers celebrate their fourth goal against them.

    {The goal scorer goes over to thank the winger who made this goal possible with a splendid cross from the left. All the striker was to get his head to it}

    {I��ve been counting and that makes it three assists from this yer. He hasn��t been able to make it to the scoreboard, but he has been the illusory nail stuck in his opponent��s sides} Thementator continued speaking even as the Porto yers headed back to their half of the field.

    His words reminded the viewers of Jason��s contribution to the game which hade in the form of the important but less eye-catching assists.

    Jason listened to thementary as he tucked away a few strands of hair that hade loose and were blurring his view as he walked back to his position.

    It was overall a good day at the office for him with three assists to his name, but Jason still wished to score at least one goal as well and he yed with that in mind as the match resumed.

    Unfortunately for Jason who was hoping to score a goal, the chance didn��t open up as the Olympiacos team locked up after conceding their fourth goal of the game.

    It didn��t help that his teammates also sat back and allowed time to run out since they were already leading with four goals.

    In the end, the referee��s whistle blew shrilly after the added time had run out and the match came to an end.

    *Fweeeeee*

    {It��s the final whistle and Porto have won it}

    {After an enthralling game that had nock of excitement and goal, Portoe out on top and rise to the second position in their group after their second game}

    {With their showing out there today, their fans will have little doubts about their chances of making it into the knockout stages of the Champions League}

    {However, one does not qualify after the second game. We��ll see what the table looks like in theing weeks and who knows if we might be in for a surprise}

    {Olympiacos remain at the bottom of the table and they��ll have a lot to do if they are hoping to gain any points from their opponents in theing week, Manchester City who are currently upying the top spot in the group}

    {That��s all from us, Good night to you all} thementator said hisst words ofmentary before turning off the microphone.

    On the field, Jason had been invited over to the sidelines for another interview on the ��Champions League Today�� show.

    Jason was quickly fitted with the microphone and in no time was connected to the studio.

    {�� We bring to you live, the man of the match from the Porto vs Olympiacos game tonight, Jason Bolu}Kate Abdo said as Jason��s face appeared on the screen.

    ��Good evening,�� Jason said politely into the microphone.

    {Good evening to you too, fantastic showing out there tonight} Kate Abdo replied.

    {Yeah, you guys had your first win of the Champions League tonight and it��s your first ever win in the Champions League, how do you feel?} Micah Richards asked with a big smile.

    ���� Uhm, It��s always good to win, and uh, I��m happy to cross another milestone in my career,��Jason said holding up the Man of the Match trophy.

    ��I wish I had scored a goal though, but there��ll be time for that I guess,�� he continued with an honest smile.

    {Oh, you��re a greedy one, aren��t you?} Jamie Carragher asked with a little surprise.

    {Yes, a hat-trick in assists is good enough, don��t you think?} Roberto Martinez also asked.

    ��I��m always happy to help the team and it��s clear from my three assists that I was helpful, but it��s not my name that��s up there on the scoreboard and I don��t quite like that,�� Jason was very direct, not bothering to hide his ambition under gilded words.

    {Ambitious, aren��t you?} Micah Richards with an impressed smile.

    {Men�� so insatiable} Kate Abdomented with a meaningful smile, her words not seeming to be rted to the current conversation.

    {Three assists weren��t enough for you? You sound like Cristiano after scoring a hat-trick, he would still want more!} Jamie Carragher spoke from experience.

    ��Is that who I sound like?�� Jason asked with a raised eyebrow.

    ��I mean, Cristiano is my idol so his attitude might have rubbed off on me,��

    ��You know, that I sound like him is probably the bestpliment I��ve received in all my life,�� Jason said with a wry smile as he rubbed his hair a bit.

    {Oh is that a new hairstyle?} Micah Richards interrupted before Jamie Carragher could reply to Jason.

    {It fits you a lot too} Kate Abdo said as she seemingly scrutinized Jason��s image.

    {Yeah, really brings out your eyes which speaking of which, I��ve been meaning to ask�� Are those contact lenses?} Micah Richards asked Jason, curiosity ebbing from his tone.

    {No, these are my eyes, my mum had blue eyes} Jason replied, a bit confused as to how the conversation quickly changed from him talking about Cristiano being his idol to talking about his eyes.

    What he did not know was that apart from the curiosity of Micah Richards about his eyes, three of the four hosts of the show had a collective agreement to not allow any talk about Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi to crop up in the show without previous warning.

    A debate about those two football giants could throw off the show and wasn��t likely to end quickly as everyone had different opinions, so Micah had quickly interrupted before Jamie Carragher replied and started a debate between him and Jason.

    {I don��t think that��s how that works though} Kate Abdo said, confused.

    ��Well, my mum��s white, she had blue eyes, my dad was ck but had a medical condition called heterochromia and one of his eyes was blue, and then they gave birth to me who had a medical condition that gave me my mum��s blue eyes even though it doesn��t usually work that way,��

    ��My sister didn��t have my blue eyes,��

    ��Does that clear things up,�� Jason asked after exining everything in one breath, wondering what this had to do with a sport��s TV show.

    {��Now there��s a brief and concise exnation if I��ve ever heard one} Kate Abdo said after a pause.

    She had noted Jason��s use of past tense when talking about his family and she had immediately decided not to ask any further questions concerning the matter.

    She was a reporter, but it was hical to bring up sensitive situations like this one on a show like the one she was hosting.

    The others in the studio were as professionally sensitive as her and they jointly shifted the conversation back to football after that.

 Chapter 302: 2020/21 Liga NOS Matchday 6

    Chapter 302: 2020/21 Liga NOS Matchday 6

    **30thOctober 2020**

    *7:49 pm*

    Today was Porto��s sixth match day of the Liga NOS campaign for the 2020/21 season, but Jason was just hopping off his treadmill after a five-minute high-intensity run.

    Jason bent to his and ced his hands on his knees to catch his breath, the run having exhausted him quite a bit.

    His muscles were screaming, especially since he had spent most of the whole day doing physical training.

    As for why he had spent most of the day doing intensive physical training and was in his gym room at his house when the match was starting in just about half an hour�� well, it was because he wasn��t a part of the squad.

    The head manager had not just chosen to take him out of the starting line-up for that game, the manager had removed him from the lineup going to Pacos de Ferreira that day.

    Since Jason��s return to the team, he had appeared in three matches, two of which he had yed the full ny minutes, but despite his contributions, or more appropriately, because of those contributions, the manager had to be extra careful to not allow him to get injured because of exhaustion and muscle fatigue. Thus Sergio Conceicao had not added Jason to the provisional line-up for the match against Pacos Ferreira but had told Jason that he would definitely be part of the squad for the match against Marseille in four days.

    Hence, Jason��s current situation.

    He wasn��t happy either, but he was not yet at the level where he could voice his disagreements to the manager, and even if he was at that level, he still wouldn��t do it.

    The manager was the one who held the reins at the club and everything he did was for the betterment of the team.

    Thest thing Jason needed was to be seen as someone who ced himself over the team because he was seemingly more talented than average and was performing well.

    Thus he had epted the manager��s suggestion which wasn��t really a loss to him anyway, after all, he had gotten a promise of involvement in a Champions League game.

    Jason had headed home after the team had left for Pacos de Ferreira ande home to train at his personal gym and he had been going at it, pumping iron till now.

    With the match starting soon, Jason put a stop to his training for the time being as he wanted to watch his teammates y.

    He first headed to his bathroom for a quick wash up and then he headed to his kitchen to prepare some food for watching his match.

    As a half-American, Jason couldn��t watch a screen and not be munching on something at the start.

    Whether it was a show, a movie, an animation, or a match, he had to be munching on something at the start of whatever he was watching.

    It was the American thing to do, and he wasn��t denying that half of his heritage�� also he was pretty hungry and had not yet eaten dinner.

    Luckily he managed to finish up before the match started and got to the front of his television when the yers started matching out of the tunnel.

    Jason sat and made himselffortable on the couch as thementator started calling out the line-up of the Porto team.

    {Here��s the Porto side and not only has there been major changes to the team we sawst time out, but their shape seems different as well}

    {Porto seem to be adopting a 3-4-1-2 formation for this match}

    {They will still be using two upfront like before, but there will be an addition of an attacking midfielder who will be helping the two strikers up front}

    {For the four midfielders, the two in the center will probably have simr jobs, but the two wide midfielders will not only have to help the team by attacking down the nks, but they also have to protect their nks as well as they have no one behind them to guard the nks}

    {We��ll also be seeing three center backs on the Porto side as opposed to the two that they usually use}

    {With all that said, here is the line-up for the Porto team}

    {Augustin Marchesin will be the ma in between the sticks, standing gantly as Porto��sst line of defense}

    {The three center backs guarding the backline will be the team captain, Pepe, the Congolese man, Chancel Mbemba, and the French loanee from Chelsea, Mng Sarr. It will be his first professional game for Porto and the fans will hope he hits the ground running}

    {In center midfield, we have Romario Baro and Marko Grujic. Both of them are not major names in the Porto first-team squad and it��s Grujic��s first game for Porto after a sessful loan deal bringing him over here from Liverpool for the season}

    {In the wide midfield positions, we have Jesus Corona on the right, and a loanee from West Ham, Felipe Anderson, on the right}

    {Up front, we have Mylo Baumgartner ying as a center attacking midfielder which is apletely different role from what we��ve seen from him so far}

    {In the striking positions, we have a strike partnership between Moussa Marega and Mehdi Taremi}

    {Looking at this line-up, I can��t help but think that the Porto manager is trying too risky of an experiment with starting the three loan yers despite their quality}

    {It seems like he��s resting quite a few yers for the match against Marseille on Wednesday, but such a drastic change in the squad would affect the team chemistry a fair bit and this could provide an opportunity for their opponents in this game}

    {Will Pacos de Ferreira be capable enough to cause such an upset against the defending champions of the Liga Nos though?}

    {We will see at the end of the ny minutes, for now, we have an exciting game ahead of us} Thementator gave hismentary as the yers arranged themselves across the pitch while the captains were with the referee who was doing the coin toss.

    Jason who was snuggledfortably into his couch could not help but perk up after seeing the team��s formation and line-up.

    He recognized the line-up because it was something they had been working on in trainingtely due to theck of first-team level wingbacks in the team.

    The wingback department of the Porto team was currently the weakest part of the team, especially after Alex Telles�� departure earlier in the season.

    Wilson Manafa was currently the only experienced wingback on the team as Zaidu Sanusi had just arrived.

    The remaining wingbacks were just academy graduates that Sergio Conceicao had brought to the team out of necessity.

    He didn��t have much of a choice back at the beginning of the season.

    Currently, Zaidu Sanusi is the team��s only left-back, and Wilson Manafa is the only first team-level right-back.

    The manager had made Mattheus Uribe y in the right-back position a few times, but it was not his favored position and manyplications had happened in matches because of that.

    There was also the potential problem of injury which could throw the whole team off if either of those two guys got an injury.

    Hence, Sergio Conceicao had proffered the solution of training another formation so that they could deal with any unexpected situations and the formation the manager had chosen was the one that the team was about to use against Pacos de Ferreira.

    However, Jason didn��t expect the manager to choose to use this formation yet as they had barely started training in that formation a few days ago and they had merely trained it in passing.

    They hadn��t really gotten down to it as they had other training sessions to focus on as a professional team, so it was a surprise to Jason that the head manager was already having the team use this formation in a match.

    ��Well, it��s not my business, I just hope no problems crop up,�� Jason muttered as he put a ss of orange juice to his mouth.

    At the Estadio da Mata Real, the pre-match formalities were already over and the Pacos de Ferreira team was about to kick off the game.

    The Pacos de Ferreira striker, the Israeli, Dor Jan, stood over the ball and awaited the referee��s whistle that signaled the start of the game.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    {The referee��s whistle has been blown. Kick-off!} thementator spoke as Jan passed the ball to a teammate immediately after hearing the whistle.

    ***

    It had been ten minutes since the match kicked off and the match could not be said to be meeting expectations as there had hardly been a shot from the two sides.

    The Porto team��s gamey was currentlycking a lot of its sharpness and ease when in possession of the ball which was to be expected considering the major changes in the line-up.

    This led to the Pacos de Ferreira team having the chance to have more possession of the ball than they should have, but despite having more possession than usual, it wasn��t easy to break through the Porto defense.

    Pepe led the other two center-backs to do their jobs in keeping out the Pacos de Ferreira yers, and so far they had been sessful, but the Pacos de Ferreira was a professional team that was able to survive in the top-flight Portuguese league so they weren��t harmless to the Porto team especially now that they had been given a boost in the forms of Porto��s shaky midfield andck of defensive cover on the nks.

    The ball soon found its way to Dor Jan who immediately chipped the ball over to the right nk where his teammate was making a run and had easily evaded Felipe Anderson.

    As the Pacos de Ferreira right winger made a run inside Porto��s half of the field, Mng Sarr immediately ran out to block his path before he could get any closer.

 Chapter 303: 2020/21 Liga NOS Matchday 6 II

    Chapter 303: 2020/21 Liga NOS Matchday 6 II

    As Mng Sarr ran towards the Pacos de Ferreira right winger, the winger fed the ball further down the right nk, drawing Mng Sarr along and reducing the defense in the center, but Mng Sarr didn��t think that far when he followed after him.

    Even if he realized the risk of what he was doing, he couldn��t leave him to run around freely so his actions were inevitable, but unfortunately, he wasn��t able to catch up to the Pacos de Ferreira who was proving to be quite tricky with the ball.

    Soon, the Pacos de Ferreira right winger was on the right side of Porto��s penalty box and he immediately sent a grounded cross into the penalty box where Dor Jan was arriving.

    The Porto defenders had been following Dor Jan into the penalty box, waiting for the return pass as the right winger couldn��t take a shot from that far down the nks, but as they ran, Dor Jan suddenly came to a stop and it was at this moment that the cross came rolling in.

    The Porto defenders weren��t able to stop on time and almost flew out of view, but Pepe immediately stretched a leg backward to try and block the cross.

    Pepe��s reaction was quick enough and he managed to get a leg to the ball, but his touch on the ball was too weak and Dor Jan still managed to catch the ball before it flew past him.

    {He��s all alone!}

    He immediately brought the ball down into shooting position and sent the ball flying past all the Porto yers and into the back of the. {He shoots! He scores! Pacos de Ferreira are making full use of their home advantage and are the ones who open up the game!}

    {They lead!}

    Dor Jan was already running down the right wing in celebration and he jumped on the right winger who had sent the ball his way while the rest of the Pacos de Fereira team came to join in the celebrations.

    The goalkeeper didn��t leave his line, but he wasn��t left out of the celebrations as he could be seen pumping his fist aggressively.

    The Porto yers did not know what to make of the situation, but they did not sink into depression because they had enough confidence in themselves.

    It was still early enough in the game and they could easily pull off aeback, they believed, so they did not look too down as they headed back for the kick-off.

    #43rdminute��

    The game heated up after Pacos de Ferreira took the lead in the eleventh minute.

    The Porto team had turned up the heat and had gone looking for an equalizer with everything they had, but the Pacos de Ferreira team riding on the momentum of their first goal hadn��t easily given in under the high pressure from the Porto team.

    For a while, the passes to move the ball around had been quick and sharp, the interceptions numerous, the dribbles mboyant, and shots had been sent flying at both ends, yet the score of the game remained the same till now despite the exciting game.

    The Pacos de Ferreira had an equal share in the performance that made the match exciting and with how well they were performing under the pressure of the Porto team, the fans, yers and even the head manager had begun to have rms ringing in their heads as they watched the game remain unchanged despite their efforts.

    As a testament to this, the Pacos de Ferreira team was currently on the attack and they were passing the ball around quickly in Porto��s half of the field and the Porto yers were unable to touch the ball.

    Soon the ball was being moved around a few yards away from the left corner of Porto��s penalty box.

    {Pacos de Ferreira looking confident here}

    {They��re making pass after pass while looking for some space}

    The ball was soon passed to Eustaquio, a Pacos de Ferreira who wasing from behind and he moved the ball forward towards the corner of the penalty box.

    Romario Baro immediately ran into his path, but Eustaquio just changed directions so he was standing at a diagonal angle from the right post and he let fly of the ball, sending it curling towards the top right corner of Porto��s goal.

    {He unleashes a mid-range curler!}

    {Goal!!!}

    {What a surprising turn of events!}

    {In a match where they were termed the underdogs in every way, Pacos de Ferreira silence everyone for the moment!}

    {They are two up against an unresponsive Porto!}

    {They might havee into this match without many expectations, but they have the wind in their sails now and they wouldn��t want to relinquish this oh-so-sweet feeling of victory!} Thementator was outdoing himself with hismentary, after all, it wasn��t every day that one saw a match where the favorites were the ones who were vastly outmatched in performance.

    At this point, the Porto yers could no longer be dismissive of their situation as things were already shaping up badly for them.

    Being two down in the first half wasn��t something any team could dismiss no matter how much they seemingly outmatched their opponents because if the difference was truly that vast, then they wouldn��t be down by two in the first ce.

    Not to mention that the two goals were open-y goals and not from set-pieces or an own goal.

    The Porto yers headed back to their positions with the internal conclusion that it was time to outdo themselves.

    Sergio Conceicao shouted instructions at his yers, no longer able to keep hisposure intact.

    A loss against a much weaker team was something that no one wanted to see, especially a manager who had decided to be experimental with the squad in that game.

    All the me would fall on his head should that ever happen and Sergio Conceicao didn��t need that this early in the season.

    They had already had two losses in seven games and were currently on the path to a third loss in their eighth game of the season.

    With their current standings in the league table, another loss was uneptable as it would set them back even further in their campaign, hence Sergio Conceicao couldn��t remain silent.

    #45+3 minute��

    The board had been held up and there had been four added minutes of injury time and Porto was doing their best to reduce the deficit before the half-time whistle was blown.

    Doing so would give them a boost in morale for the uing second half, and they had gotten an opportunity to do so, but it was not in a way that was all too positive.

 Chapter 304: 2020/21 Liga NOS Matchday 6 III

    Chapter 304: 2020/21 Liga NOS Matchday 6 III

    Porto had been on the attack and Felipe Anderson had tried to break in from the left nk. His attempt to do so had begun well as he got past his marker easily before doing a one-two pass routine with Moussa Marega to evade another Pacos de Ferreira yer before running into their penalty box.

    As Felipe Anderson received the ball inside the left side of the penalty box, the yer that he had evaded with the one-two came rushing in from behind, not willing to let Felipe Anderson get away and cause problems for his team.

    Felipe Anderson didn��t see himing as he was looking for the best option for a pass and the Pacos de Ferreira yer��s leg came flying in and stomped on his ankle due to a Felipe moving the ball at thest second.

    Pain shot through Felipe��s leg as he crumpled into the ground, immediately grabbing his ankle in pain.

    {Oh! He��s gone down in the penalty box!}

    *Fweeeeee*

    The referee��s whistle went off behind him and the referee came running with his hand pointed to the spot, but Felipe Anderson was in no mood to feel even a little bit happy thanks to the pain in his ankle.

    He couldn��t even stand up and just kept rolling over in pain. This quickly called the attention of the referee and the other yers.

    The referee showed a yellow card to the yer who made the tackle and went over to check on Felipe Anderson.

    {That looks like it hurts}

    The medical team quickly ran on to the field to check on the injured yer and after a quick check, it was all but confirmed that Felipe Anderson had a broken ankle, and the medical team quickly called for a stretcher to be brought over.

    {The injured yer must be dismayed, it��s merely his first game for the team and he��s already down and out with an injury} thementator put into words what Felipe Anderson was feeling as he was carried off the field with a stretcher.

    On the sidelines, Sergio Oliveira was getting ready toe on and take the ce of Felipe Anderson on the left wing.

    Sergio Conceicao didn��t want to bring on Luis Diaz who was on the bench because he doubted his defensive skills were enough to defend the left nk by himself.

    Also, Sergio Oliveira was by all rights a midfielder, despite Sergio Conceicao using him as a striker since the beginning of the season, so his presence in the midfield should give the Porto team more control of the midfieldpared to their earlier weakness in the middle of the park.

    After listening to the head manager��s instructions, Sergio Oliveira ran onto the field to take over Felipe Anderson��s position, but firstly, he would be taking the penalty as he was currently the team��s first penalty taker.

    If he was still on the bench, someone else would have taken it, but now that he was on the pitch, the duty of the penalty taking was handed back over to him and he took the ball to the penalty spot, ced it down and stepped back to wait for the referee��s whistle.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    On hearing the referee��s whistle, Oliveira ran at the ball and sted into the top left corner of the goal while the keeper remained rooted to the spot.

    {Great penalty! sted into the top corner and the goalkeeper was stunned into immobility}

    {They have one back. It��se at the cost of a yer, but Porto will take it}

    {This will give them the morale they need in the second half to go and win this�� assuming they have it in them to out y the Pacos de Ferreira team we have seen out there today} thementator spoke with a bit less excitement than he normally would whenever the ball went into the back of the on either side.

    The Porto yers also did not show to much excitement either as they headed back to their half of the field.

    No sooner had the Pacos de Ferreira team kicked off that the referee blew his whistle to bring the first half of the game to an end.

    ***

    #59thminute��

    The halftime break hade and gone and the yers were back on the field for the second half, with each team outdoing themselves to try and make the game end in their favor.

    The Porto team was doing their best to get an equalizer, especially now that they were only a goal away from doing so.

    The Pacos de Ferreira team couldn��t rx their efforts either as they were in a ver precarious situation. They knew that allowing the Porto team to get an equalizer early into the second half was almost a one way path to their defeat, so they were doing their best to make sure that situation did not be a reality.

    They had dug deep into themselves to pull out a performance worthy of keeping a team like Porto at bay despite the opponents going all out against them.

    Not only were they keeping the Porto team at bay, they also managed to send out the asional attack, trying to catch the Porto team on the counter, and they were at it at that exact moment.

    The ball was flying down the left wing and the Pacos de Ferreira left winger tried to cross the ball into the penalty box, but Chancel Mbemba jumped in his way and blocked the cross.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    {The whistle has gone off and the referee��s running over, what could be the issue!?}

    The referee ran at the Porto 18-yard box, pointing at the penalty spot.

    The rey began to show on the viewers screens as the Porto yers tried to argue with the referee to make him call off his decision.

    The rey showed the ball bouncing off Chancel Mbemba��s hand when he blocked the cross. The ball had flown at him too fast for him to get his hand out of the way in time, hence the ball had crashed into his hand, causing the referee to call for a handball and a penalty since he was inside his team��s penalty box when it happened.

 Chapter 305: 2020/21 Liga NOS Matchday 6 IV

    Chapter 305: 2020/21 Liga NOS Matchday 6 IV

    The Porto yers weren��t able to get the referee to change his decision despite their arguments and in the end, the penalty was given to the Pacos de Ferreira who were overly joyous at their dastardly good luck today.

    Everything was falling in ce for them and they were on the route to winning one of the biggest games for them in the campaign�� if only they could score this penalty and hold out till the end of the game.

    Costa, the Pacos de Ferreira yer who would be taking the penalty put the ball down on the spot and stepped back.

    {Porto cannot believe their terrible luck}

    {They��ve already been two behind and barely managed to reduce the deficit, and now they are faced with another deficit-increasing challenge}

    {The Pacos de Ferreira man will be looking to help his team increase their lead which could go a long way in helping them win this game, but Porto will be hoping their goalkeeper can stop this penalty}

    *Fweeeeee*

    Costa ran up to the ball with undisguised ease despite the pressure on his neck and chipped the ball down the middle, but Augustin Marchesin had already dived down the left. {Great penalty!}

    {Chipped down the middle. Borderline disrespectful penalty!}

    {As if taking a two-goal lead isn��t enough for this man, he humiliates the goalkeeper while doing it in style!}

    {Pacos de Ferreira are up to three and Porto once again have an uphill battle facing them if they wish to somehow avoid losing this game}

    {There��s still time for a turn of events, but the Pacos de Ferreira team will not be easily giving up their lead, but can they hold onto it against a team of desperate dragons?}

    The Pacos de Ferreira team didn��t bother with thementary that seemed to doubt them, they just rejoiced at their goal. It was them living in the moment, and they were going to do their best to make sure they could continue celebrating once the match was over.

    #78thminute��

    It had been almost twenty minutes since Pacos de Ferreira once again took a two-goal lead over Porto and Porto had been doing their best to try and reduce the deficit, but so far they had no sess and time was quickly running out.

    However, Porto wasn��t a team that was quick to give up and had kept trying to score.

    In the Pacos de Ferreira half of the field, Otavio who had been brought on for Marko Grujic passed the ball to Mylo who sent the ball down to the right where Jesus Corona waited.

    Jesus Corona received the ball and flicked it past his marker, getting past him and making his way down the right nk.

    He quickly cut into the penalty box and sent a pass into the penalty box at Mylo.

    Mylo received the ball while using his back to shield off his marker, but he was in an awkward position and couldn��t take a shot, so he nced meaningfully at Otavio who was rushing towards the penalty box and flicked the ball with his heel into Otavio��s path.

    The ball rolled through the legs of the yer hassling him from behind and rolled into the path of Otavio at the edge of the penalty box and Otavio didn��t hesitate in sending a powerful shot at the goal.

    The ball didn��t rise off the ground but flew powerfully at the bottom right corner and smashed into the back of the despite the goalkeeper lunging for it.

    {Goal!}

    {It didn��t take him long, a few minutes ago he was on the bench, but already he has scored!}

    {They are back within one!}

    {Some may say it��ste, but for Porto, there��s no time like the present!}

    {They have them in their sights again! What do we go from here!?} thementator bellowed as he watched the ball smash into the back of the.

    Porto��s goal came as a shocker to the Pacos de Ferreira team and it let them know that they couldn��t afford to rx if they nned to end this game with a win.

    Especially now that the Porto team had just gotten a second goal.

    ***

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    {There goes the final whistle!}

    {Porto have lost!}

    {In a surprising turn of events, Porto have fallen short against a much weaker opponent. They were vastly outmatched in performance in the first half of the game and their second-half performance just wasn��t enough}

    {They tried, tried, tried, but the goal just wouldn��te and they have lost}

    {This is their second loss of the season and this will see them fall to the eighth position on the table, something no one expected to see from this team}

    {They will have to pick themselves up from this loss ining games otherwise, their chances at any silverware this season may very well slip through their fingers} Thementator gave his finishingmentary as the yers headed off the field.

    The Porto yers headed to their locker room while Sergio Conceicao headed to the post-match interview as he wanted to quickly take on the remaining headaches of the night before heading back to Porto.

    He needed someforting and pampering from his wife tonight before answering to the club management tomorrow.

    At the interview, the questions started flying in, and just like he expected quite a few annoying questions that seemed to paint him as the fault were among the questions.

    ��You,�� he gestured with his eyes to the reporter right in front of him.

    ��It��s Porto��s second loss in the Liga NOS campaign this season. What would you say happened out there? Could the changes you made to the team be responsible for such a poor showing,�� the reporter did not hesitate to fire a flurry of questions at the Porto manager.

    ��Losses happen all the time in football and they happen for many reasons. What happened out there is not something I can im to be able to exin, because while it is true that there was a major change to our usual line-up and shape, I can confidently say that apart from a few mistakes, my yers did well,��

    ��Our opponents just did better than us and that ended with our loss,�� Sergio Conceicao gave an extensive answer that absolved everyone of fault.

 Chapter 306: Chronicles of a Fan: Tonys Bad Day I

    Chapter 306: Chronicles of a Fan: Tony''s Bad Day I

    Chapter 306: Chronicles of a Fan: Tony��s Bad Day I

    As simple as his answer was, it was the best answer he could give to the hyena-like reporters.

    Sergio Conceicao could have easily thrown some of the yers under the bus, especially the loaned yers that he had used in the match, but he didn��t think it was fair to throw them under the bus while absolving himself of fault, after all, he was the manager.

    He was the one who had picked their formation and added them to the line-up in the first ce, but he wasn��t going to take on the me either.

    He didn��t need the drama.

    If he would absolve himself of fault, he would absolve everyone else of fault�� that was only fair.

    Anyway, it was football, anything could happen.

    ��Next question,��

    ��Porto fell short of victory today because they couldn��t score an equalizer despite having ample time to get the equalizer. Would you say the team missed the presence of some of the game-changing performances of other members of the team you chose to rest today, for example, Viera or Jason?�� the next reporter asked the Porto head manager. ��Well, it was a tough game and the yers couldn��t just find that goal that would give us the equalizer no matter how much they tried. I wouldn��t say that a different set of yers could have done better as I don��t know that,�� Sergio Conceicao responded to the reporter.

    ��Next question����

    After answering a few more questions, Sergio Conceicao ended the interview and headed to the allocated locker room for the Porto team.

    He soon arrived at the locker room where the yers were changing out of their jerseys and getting ready to leave.

    ��Listen up guys, we lost today, and part of the me falls on me for choosing to try a new formation this early without you guys fully limating to it, but it does not change the fact that you guys performed woefully out there,��

    ��Our defense was porous, our midfield wascking, and our attackers were hitting everything but the target,��

    ��Today��s performance is not something I want to see again, or woe shall befall whoever performs like this again,�� Sergio Conceicao did not mince words with the yers as he was not pleased by their performance.

    After all, they were professionals earning big bucks, so if they couldn��t adjust to a new formation and put on a good performance when required, then what was the point of all their efforts on the training ground?

    What were they being paid for?

    Sergio Conceicao was not some pushover coach managing some low-level team and he did not take kindly to loss, so it was already good enough that this was all he had to say to his yers after such a terrible showing from them.

    He had more to say, but he decided to hold in hisments for now and instead mention it at the next team meeting at training.

    With the head manager having said his piece, he left the locker room and the yers hurried up the packing as they had to leave soon since they were heading back to Porto that same night.

    ***

    Jason stood up from the couch, turning off the TV with the remote since the match was over. He was a bit surprised and disheartened that the team had lost the game.

    He wasn��t a fool and he knew that the team��s loss was his loss whether he yed or not.

    Trophies were won as a team and not as an individual.

    Even the individual trophies could not be won without the help of one��s teammates, so there was no way he could be happy that his team lost a game.

    It held no benefits for him in any way, after all, he was now more or less one of the major names in the lineup up so he didn��t have too much in his way concerning the line-ups.

    His efforts and performance had long spoken for him.

    ��I guessit��s back to work for me then,��he muttered as he stood up from his seat and began packing up the tes he had eaten from.

    ***

    At a convenience store on one of the more obscure streets in Porto, a group of young men who looked to be in their mid-twenties walked through the front door discussing as they went.

    ��Today has to be out to get me man,�� one of the men said, looking downcast.

    His name was Tony, and he was not enjoying the day at all.

    His day had started on a bad note when he had woken up especiallyte but had still managed to get to work just barely on time after driving at speeds that would make an average street racer jealous.

    Unfortunately, that was just the beginning of his misery as barely one hour into his arrival at work, he was already being chewed out by his boss. It was not the first time and he could usually bear with it, but for some reason, he snapped and shouted back at his boss.

    Despite not meaning to, it had felt good to get back at his annoying boss, but the consequences of doing so left him without a job before half the day had passed.

    ��I��ll just find another job, it��s not the end of the world,�� he had thought to himself as he packed up his stuff and left in his car.

    He had decided to go to his girlfriend��s ce to get someforting and maybe some cuddles, thinking to himself, that whatever happened would happen, but when he got to his girlfriend��s ce, he met her with another guy in a verypromising position.

    He didn��t need to be a genius to realize that he was being cheated on and he confronted the traitorous bit*h and her living flesh sex toy, but all he got was her gas lighting him with all sorts of meaningless statements.

    She didn��t even try to deny it and ced the me on him for being too busy with his job.

 Chapter 307: Chronicles of a Fan: Tonys Bad Day II

    Chapter 307: Chronicles of a Fan: Tony''s Bad Day II

    Chapter 307: Chronicles of a Fan: Tony��s Bad Day II

    Tony had not even had the energy to argue much after that and had simply left the ce.

    It was not his first rodeo and he had suffered heartbreak before so he knew that all he had to do was call his boys over, and drink away his worries while talking about and doing meaningless sh*t.

    When he woke up the next morning, he would shelf this heartbreak into the deepest recesses of his mind and be on his way.

    That was exactly what he had done�� or nned on doing anyway.

    His boys hade over andforted him in a manly way, which was literally just them making fun of his situation till he had no choice but to join them inughing at himself.

    By the time they were ready to move on to their next agenda which was to drink themselves unconscious, one of them remembered that Porto had a game that evening.

    Surprisingly, the whole group of friends were Porto fans so they had immediately decided to go lighter on the drinking for a while and instead watch the match.

    They could drink themselves unconscious after their team achieved victory, right? That was how much confidence they had in their team.

    Tony had taken his confidence a step further and gone ahead to open his 1xbet ount on his phone and ce a bet on Porto��s victory, hoping to use his winnings from the game to fatten up his savings for a bit so he wouldn��t have to worry much until he got another job.

    ��I should have known when I saw that formation and that line-up man, I should have known,�� Tony almost cried to himself as he said aggrievedly.

    ��I know man, I got love for old man Conceicao, but what in heaven��s mercy was he smoking when he set that line-up,�� one of Tony��s friends was as aggrieved as he was.

    ��A totally new formation, debuts from three new loan yers, and he didn��t even y our better yers! Did he think this was some training match!�� Tony shouted in aggravation as he ranted.

    ��He didn��t start Oliveira, he didn��t y Diaz, he didn��t y Viera, he didn��t even y Jason!��

    ��All he yed were those academy kids who were just fumbling over each other and couldn��t keep possession for one minute straight,��

    ��Of those three loaned yers, only that Mng Sarr yed a bit well, and even that was horrendous because we still conceded three goals, that Marko Gujic guy in midfield fully disyed why they don��t want him at his own club, and that Felipe Anderson!��

    ��Who let pencil lege to Porto!?�� Tony continued ranting once he unleashed himself in fury upon the Porto yers and all his bitterness started flowing out of his mouth.

    His words were extremely harsh and the Porto yers were already catching stray bullets involuntarily.

    ��Righttttt! They hardly touched that ni**a and he got a broken leg,�� a dark-skinned guy who was also in the store and trying to buy something could not help jumping in on the conversation.

    ��With spaghetti legs like that, it��s no wonder he couldn��t cover his wing and they kept ying past him like he wasn��t there until we were already behind by two,�� Tony added in annoyance.

    ��Hey, at least he got a penalty for us,��One of Tony��s friends interrupted, trying to defend Felipe Anderson.

    ��And we still didn��t win!�� Tony cut short his friend��s defense.

    ��When did we be so weak as a team to be losing to teams like Maritimo and Pacos de Ferreira, broooo,��

    ��We are currently six games into the season and we are not even in the top five! We were the champions of the previous season for fu*k��s sake,�� Tony didn��t want to stop his rant.

    ��A lot of our yers ended up leaving though,�� another guy among the group of friends interjected, trying to make Tony see reason, but Tony had chosen to be blind for a while.

    ��And whose fault is that, huh?��

    ��If you are going to sell important yers, then all you have to do is make enough profit so you can rece them with people that are up to par, not spaghetti legs Anderson, or that pussio from Liverpool,�� Tony especially drawled out thest part of his sentence, adding a bit of an English ent ir to make it sound more insulting.

    ��In fact, why is every single loaned yer from the premier league, there are other good yers elsewhere,�� he continued, wanting to pour out all the grievances he had faced today on the team.

    ��You aren��t talking about our own yers though, or the yers we just bought,�� the first friend who had interrupted Tony earlier cut in with a wry smile.

    ��I��ve got nothing to say about those new transfers. We��re stuck with them so we might as well just wait for them to perform, but we can��t be paying those guys exorbitant sries for their home team and still not have them y what they are worth�� Tony said, hitting the nail on the head.

    It was well known that the sry of Premier League yers was a lot more than that of even the top yers in the Liga NOS.

    Pepe was Porto��s highest yer yet he was only receiving 50k Euros in wages per week, which was less than the average amount a yer of Leeds United would receive in the Premier League that season.

    West Ham��s current average sry was about 115k Euros so even if Porto was just paying 50%, it was still more money than they were giving their highest-paid yer, yet the yer receiving said wage wasn��t giving out a top performance.

    ��Like what the fu*k man, if he just did half of what my boy Jason was doing, then I wouldn��t have an issue with the guy,�� Tony said in an aggrieved tone.

    ��At least he tried man, just let it go,�� Another of Tony��s friends sighed, tired of Tony��s incessant ranting.

    ��Let it go? Are you trying topare Felipe with Jason? Like Dragon Rose Jason?��

    ��Are you kidding bro?�� Tony asked like he couldn��t believe his ears.

    ��Jason��s worst performance is better than whatever shit that Felipe guy yed out there today. He should have yed man,�� Tony drawled, not letting off.

    ��And then he should have gotten another injury? Can��t you see that the manager was resting yers for the Champions League game? Jason would probably leave at the end of this season anyway, he��s already receiving interest from other teams with his performances,�� one guy had finally had enough and decided to shut Tony up for good by hitting where it hurt and he hit the target as Tony went quiet.

    ������

    ���� It��s not like we��re going to win the Champions League anyway,�� Tony spoke again after a period of silence, wanting to get back at his friend who had silenced him.

    ��Oh for Fu*ks sake!�� The whole group of friends eximed at the same time as they turned on Tony.

    ��Shut up, will you?�� one of them said after.

    ��Just let it go man, we can��t change anything now,�� another one said.

    ��This is probably why your girl went looking for another dick, cuz your stupid a** talked way too much,�� the third guy didn��t have a filter on his mouth and just let his annoyance take over leaving the whole group of friends staring at him with their mouths hanging open.

    Everyone went silent as they stared at Tony to see his reaction.

    ����Fuck her and fuck her new boy toy, let��s just get some drinks and get drunk, I don��t have to go to work tomorrow anyway,�� Tony rolled his eyes as his friend��s words sucker-punched him back into consciousness.

    ��You don��t have to go to work?�� One of his friends asked.

    ��Didn��t I tell you guy? That I was fired today?�� Tony asked in surprise.

    ��No wonder you��re so angry, anyway, let��s get some drinks, you can��t worry if you��re drunk,�� one of them said as they started packing drinks from the shelves.

    ***

    **31stOctober 2020**

    *10:23 am*

    Abuja, Nigeria��

    In the head office of the Nigerian Football Federation, Gernot Rohr, Nigeria��s national team��s head manager was seated in his office, perusing through some papers on his table.

    There were quite a few stacks of files on his table and Gernot had to go through them as they held information about yers with Nigerian origins.

    Currently, Gernot Rohr was trying to pick the yers that he would call up to the national team for the uing international break where they had a qualification match to y against Sierra Leone for a ce in the uing Africa Cup of Nations Tournament(AFCON).

    Gernot Rohr was taking his time to pick out the yers as he knew thattely, the reception he had been receiving from the NFF��s management had been quite cold due to his inconsistent results.

    Moreover, it had been four years since he became the manager of the Super Eagles, making him the longest serving coach of the Nigerian National team since it��s inception, yet he didn��t have a single trophy to show for it despite the fact that he was coaching Africa��s strongest team�� or at least they looked that way on paper.

    It was time to take some risks if he wanted to keep his job, he thought to himself as he kept his eyes on one particr file that he had taken extra time to read through earlier.

    ��Seems I have to call in quite a few favors for this one�� I hope he epts,�� Gernot muttered as he picked up his phone, his eyes still on the file.

    On the file was the name ��Jason Bolu�� written in bold letters.

 Chapter 308: Champions League 2020/21; Group Stage Matchday 3

    Chapter 308: Champions League 2020/21; Group Stage Matchday 3

    **3rd November 2020**

    *7:55 pm*

    {The stadium is quiet but all this sounds like the prelude to the excitement that would follow as Porto hosts Olympique Marseille here at Estadio do Dragao for their third group stage match}

    {It��s Porto vs Marseille}

    {It��s a game that promises excitement with two sides that look to be equal on paper}

    {Let��s get straight into the line-ups for the two teams}

    {Porto will be arranging themselves across the field in the 4-4-2 formation and will be looking to control possession for the majority of the game while hitting their opponents with swift counterattacks, especially from the nks}

    {In Porto��s goal, we have Augustin Marchesin and the two wing-backs are Zaidu Sanusi and Wilson Manafa on the right and left sides respectively} {In the center of the defense are Porto and Ivan Marcano}

    {In the center of the midfield we have Otavio and Mattheus Uribe taking charge of the center while Jason and Fabio Viera would be on the right and left sides of the midfield and up front we have a strike partnership between Moussa Marega and Sergio Oliveira}

    {This is a more familiar-looking line-up than what we saw from them in their season campaign match just four days ago where they lost}

    {They will be looking to get back to winning ways today, but it��ll be easier said than done for them against opponents like Marseille}

    Thementator went on to finish all his pre-matchmentary while the yers waited for the pre-match formalities to be done before they began arranging themselves on the field.

    ***

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The pre-match formalities were over and the match kicked off as soon as the clock hit eight, bringing a start to Porto and Marseille��s third group-stage match of the Champions League that season.

    Both teams had ns to win as they both had the same number of points.

    Porto was currently leading due to goal difference, but goal difference wouldn��t matter if Marseille managed to win the match and take all the points home.

    They would take the second position of the group irrespective of their goal difference and that was exactly what they nned to do, however, Porto wasn��t going to just allow them to do that, especially since they wereing in furious with their loss in theirst game.

    It didn��t take long for the match to heat up.

    # 4th minute��

    The match had barely started, but both teams were already tearing at each other and already a couple of shots had been sent flying, but none had gone in and the two teams were still moving with high intensity with their energy tanks still at full.

    Porto was currently in possession and the ball was moving around quickly among their yers as they slowly pushed up the field while making sure not to lose possession.

    From Otavio to Uribe to Viera, and then to Oliveira before going back to Viera.

    The ball moved quickly and then Otavio who received the ball finally sent the ball to the right where Jason received it but didn��t pass immediately.

    The moment Jason stopped the ball, his teammates already knew that he was about to make a run and they started looking around for open spaces to run through while those who were being marked started freeing themselves.

    Just as they had thought, Jason was indeed looking to make a run and he waited for his marker to approach while seemingly leaving himself open as he faced his approaching marker.

    The Marseille defender slowed as he approached, crouching slightly and getting into a defensive posture, but despite all his preparation, Jason remained open as he squared off against him, seemingly looking for a way past him.

    The defender continued to draw closer yet it seemed like Jason hadn��t been able to find space, but just when the defender was about to lunge forward, Jason flicked the ball forward at high speed and burst past the Marseille defender, stunning him and leaving him unable to react in time.

    Jason made full use of his high eleration and zoomed past the defender before heading down the right nk and sending in a curling cross into the penalty box where his teammates were waiting.

    {A cross!? Header from Marega!}

    {GOAL!!!} thementator shouted in excitement as he saw Marega outmuscle his marker and rise to the air to get on the end of Jason��s cross and direct it into the back of the.

    {Porto open up the game early!}

    {I��m sure the manager must have mentioned this in the locker room. Scoring early gives you the chance to dictate the game from early on and Porto have taken that chance}

    Thementator continuedmenting while the Porto yers kept celebrating, the absence of fans at the stadium not dampening their excitement.

    They were sure the fans were celebrating with them in their respective homes anyway, and their thoughts weren��t wrong.

    # 10th minute��

    With Porto taking the lead early in the game, they began trying to dictate the game and ying at their tempo, but the Marseille team wasn��t nning on giving up control of the game that easily and had been doing their best to resist Porto��s rising momentum.

    Porto had the ball and had been passing it around in the middle of the field, but Mattheus Uribe had tried to dribble past a Marseille yer when he had the ball instead of squaring it off and he ended up losing the ball after a rough tackle from the Marseille yer who immediately took control of the ball and sent a splitting through pass behind Porto��s defense.

    Pepe and Ivan Marcano were the only yers in the back so they weren��t ready when Payet burst past them to get on the end of the pass before taking the ball forward and curling it past Augustin Marchesin.

    {Goal!}

    {It hasn��t taken them long, they have their equalizer}

    {Porto wasn��t ready for th-}

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    Thementator��s excitedmentary was speedily interrupted by a shrill st of the referee��s whistle.

    {The g��s not up for offside, it seems there��s been a foul before the goal} thementator exined as he saw the referee pointing to Mattheus Uribe who was still lying down on the ground.

    The Marseille yers immediately gathered around the referee, trying to downy the tackle, but Uribe was still down and it seemed like he wouldn��t be getting up soon.

    The medics soon ran onto the field to check on Uribe who seemed to be injured, while the referee ran off the field to check with VAR.

    Less than a minuteter, the referee headed back onto the field, giving his final verdict.

    The goal was to be disallowed as Uribe had been fouled as the ball was snatched from him.

    Another few secondster, the medical team had a stretcher brought over as Uribe seemed to have sustained a knee injury and he couldn��t continue the game.

    On the sidelines, Sergio Oliveira got a call-up from the manager and he quickly began warming up, preparing toe on for the injured yer.

    # 31st minute��

    *Fweeeeee*

    {Oh, the referee��s blown his whistle and is pointing at the spot! Penalty to Porto!}

    {Jason had been cutting in from his wing and trying to weasel his way around his marker, but the defender wasn��t having it and brought him down in the penalty box} Thementator described the situation with extensivementary while the referee ran over to the location of the foul and pulled out a yellow card.

    {Oh, as if a penalty wasn��t enough, the yer has received a booking as well and will have to start watching himself from now on}

    Jason adjusted his socks and stood up with the help of Viera pulling him up.

    The Porto yers gathered around and soon the penalty taker was decided to be the current vice-captain of the team, Sergio Oliveira.

    Jason would have rather taken the penalty shot by himself, but he had to acquiesce to the hierarchy and give up the penalty kick.

    Sergio Oliveira took the ball to the penalty spot and set it down before taking a few steps back to wait for the referee��s whistle while the yers of the two teams arranged themselves outside the penalty box with the referee monitoring their movements.

    Once everything was in ce, the referee put his whistle to his mouth and blew hard.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    On hearing the referee��s whistle, Oliveira ran at the ball and hit it deftly to the bottom right side of the post while the unlucky Marseille goalkeeper had preemptively dived towards the left.

    {Well taken penalty!}

    {That makes it two!}

    {Porto are pulling clear here!]

    {The goalkeeper followed his instincts, but with instincts like that, I hope he doesn��t gamble} Thementator sneaked in an unruly choice of words, but only the Marseille yers and fans cared after hearing the referee��s sneaky diss.

    The Porto fans on the other hand wereughing while celebrating their team��s second goal of the game.

    Their team looked strong on the ball and if they continued with this level of performance, then the game was surely in the bag, unlike their previous game.

    For this, the Porto fans couldn��t be any happier.

 Chapter 309: Champions League 2020/21; Group Stage Matchday 3 II

    Chapter 309: Champions League 2020/21; Group Stage Matchday 3 II

    # 69th minute��

    The first half of the game hade and gone, ending with Porto having a two-goal lead while Marseille remained unable to trouble the scoreboard operator.

    After fifteen minutes of halftime, the yers were back on the field and doing their utmost to get the game going their way.

    Porto was trying to further their lead while Marseille was trying to find a way back into the game.

    Neither had much sess so far, but that was about to change with Porto on the attack once again.

    Porto had been keeping possession of the ball high up the pitch and had the ball constantly moving just outside Marseille��s penalty area as they looked for an opening in the opposition��s defense.

    However, the space wasn��t showing up and Jason who had just received the ball decided to try and create the space himself.

    He cut in from the right and did a one-two with Oliveira to get past a Marseille yer and he received the ball back inside Marseille��s penalty box. Jason continued pushing forward, slowing his pace and doing a couple of step-overs to try and confuse the yer who stood in between him and the goal, but just before the yer could make his move, Jason suddenly sent a pass to his right where Oliveira had run over.

    {Oliveira!!!} Thementator shouted as Oliveira unleashed a powerful full shot at Marseille��s goalpost.

    {Fantastic save! The keeper��s equal to it!}

    {The ball bounces back into y��! Diaz is there!}

    {Goal!} Thementator��s voice rose into an excited frenzy as he watched Luis Diaz m the ball back in after Marseille��s goalkeeper had blocked the earlier shot.

    {It fell his way and he didn��t hesitate!}

    {Surely there��s no way back for Marseille now!} Thementator��s words didn��t matter much to the Porto team that was celebrating their goal, but the Marseille yers at the stadium and their fans currently had something inmon, which was the disappointed looks on their faces as they began to inwardly ept that the game was beyond them.

    # 74th minute��

    {Porto��s victory in this match feels like it has been set in stone, and they��re ying like it, but Marseille��s yers seem to be getting rougher every minute with them having amassed four yellow cards already in this game}

    {That was a rough tackle on Jason just seconds ago, but luckily, Jason seems unhurt, it must have stung}

    {He��s gearing up to take the free-kick and on the sidelines, a new yer seems to be gearing up to take his ce on the pitch}

    {It seems the manager will be taking him off soon so this free-kick may be hisst chance to get on the scoreboard}

    {It is within shooting distance and we��ve seen him score a couple of free kicks before} Thementator gave extensivementary of the happenings on the pitch.

    Jason stood a few meters behind the ball as he waited for the referee��s whistle, the goal being the only thing in his sights.

    He had seen Francisco Conceicao warming up and he knew that his time on the pitch was almost up, but he still wanted to get on the scoreboard, hence he was nning to go directly for goal with this free-kick.

    It was a bit farther out than he was used to at almost thirty yards away, but it wasn��t too far away that he couldn��t take it directly.

    *Fweeeeee*

    Jason��s thinking was cut short by the referee��s whistle and his body immediately began moving as he took step after step towards the ball, his pace increasing with every step until he was right behind the ball and hit it powerfully.

    {He takes a crack at it!} thementator shouted as the ball flew towards the post, somehow evading the wall and homing in on the goal with a slight curve.

    Marseille��s goalkeeper saw the balling at his goal and he immediately ran towards the path of the ball andunched himself at it, but right from the moment he jumped for the ball, he knew he fell short and couldn��t reach the ball.

    He could only track the ball with his eyes until��

    *CLANG*

    {Oh! It��s hit the cross bar!}

    {It��s not out of y yet, and the yers are scrambling for the ball!}

    {Mylo get��s there first and hits it!?} thementator��s voice held anticipation, and his tone was soon justified as he saw the ball smash into the back of the from Mylo��s rebounding shot.

    {GOAL!}

    {It��s four for Porto} thementator shouted as Mylo ran down the sidelines and jumped into a knee slide.

    It was a bit of an over the top celebration considering the match and theck of fans present in the stadium, but his teammates and the fans watching didn��t mind.

    Jason also went over to join in the celebrations, but internally he was gutted to have missed the free kick.

    ��Seems my aim still needs a lot more work,�� he thought as he gave Mylo a high five and turned away, heading down the sidelines while his teammates headed back to their half of the field.

    Jason��s jersey number was already being shown on the board in red and he was taken off for Francisco Conceicao who was having his debut game for the club.

    The head manager was making use of their lead to give the young yer a few minutes on the pitch�� of course, Francisco being the head manager��s son helped that decision, but no one cared too much about it.

    At least no one on the first team really put it to mind�� Jason didn��t know about the other youth yers.

    Jason received a pat on the back from the manager as he headed to his seat on the bench, his face impassive as he didn��t have much of a reason to smile.

    From a general point of view, Jason had performed well and done everything that could be done in that game for a yer in his position, but Jason begged to differ.

    The only major stat that he had gotten was an assist.

    For a match where his team was able to get four goals from four different people, Jason wasn��t able to get a single goal, and he wasn��t happy with it.

    He needed more, he needed to do more before he could attain legendary status and performances like this were good, but nowhere near enough.

 Chapter 310: A Strange but Interesting Invitation

    Chapter 310: A Strange but Interesting Invitation

    The match was over and it had ended with the scores of Porto 4 : 0 Marseille.

    Neither of the two teams had managed to worry the scoreboard operator any further after Jason had headed off the pitch despite shots being sent flying at both ends of the field and in the end the final whistle was blown.

    Sergio Oliveira was named the man of the match and he was the one who ended up having to face most of the interviews.

    Jason had used that opportunity to sneak into the tunnel and avoid the reporters.

    He wasn��tpletely sessful, but he avoided most of the media attention and finally reached the team��s resting room where he began preparing to leave.

    He first took a quick shower to wash away all the sweat and some of the exhaustion from the match.

    Once he was done with his shower, he headed back to the locker room where some other members of his team were also clearing up and getting ready to leave.

    As Jason dressed up in the New Bnce sports outfit that he had worn into the stadium when they had arrived for the match, Zaidu Sanusi sat beside him and said, ��Great work out there today, mam. Too bad you didn��t get one past the goalkeeper,�� Zaidumented andforted Jason with his words at the same time.

    ��Thanks man, you did good too,�� Jason nodded slightly as he responded, most of his focus on the clothes he was wearing, simply taking the conversation in stride as he wasn��t especially close to Zaidu Sanusi.

    They were teammates and they rted well with each other, but that was about it.

    He definitely couldn��t im to have a close friendship with Zaidu Sanusi, so he wasn��t really putting much thought into the conversation, but Zaidu kept talking and, not willing to end the conversation.

    Jason mostly responded with a few words of his own as he did his own thing, but slowly his curiosity began to light up as Zaidu��s sudden conversation was a bit strange, however, before he could cut in and ask what had brought on this sudden situation, Zaidu asked him a question.

    ��Hey, do you have anything major you��re doing tomorrow, you know, like a date or something, or maybe you��ve got some prior engagements, seeing as tomorrow is a free day and all?�� Zaidu Sanusi asked Jason.

    ������ Jason paused for a second and nced over at Zaidu Sanusi for the first time since the conversation began.

    ��Well, as you said, tomorrow is a free day, so I don��t really have anything to do, apart from ying games all day�� I don��t exactly have a girlfriend�� yet,��

    ���� So, I usually like to use my resting day for what it should be used for, you know, resting,��

    ��Why do you ask?�� Jason asked after exining his likely ns.

    ��Well, do you have some time tomorrow that you can spare for a meeting with me, I�� We want to talk with you about something,�� Zaidu Sanusi replied, not bothering to read into Jason��s response.

    ��We? Who are the ��we��?�� Jason asked with a raised eyebrow.

    ��Me and someone else,�� Zaidu Sanusi answered.

    ��And who is this someone else?�� Jason asked again, not satisfied with the veiled answer.

    ��Can��t say. It��s a surprise, but don��t worry, you��re safe. I��m not nning to kidnap you or anything,�� Zaidu Sanusi added a little joke to his answer as he knew how dumb it sounded to invite someone to a meeting with unknown people while not giving them a full exnation.

    ��That doesn��t exactly help me consider your offer,�� Jason chuckled as he continued looking at Zaidu who was trying really hard to get him to agree.

    ��Someone must have put him up to something, the question is who?�� Jason thought to himself before finally giving Zaidu a slightly affirmative answer.

    ��Alright, I��ll bite. Give me a location and time and I��ll drop by���� he began before pausing for a bit,

    ��Ah, wait, before that, I hope you��re not nning on wasting my time on something dumb,�� Jason asked with a straight face.

    No matter how curious he was, Jason wasn��t about to let someone waste his time for absolutely no reason.

    This was two hours of his time, they were talking about.

    It was time he wouldn��t be getting back and would rather he spent itzing around on his own terms than wasting it away on another person��s terms.

    ��I assure you, it��s not a waste of your time, and it is actually quite important,�� Zaidu Sanusi assured Jason, causing Jason��s curiosity to rise even further.

    ��Previously, you had my curiosity, but now you have my attention�� however, I��ll wait till tomorrow to find out I guess,�� Jasonughed.

    ��Alright then,�� Zaidu said as he dapped Jason to seal the deal.

    ��I wonder what he wants to talk about, or who wants to meet me?�� Jason wondered internally as he watched Zaidu walk off and start packing up his own stuff.

    ��I guess I��ll find out,�� Jason muttered to himself as he turned his face away and refocused on packing all his football equipment into his sports bag.

    Just as he was zipping up his bag after putting thest of his things inside the sports bag, Sergio Conceicao walked into the locker room.

    ��Good work out there boys. Good to see you guys working hard to put an end to the bad form that was once again threatening to raise its head,��

    ��The attackers did their job up front, keeping their markers in check and making the defenders constantly under tenterhooks,��

    ��The midfielders did well in helping us control the game while keeping possession of the ball most of the time, and finally, our defenders were rock solid and didn��t give way to our opponents,��

    ��Overall, it was a very good team effort and I hope to see more of the same ining matches,��

    ��I��m sure you guys agree and want to keep winning like this, right?�� Sergio Conceicao asked the yers aftermending each section of the team and the team��s general efforts on the pitch.

    ��Yes coach!�� the Porto yers responded loudly, their excitement still high after the high-intensity match.

 Chapter 311: One of Africas Best

    Chapter 311: One of Africa''s Best

    Chapter 311: One of Africa��s Best

    **4th November 2020**

    *12:02 pm*

    Jason stood up from his yoga mat afterpleting an hour-long yoga session to help relieve his muscles of exhaustion and help with match recovery.

    As much as he wanted to do some physical training, he also understood that it was best not to overuse his muscles when he was supposed to be recovering, especially after a match like the one he had participated in the previous night.

    It was a sessful outing, but Jason had been tackled hard quite a few times while he was looking for a goal, so he was sore in a few ces and he had to make sure it didn��t be something else.

    In his previous reality, he had be injury-prone early on in his career due to him constantly pushing himself because he knew he wasn��t good enough and he wanted to progress.

    In this reality, he was much better than before, so he could allow himself the luxury of not training in his recovery periods, especially when it was for his own benefit.

    Once he was done with his yoga session, Jason headed to his bathroom to wash up as he had a ce to be for the next hour. Zaidu had sent him the details of where and when they would meet and the time for the meeting was 1:30 pm, so he had to be on his way soon.

    Luckily, the ce they would be meeting wasn��t too far away from his location so he should be able to reach there in time�� Probably.

    Even if he didn��t reach there in time, Zaidu and whoever was with him would have to wait if they really had something important to discuss.

    Thinking about it objectively, the whole thing was a bit shady and suspicious, but Jason didn��t think it could be something bad�� Even if it was it couldn��t be life-threatening�� Or career-threatening, he hoped.

    ��Well, there��s no point in thinking about it now,�� Jason mused as he walked under the cold shower and started washing up.

    Forty minutester, Jason was done washing and was all dressed in a trendy outfit as he walked through his house, picking up his car key from the kitchen counter and walking outside.

    Jason��s blue hoodie matched his car��s color, though the rest of his clothes were darker colored, and he had the trademark dark shades covering his eyes, paired with a nose mask.

    He jumped into his car and soon drove out of the driveway and onto the street.

    With a barely audible hum, the blue BMW picked up speed and began dashing down the streets of Porto heading for Adega So Nicu, one of the higher-end restaurants in Porto, and also the location Zaidu had told Jason toe to.

    It didn��t take too long for Jason to reach the restaurant, arriving at the parking lot at 1:25 pm.

    He pulled into a parking spot, turned off the engine, and got down from his car, his face covered with a nose mask and dark-tinted sses.

    On his way to the restaurant, Jason noticed that there were a bit more people outside than previously.

    It seemed the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus was slowly burning out and maybe in a few months people could be outside again.

    Those were Jason��s thoughts, but he also knew that there had to be a vine or a cure for the virus created before that was possible, otherwise��

    ��Well, I don��t think all of humanity would end because of a virus that doesn��t even turn people to undead, so we should be good,�� he mused as he walked into the restaurant.

    Someone quickly walked up to him and Jason told him the reservation number for the private room that had been booked for the meeting.

    On hearing the reservation number, the attendant swiftly led Jason towards the private room and soon they were in front of a door that was pushed open by the attendant.

    Jason walked past the attendant and stepped into the room slowly, his eyes falling on two people seated in the room who were previously talking but had turned to the door on hearing it open.

    One of the people seated at the table was Zaidu Sanusi, Jason��s teammate.

    The second person however caused a shock to Jason.

    It was a face that would be recognized by any OG football fan who paid attention to football legends.

    Seated at the table with Zaidu Sanusi was Jay-Jay Okocha, a widely known legend of football and one of the greatest footballers to evere out of the African continent.

    Widely touted to be as skilled as Ronaldinho Gaucho in pure dribbling abilities, Jay-Jay Okocha was a god on the ball.

    Unfortunately, he wasn��t able to win any trophies due to him not joining any big team in his active years, he was still an acknowledged legend of football.

    Some people even said, one of the major contributing factors to hisck of silverware was because he was never serious with the sport despite having the talent to run circles around a whole team of 11 yers by himself.

    He was way too yful on the field and would rather dribble the whole team than score a goal even when his team needed it and he was capable of doing so.

    It was part of his charms though and it was impossible for Jason not to recognize his face.

    Okocha never bothered with media presence, but as one of the people that Jason had learned from (by watching videos), there was no way for Jason not to know him.

    Seeing both Zaidu Sanusi and Jay-Jay Okocha in one room, Jason immediately noticed one simrity that all three of them had, and immediately he felt like he knew why this meeting was arranged in the first ce.

    All three of them were Nigerians so it wasn��t hard to figure out the direction this whole situation was heading to�� Or so Jason wanted to believe, but he knew that there could be many other reasons why they were meeting.

    However, Jason really hoped that it was as he thought as it was something he wouldn��t say no to and he had even been looking for such an opportunity in the first ce.

 Chapter 312: Life Changing Conversation I

    Chapter 312: Life Changing Conversation I

    ��Jason,�� Zaidu called out to Jason who had spaced out for a bit as he walked into the room.

    ��What��s up man,�� Jason said as he walked up to Zaidu and held out his hand for a handshake.

    ��I��m good, I��m good,�� Zaidu nodded and turned to Okocha who was seated beside him.

    ��Uh, this is-�� he began to introduce Okocha, but Jason cut in.

    ��Jay-Jay Okocha, one of the greatest footballers I know about from Africa,��

    ��I��m a huge fan, it��s a pleasure to meet you,�� Jason said holding out a hand to Okocha as well.

    ��Pleasure to meet you too,�� Okocha said as he stood up to shake Jason��s hand, his movements filled with ease.

    He didn��t seem to put on any airs despite his reputation and felt more like a friendly uncle next door that no one would think was famous. ��I��ve heard good things about you, and when I did my research, it seems the storytellers didn��t do justice to the stories flying around,�� Okocha said as he sat back in his seat while also gesturing for Jason to sit.

    ��I��m ttered, I feel the storytellers probably went overboard with the storytelling, but since even you think I��m doing well, I think I��m on the right path,�� Jason replied as he sat across on the chair across the table from the legendary yer.

    After exchanging a few more pleasantries, the conversation moved toward Nigeria and Okocha asked Jason,

    ��Have you ever been to Nigeria, cuz I can��t tell with your ent and all that, it seems like you were born and raised in the States?��

    ��Actually, I was born in America, but then my parents went back to Nigeria and lived there for a few years. Then we finally moved back to the USA when I was like 4 years old,��

    ��Over the years, I��ve gone back a few times since we still have family in Nigeria, but I��ll say, I��m more based in America,�� Jason answered, thinking a bit.

    It was true that he still had family in Nigeria, but he didn��t really bother to stay in contact with them.

    That was Daphne��s job and the few times he had gone back to Nigeria, it was because he was dragged back to Nigeria with her and he couldn��t refuse because he was trying to build a better rtionship with her in this reality.

    In his past reality, he had rejected all her attempts to get him back to his home country�� Or at least one of them.

    Hence he had more contact with his native origins in this life than in his previous one.

    ��Oh, whenst were you in Nigeria?�� Okocha asked, a bit curious, and secretly let out a breath of relief after knowing Jason wasn��tpletely alienated from Nigeria.

    ��I think it��s three years,�� Jason muttered thoughtfully while trying to remember.

    ��I was fifteen, so yeah, three years,�� he affirmed after confirming his thoughts.

    The conversation continued for a while longer, and somewhere in between all that, they ordered something to eat.

    The conversation was fun for Jason, but he wasn��t there to waste two hours just having some meaningless conversation, and he was Jason was about to interject and ask what the point of this meeting was when Okocha hit the nail on the head.

    ��So, how much thought have you put into ying at the international stages?�� Okocha asked, putting a spoonful of chicken bordise into his mouth.

    ��Well, I have put some thought into it, especially since I have more than one option. Some people would consider it too early for me to think about it, but it��s something I��m looking forward to,�� Jason replied.

    ��Why do you ask?�� he went on to ask, his words making it seem like he was clueless, but the yful look in his eyes didn��t match his words.

    ��Swear that you don��t know what we are doing here?�� Zaidu could not keep quiet and he immediately asked in mock fury.

    Zaidu had been in the Porto team for a while and though Jason joined the team for training just about a month ago, it was enough time for Zaidu to figure out that Jason wasn��t an idiot and was actually very smart.

    Thus he was sure that right from the start, Jason had probably gotten an inkling of what was going on, and with Jay-Jay��sst question, it was enough for Jason toe to confirm his thoughts, so he didn��t understand Jason acting all coy and ignorant, but it was kind of funny to watch and he could not help interjecting.

    ��Please, enlighten me with what��s going on here, you didn��t exactly give any details from the start about what I was going to be here for,�� Jason stated in response, bringing up Zaidu��s obtuse invitation.

    ��This guy,�� Zaidu face palmed like he couldn��t believe the whole situation.

    On the side, Okocha quickly decided to interrupt and bring the conversation back on the right track before the whole situation was messed up because of Zaidu��s fooling around.

    ��What do you think about ying for the Nigerian national team?�� Okocha asked Jason directly, interrupting him before he could reply to Zaidu.

    ������ Jason paused for a while and his eyes darted in Okocha��s direction and stayed on his frame.

    ��Thank God he already asked, it was already getting annoying ying around with words�� my mouth hurts,�� Jason thought internally, not used to talking too much.

    His outward appearance, however, didn��t reflect his inner thoughts.

    ��Well, I��ve considered it and I��ll admit that I��m more sold on the Super Eagles than the USA��s national team, but well, there is a lot to consider�� though I nned to do that when I received an invitation����

    ��But then you guys came and I��m quite confused as to what this whole situation is,��

    ��It feels like you want me to consider joining the Nigerian national team, but why didn��t I receive an official call-up letter or anything, instead I was dragged into a surprising but shady meeting by my teammate,��

    ��How about we do this,��

    ��You tell me what��s going on and I��ll tell you my thoughts on joining the national team,�� Jason said at a stretch, putting away all dramatic actions and getting very direct.

 Chapter 313: Life Changing Conversation II

    Chapter 313: Life Changing Conversation II

    ��Full disclosure please,�� Jason added, not ready to y another game of words with the two men.

    ��Hmmm,�� Okocha nodded thoughtfully, thinking about how to present the current situation to Jason.

    He was naturally not someone who liked going around in circles except for when he was on the pitch, so he preferred a direct conversation and hoped it didn��t backfire.

    ��I��m sure you��re well informed of the current state of the African national teams,��

    �� For quite a while now, yers with African origins have been choosing to y for countries in Europe or other parts of the world as long as they are qualified to do so because of the advantages that ying for non-African teams brings,��

    ��You only have to look at the French or Ennd national team to see what I��m talking about,��

    �� I��m sure you get what I��m driving at, but we��ve been disappointed by quite a few young talents that should be ying for our country going to pick another country,��

    �� There��s Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori, David ba, Dele Ali, and other such yers choosing other countries over us,�� �� In fact, just this year, we reached out to this young guy ying for Arsenal, Bukayo Saka, but he chose to y for the Ennd National team instead,��

    �� While we understand that we cannot offer those guys as many advantages ying for our country than ying for another nation, we still have to try as it��s a matter of national pride,��

    ��Despite having some of the best talents in the sports world, only a few trophies have evere back to Africa, we��ve never even been considered major contenders for the World Cup since its inception,��

    ��This brings us to you. Currently, our national team��s head coach is working towards a vision of bringing honors to Nigeria at the international level,��

    ��It��s a bit far-fetched and there��s bound to be a lot of obstacles if we are to make that possible, but the first thing we can start with is building a winning team�� And we see you as an important part of the winning team,��

    ��Nigeria is entering a golden generation in sports currently and we have many budding talents the likes of Victor Osimhen, Adem Lookman, Samuel Chukwueze, Alex Iwobi, Kelechi Ihenacho, Wilfred Ndidi, Bassey Troost-Ekong,  Aina, and your friend Zaidu Sanusi here, but so far its still not enough, and to keep building the team, we cannot afford any setbacks,��

    ��Gernot asked me a favor to find out if you have any intentions of ying for the national team as we cannot risk sending an official invitation and getting rejected again as it wouldn��t be good for morale,��

    �� So what do you say, boy?��

    �� Do you have ns to join the Super Eagles in taking to the skies, or do you have other ns?��

    Okocha finished his speech with the million-dor question and took a ss of water to moisten his mouth after saying all that, but his eyes stayed on Jason��s face, staring directly into his eyes.

    ��I guess you weren��t made the captain of the national team just because of your skills with the ball,�� Jason muttered as he poured himself a ss of water as well, but Okocha justughed off Jason��s praise.

    Jason was actually quite impressed with Okocha��s conversational skills as the Nigerian national legend had been able to exin the whole situation while also riling him up a bit and getting his blood pumping.

    ��Well�� what do you say?�� Okocha asked again.

    ��Shit, where do I sign up?�� Jason responded with a wide grin, internally shaking his head at himself.

    ��Ah wait, I hope I��m being invited to the senior national team and not the under-18, or the under-21 team. I don��t have any ns of ying with kids,�� Jason immediately asked as the question appeared in his head.

    ��Bruh, you��re 18, that��s around the same age as those ��kids�� you mentioned,�� Zaidu rolled his eyes, but he had a smile on his face after knowing that Jason would be joining him in the Nigerian national team.

    He definitely didn��t want Jason on another national team just because if they ever met at any nationalpetition, he was sure Jason would probably make him viral on YouTube.

    ��Maybe I��m the same age physically, but mentally, I��m fifty-eight,�� Jason said truthfully but Zaidu just scoffed,

    ��Yeah right,�� Zaidu said as he rolled his eyes again, not believing Jason��s words, not knowing they were actually true.

    ��I��ll congratte you in advance�� Wee to the team,�� Okocha said to Jason, not paying any attention to the scoffing Zaidu.

    ��Thank you,�� Jason nodded.

    ��I��llmunicate your response to Gernot and he��ll have an official invitation sent to you, as well as take care of notifying your club about your international call up,��

    �� He probably hopes to have you join the team for the uing international break, so you should be hearing from him soon,�� Okocha told Jason what to expect.

    ��Just stay sharp and get ready to travel, I hope to see you in Nigerian colors soon,�� Okocha added with a smile, happy to have another talent join the Nigerian national team.

    ��Yeah, thanks,�� Jason replied with a smile, happy to hear the news.

    The next international break was less than a week away which meant he could potentially appear in Nigerian colors as early as next week, so how couldn��t he be happy?

    He had only started ying professional football midway the previous season and was already handed an international call-up.

    That was an impressive feat�� At least to him, he didn��t know what other people would think, but he was happy as it validated his constant efforts and he was about to cross another milestone that he never even saw in his previous reality.

    No�� It was even more apt to say he had already crossed it as he hadn��t even been scouted for the national team in his previous reality.

    After a little more conversation, Jason parted ways with the Okocha and Sanusi and headed to his car.

    As he got into his car, he immediately took out his phone and called his Daphne.

    *Ring* *Ring* *Ring*

    *Click*

    ��Guess who thetest addition to the Nigerian national team is?�� Jason said into the phone��s mic as soon as she picked up.

    ��Definitely not you cuz the moment you set foot in Nigeria, you��ll be drowned with marriage proposals,�� Daphne shot back, her ear already hurting as Jason hade to brag to her about another one of his achievements.

 Chapter 314: Letter In Tha Mail

    Chapter 314: Letter In Tha Mail

    The following days were quiet for Jason as he did the same things he always did.

    Getting up early to go to training and then training till he was half dead before heading home to continue training.

    The only thing that had happened out of the norm for him was the international call-up letter that was sitting in his mail, stating that he was to join the Super Eagles in the international break for the next Afcon qualification match against Sierra Leone.

    Despite not having signed a deration of intent to join the national team, his name had already been added to the squad list, but it didn��t matter as he was going to be signing the Deration of Intent when he reached Nigeria.

    He had already confirmed his avability, so there was nothing else for him to do but to keep training as the days passed by, but unknown to him, news about him joining the Nigerian national team had been reported by some journalists and this was causing a wave in the social media world.

    ***

    On Twitter, a famous sports blog posted a report on Jason��s situation with the national team.

    *International Call-Up for Jason Less Than a Year After His Debut?* It has been confirmed that Jason Bolu has received an International call-up invitation from Nigeria and reports state that he is receptive to the idea of ying for Nigeria and will be heading to Nigeria to join the Super Eagles in theing international break.

    No reports have surfaced about him receiving a call-up from the USA and Nigeria looks like the country that will get Jason��s signature on a Deration of Intent first.

    **

    The post had quickly garnered interest and already had over 5k likes despite it only having been posted two hours ago.

    Comments had also started heaping up under the post.

    {An International debut after barely half of a season? Let��s fu**ing gooooo!!!} a user namedYoung_Creatormented.

    {It feels a bit early but I��m happy for him} Another user namedPlutomanimented.

    {Baby GOAT Jason about to bless the Super Eagles with his presence}JasonRose��Bamented.

    {I��md he cares and respects his native origin. It��s a hard value to find in the current football world, Huge win for Africa}SolomonOyefulmented.

    {Are we really going to let Jason go y for Nigeria? What are we doing?}UncleTomDaBallemented as well, but hisment was receiving fire from people who wanted to see Jason y for Nigeria.

    {Jason Omo oro, we dey expect you for Naija now. Wa gbe wa de be!}Balogun Adesinmented as well.

    It was clear that the news about Jason joining the Nigerian national team was quite well received by fans of Jason, Nigeria, and Africa in general.

    Jason however had no idea about all this as he had other things on his mind, of which the most important one to him was his training.

    Slowly the days passed and soon the next match day arrived.

    ***

    **8thNovember 2020**

    *7:53 pm*

    {I bid you all a good evening. My name is Joao Paulinha and I wee you all to the Liga Nos Match day 7 match between Porto and Portimonense}

    {Porto wee Portimonense here at the Estadio do Dragao and will be looking to get back to winning ways after their loss to Pacos de Ferreira in thest league match}

    {Porto won their Champions League Group stage match against Marseille with quite the margin, and if they are bringing that kind of form into this game, then Portimonense might be in for tough match}

    {Without any ado, let��s get right to the line-ups of the two teams for the game}

    {Porto are arranging themselves in their usual 4-4-2 formation and we are seeing a very familiar line-up on the Porto side}

    {Augustin Marchesin is in goal and he��s assisted by Pepe and Chancel Mbemba in defending the center. On the nks are Wilson Manafa and Zaidu Sanusi whose duties revolve between defending their nks while providing support to the attackers when Porto are in possession of the ball and on the attack}

    {In Porto��s center midfield we have Otavio and Mattheus Uribe partnering up to form a supply line for the forwards and they will be assisted by Jason Bolu and Luis Diaz on the right and left nks respectively}

    {Upfront we have a striking partnership between Sergio Oliveira and Mylo Baumgartner, another one from Porto��s academy who has been making quite the waves this season}

    {Mylo��s consistent run of good performances has earned him the trust of the manager, and he��s going to be starting this game}

    {Porto��s fans must be ecstatic to see yet another youthful talent at their club shining brighter than most yers his age}

    {Moving to the Portimonenese team��s line-up. They seem to be arranging themselves in a 4-3-3 formation that can be adjusted into a 4-2-3-1 formation when on the defensive��}

    Thementator gave his openingmentary as the pre-match formalities were underway.

    Soon enough, the pre-match formalities were over and the referee��s whistle blew loudly to signal the start of the game.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    ***

    #18thminute��

    Porto didn��t hesitate to start the match on a high note as Jason was found by Otavio on the right wing and kicking into the ground, he unleashed an incisive run down the nks, cutting through Portimonense��s defense line with undisputed ease before unleashing a low cross into the penalty box that found Mylo.

    Sliding into the path of the ball, Mylo tipped the ball with his foot and pushed it past the outstretched arms of the Portimonense goalkeeper before getting up and running down the sidelines to celebrate his goal.

    {GOAL!}

    {The manager gave him a chance and he��s taken that chance! What a goal from the young striker!}

    {He��s put his team in the lead!}

    #37thminute��

    The end of the first half was approaching and the two teams were doing their best to be the next ones on the scoreboard.

    Porto was trying to stamp their authority into the game with another game while Portimonense was trying to get a goal that would put them back into contention for victory in the match.

    Porto seemed to have run out of luck at that moment as the Portimonense striker managed to snatch the ball from Mattheus Uribe and send in a pass to the left winger making a run.

    The Portimonense left winger didn��t hesitate to spin the ball around Augustin Marchesin and bring the batch back to where it started.

    {Goal!}

    {They��ve dug in deep and found themselves an equalizer!}

    {Porto aren��t through yet!}

 Chapter 315: 2020/21 Liga NOS Matchday 7 Victory

    Chapter 315: 2020/21 Liga NOS Matchday 7 Victory

    #64thminute��

    The first half of the minute had ended with both teams having gotten one past each other and now that the second half was underway, they were once again going at each other with all they had.

    Porto had a corner and it was Jason who took it, sending the ball high into Portimonense��s penalty box.

    Pepe was the first to get his head to the ball, and he directed the ball toward Portimonense��s goal, but the Portimonense goalkeeper jumped into the path of the ball and punched it away.

    The Portimonense defenders quickly chased after the ball and tried to clear it.

    One of them was lucky to get to the ball first, but he kicked the ball in an awkward position and the ball flew to the left side of the penalty box,nding in front of Jason who had taken the corner kick.

    Jason quickly brought the ball under control and shifted it forward a bit before sending it back into Portimonense��s penalty box where it came from and once again, yers from both teams jumped for the ball in the air.

    This time it was Sergio Oliveira who got his head to the ball and he headed the ball down towards the goal, but the Portimonense goalkeeper seemed to have entered the zone as he once again appeared behind the ball and blocked the shot, causing the ball to fall towards his right. But before he could get down and grab the ball, Zaidu Sanusi appeared from behind one of the Portimonense defenders and lunged at the ball, managing to get a touch to the ball first and sending it rolling past the goalline.

    {Goal!}

    {Porto take the lead for the second time in this game!}

    {It was a frantic, fric, and frenzied effort, but they managed to get the ball to cross the goalline despite the heroic saves of the opposition goalkeeper}

    #68thminute��

    After taking the lead once again, Portounched wave after wave of attacks on the Portimonense team as they looked to secure their lead by getting another goal, but the Portimonense team wasn��t going to easily give up on the game and had made sure to stop every Porto attack they could.

    One of their defensive efforts had brought down Fabio Viera 26 yards away from their goal and Porto had gotten a free-kick.

    Jason stepped up to take the free-kick while the referee watched over the arrangement of the wall and soon enough, the referee blew his whistle to signal Jason to take the free-kick.

    *Fweeeeeee!*

    On hearing the referee��s whistle, Jason ran at the ball and swung his foot powerfully to hit the ball, sending the ball with power at the wall.

    Immediately he hit the ball, Jason knew that he had not put enough elevation on the ball and the ball was going to collide with the yers forming the wall because it had not risen high enough, but somehow, the ball slipped between the bodies of the yers forming the wall and continued its flight toward the Portimonense goal.

    The Portimonense goalkeeper had thought the wall would block the shot so he wasn��t able to react at all when the ball flew towards the goal after somehow making it past the wall.

    His brain short-circuited and he was too stunned to move, allowing the ball to smash into the.

    {Goal!}

    {Three!}

    {There was an element of luck backing that goal, but overall, it was a well-taken free kick and he��ll im it!} thementator screamed excitedly as the Porto team celebrated.

    ***

    *Fweeeee*

    {There goes the final whistle. Porto have won, and they��ve done so with afortable margin}

    {This win will see them take their first steps at getting back into the title race, but as for how far they will go, we have no idea}

    {The fans will be keeping their hopes up, but the neutrals will like the current situation}

    {However, our deliberations do not change the results of the game. It is Porto 3 : 1 Portimonense}

    As the referee gave the closingmentary, Jason stood up from the bench where he had been sitting after he was taken off in the 73rd minute of the game and headed to the locker room with his teammates.

    With the match over,the international break had started for the Porto yers and on reaching his house Jason went to bed immediately.

    He had a flight to Nigeria the following day and he still had to pack up his stuff for the trip, but he wasn��t in a rush as his flight was in the afternoon, so he��d have ample time to pack his things.

    With his n for the next day decided, he let his consciousness go and sank into the depths of pleasant unconsciousness.

    The next morning,as per his n, Jason woke up just after nine am and started packing up his luggage after doing an hour long yoga session.

    He also did not forget to call Adele about the details of his flight as she was the one who had arranged everything for him.

    She was also going to Nigeria with him as even though her presence wasn��t necessary, it was more or less a customary thing for one��s agent to be around whenever he was signing anything.

    It was just a Deration of Intent that he would be signing and there would not really be a negotiation on personal terms as it wasn��t that kind of contract, but her presence wouldn��t entirely be unneeded.

    At least he wouldn��t have to bother with any arrangements as she would be there to take care of it.

    Of course, most of the arrangements for his stay in Nigeria would probably be arranged by the National team officials themselves, but anything personal would need attention that he didn��t have to spare, so what better than having someone there to to all the chores.

    Whether it was stressful or not, Jason wasn��t about to care�� he was a man of equality after all and equal opportunities meant equal responsibilities, or at least, that��s what it was supposed to mean if the people advocating for it actually meant their words.

 Chapter 316: Arrival at the Buj I

    Chapter 316: Arrival at the Buj I

    ��Wake up sleepyhead,�� Jason muttered as he poked Adele��s cheek with his index finger, trying to wake her without causing a racket.

    They were on the ne which was about tond at the Nnamdi Azikwe Airport in Abuja nine hours after its departure from Porto.

    Due to there being no direct flights from Porto to Abuja, the ne had a stopover at Morroco, which lengthened their travel duration, but overall, things weren��t too bad.

    The only problem was that it was almost midnight and Adele had long since gone to sleep, but now that they were about to arrive, Jason had to wake her up so he wouldn��t have to do anything himself, especially now that it was the middle of the night.

    Adele was the one who had made all the arrangements and Jason hadn��t bothered to ask what she had done.

    He didn��t know what hotels she booked, didn��t know how he was going to get there with all his luggage, and now that it was the middle of the night, he wasn��t feeling even the slightest bit inclined to act like a gentleman and start making all those arrangements

    Not when the person he paid to do all that was peacefully sleeping beside him.

    ��Hmmmm, huh?�� Adele��s eyes opened up slowly and the first thing she saw was Jason��s blue eyes looking intently at her, confusing her of what was currently happening. ��What��s going on here?��

    ��What are you doing in my house at this time of the night?��

    ��Did I get drunk or something?��Adele muttered question after question until her brain��s memory card came back online and she remembered what was actually happening.

    ��What the hell are you talking about? Your house? Middle of the night?�� Jason asked with even more confusion than her.

    ��How? When? Where? Why?��

    ��Are you alright in the head?�� Jason asked as he took her face in his hands and looked at her closely, wondering if this agent of his was right in the head.

    ��Maybe I shouldn��t have woken her up�� or stressed her too much,�� he thought to himself.

    ��I��m alrisht, shtop squeeshing my fache, people are looking at ush weirdly,�� Adele said, her words a bit slurred because of how Jason was holding her face in his hands.

    ���� They probably think we have a good rtionship�� We do have a close rtionship, right?�� Jason asked with a grin.

    ��I guessh,�� Adele muttered as she brought her hands over Jason��s hand on her face and tried to pry them off, but Jason��s hands weren��t budging and all she seeded in doing was putting on a more romantic-looking disy to the people watching Jason and Adele��s midnight rondo.

    Not paying any attention to Adele��s weak pull on his hands, Jason asked again,

    ��Are you really alright though?��

    ��I��m fhine, I jhust need a pay rhaise,�� Adele muttered through squashed lips.

    ��Take it from the agent fees in my next transfer,�� Jason responded quickly, passing the bulk of the pay raise to the unfortunate team that was going to add him to their roster in theing summer transfer window.

    He also let go of Adele��s face which had noticeably brightened up when she heard Jason��s response to her request.

    She had said it as a joke and had not been expecting him to respond.

    ��Hey, do you actually mean that?�� Adele asked, rubbing her cheeks.

    ��Have I ever lied to you?�� Jason replied with a question.

    ���� Huh���� Adele went silent in thought, but she couldn��t remember Jason ever saying things he didn��t mean unless he was obviously joking around.

    ��Exactly���� Jason said in response to her silence.

    ��Anyway, look sharp, we��re about tond,�� he began to pack up hisptop, game controller, and headphones that he had been using earlier.

    He had been ying games almost all through the flight as there wasn��t really much else he could be doing, not to mention that he was enjoying ying.

    The FIFA and EA Sports franchise, FIFA 21 had been released about a month ago and Jason had finally been added to the game but Jason wasn��t entirely happy when he saw his stats in the game.

    He had only been given an overall rating of 74 which was quite demeaning after his performance in the previous season, but that wasn��t Jason��s only bone of contention with FIFA.

    Those guys had thought it fit to actually butcher his face and use an image that looked like it was edited with WE8 mechanics and looked nothing like the actual him.

    Putting his game character��s face against the character image he had in tactical settings, it was clear that Jason was one of those few yers who looked better in the picture than in the game.

    It was actually quite annoying looking at someone who was supposed to look like him, but didn��t and he also moved differently, but it was to be expected, Jason hadn��t reached the level where the FIFA game makers were bothered enough to carefully construct his face or to personally add his motion style to the game.

    Despite all that, Jason actually still enjoyed the game and had quite a lot of fun using his game character to score many goals and destroy his opponents.

    So far, he had started a yer career using his in-gam character and also had a manager career where he was using Barcelona and the first yer he had bought was himself and paired himself with Messi and Suarez up front.

    He also intended to do the same thing with Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, and some others.

    It was his way of living out some of his fantasies of ying with top yers of his generation and the previous generation and for now it was fun, making him look forward to doing so in real life as well.

    He already couldn��t wait to leave Porto and try and continue striving for his goals elsewhere and it wasn��t because he was tired of Porto or no longer put them in his eyes, but rather because he felt like if one wanted to conquer the world, then they couldn��t stay confined to one location.

    If he had the opportunity, he would want to move to quite a few teams, and maybe�� just maybe he would finally settle down somewhere and craft himself as a legend of the club.

    All of that was for the future though, for now, his ne was about tond.

 Chapter 317: Arrival at the Buj II

    Chapter 317: Arrival at the Buj II

    ��Where did our driver say he would be?�� Jason asked Adele as they hauled their bags along with them as they walked through the airport.

    They hadnded a while ago and luckily were able toplete all the paperwork needed and were already on their way out. It seemed that the fact that it was past midnight didn��t prevent the airport from working at full power, but Jason noticed that things moved at an even quicker pace than thest time he was in Nigeria.

    He wondered whether it was a difference in the airports he arrived at, or whether the workers couldn��t be too bothered with them because it was the middle of the night and everyone had a degree of sleepiness attached to the back of their eyes, making them not want to bother themselves too much.

    For now, he didn��t really care what the answer to that question was because he was also quite tired and very sleepy, especially after staying awake throughout the flight.

    ��He said he��d be at the international wing or something, but I don��t know for the life of me where that would be,�� Adele replied, a slightly troubled look on her face as she had thought it wouldn��t take this long to find their driver.

    ���� I think we��re in the international wing right now, but I don��t see our guy�� which is expected since I don��t know what he looks like,��

    ��Try to call him or something,�� Jason said, not keen on doing much looking around for a driver at almost 1 am.

    ��I��m trying to do that, but the inte connection seems to be having some issues,�� Adele almost cried out. This was her first time in Nigeria and she hade prepared, knowing that her phone��s original service provider wouldn��t be able to do anything in Nigeria, hence she had made sure to buy a portable wi-fi that could be connected to her phone and could be used to make inte calls before she bought a sim in Nigeria.

    What she didn��t expect was that even the Wi-Fi she had turned to as an option hadwork problems as well.

    ��Network problems? That happens all the time,��

    ��Wee to Nigeria, thend of confusing fun,�� Jason said with a smile, immediately understanding the problem.

    Network problems were quite amon thing in Nigeria and it wasn��t impossible to see areas right within cities that could havework problems or connection issues for half a day, and sometimes it could be even for a full day or a bit more.

    It also didn��t matter what service provider one switched to, they all had their varying degrees ofwork madness atpletely random times so the average Nigerian almost always had a phone with a dual sim slot, making them able to use two service providers and switch between whichever was performing better when needed.

    If one was richer, then he could use two phones instead.

    It seemed that Jason��s luck was bad tonight, having to experience one of Nigeria��s fun problems.

    He called it a fun problem because Nigeria was a fun country with many interesting things likely to happen at any moment�� this was the nice way of putting it.

    The realistic way of putting it was that Nigeria was a funny country, and this was not because they had quite a number ofedians, but rather because everyone in every part of Nigeria was aedian in one way or another�� both in a good way or in a bad way.

    One thing that remained unchanged though was that the general popce tended to find the fun even in the worst of situations and one would always see Nigerians having fun even if their house was on fire.

    All that, however, was by the side and not what Jason wanted to think about at this time of the morning.

    He would rather devote his time to looking for the driver that was supposed to take them to their hotel, otherwise, they would have to find their own way.

    The driver was an arrangement made by the Nigerian Football Federation that Adele had contacted ahead of their departure from Porto.

    ��Let me see thest message between you and the driver,�� Jason said as he gestured for Adele to give him her phone, deciding to take things into his hands.

    They had found an empty bench and sat there while Adele handed her phone over to Jason to look at the message the driver had sent concerning his location.

    Jason saw the location the driver had mentioned but didn��t recognize it as it was his first time at the Nnamdi Azikwe Airport in Abuja.

    The few other times he hade to Nigeria, it was at the Murt Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, so he had no previous experience with this ce and could obviously not tell the ce where the driver had said he would be, however, that was not an issue as they could easily ask someone.

    Reading the phone number of the driver a few times internally to memorize it for the next five minutes, Jason stood up from the chair and said to Adele,

    ��Wait here for a bit, let me ask someone.��

    With that, Jason looked around for someone to ask.

    Normally, he would have left this job to Adele, but he knew that even though the majority poption of Nigeria could speak English, he didn��t want to have to waste any more time when he could do the job easily himself.

    Settling on a woman who looked to be in her twenties walking with a group of two other girls in the same age group, Jason moved.

    Apart from the fact that it was a woman who would be easier to talk to for Jason since he was Jason, the actual reason for choosing that woman to approach was because of her outfit.

    She was dressed in a flowing blue gown with various intricate murals arranged across its surface.

    This cloth type was called ��Ankara�� which was a cloth worn by the Yoruba tribes in Nigeria, and Jason was one of them and knew thenguage which meant that even if she didn��t speak English all that well, he could still conversate with her.

    Of course, that was unlikely as the phone she was using looked like an iPhone at a nce and Jason knew that those phones did not operate in a Yorubanguage setting.

    ��Excuse me�� sorry,�� Jason said as he interrupted the girls and turned to the girl he had singled out from the start.

    ��Could I borrow your phone for a minute, I��m trying to reach someone but, our inte connection has a few issues and I don��t have a Nigerian sim,�� Jason requested as he put on his best smile, but then a secondter, he removed that he had on a face mask.

    ��Oh, where did the person say they would be?�� the woman asked as well, a bit surprised by Jasoning up to her, but not taking any offense and was ready to help.

    ��I think he said the international wing, but this whole ce seems to be the international wing, so I��m a bit confused,�� Jason said, his hand reflexively going up to sweep away the hair that was covering the top of his face as he looked around, trying to look for anyone who fit the mark of who he was looking for.

    Not finding anyone that fitted his description of a driver looking to pick someone, Jason turned back to the woman and his blue eyes fell on her ck eyes, surprising her and the two other girls as they hadn��t noticed Jason��s eyes earlier.

    ��Uh�� you can use my phone to try and call the person,�� the woman said in a bit of a daze as she had never seen someone with a simr skin tone to hers having blue eyes that glowed like gems in the light.

    ��Thank you,�� Jason muttered,pletely unaware of the women��s surprise even as they kept staring at him.

    Jason began typing in the phone number of the driver from his memory, and once he finished typing in the eleven digits, he pressed the green dial button on the phone��s screen and put the phone to his ear, but a momentter he was troubled by the thought that his voice may be muffled by his nose mask.

    ��People shouldn��t recognize me here yet, right?�� he wondered.

    The Portuguese League was not really popr all around the world and most of its fan base were the Portuguese themselves, though giants like FC Porto, Benfica, Sporting CP, and FC Braga were probably known for their qualification to the Champions League year after year.

    With his mind deeming it as ��no problem��, Jason pulled off his maskpletely while waiting for the person on the other side to pick up.

    *Vrmmm*

    The phone vibrated slightly to indicate that the call had been picked up and Jason immediately spoke into the phone��s mic, smiling a bit at some people who looked his way.

    ��Hello,�� Jason spoke into the phone.

    {HellO!} a loud voice burst into Jason��s ear apanied by the sound of loud music in the background.

    {Who be this!?} The person on the other end spoke in an annoyingly loud voice, his voice heavily entuated with a Nigerian ent.

    He seemed to think that Jason probably couldn��t hear him over the loud music in the background, but before Jason could get a word in, another annoyingly loud voice sted into his ears from the phone��s speaker,

    {Raise am! Raise am! Raise am!}

 Chapter 318: Arrival at the Buj III

    Chapter 318: Arrival at the Buj III

    {Raise am! Raise am! Raise am!}

    The shout in the background was followed by a loud revving of an engine that Jason immediately recognized to be a V8, yet the intelligence that enabled him to instantly recognize a V8 engine just from the sound over the phone could not help him to identify what was going on.

    The person he had called was supposed to be their driver who would pick them up at the airport, so why was he hearing loud music in the background and loud revving of engines?

    Jason first took the phone away from his ear to check whether he had put in the wrong number, but the phone number was correct.

    Putting a hand over the microphone, Jason threw a question at the group of women standing in front of him,

    ��This ce wouldn��t happen to have a nightclub or anything, right?�� He asked, but judging from the looks of confusion that appeared on their faces, he could already tell what the answer to his question was.

    Putting the phone back to his ear, he spoke again,

    ��Hello,�� {EH!?} The person on the other end shouted again into the phone, not seemingly able to hear Jason, so Jason spoke again in a louder voice,

    ��Hello, can you hear me now?��

    {�� EH!?} The person shouted again, still unable to hear Jason.

    Jason immediately took the phone away from his ear and pressed the red button to end the call while muttering to himself, ��That��s that, I guess.��

    ��Thank you,�� Jason spoke with a smile as he handed the phone back to the woman.

    Jason wasn��t sure he fully understood what was going on, but if it was as he thought, then for some reason, the person who was supposed to be their driver had somehow ended up at a night gathering of some sort.

    As for how he could tell�� It was pretty clear if you took the loud music, revving of engines, and loud noise in the background into ount.

    That much was clear, but what made this whole situation unbelievable and confusing was the simple thought of why someone who had been given a job to pick someone up at the airport would be partying somece else, leaving the people ced in his care to face the wind on their own.

    ��What now?�� The woman who had taken back her phone asked Jason as she could tell that he hadn��t even been able to get a word in to whoever he had called.

    ��Nothing much, it seems our driver is too busy at some party to pick us up,�� Jason said with augh as despite the absurdity of the situation, it was also funny�� Very much so.

    ��Ahhh!�� The woman was more shocked than Jason and the two girls with her were surprised as well, but they burst intoughter the next second.

    Jason couldn��t even fault them forughing as he felt like doing the same.

    ��It��s pretty funny, but now I��ll have to find another way to our hotel,�� Jason said with a wry smile and began turning away.

    ��At this time of the day? It��s kind ofte you know,��

    ��Do you even know where you��re going?�� The woman called out to Jason.

    ��I don��t exactly have a choice now, do I? I��ll figure it out,�� Jason replied quickly, not turning back.

    ��Wait, I can help you along the way at least,�� the woman called out again to Jason who was already walking, and made him stop in his tracks.

    ��Don��t you have someone else to pick up?�� Jason asked while ncing back at her, after all, she was in the international wing of an airport and wasn��t holding any luggage so it was pretty clear why she was there.

    ��We were here to pick up our parents, but I just found out that their flight has been dyed due to bad weather so they��ll only likely arriveter tomorrow, so we were just leaving,�� the woman exined to Jason.

    ��I could at least help you to find a cab,�� she continued with a smile.

    ���� So, I��m so lucky that you��re unlucky?�� Jason asked with a raised eyebrow, not having any other words to exin the situation.

    ��I don��t know, but I wouldn��t consider being able to offer a helping hand as bad luck,�� The womanughed.

    ��In that case, we��ll be in your care. I��m Jason,�� Jason said as he held out his right hand for a handshake while giving her a once-over that he hadn��t bothered to do before.

    She had a head full of braided hair and had a milk-chocte skin tone with smooth, glowing skin. All in all, she could be said to be quite a beautiful young woman with appropriate, African size proportions in the right ces, but it wasn��t something Jason hadn��t seen before and his eyes went back to her face.

    ��I��m Kemi,�� the woman replied with a wide smile, taking Jason��s hand.

    ��These are my sisters, B and Sade,�� Kemi also introduced her sisters to Jason.

    Jason nced at them and immediately noticed simrities in their looks, though they were younger and had different hairstyles on their heads.

    ��Nice to meet you guys,�� Jason nodded to them.

    ��Over there is Adele, a friend, and my agent,�� Jason said and pointed subtly at Adele who was looking over in his direction from the bench they sat on earlier.

    Not knowing what was going on as she was too far away to hear their conversation, Adele just smiled over at them, making sure to hide her tiredness.

    ��Agent? Are you like an actor or something?�� Kemi��s ears perked up at the mention of the word agent.

    ��He doesn��t look like someone I know though, and a face like that would be impossible to forget,�� Kemi thought to herself, her eyes staring hard at Jason��s face.

    ��Not an actor�� I��m in sports,�� Jason replied.

    ��Oh,�� Kemi and her sisters nodded and looked like they wanted to ask further questions but Jason quickly interrupted.

    ��So, is The Destination by Gidanka somewhere in your path, or will you help us call a cab?�� Jason asked to interrupt their questions.

    He wasn��t against answering any questions, but he was too tired to be in the mood to answer any questions.

    ��That��s the hotel we��re staying at!�� Sade, who looked to be the youngest one among the sisters eximed in surprise.

    ��Okay, whoever is pulling the strings behind the scenes better show up, cuz I don��t have this kinda luck,�� Jason couldn��t believe what was going on.

    He definitely didn��t have this kind of luck, because if he did, he wouldn��t have needed a second chance at his dreams and would have seeded the first time.

    ��It��s just a coincidence,�� Kemi said with augh at Jason��s exaggerated response.

    ��I don��t believe in coincidences,�� Jason shot back with a straight face,

    ��But in this case, it is proving to be quite helpful, so thank god for that,�� he muttered, choosing to just go with the flow as it was only to his benefit.

    After saying a few more words, Jason went over to get Adele and their luggage, telling Adele about the divine arrangements that hadnded in his path.

    Soon, the two of them met up again with the three girls and the girls led them out of the airport and into the airport��s parking lot, heading for a ck Toyota Sienna that had a metallic glow as it it reflected the lights in the parking lot.

    ��It��s even a big car?�� Jason��s suspicion arose again as advantageous coincidence after advantageous coincidence bombarded him back to back.

    Everything was going way too smoothly after just one disappointment that Jason began wondering if the karma scale in this ce was broken, but he didn��t voice out his thoughts and hauled their luggage into the back of the car before getting into the car with the girls and Adele.

    Kemi soon started the car and drove out of the airport at a stable pace.

    Inside the car, Jason was seated in the passenger��s seat beside Kemi who was driving and Kemi soon asked the question she was going to ask him much earlier.

    ��You said you��re into sports, what kind?��

    ��Football, I y for a team in Portugal, and I was called up to the national team,�� Jason replied, no longer evading the question when suddenly a thought appeared in his head.

    ��That reminds me,�� he muttered as he turned to look back at Adele.

    ��Adele, turn off your phone�� And mine, and don��t turn on your phone till at least noon tomorrow�� Or today, I guess,�� Jason instructed.

    ��Oh before that, buy a couple of tickets to Porto for tomorrow at 3 pm,�� he added after a bit more thought.

    Even though he hadn��t reacted violently at what had happened earlier with the driver who was supposed to pick them up, he wasn��t going to just let things slide.

    He didn��t know the full story, but what was obvious to him was that he had been disrespected and ignored as air by a mere driver who had one job to do.

    Just one job and he had messed up, pissing Jason off in the process.

 Chapter 319: Bloodline I

    Chapter 319: Bloodline I

    ��You��re leaving?�� Kemi asked Jason in surprise, beating Adele to it.

    ���� I don��t know, maybe,�� Jason shrugged.

    Leaving Nigeria and going to look for another country to y for wasn��t impossible for the current him as he had options.

    As he was, he could easily choose to y for the USA, or he could do something even crazier by epting a honorary citizenship from ces like Portugal if he requested it, though whether he would actually get it remained to be seen.

    The point however was not whether he could or not, but that he was justified to do so after what he had experienced.

    Sure the NFF wasn��t directly involved in the driver��s absurd decision of going to a club instead ofing to pick him up at the airport, but how did that concern him?

    They were the ones who hired him in the first ce and if they were careless enough to do something like that, then who knows what other nonsense could happenter.

    With all that said, Jason didn��t actually n on leaving as he had already settled on ying for Nigeria and it would take a lot more than what had happened to make him change his decision. He wasn��t even really angry at the moment because thanks to a series of fortunate coincidences, he hadn��t even had to wait at the airport at all as he was already on his way to his hotel, but that did not mean he could just let things slide.

    If he simply let it go, then he wouldn��t be taken seriously and this might bring rise to some annoyances in the future which Jason wasn��t going to have.

    It sounded like something someone would see in novels, but it was true.

    When one acted overly kind and forgiving, one was more likely to be seen and treated as a pushover instead of being treated like a respected person.

    Jason was many things; a football yer, a reincarnator of sorts, even a past life failure�� but he was no pushover who would let people step on his head for no reason when he could help it.

    He might not be seen as someone who had a temper because of hisck of vtile reactions, but he was more of the devious kind who would make sure people who messed with him would regret it in more ways than one.

    It was one of the reasons why he wasn��t bullied in school despite having all the characteristics of a prime target for bullying.

    He was handsome, had no parents, his eyes stood out, he was a quiet kid, and though it didn��t mean much, he was not white�� yet he never had a case of bullying.

    Actually, he did�� but it ended in less than a day, both in his previous reality and this one.

    He was not someone to be messed with and that driver would realize that first hand.

    He could also use this chance to make himself seem more important to the NFF, at least for a little while�� as long as they reacted appropriately.

    If the Nigerian Football Federation was apologetic, then Jason��s integration into the team mighte earlier than it should have.

    Adele would make sure of that when he unleashes her on them tomorrow.

    However, if they were not apologetic, then that was it for him and the Nigerian national team. He would look to other options for national football.

    Jason signaled Adele with his eyes that he would exinter before opening his mouth,

    ��See, I��m both a citizen of Nigeria and America, and if I looked through my family tree, I��d have even more options,�� Jason said thoughtfully as he just remembered that his mother was American, but not a pure American and had some foreign European blood in her from his Maternal Grandmother or Grandfather.

    He had never bothered to look into it before as his maternal grandparents were already sleeping with the Lord about a year before his own parents left as well, but now that he thought about it, that was another option for him.

    ��The point is, I don��t need to settle for ying for Nigeria when they don��t bother to treat me like I��m even a little important,��

    ��Like how the hell does a driver who��s supposed to pick someone up in the middle of the night after a flight from halfway across the world�� go to a fu**ing night party?�� Jason asked the crowd, none of his annoyance slipping into his voice as he had instead brought out his phone to text his aunt.

    He wanted to ask her if she remembered which country��s blood apart from Nigerian and American he had in him.

    It would help in applying pressure on the Nigerian Football Federation when he finally contacted themter.

    ��Maybe it��s not their fault and the driver is the one who messed up and did whatever he wanted,�� Kemi didn��t really know how to approach the matter, but tried to pacify Jason who she thought was very angry.

    ��Then who was the nitwit who hired the idiot?�� Jason asked immediately and this time, Kemi didn��t have any words to respond.

    ��This our country just dey sha,�� Kemi sighed as she turned the steering of the wheel and changednes, maneuvering the car in between the light traffic.

    Soon enough, the car was filled with a different type of conversation and while this conversation went on, Jason��s phone vibrated a bit, notifying him of a text.

    Seeing it was from Daphne, Jason suddenly remembered that she was in a different timezone and would be able to answer him at this time of the day.

    {Why do you want to know that?} Daphne had texted.

    {Never mind that, just tell me, do you remember which other country��s blood is in my family tree?} Jason quickly texted back and immediately his message ticked blue, letting him know Daphne had seen the message.

    Soon, it showed ��typing�� , letting Jason know that Daphne was about to reply. Sure as can be a few secondster, Jason��s phone vibrated again and he nced at the screen to read the message.

    {I do remember and it��s not one country�� it��s countries}

 Chapter 320: Bloodline II

    Chapter 320: Bloodline II

    {I do remember and it��s not one country�� it��s countries} Jason read Daphne��s text and his right eyebrow rose in confusion.

    {Huh? What do you mean countries?} Jason quickly texted back, his curiosity beginning to rise but he could do nothing but wait till Daphne replied.

    {This is why it��s good to actually try and find out about things instead of spending most of your day brooding like Bruce Wayne} Daphne texted and began typing again.

    {Your mother��s father was Samoan. He��s probably the one you got your long curly hair from. However, your mother��s mother was from Norway and that��s where your mother��s blue eyes, and now yours,e from} Daphne finally gave an answer that could satisfy Jason��s curiosity, but Jason was now more surprised than ever.

    {�� At this point, am I even American at all?} Jason texted back, a wry smile on his face as his fingers continuously tapped his screen.

    {By birth, yes�� By blood, nope, not even the slightest} Daphne replied, adding aughing emoji to let Jason know she wasughing at him and enjoying this.

    {I feel like my whole life is a lie} Jason texted back, deciding to reply just as dramatically as she was acting.

    {At least, your African origins are more straightforward. We��repletely Nigerian on your father��s side�� well except for you because my brother found himself a whitedy} Daphne replied to Jason. {And I��m an amalgamation of three countries from three different continents}

    {How do I swallow this?} Jason texted back, adding emojis for extra dramaticism.

    {Ask your girlfriend} Daphne texted back and added a smirking emoji.

    {Time the fu*k out!} Jason almost burst outughing as this was thest person he was expecting such a dirty response from.

    {Aye Aye captain�� Anyway, I gotta go} Daphne sent a reply immediately and went offline.

    {Yeah. Talk to youter} Jason texted back despite knowing she had gone offline and put his phone away.

    After putting his phone away, he tried to tune back into the conversation going on in the car but his mind kept getting swept away by the news he had just received.

    To know that he was not a Nigerian and an American like he first thought, but rather a Nigerian, Samoan, and Norwegian�� and an American by location.

    Suddenly he had a few more options for a national team, but neither of the new options had a strong enough pull to make him reconsider having Nigeria as a first choice.

    Jason didn��t know any footballers from Samoa and didn��t even know whether they had a national football team or not, though he did know a few world-famous wrestlers from Samoa like Dwayne ��The Rock�� Johnson, Roman Reigns, and the Usos.

    That��s probably where he got hisbat talent from now that he thought about it since the Samoans and the Norwegians had the gics of warriors of old.

    Norway was his next option, but Jason only knew about Martin Odegard and some new kid named Erling Hand, who were the only slightly big names on that team��s squad.

    To him, Norway had the same problem as the USA national team, too few good yers.

    Jason didn��t know much about that Hand guy, but Odegaard was a good yer, yet he knew that it was not enough.

    Football was a team game and if one wanted to win games consistently, then one needed to either build or join a winning team as there was only so much one person could do.

    That much was clear with Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal.

    Ronaldo was one of the best yers to ever grace the football pitch, yet even he hadn��t been able to single-handedly drag Portugal to win more than two trophies, and even the trophies he had won with Portugal had the help of a great amount of luck, otherwise, Ronaldo wouldn��t have been able to win anything.

    Portugal had more than just Cristiano Ronaldo, but sadly all the big names popping out of Portugaltely only started popping up at the time that Ronaldo was gradually moving out of his prime and the team��s dynamics had shifted causing there to be a certain disharmony in the team which was the current Portuguese team��s problem, but that wasn��t Jason��s business.

    What he was thinking about was the fact that one or two good yers couldn��t drag a whole team to win trophies year after year�� unless they were cheating of course.

    Messi had tried it, but even with a good team, Messi hadn��t won anything with Argentina so far, tan Ibrahimovic couldn��t do it with Sweden, Mohammed Sh hadn��t done it with Egypt, hell, even Heung Min Son hadn��t been able to do it with South Korea in the Asian continent that was arguably the weakest among all the continents involved with football.

    So Jason knew that he couldn��t do it alone.

    Nigeria didn��t have a team filled with world-breaking talents, but the yers were at least a lot more talented than average and could be built even further into a winning team with more ease than if he went to another country, hence Nigeria remained Jason��s first choice�� but it was always a good thing to have options.

    He��d make his decision after a long long rest.

    While Jason was thinking about his choices, they had arrived at the hotel where they would be staying so Jason snapped out of his thoughts to get their luggage out from the back of the car.

    With him holding some of the luggage and Adele holding the rest, they walked into the hotel��s lobby where Kemi and her sisters parted ways with them while Jason and Adele went to the counter to get their keys from the receptionist.

    After confirming their booking, the receptionist gave Jason and Adele the keys to their room and had a porter send their luggage to their rooms ahead of them.

    Jason and Adele walked slowly to their rooms and Jason began outlining his n to Adele.

    ��We��re going to put on a show,�� Jason began exining.

    ��To increase my importance in the team, or to at least give myself a boost into the line-up during this international break, we��re going to make use of this situation,�� Jason continued, but Adele had already caught on to Jason��s n of making a racket and acting like he wanted to leave.

    If the Football Federation or the National team��s head manager wanted him to stay, they��d have to make some concessions which could only be to Jason��s benefit.

    If they didn��t seem remorseful, then Adele would be the first one to tell Jason to look for other options, after all, she couldn��t allow her client to be disrespected by a country that had little im on him apart from his bloodline and a citizenship that wasn��t of much help.

    They had made ns, all that remained was to carry them out and see the reaction of the football federation and the National team��s head manager.

 Chapter 321: Hocus Pocus with the NFF I

    Chapter 321: Hocus Pocus with the NFF I

    *Yawn*

    Jason yawned tiredly as he rose from under the soft and warm sheets of the hotel bed.

    The air conditioner was turned on at full st, bringing the temperature to less than twenty degrees Celsius, but Jason could easily cope with that kind of temperature with the aid of the thick nket he covered himself with.

    Taking a few minutes to arrange his mind and go through his ns for the day in his head before finally getting up and going to grab his suitcase.

    His major n for the day was simple; y the offended card and make the Football Federation and the national team��s head manager make some arrangements that would help him get a headstart in the team�� If that did not work, then it was back in Porto, but Jason had little doubts about it not working.

    However, before that, he still had some time till he would allow them to contact him and Jason nned to spend that time training.

    Luckily, this hotel had a gym so he could at least get some physical training done in the meantime.

    Jason grabbed his sports bag and threw it on the bed as it already had his training equipment in it so he didn��t need to spend any time packing. After putting his sports bag on the bed, Jason headed to the bathroom to have a quick bath before heading back and pulling on some casual wear that he would wear to the gym after which he would change into training clothes.

    Less than half an hourter, Jason pulled open the door of his room and stepped out into the hallway. He had barely moved past the door next to his room when the door of the room was pushed open and Adele stepped out already dressed in a white shirt and ck trousers, making Jason nce at his watch to see whether he had overstretched his time sleeping.

    ��You��re already dressed like you want to go to war�� At 9:58?�� Jason could not resist asking with a wry smile.

    ��They say preparation is half the battle, so I��m just following the words of those old men who caused all sorts of problems for me when I was in school,�� Adele replied back snarkily.

    ���� Well, good morning, I guess,�� Jason said, not wanting to get into a discussion about the old men who came up with all sorts of theories, making the life of the future youth a hell where they had to memorize things they would not end up using for once after they left school�� Or at least some of them.

    ��If you want to talk and you have things to ask and I think you do,�� Jason said with a nce at her face,

    ��You can follow me to the gym, I don��t have that much time to talk if we��re going to be ready on time,�� He intended for their discussion to hold while he trained.

    ��Okay, wait for a bit,�� Adele replied and went back into her room. She actually had a lot of questions for Jason regarding what they wanted to do and she needed some time to discuss with him as they hadn��t really gone over the matter before he went to sleep.

    Two minutester, Adele came out of her room holding a sports bag that was smaller than Jason��s.

    ��You gym?�� Jason asked in slight surprise.

    ��Well duh, do you think this body is a gift from God?�� Adele asked, giving him the stink eye.

    ��Yes, yes I do,�� Jason said ncing at Adele��s body that had perfectly shaped curves in all the right ces.

    Jason had long noticed that apart from being very beautiful, Adele also had a banging body that bordered near voluptuous and would have young ck guys screaming ��GYATTT��, yet it never felt like too much and always fitted well under her formal wear.

    Part of what made it hard to notice was that Adele was like Jason in the aspect of clothing and she seemed to favor baggy clothes that covered her edges, leaving one to imagine her body type under her clothes, but sometimes, it couldn��t be hidden and this was one of those times.

    However, Jason had never tried to think about her sexually and always kept things professional between them�� Most of the time.

    He already had a girl he was trying to get with, so a rondo with his agent was thest thing he needed no matter how beautiful she looked.

    He also appreciated that Adele had not made any moves on him either despite the benefits doing so would hold for her.

    ��You��re right about all this being god-given, I��m just maintaining it. A girl��s gotta look pretty you know,�� Adele said with a grin and pped him on the arm, snapping him out of his thoughts that had once again sent him farther than needed from the current situation.

    ��Whatever, let��s go,�� Jason muttered, rubbing his arm as he led the way to the gym despite having no idea of its location, luckily, there were people he could ask about it and they were soon in the gym.

    Stepping into the almost empty gym, Jason and Adele parted ways and went into gender-respective dressing rooms to change.

    Jason took off his shirt and shorts in the empty dressing room and quickly put on a Porto training vest and shorts along with New Bnce sneakers that he always had packed into his sports bag before cing his bag in a locker after taking out a water bottle from the side.

    He stepped out of the dressing room to find Adele already waiting for him.

    ��You��re probably the only woman who dresses faster than a man,�� Jasonmented as he walked by her, looking for a treading mill.

    ��I��m not that fast, you��re just slower than me. No offense,�� Adele replied as she followed behind him, banding up her hair into a high ponytail tail with a hair band.

    ��No offense taken, For a man, I��ve got a lot of hair that requires care,�� Jason replied with a grin as he stopped beside two treadmills that had been ced side to side.

 Chapter 322: Hocus Pocus with the NFF II

    Chapter 322: Hocus Pocus with the NFF II

    ��All yours,�� Jason gestured to the second treadmill on the side as he hopped on the first one and began programming it.

    ���� So how are we gonna y this?�� Adele asked as she got on the second treadmill.

    ��There��s not really much to be gained from the Football Federation as this is a national team and you��re not exactly signing a contract with major benefits.��

    ��In fact, there is more benefit for you joining the national team,�� Adeleid out her own understanding of the matter.

    ��True, there��s not much we have to gain by making a fuss, at most, I��ll get some mary appeasement����

    �� But hey, it��ll be fun,�� Jason said with a grin as turned to Adele.

    ��It��ll be fun?�� Adele couldn��t believe her ears at the words that wereing out of the mouth of the eighteen-year-old boy who was her client.

    ��Also, it��ll help me to gauge their attitude towards my joining the team. If I don��t like what I see, then I can easily avoid it,�� ��I just found out that one of my grandmothers was Norwegian, so more options for me,�� Jason said with a littleugh.

    ��That��d exin your eyes�� Or not,�� Adele shrugged as she got on the treadmill after making some basic settings.

    ���� I expected you to be more surprised by the fact that I��m Norwegian,�� Jason said in a surprised tone.

    ��At this point, if you told me that that wasn��t all there was to your origins, I��d believe,�� Adele said as she started running on the treadmill.

    ��Funny you mention that because, you��re right, my mother��s father is Samoan, so���� Jason said as he also got on his treadmill, beginning to run at a significantly quicker pace than Adele.

    Despite just saying that she wouldn��t be surprised by Jason anymore, Adele almost stumbled when she heard Jason mention another country that he was rted to.

    ��I don��t even know what to say at this point,�� she managed to say, her breath still even despite already running.

    ��I didn��t know what to say either, but I don��t think that part is really important. I don��t have any ns to y for either of those countries. I��m not sure Samoa has a national team so that one is a definite no and ying for Norway is more trouble than worth,�� Jason began exining his decision.

    ��What do you mean?�� Adele asked as she ran.

    ��Well, even I didn��t know about my Norwegian origins till yesterday which means not many other people know this, so how would the Norwegian national team know and contact me?��

    ��I mean, it��s not like they couldn��t find out if they bothered to research, but why would they?��

    ��Even I already find it hard to believe that I��m Norwegian, so why would they think I was one of them all of a sudden and scout me,�� Jason exined.

    ��I��d literally have to tell them that I��ve got a little Norwegian blood in me, but even then I don��t think I might get called up because, for some reason, I don��t remember any ck person in the Norwegian national team,�� he continued, suddenly remembering that interesting bit of information.

    He wasn��t using them of being racist or anything, but he couldn��t for the life of him remember any ck Norwegian yer which was kind of strange in the current football world where there were usually mixed colors in almost every national football team except for those small countries that didn��t have much presence on the global stage in pretty much anything.

    Countries like Lithuania, Malta, the Faroe Inds, and others like that.

    ��That might constitute a problem if you really want to y for them, but it��s not something that can��t be settled with a little time, however, I don��t think you want to y for them so we��re back to where we started,�� Adele nodded a bit despite running on the treadmill.

    ��What are we going to do when I put on my phone back at 12 pm?�� she asked the question that would determine their game n for dealing with the NFF when they came calling.

    ��Make that 11 am, change of ns,�� Jason started

    ��Also, about the NFF, I don��t really have any expectations because as you said, it��s not a negotiation,��

    ��I��m just taking this chance to establish that I��m no pushover and by making some noise and rattling the tree, who knows what benefits we��d get,��

    ��We��ll have to wait to find out after seeing their reaction to the whole thing. However, if they seem dismissive of the matter, then I guess it can��t be helped,�� Jason sighed, knowing the implication of his words.

    Jumping off his treadmill after running at a high pace for almost three minutes, Jason went over to Adele��s treadmill, wheezing slightly because of the intense run he had just done.

    ��Anyway, I need you to be on top of your game as you answer them. You must be ferocious, angry, and go at them with the intent to kill,�� Jason began talking like a motivational speaker, over exaggerating the situation more than it was worth.

    While he spoke, he sneakily increased the pace of her treadmill.

    ��Your client has been offended. Are you going to let that slide?��

    ��Are you going to let your client��s pride be trampled on like it��s nothing?��

    ��Or are you going to unleash your fury on your opponents?��

    ��You��re a lioness!��

    ��An Apex predator! And you don��t let anyone mess with your pack!��

    ��If they do, you rip them to shreds, tear them limb from limb, watch them bleed and enjoy every step of it,��

    ��You��re a queen, and you don��t take no for an answer!�� Jason went into motivational mode as he geared up Adele for theing situation and she just went along with it as she ran on the treadmill as fast as she could, Jason��s words already motivating her and lighting up a fire within.

    ��When you pick up that phone, and you answer that call from the NFF, I want you to show them why you��re my manager!��

    ��Show them why a girl with nothing but big dreams could get me to have you watch my back!��

    ��Show them the power of a dream and let your burning endless passion consume them!��

    ��Is that clear!?�� Jason shouted in a stern voice at the running Adele, enjoying this a lot more than he was supposed to.

    ��Yes!�� Adele shouted back with some enthusiasm, rolling along with the enthusiastic Jason but she was already breathing hard from all her running.

    ��I can��t hear you agent!�� Jason shouted at her again.

    ��Sir Yes Sir!�� Adele shouted reflexively as Jason��s loud voice had made her jump in surprise , but she managed to catch herself and get off the treadmill before she had an ident.

    ��Haaah, haaah, haaah,�� she breathed hard as she sat on the ground, sweat glistening across her tanned face that was a bit red.

    ncing at Adele who was brreathing heavily as she sat on the ground, Jason could feel a lot of blood rushing to his head and she began to look more and more like a snack so he quickly turned away to calm his teenage hormones.

    ��Can��t have that,�� heughed at himself internally.

 Chapter 323: Hocus Pocus with the NFF III

    Chapter 323: Hocus Pocus with the NFF III

    *11:14 am*

    Jason and Adele were seated at a table in the restaurant of the hotel, ready to have their breakfast after their time in the gym earlier.

    Adele was dressed back in her blouse and trousers while Jason was casually dressed in a white shirt paired with ck trousers and was seated on the table across from her.

    Their phones were on the table and they had finally been turned on as the two of them waited for a call from the NFF.

    While they waited their food arrived at the table.

    Since they were in Nigeria, they were having a Nigerian breakfast which was bean pudding and pap, locally known as Moi-moi and Ogi.

    Moi-moi/bean pudding was just as it name suggested, pudding made from beans, while ogi/pap was made from fermented corn that was ground finely and made into a paste.

    Just as Jason and Adele were about to start eating, Adele��s phone on phone began vibrating, immediately calling the attention of the table��s upants. With a picture of calmness on her face, Adele put down her fork and picked up her phone, nced at the screen but did not recognize the caller.

    However, that did not stop her from picking up her ear pods, handing one to Jason as she put the other one to her ear, letting it automatically connect before swiping across the screen of her phone and answering the call.

    ��Hello,�� Her voice was cold as she began speaking, earning her a thumbs up from Jason who was enjoying the whole fiasco more than he should.

    {Hello, is this Mrs Adele Joyce?} A sonorous voice rang in Jason��s and Adele��s ear, the speaker seemingly not noticing Adele��s cold tone as her voice was upbeat and Jason could hear the slight Nigerian ent leaking through despite the caller��s attempt at sounding very formal.

    ��Speaking���� Adele continued with the one-word answer shtick she had started with.

    {Okay. My name is Vivian and I��m with the Nigerian Football Federation. We contacted you to ask when your client, Mr. Bolu would be arriving at our head office for his appointment} The caller said at a stretch causing a slight frown to appear on Jason��s and Adele��s faces.

    ��Arriving? We��re noting to the NFF��s head office,�� Adele replied immediately, her voice having a vicious edge to it despite sounding very civil.

    {Huh? I��m not quite sure I understand what you mean} Vivian sounded confused as she replied.

    ��We. are. not.ing.�� Adele spelled out word after word.

    ��There��s a flight back to Porto at 3 pm and two seats on that ne have our name on it,�� she continued, still sounding very civil but the wordsing out of her mouth had Vivian worrying for her job.

    {But why? We have an agreement to meet at 1 pm with your client right?} Vivian asked, sounding very worried and confused and this immediately let Jason and Adele know that something was off somewhere, but that didn��t mean they were going to stop.

    Despite Jason being unable to say anything to Adele at that moment, she understood Jason��s intent from his gaze and opened her mouth again,

    ��I don��t know if you��re ying ignorant but let me exin this so you��d understand our decision,�� she began.

    ��My client was focusing on his football career for Porto and had been ying quite welltely when all of a sudden, you guys reached out to my client, even employing the help of a teammate to meet him behind my back and convince him to y for the Nigerian national team,��

    ��Moved by your sincerity, my client agreed to y for a country that he is only connected to by blood despite having three other options�� In fact four other options,��

    ��He could y for the USA because he��s a citizen and was born there, he could y for Norway because his maternal grandmother was Norwegian, he could y for Samoa because his maternal grandfather was Samoan, and there is also the potential chance of him ying for Portugal, yet he chose Nigeria in a list of options where you guys would be ranked third at best, and yet���� Adele paused to catch her breath, but Vivian on the other end almost couldn��t breathe in the dread of the next words toe despite not knowing what Adele was going to say.

    ���� After getting him to agree and fly over to Nigeria, the very night we arrived, in the middle of the night I might add�� We were stranded in the airport because the driver you had imed you would arrange decided to go for a night party instead of doing his job and picking us up at the airport,�� Adele��s voice didn��t rise even the slightest as she spoke in a level tone from beginning to end.

    {I��m so sorry, we had no idea about this} Vivian immediately turned apologetic and wanted to strangle the driver who was the culprit in all of this.

    ��That doesn��t make things better because it shows that either your recruitment officer is a half-wit who hires just about anybody avable, not considering their qualifications for a job, or, my client is not respected enough by the Nigerian Football Federation enough for them to make sure that everything concerning my client is done impably,�� Adele said, not willing to let the apology build any momentum.

    {I��m so sorry about this} Vivian began apologizing again, but Adele wasn��t about to let her do that and immediately interrupted.

    ��I��m sorry as well, but that doesn��t change the fact that my client has been terribly disrespected and disappointed by the Nigerian Football Federation, and the Nigerian country as a whole, hence he will be reevaluating his options concerning which country to represent on the international stage����

    ���� And this time, Nigeria isn��t on the list of options to be considered,�� Adele stated clearly before hanging up directly and not allowing Vivian to get another word in.

    From the conversation with Vivian, it was clear that there was a discrepancy in the flow of information and Vivian didn��t know about what had happened with the driver.

    Either she didn��t know about it, or she had been told and was acting like she had no idea, but Adele doubted it, hence she had made sure to exin the whole situation to her and enlighten her about what was going on.

    ��Now, we wait���� Adele sighed as she took out her ear pod.

    ��And eat,�� Jason added and picked up his fork.

 Chapter 324: Hocus Pocus with the NFF IV

    Chapter 324: Hocus Pocus with the NFF IV

    Jason and Adele took their time at the table, not hurrying themselves in the slightest as they weren��t rushing anywhere.

    The thing about them having a flight back to Porto at 3 pm was a bluff.

    Adele had tried to book a flight, but there was no way for a single person of their level to tell an airport when to arrange a flight so the whole thing about a specific time should have made it clear that it was a bluff, but Jason didn��t expect anyone to notice the bluff.

    In the end, Jason had told Adele to hold off on booking a flight and they would only leave if it was clear that there was no way back�� There was no point in wasting money on booking a flight and then canceling it because even if he would be refunded, the money wouldn��t be returned in full.

    With no pressure of time on their necks, they ate slowly, savoring the handwork of the hotel��s chefs.

    *****

    ��What do you mean he��s noting?�� Gernot Rohr couldn��t believe his ears as Vivian told him what had happened on the call with Adele Joyce, Jason��s agent.

    He was seated in a meeting room with management officials of the NFF and they had been discussing theing preparations for the matches in the international break when Vivian, the bearer of bad news arrived with the juiciest but annoying story of the day. This was also the meeting room where Jason was supposed to arrive to sign the Deration of Intent, but now Gernot Rohr was being told that his ns for the national team had been disrupted by an idiot who decided to enjoy Abuja��s night-life with an official car of the Nigerian Football Federation instead of doing his job and picking up an important guest at the airport.

    *Sigh*

    Gernot Rohr couldn��t help rubbing his brow in exasperation as he listened to Vivian who was doing her best to ry Adele��s message, word for word to the national team��s head manager.

    After listening to Vivian exin what had happened, Gernot Rohr immediately stood up and asked with urgency,

    ��What time did she say their flight was?��

    ��3 pm, sir,�� Vivian said, her voice quivering a bit as it was clear that apart from the urgency in the head manager��s voice, he was also quite angry.

    The head manager immediately nced at the watch on his wrist and saw that it was barely a quarter after eleven,

    ��Good, there��s still time,�� he muttered as he began moving.

    He couldn��t afford to have this fall through�� Not like this.

    It was one thing that Jason��s departure would mean the national team would miss out on a very talented yer, and it was another thing when the reason for such a thing happening would be known.

    After all the efforts they had made on propaganda, if news got out that Jason did not join the national team because the driver that was supposed to meet pick him up at the airport went partying instead of doing his job, Nigeria would be aughing stock and the higher-ups would have his head.

    The effect it would have on their future recruitment of young talents would be too great and he couldn��t get away with that.

    Gernot Rohr remembered a story he had heard about Kylian Mbappe wanting to y for Cameroon, but the Cameroonian Football Association requested a payment�� a bribe of sorts because one didn��t need to pay to join a national team, but the Cameroonian Football Association asked for money greedily, making the yer change his decision and go on to y for France who weren��t requesting any money from him.

    Barely a yearter, he won the FIFA World Cup with France while the Cameroonian Football National team didn��t even qualify for thepetition.

    They lost on every angle and Gernot Rohr wasn��t about to let that happen with Jason and Nigeria as well.

    He wasn��t a Nigerian, but he wasn��t going to let himself be known as one of the reasons why a major talent chose to y for another country.

    That would cost him not only his job but also his reputation and he was too old for that bullsh*t.

    He quickly headed out of the meeting room ready to do his best to get Jason to change his mind about leaving, but did not forget to shout behind him before leaving the room,

    ��And somebody fire that bastard! Let him enjoy a few more night parties as an unemployed idiot!��

    ��Do you know where they currently are?�� Gernot asked Vivian as they walked through the building.

    ��We lost contact with them yesterday, but I remember her mentioning earlier that they nned to stay at The Destination by Gidanka,��

    ��However this was before they came to Nigeria so I can��t tell if they changed their ns because of what happened,�� Vivian said as she hurried after the head manager.

    ��Good, we��ll start there, but try to call them again and see if we can arrange a meeting,�� Gernot Rohr spoke as he walked out of the main doors of the building that had been pulled open by the security guards at the door.

    The national team manager and Vivian headed towards a ck Toyota Land Cruiser SUV and the driver quickly got down to pull open the door for the manager while Vivian ran over to the other side of the car to get into the passenger seat in front.

    ��Where are we going, sir?�� The driver asked as he got into the car and started the vehicle.

    ��The Destination by Gidanka. Please hurry,�� Vivian answered first before Gernot could open his mouth in the backseat.

    As the one who had spoken to Adele and had seen the head manager��s reaction after hearing the story, she understood the urgency of the situation and she was reacting ordingly.

    The driver professionally started the car and drove out of the parking lot, the car quickly elerating out of the grounds of the NFF headquarters.

    As the driver quickly drove through the streets with a clear destination, Vivian continuously tried to call Adele��s phone, but no one was picking up, causing Vivian��s anxiety to shoot up.

    If they couldn��t stop Jason from leaving Nigeria, heads would roll�� Metaphorically�� And Vivian��s head was likely to be among the rolling heads as she was the one who had appointed the driver that was supposed to pick up Jason at the airport.

    She was the half-wit recruitment officer Adele was talking about.

    However, how was she to know that Adele wasn��t picking up the phone because Jason was teaching her the appropriate way to eat some Nigerian dishes as they waited without the slightest bit of anxiety for the response of the NFF?

 Chapter 325: What be the Chorus I

    Chapter 325: What be the Chorus I

    ���� and finally, the grounded bean is put into leaves and then steamed for like twenty to thirty minutes,�� Jason was exining the little he knew about the preparation of the moi-moi/bean pudding to Adele who had fallen in love with the dish after eating it at the hotel restaurant for breakfast.

    They had left the restaurant after eating and had moved to the garden which was one of the recreational areas avable at the hotel.

    As they walked through the garden while conversing, Jason noticed someone sitting in one of the avable seats in the garden holding up his phone and talking to the screen.

    At first nce, one would think he was having a video call with some people, but after listening for a little while, it was clear that he was talking to a group of people instead of just one person.

    ���� Wait, isn��t that Big Shaq?�� Jason suddenly recognized the the face of the person seated on the chair and talking to his phone.

    ��What��s he doing in Nigeria though?�� Jason wondered out loud, arousing Adele��s curiosity.

    ��Who is he?�� Adele could not resist asking.

    ��He��s kinda like a rapper and he made a major hit with his first single ��Man��s not Hot��. it was pretty viral and was one of the songs that helped push UK drill to the global stages,�� ��He��s Nigerian though�� I think. But he lives in the UK so I��m a bit surprised to see him here,�� Jason exined to Adele who nodded as she listened intently, having no idea about the song Jason said to be viral.

    While Jason told Adele about Big Shaq, it seemed the man himself saw them and he stood up from his chair and began walking up to them.

    ��Hey brudda, you��re Jason right, the one ying for Porto?�� Big Shaq asked as he neared the two of them.

    ��Yeah,�� Jason replied, a bit surprised that someone like Big Shaq recognized him.

    ��Nice. I��m Michael, they call me Big Shaq though,�� Big Shaq said with a littleugh as he held up a hand and Jason reciprocated, their hands meeting for a smooth dap.

    ��I remember watching some of your games, and also your freestyle one time,��

    ��You��ve got a nasty flow bredda,�� Big Shaq spoke, still holding his phone up.

    ��Ah, that time,�� Jason��s eyes brightened a bit as he remembered the time Mylo live-streamed him rapping to a beat�� without consent.

    It wasn��t even a freestyle as he didn��t reallye up with it and he was simply helping the Dababy of his previous reality expand his fan base in this reality.

    ��Are you on a call or something?�� Jason asked curious at Big Shaq holding up his phone.

    ��Oh, actually I��m on a live stream, but don��t worry, the camera��s trained on my face, so you wouldn��t show up in it. I know some people like their privacy,�� Big Shaq replied with a smile, knowing to mention that part as he could understand people��s need for privacy.

    As something of a star himself, he preferred to only be faced with cameras whenever he felt like it otherwise it was bothersome and because of that, he could rte to other people who valued their privacy.

    ��I do value my privacy, but I wouldn��t mind appearing in a livestream as long as you aren��t catching me unawares,�� Jason said with a littleugh.

    ��What about this damsel?�� Big Shaq turned to Adele who had caught his eyes first when he had nced at Jason and her from his seat earlier.

    Of course, Jason was naturally more eye-catching, but for a certified damsel detector like Big Shaq, Jason appeared invincible in his eyes when they first appeared in view and the only reason he had looked at Jason in the first ce was because he was trying to spot whether he was aiming over his head and after seeing Jason, it was clear.

    His interest in Adele had died forcibly when he saw Jason standing beside her as there was no usible reason why a girl would leave the side of a man like Jason toe to be with him.

    Jason obviously outmatched him in almost every aspect, and even the areas he was probably leading Jason in like fame was bound to change soon.

    ��I guess there��s no problem,�� Adele said with a bright smile.

    With that said, Big Shaq turned around and held up his phone at a height and angle to enable he could capture the three of them in the camera and Jason and Adele said hi to the viewers watching Big Shaq��s live stream.

    ��Hey Jay, what do you say we do a little freestyle,�� Big Shaq suddenly dropped a bombshell on Jason as soon as the idea appeared in his head.

    ���� I meannn, I don��t know. I��m a footballer and not a rapper, thest time was something of a fluke you know,�� Jason felt cold sweat pooling on his back as he heared Bog Shaq��s words.

    ��Was this guy trying to embarrass him on the inte in front of 10k viewers?�� Jason sweat dropped.

    ��Just let the words flow out,e on it��ll be fun,�� Big Shaq insisted, not wanting to take no for an answer and he quickly went over to where he was seating earlier and picked up the bluetooth speaker that was ced by the side of the chair.

    ��He��s even got a speaker? This is a trap! A goddamn trap!�� Jason almost cried internally as he could see that there was no way to escape.

    Even Adele was already looking at him with expectant eyes.

    He could not afford to mess up here.

    Steeze must be maintained so he calmed himself and quickly began sourcing through his head for rap songs he could borrow from his reality and be an ambassador helping to expand fan base for the original artist.

    A lot of songs quickly appeared in his head, but he hesitated on picking one till he heared the beat that Big Shaq was about to y on the speaker he had brought over.

    Soon Big Shaq settled on a beat and pressed y and a low beat that started with a low flute blowing followed by rythmic tapping of a drumstick on a drum��s edge.

    The moment that beat started ying, one song immediately made it��s appearance in his mind and Jason couldn��t stop himself from opening his mouth when the beat dropped.

 Chapter 326: What be the Chorus? II

    Chapter 326: What be the Chorus? II

    ����������������������������������������������������-

    Disimer: The actual song is titled Scarface by Medikal. props to him as he delivered on the song.

    Y��all should try listening to it as you read, it��ll help with immersion and help you feel the emotions I felt while writing the chapter.

    ����������������������������������������������������-

    *You wanna y rough?*

    *Okay*

    *Say hello to my new friend*

    *Stubborn* *if e no be a-a-a-a town don��t like this beat*

    The beat had an intro that made Jason feel like Big Shaq probably nned to use this as a songter, but that didn��t stop him from getting on the beat as soon as the intro was over and the beat dropped.

    ��Freeze. Ice,��

    ��Jesus. Christ,��

    ��Sneakers. Nice,��

    ��Cheques. Nike,��

    ��IG. Likes,��

    ��Swag. Vibes,��

    ��Saucy. Yikes,��

    ��I��m too jollof for your rice,��At this point, Big Shaq was already feeling the vibe and he immediately jumped in, not caring whether Jason was done or not.

    ��Dem bwoy dem deda��Big Shaq started and Jason immediately adlibbed,(Dedaa)

    ��Boom bye-bye manhy?da�� (shedaa)

    ��How you wan put scar on my face��

    ��Wey you no de grind like Tony Montana (tanaa)��

    ��Too much fuse antenna,��

    ��We de chop breakfast, lunch and dinner,��

    ��Woy? blowman a mey?st killer,��

    ��You no de see me me too I be John Cena,��

    ��Enough of the chit chat (woah),��

    ��Eat that pussy like a kit kat (swag),��Big Shaq kept up the flow for a while before he started saying a lot of gibberish, but the vibes had already taken over and no one cared anymore.

    Soon he came to the end of his verse and opened up the floor for Jason again,

    ��What be the chorus?��

    ��Grrr grrrr grrrrr grrrr pa (kpo kpo),��

    ��Grrr grrrr grrrrr grrrr pa (kpo kpo kpo kpo),��

    ��Grrr grrr paw paw (kpo kpo),��

    ��Grrr grrr grrr grrr paw��

    At this point, even Jason and Adele had joined him in shouting the gibberish he was shouting, but funnily enough it went with the beat and once Big Shaq was done shouting his gibberish, Jason went back in ready to murder the beat,

    ��Freeze. Ice,��

    ��Jesus. Christ,��

    ��Sneakers. Nice,��

    ��Cheques. Nike,��

    ��IG. Likes,��

    ��Swag. Vibes,��

    ��Saucy. Yikes,��

    ��I��m too jollof for your rice,��he first sang the chorus to give himself some momentum before diving deep into himself and beginning to just pull out just about whatever rhymed.

    Anyway, it was a verse on a freestyle with Big Shaq so whether it made sense or not no longer mattered.

    ��My brother de hustle ein brother,��

    ��I no go fi bother,��Jason got a first line and a rhyme going and Big Shaq was right behind him with an adlib,

    (I no go fi bother my Nigga)

    ��Another wah dee,��

    ��So I��m counting my dor (I��m counting my dor),��

    ��You say we be family (you say we be family),��

    ��We go dey together (we go dey together),��

    ��The mother that mothered my mother,��

    ��I murdered your mother (swag),��After getting this far, Jason had no more lines but Big Shaq was ready to hop right in.

    ��If you pass there we go pass here,��he started but soon was about to go into another bout of gibberish when Adele burst outughing and Jason followed after, with Big Shaq following after, none of them were able to hold in theirughter anymore.

    ��What the hell was that man,�� Jason couldn��t help asking as he tried to stopughing.

    ��What was the ��Grrr Paw paw�� you people were shouting?�� Adele too asked, unable to hide herughter.

    ��That was hard bro, funny sh*t, but it was hard,�� Even Big Shaq was unable to stop himself fromughing.

    As theyughed, thements rushed in on Big Shaq��s phone,

    {What be the chorus? Grr grrrr grrrrr grrrr paw!} a user named Young_Creator posted and added tenughing emojis and it was almost guaranteed that he wasughing his a** off at the other end.

    {The mother that mother that murdered my mother, I murdered her mother? Is Jason admitting to some of his crimes?} Triko_Rexmented, but theughing emojis that followed hisment made it clear that it was a light-hearted joke.

    {Freestyle of the year fr fr} Plu_tomented, adding a generous amount ofughing emojis behind hisment.

    {They were saying absolute rubbish that didn��t tally and still went hard bruh} Grand Castormented, addingughing emojis behind hisment for good measure.

    {I thought blud said he couldn��t rap, so what the hell was that chorus?} MIR_Devnci said, also adding a couple ofughing emojis behind hisment.

    {Those two better jump in a studio and give us the full version} Another user named SlothfulMonkmented.

    Thements kept flying in while Jason, Adele, and Big Shaqughed off all theughter that had built up in them till their ribs ached.

    Theyughed so hard, that the viewers startedughing with them at one point because the scene was so funny to look at.

    It was probably a scenario like this one that made someonee up with the saying, ��Laughter is infectious,�� because every single viewer couldn��t resistughing as they watched Jason, Adele, Big Shaqugh their asses off.

    It took almost two minutes for them to finally get themselves under control and even then bursts ofughter escaped from them randomly whenever their mind went back to what they just done on a live stream that thousands of people were watching, however, they had enough self-control to go about with their day.

    After exchanging numbers with Big Shaq, Jason and Adele moved on to a more silent part of the garden while Adele did not let go of this chance to poke fun at Jason who had joined Big Shaq in shouting,

    ��Grrr grrrr grrrrr grrrr pa (kpo kpo),��on the live stream.

    ��What be the chorus?�� Adele asked Jason, doing her best to hold in herughter.

    ��Poke fun all you want, you joined us in singing it and there��s video proof of it,�� Jason shot back, not willing to allow this low-level teaser to drag his honor through the dust.

    ��I was just supporting my client like any agent would,�� Adele tried to justify her actions but Jason scoffed and rolled his eyes at her.

    She was shouting it a lot more than him during the freestyle, but she wouldn��t admit it, however, he would make sure to find the video and keep it away to use to catch her off at the right moments.

    Her birthday wasing up in a couple of months and what was a birthday without some embarrassing moments.

    Embarrassing moments that Jason was going to make sure all of his followers on all social media tforms see.

    ����������������������������������������������������-

    This chapter and the previous one was written for fun and doesn��t really have much to do with the football part of the story��

    I may find a use for this scer, but it was just for fun, I hope you guys had fun reading it as well.

 Chapter 327: Hocus Pocus with the NFF V

    Chapter 327: Hocus Pocus with the NFF V

    ��Fuc*ing hell,��Jason muttered in annoyance as rose out of the water in the swimming pool, veins slightly bulging on the side of his head in annoyance as he looked around, looking for the culprit that was responsible for his current situation.

    However, to get a full picture of the current situation, one would have to look back to a few minutes ago.

    After the live stream with Big Shaq, Jason and Adele had been conversing when Adele suddenly pulled out her phone wondering why they hadn��t been contacted by the NFF only to discover that her phone was on silent and had almost twenty missed calls.

    Under Jason��s instructions, Adelle called back and spoke with Vivian who was trying to contact them and after a lot of apologies flying into her ear, she asked for a meeting with Jason and told him that the National team��s head manager was on his way to them.

    At this point, their goal had been achieved and Jason agreed to a meeting at the restaurant of the hotel.

    After ending the call, Jason and Adele had been heading back to the restaurant and to do this they had passed the side of the swimming pool where some people were already swimming and ying ball.

    Not caring much about their surroundings, Jason and Adele had sidestepped the people by the swimming pool and kept walking, but that was when disaster struck.

    As they walked, Jason suddenly noticed something flying his way at high speed, and before he could react, a ball smacked into his face and pushed him to the right. Unfortunately for Jason, he was standing right beside the swimming pool and could not stop himself from falling into the pool with arge ssh.

    Despite the suddenness of the situation, Jason didn��t let the anger and annoyance that swept through him burst out and he smoothly brought himself under control before swimming back to the surface of the water, rising out of the water with fury in his eyes.

    ���� *hissssssshhhh*�� taking a deep breath with his teeth mped together to calm down his rage, while his hand swept through his hair and pushed all his hair out of his face.

    His blue eyes glinted with annoyance as he nced past Adele to the direction from where the ball hade flying, ignoring the voices around him in the pool asking if he was okay.

    Unfortunately, he couldn��t find whoever was responsible for sending the ball flying his way and nobody was owning up to it as well making his annoyance rise even further, but he remained cool and nced at Adele instead,

    ��Let��s go,�� he said as he began swimming to the end of the swimming pool that had stairs.

    Adele nodded and followed after him, not knowing what to say and not daring tough despite how funny the situation was.

    If she dared to let it slip, who knew whether she might find herself without a job?

    Jason swam out of the swimming pool, allowing the cold water of the swimming pool to cool off his annoyance as there was no point in getting annoyed at something like this.

    Even if he found the person who had sent the ball at him, the presence of civilws would prevent him from doing anything worthwhile to the person so it was best to let it go.

    By the time he reached the stairs and started walking out of the pool, his annoyance had reduced by more than half of what it was when he fell in.

    He slowly started unbuttoning his shirt as it annoyingly clung to his body due to the water, making it feel tighter than he feltfortable with.

    Soon he was out of the swimming pool and had taken off his shirt. Adele handed him a towel she had collected from one of the hotel staff who was by the swimming pool and Jason began wiping his hair with it.

    ��Let��s go, we have a meeting,�� Jason said to Adele as he dropped the towel, wrung out his shirt, and started walking away.

    But as they walked into the hotel, Adele��s phone rang and after answering the call, she heard from Vivian that she and Gernot Rohr had arrived.

    Jason went to his room to change his clothes while Adele went to go and meet with the visitors ahead and not keep them waiting.

    he walked to his room alone in wet clothes and only when he was almost at his room did he remember that his phone was in his trouser pockets when he fell in the water.

    He quickly pulled it out of his pockets to see whether it still worked and luckily, it did. It seemed the ��water resistant�� feature of the phone was not just empty words.

    Soon, he was in his room and was changing out of his wet clothes. He debated whether to have a warm bath since he had falle in cold water, but he quickly decided against it.

    He was someone who literally sat in water filled with ice for training so there was no way water that wasn��t below 15 degrees Celsius would do anything to him.

    It did not take him long to dry himself offpletely and put on new clothes before quickly heading out to the restaurant, wanting to settle the matter about the national team.

    Only half the day was gone and Jason already felt like the day would never end.

    He was soon at the restaurant and quickly found Adele seated at a table with a white man that looked to be in his sixties, and a dark-skinned woman who looked to be significantly younger.

    Jason walked up to the table and sat at an empty seat beside Adele, only nodding to the head manager and Vivian.

    His arrival immediately attracted the attention of Gernot Rohr and Vivian who looked at Jason who had a frown on his face.

    Due to falling in the water, Jason��s face was not as impassive as it usually was and he was slightly frowning which he didn��t even notice, but to Gernot Rohr and Vivian, it felt like he was really annoyed about what had happened and this unknowingly aided Jason��s ploy to act displeased.

 Chapter 328: Heading to the Super Eagles Camp

    Chapter 328: Heading to the Super Eagles Camp

    **11th November 2020**

    *8:54 am*

    A ck Toyota Prado drove through the streets of Abuja, weaving its way through the early morning traffic but not overspeeding.

    In the backseat of the car, Jason stared out the window as the memories of the previous day flowed through his head.

    He had arrived at the table with an unintentional frown on his face and after listening to Gernot Rohr��s persuasion for a while to make his y seem more persuasive, he began to give in.

    In the end, they had discussed for a little while more and finally been able to sweep things behind them.

    As Jason and Adele had thought earlier, there was not much the national team could give them in terms of mary value, but the manager had promised to allow Jason to be a part of the squad and also make his debut in theing game.

    As for whether it would be from off the bench or by starting the game didn��t matter to Jason and this was already a good enough benefit for Jason, but Gernot Rohr continued and gave Jason the right to pick his own jersey number. Even if he picked a number that someone else was using, it would be given to him.

    Thirdly, Jason would receive at least $5000 for every match he yed for the national team.

    At this point, Jason and Adele were already sold, but the head manager added another use to make Jason one of the faces of the National team in theing months.

    Gernot Rohr made it clear that it couldn��t be done immediately because Jason didn��t have any games under his belt, but once he had yed a few games and performed well, then boom, his face would be the one on the posters whenever anyone was bringing up the Super Eagles.

    At this point, Adele was just about to grab Jason��s hand and get him to agree immediately as this was so far the best thing that they could hear as it meant exposure at the international level which tranted into a significant increase in his brand name which further tranted into greater worth as a yer and as a brand.

    His ie would skyrocket with just this and not only did she know that, Jason also knew and he immediately gave in as he had already gotten more than he had expected.

    With the two sidesing to an agreement, things went back to as they were supposed to be and Gernot Rohr immediately arranged a car for Jason back to the NFF headquarters while also getting everything else in ce for Jason��s signing of the Deration of Intent.

    About an hour after that, Jason was at the NFF headquarters signing the documents and after the signing, he took some pictures that would be posted in the papers and online.

    There was originally an interview scheduled with him, but it was postponed to the following day at the training ground so it could have a more significant effect.

    After everything, Jason and Adele were finally released by the National team��s head manager and they returned to their hotel.

    With everything regarding negotiations over, Adele no longer had to be in Nigeria and began to pack up to leave, while Jason also packed up to leave The Destination by Gidanka because he would be joining the national team camp the following day.

    This led to the current situation where Jason was now headed to the Super Eagles Camp to join the national team��s squad after saying a quick goodbye to Adele before leaving the hotel.

    The Super Eagles training camp was in Lagos, which was another state in Nigeria and Jason would be taking a flight to Lagos because going by Road would take almost ten hours.

    A flight to Lagos was just a bit over an hour, so there were no second thoughts concerning that decision.

    The NFF has arranged a driver to take him to the airport and luckily, this one didn��t find any night parties to join since it was almost 9 am, and Jason was already on his route to the airport.

    It did not take long for Jason to arrive at the airport and quickly sort out all that needed to be done before getting on the ne.

    The ne took off at 10 am and arrived in Lagos about ten minutes after 11 and Jason met up with another driver who would take him to the Mobji Johnson Stadium where the Super Eagles would be training in theing days before going to drop his luggage at the Radisson Hotel which was where the Super Eagles team would be staying during the International break.

    It seemed this driver also did not find a night party to upy his time as he was there at the airport waiting for Jason.

    Jason quickly got into the car and let the driver do his job.

    Luckily, the driver knew the best routes to pass and he managed to escape the hellish scape of Lagos traffic and arrive at the Mobji Johnson Stadium at 12:30 pm.

    The overhead sun unleashed a lot of heat on the surroundings, but Jason could cope with this level of temperature and walked into the stadium with his sports bag slung over his shoulder while the driver drove off with Jason��s other luggage.

    As Jason entered the stadium, he was met by a staff member who quickly handed him a bag that contained a training kit in Nigerian colors and led him to a locker room to change.

    Jason listened to the staff as he changed and kitted up for the training session.

    The other members of the national team had already arrived and were already on the field doing some training and some reporters were around who had taken video shots and also done a few interviews with the yers.

    The yers were already training while the reporters were waiting for Jason��s arrival as they could not afford to not report on Jason��s addition to the national team��s squad.

    Jason could be said to be the best thing to have happened to the Nigerian National team this year, bringing with him a tally of 19 goals and 16 assists at club level in less than a year as his credentials.

    The reporters would have to have been kicked in the head by donkeys if they did not wait for his arrival.

    In fact, it was already surprising that Jason managed to enter the stadium silently.

 Chapter 329: First Training Session with the National Team I

    Chapter 329: First Training Session with the National Team I

    Now dressed in the green training vest and shorts of the Nigerian national team and his own white-gold ser boots, Jason headed out to the stadium under the guidance of the staff member.

    As soon as he stepped out on the green, Jason could hear a shutter click, but he didn��t bother looking in the direction of the sound and instead began walking towards the group of yers who were already training.

    As Jason approached, the assistant coach nudged Gernot Rohr, bringing his attention to Jason who was walking towards them.

    ��Gather around everybody,�� Gernot Rohr said in a loud voice while pping to call the attention of the yers.

    The Nigerian yers who were focusing on their preparation for their match against Sierra Leone in theing days looked over at their coach who was calling for their attention and their eyes fell on Jason who had arrived behind the head manager.

    ��I��m sure he doesn��t need an introduction as you��ve probably already heard his name at least once this year, but I will introduce him for formalities sake,��

    �� This here is a talented footballer like you all who has responded to the call from his home nation and is here to do his part in taking the Super Eagles to greater heights,�� Gernot Rohr said, pulling Jason to his side.

    �� Please wee him home�� Bolu Jason everybody,�� the head manager said boisterously and led the apuse that followed. The yers and the training staff joined the apuse and for a while, Jason faced a serenade of apuding hands.

    Soon the apuse died down, and Gernot Rohr continued,

    ��Uh, do you have anything to say to your teammates?�� The head manager asked Jason.

    Jason was a bit surprised to be thrust into the spotlight suddenly, but he maintained hisposure and opened his mouth to say a few words.

    ��Uh, I��m honored to be here, wearing the Nigerian colors and I��m grateful for this chance,��

    ���� Despite not living here, this country and its people��except for a certain driver who went to a night party when he had a job to do�� have a special ce in my heart���� he continued, causing Gernot Rohr��s lips to twitch slightly, but Jason didn��t care as he hadn��t exactly promised to never talk about the matter.

    ��I��m happy to be here and will do my best for the team and our country,�� Jason finished, earning him another round of apuse.

    Zaidu Sanusi was the first person to walk up to Jason after the speech and he fist-bumped Jason and weed him to the team.

    ��A few weeks ago, you said this to me, and now I��m saying it back,��

    ��Wee to the team bro,�� Zaidu said to Jason with a grin.

    The yers nearby also greeted Jason with nods, handshakes, and the like.

    Finally, the captain of the Super Eagles, Ahmed Musa, and one of the main strikers, Victor Osimhen came over.

    ��Wee to the team,�� Ahmed Musa said as he stretched his hand out to the newest member of the team, but before Jason could take his hand, Osimhen threw a hand around his neck.

    ��All this one wey you dey shake everybody, na assists I want o(You can shake everyone all you want, I want assists instead),��Osimhen told Jason with a huge grin on his face.

    ��We��ll see,�� Jason responded to Osimhen while also nodding to the team captain and taking his hand.

    The weing efforts from the team continued for another few seconds before Gernot Rohr interrupted them.

    ��As heartwarming as this is, we need to continue preparing for our matches against Sierra Leone, and we will be starting with a quick scrimmage,�� Gernot Rohr spoke as he collected a notepad from his assistant.

    ��There will be two teams for this training session. The first team will be ying in the 4-2-3-1 formation while the second team will be using the 4-3-3 attacking formation,��

    ��Apart from making you get used to the formation, this training session is majorly for you guys to build your chemistry with one another because no matter how good you are as an individual, you can��t win a match alone, and since you guys are all from different teams and leagues around the world, you need to work out for yourselves how youpliment each other,��

    ��I can do my part and make the best game n tailored for you, but I can��t make you guys perform well with each other if you don��t try to understand each other,��

    ��With that in mind, I want you to y without any pressure and instead make understanding your fellow teammates as your priorities. Is that clear?�� Gernot Rohr asked with a questioning look.

    ��Yes coach!�� the boys in green responded enthusiastically, excited to test their mettle against one another because despite Gernot Rohr��s words to y without pressure, he would be watching them train and would not hesitate to make changes to the line-up if he saw one of the yers performing better than others in his respective position.

    ��The first team will be called Team A�� Once you hear your names,e and stand on my right,��

    ��For team A that will be ying the 4-2-3-1 formation, the goalkeeper will be Maduka Okoye, the two center-backs will be William Troost-Ekong and Semi Ajayi, and the wing-backs will be Zaidu Sanusi and  Aina on the left and right respectively,�� the head manager started calling out the yers and putting them into their positions in their respective teams.

    ��The two defensive midfielders will be Joe Aribo and Etebo Oghenekaro and Alex Iwobi will be the attacking midfielder. Ahmed Musa will be on the right wing, Emmanuel Denis will be on the left, and Kelechi Ihenacho will be the main striker���� Gernot Rohr paused for a few seconds after calling out the yers in Team A, waiting for them to walk out of the crowd of yers and gather on his right side.

    After thest yer in Team A walked out, Gernot Rohr��s eyes once again fell on the notepad to continue,

    ���� For Team B, we have Stephen Nwabali in goal, Omeruo Keh and Balogun Leon as center backs, Ebuehi Tyronne as the right wing-back and Collins Jamilu as the left back,��

    ��In the midfield will be Shehu Abduhi and Agu Mikel as center midfielders with Jason Bolu leading the midfield as a center attacking midfielder,��

    ��Upfront will be Moses Simon on the left, Chidera Ejuke on the right, and Victor Osimhen as the sole striker,�� Gernot Rohr finally finished calling out the names of the yers on Team B.

    ��those of you on team B, you will be wearing the bibs while the yers whose names weren��t called will be substituted onto either of the two teams as we go.��

 Chapter 330: First Training Session with the National Team II

    Chapter 330: First Training Session with the National Team II

    *Fweeeeee*

    One of Gernot Rohr��s assistant coaches, Joseph Yobo was appointed as the referee for the training match and he blew his whistle to start the match.

    Kelechi Ihenacho from Team A passed the ball to Alex Iwobi to kick off the session and the yers of the two teams began moving across the field, with the Team B yers in their yellow bibs chasing after the yers in Team A who did not wear bibs over their training vest.

    Jason was among the Team B yers running at the Team A yers.

    It had been a while since his duties required him to actively chase down the opponents like he was currently doing because, at Porto, Sergio Conceicao had usually freed him of all defensive duties and made him fully focus on running at the opponents down the nks, helping the team break through the final third.

    The defensive duties were usually left to the other midfielders and the defenders, but it seemed like this Super Eagles manager thought differently about his usefulness to the team with him putting Jason in a center-attacking midfielder position rather than a winger that he had always yed as.

    Luckily, Jason could y as an attacking midfielder despite his dislike for defensive duties so he quickly got down to it and chased down the ball, but the ball was soon moved down the nks and Jason stuck with his marker instead.

    Team A quickly went on the attack, but before long they could no longer hold on to the ball and the ball fell into the hands�� or legs of the opposing team. The two teams yed well as they constantly tried to one-up the other, but it did not take a genius to know that there was a certain disjointed flow in their movements.

    They were performing well with each other and the ball was flowing smoothly between them, but the level of coordination didn��t match up to what one would expect from a professional team and there were many wrong movements both on and off the ball which ended up causing problems in their gamey.

    It also did not help that they were ying without any specific instructions from the manager, or that some of the yers were not ying in the positions they usually yed at their clubs.

    Jason was also affected by this problem.

    He had to expend a lot of his energy to chase after his marker and once he managed to get the ball, he had toy it off to teammates who were further up front so that they could start an attack which was the exact opposite of what he did at Porto where he usually just watched and waited for the ball to reach him before taking off down the nks, leading the attack and running through opposition yers before making a final pass.

    He usually only ever passed whenever there wasn��t any way to start an attack, but now that he was ying as a central attacking midfielder, he couldn��t hold on to the ball for too long as he was in the center where the number of opposing yers were the highest and they weren��t hesitant to tackle him.

    It also didn��t take long for Jason to notice the intense physicality of the Nigerian yers as they mmed into him constantly.

    It was like ying against ten Pepe(s).

    Even Ahmed Musa, the Super Eagles captain, who was the smallest yer on the opposing team moved with such an imposing posture that one couldn��t easily push him off the ball.

    Ten minutes after the training match started, Jason was already heaving as he thought to himself,

    ��This is actually a lot more fun than I expected.��

    The match was rough, he was ying in an awkward position, and he hadn��t been able to get anything going because of the disjointed movements of the teammates and his own duties, but all this just pushed him and fueled his excitement.

    Training at Porto hardly ever felt this intense and it felt like a lot of things were bing clearer in his head and his body movements seemed to be loosening up and adjusting to such a rough style of y.

    However, for now, Jason had to put all that aside and focus on the training session because it had been ten minutes, and apart from a few potshots that did little to worry their respective goalkeepers, the two sets of yers hadn��t been able to get any attacks going and Jason didn��t like that.

    They couldn��t carry this kind of performance into a match.

    Jason wouldn��t allow himself to y like this as it annoyed him and he had made up his mind.

    ��Fuck this CAM position, I��m ying how I want,�� he thought to himself as Chidera Ejuke took a throw-in and sent the ball at him.

    Jason caught the ball on his chest and while holding off Etebo who was trying to hassle him into leaving the ball.

    Luckily, he managed to hold off Etebo long enough to bring the ball to the ground and once the ball was under control, Jason took off to the opponent��s penalty box, not bothering to pass the ball like he was doing earlier.

    Also, instead of cutting in towards the center, he went down the right nk with the ball as a winger would, and before long he came face-to-face with his Porto teammate, Zaidu Sanusi.

    ��You aren��t going anywhere bro,�� Zaidu almost growled as he squared off against Jason.

    ��Sure,�� Jason replied before proceeding to do a reverse-stico to confuse Zaidu and then bolting further down the right wing with the little space he had managed to create.

    Zaidu immediately gave chase but Jason had already gotten enough space to send a cross in and his leg swept towards the ball as if to send a cross in.

    Zaidu Sanusi immediately lunged into a sliding tackle to try and block the cross, but his surprise knew no bounds when Jason��s leg came to a hard stop behind the ball before he swept the ball backwards, leaving Zaidu to fly out of his path, tackling nothing but air.

    Not even giving a nce to the sliding Zaidu, Jason took off uninterrupted into the penalty box and sent a ground pass at Victor Osimhen who had freed himself in the penalty box and Osimhen didn��t hesitate to send the ball flying past the Super Eagles first choice goal keeper, Maduka Okoye.

 Chapter 331: First Training Session with the National Team III

    Chapter 331: First Training Session with the National Team III

    The ball rolled past the goal line, and Osimhen jogged toward Jason with a smile on his face.

    ��Nice one,��he said as he dapped Jason before ncing over at Zaidu who was getting up from the ground with a wry look on his face.

    ��Why you go dey dribble me like that now? E no make sense,(Why will you dribble me like that? It��s not cool bro),�� Zaidu said aggrievedly to Jason as he walked over.

    ��You sef, no dey jump enter tackle like mumu(Well, you shouldn��t jump into tackles like an idiot),�� Osimhen said whileughing, not caring to disy any sympathy for his teammate.

    ��Don��t worry, I won��t dribble you like that next time,�� Jason said with a smile, amused by the situation.

    Jason and Zaidu usually trained together back at Porto, but most of the time, they were usually on the same team so Jason didn��t usually go up against Zaidu.

    Even the few times they had gone up against each other, Jason usually just tried running past him after doing a few step-overs and didn��t do anything fancy, hence this was a first for him and Zaidu.

    However, they did not have time to go over this matter as the manager quickly told them to go back and kick off again while also shouting out instructions, pointing out the obvious faults of the yers. *Fweeeeee*

    Joseph Yobo blew his whistle again to signify kick-off and the internal scrimmage resumed.

    Team A once again kicked off and after the kick-off, they looked sharper on the ball and the ball flowed smoothly between them better than before, but Team B��s yers weren��t just for show and they performed equally as well to match up to their opponents.

    Soon the ball was with Team B again and Shehu Tijani who was in possession sighted Jason making a run at Team A��s defense line.

    With his confidence in Jason��s skills bolstered by Jason��s earlier performance, Shehu didn��t hesitate to send a forward pass that swept across the green at an amazing pace, making its way behind the defensive line.

    The ball passed between William Troost-Ekong, the LCB, and Zaidu Sanusi, the LB, but Jason angled his run to burst past William��s right before chasing after the ball and receiving the ball behind him.

    Troost-Ekong was only able to watch Jason pull away from him as he was no match for Jason��s pace, but Zaidu wasn��t giving up on the ball so easily and gave chase to the ball.

    Jason and Zaidu approached the ball from different angles, but Jason had a slight edge and reached the ball first with his first touch on the ball, he flicked the ball a little towards the right and the ball rolled in between the approaching Zaidu��s legs as he was moving too fast and couldn��t react.

    ��YEEEEEEHH!�� some of the yers shouted as they watched Zaidu get nutmegged, but Zaidu paid them no heed and immediately tried to recover as he was now in front of Jason, but just as he was turning so he could put himself into Jason��s path, Jason flicked the ball forward, sending the ball between Zaidu��s legs once again before he could recover his posture.

    This time, Zaidu��s legs involuntarily tried to react, but he only seeded in tangling his legs up and falling over while Jason ran past him into the penalty box at Maduka Okoye.

    ��YEEEEEEEEHHH!�� the exmation from the viewers of the massacre(yers included), was louder than the first time, but Jason wasn��t done yet.

    As he faced off against Maduka Okoye, he swung his leg at the ball to shoot, but just as the Super Eagles goalkeeper lunged into his path, Jason��s leg stopped behind the ball and he flicked it towards the right instead, evading the goalkeeper before chipping the ball into the back of the.

    ��YEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHH!!!�� this time, the ��Yeeeeeehssss �� were apanied by the Nigerian yers running at Jason in excitement.

    Even the members of team A weren��t left out of the excitement as they surrounded Jason, celebrating like they had just scored a goal in the FIFA World Cup Finals.

    Gernot Rohr watched the training session turn into a rambunctious mayhem, but could only smile victoriously at the rowdy yers surrounding Jason.

    It seemed his decision to pull out all the stops to ensure that Jason yed for the national team was correct and Jason had begun to validate his sense of judgment by winning over the team after less than an hour of training together.

    Nigerians were among the most devout football fans all over the world and they loved their football teams ying exciting football which was exactly what Jason brought to the team.

    Goals, assists, electrifying pace, and, amazingly swift but mboyant dribbling skills were traits that were guaranteed to make any Nigerian football fan fall in love with a yer, yet, Jason had all this and more, and even better�� he even for them.

    The moment Jason got on the pitch in Nigerian colors and disyed his skills, Gernot Rohr was sure that Jason would repeat what he had just done to his teammates to the Nigerian citizens.

    Zaidu Sanusi had been used as a sacrifice, but it was all for the greater cause.

    The situation soon quietened down and Zaidu walked up to Jason with his aggrievation written all over his face.

    ��It has been two minutes�� two minutes bruhhh,�� Zaidu couldn��t say more than that and kept repeating it like a broken record.

    Jason had quite literally promised that he wouldn��t dribble him like that again and he hadn��t�� instead he had done worse.

    At this point, Zaidu was already feeling a little regret that he had personally helped open up Jason��s path to joining the Super Eagles, but the thought that it would be a lot worse if Jason decimated him on the field while wearing another country��s colors, kept his regret from building up and he could only swallow his pain.

    He had brought it on himself and now he had to face the consequences of his actions.

    After getting someforting from some of the yers, the training session once again continued.

 Chapter 332: First Training Session with the National Team IV

    Chapter 332: First Training Session with the National Team IV

    The internal scrimmage continued after that and as more time passed, the yers became more at ease with each other and it was clear that their chemistry with each other was building up by the minute.

    Soon, Gernot Rohr started making changes to the line-ups of the two teams.

    He brought on the yers who hadn��t been among the starting lineup of the two teams and he also made the asional switch of yers from one team to the other.

    He also gave more and more instructions to the yers so that they could get morefortable with each other, but soon enough the internal scrimmage had toe to an end.

    After all, it was a training session and not an actual match so it couldn��t be too intense or done for too long as that would affect the yers�� stamina in theing game that was only two days away.

    After the internal scrimmage, the head manager had the coaching staff take over the individual and role-specific training while he left to go begin working on a possible line-up and game n for theing game.

    Before Jason could join the individual training however, he had to do a quick interview with some of the reporters so that they could be on their way.

    Jason headed over to the reporters in thepany of Joseph Yobo, the assistant coach who had performed as the referee in the scrimmage. As soon as Jason walked up to the reporters and they were given the green light to begin an interview, the cameras quickly began rolling, a mic was put into Jason��s face, and questions started flying at him from the reporters.

    ��Jason! It��s a great pleasure to have you here in Nigeria and dressed in Nigerian colors as you begin training with the Super Eagles. People would like to know what influenced your decision to y for Nigeria despite your plethora of options?�� A balding man who looked to be in histe forties asked Jason, holding a microphone with the words ��SilverBird��printed clearly on the microphone jacket.

    ��I��m not quite sure how to answer that, but I have always held a lot of respect for the Super Eagles and their exploits, as well as the legends of the team who have helped the country achieve great things in the sports sector so when I got the call, I came running, eager to do my part,�� Jason had never had experience answering a question like this so he just said whatever came to mind.

    ��Wee to the team then,�� the reporter responded with a smile before going on to ask another question,

    ���� I have to ask, it��s been less than a year since you had your professional debut and you have already received an international call-up, how do you feel about that?��

    ��Well, I��m happy to have been given the chance to perform on the international stage so early in my career and hopefully I can deliver a performance worthy of the trust the manager has put in me by calling me up to the team,�� Jason said honestly, having it a bit easier with this question that didn��t feel like it required an emotional answer.

    Another reporter quickly took the ce of the first reporter and asked Jason the next question as soon as he was done answering the previous reporter��s second question.

    ��How would you say the atmosphere here at the Super Eagles camppares to Porto?�� another reporter asked, this one sporting an afro on his head and holding a microphone with the words ��AIT�� printed on it.

    ��Uh, I��d say the training here is equally as intense as it is at Porto, though the physicality here is quite different. These guys are so hard to push off the ball, but that makes it quite interesting and I think I have a lot to gain from training here,�� Jason answered clearly.

    ��You��ve already started training with your teammates in preparation for theing game against Sierra Leone on Friday. How would you say are the team��s chances ofing out on top in that sh?�� a female reporter with a bob cut on her head that was presumably a wig waved a microphone with the words ��Channels�� on it in Jason��s face as she asked Jason another question.

    ��Well, I don��t have any experience in these kind of games as it will be my first time, haha,�� Jason gave a smallugh before continuing,

    ���� but we��ve begun our preparations here and the team��s football has been shaping up nicely and I can see the effort of everybody on the team, so I believe that we have a good chance ofing out on top in the next game if we keep putting in this much effort and enthusiasm,�� he continued, his ent sounding quite contradictory to the Nigerian ent in the voices of the reporters.

    From there, Jason answered a few more questions from the reporters before he was finally released and he immediately headed back to the field to go rejoin his teammates in training.

    The Nigerian yers were a rowdy but loveable bunch and Jason soon found himself rting with them like they had known each other for a few years and this quickly built up their understanding of one another and further developed their team chemistry unknowingly.

    After quite a few training drills that involved passing drills, agility drills, dribbling drills, shooting drills, one- touch and two-touch rondos, and even a one-on-one session between an attacker and a defender, the Super Eagles finally ended their training session at almost 5 pm.

    Out of habit, Jason had wanted to stay back to continue his training tillte, but his teammates weren��t having it and dragged him off the field along with them.

    It was onlyter that Jason was told that they bus that carried the team usually came bring all the yers in the morning and left with all the yers in the evening after training.

    Also with tight schedules like the one they currently had, the yers weren��t allowed to do a lot of extra training so as to avoid exhausting or injuring themselves, however, there was a gym back at their hotel where the yers could do a bit of physical training if they wished to after training.

    Jason alsoter found out that he couldn��t even do that tonight as they would be having dinner with the governor of Lagos state that evening which was a wee party of sorts for Jason.

 Chapter 333: Considerations for a New Home I

    Chapter 333: Considerations for a New Home I

    The dinner for the Super Eagles was held at the Radisson Hotel where the yers were staying and it wasn��t something held in a formal setting.

    The yers arrived at the private room for the dinner in white T-shirts and shorts with the Super Eagles Logo on their right breast.

    The governor arrived a bitter and after a few festivities where Jason was called out and formally weed to the team while also taking a few pictures, the governor left as it was already quitete and the yers got to demolish the food that had been prepared for them.

    The table was lively and conversations were being held at every corner of the table between groups of yers.

    Jason was seated beside Osimhen and Zaidu, but Alex Iwobi and Ahmed Musa were seated nearby as well and were in a conversation.

    As the most experienced person among all of them, Ahmed Musa had started by giving the four of them advice on their careers since all of them were at pretty big clubs around Europe.

    Alex Iwobi had moved from Arsenal to Everton the previous year for a fee of 24 million pounds, Osimhen had joined Napoli from Losc Lille at a price of 70 million pounds, and Zaidu had joined Porto from Santa ra.

    This made all of them pretty big transfers and Jason paled inparison to them because he had been signed to Porto on a free transfer, but Porto was a pretty big team as well and the offers were alreadying in for him making everyone sure that his exit from Porto wasn��t too far off. ��Have you considered where you��ll want to y next?�� Alex asked Jason as the conversation had turned to him since he was currently the one with the highest likelihood for a transfer in theing transfer windows.

    ���� To be honest, I don��t know because I��ll have to get an offer from some clubs first before beginning to consider my choices, but I hope for somewhere exciting where I can y Champions League football at least,�� Jason replied.

    He wasn��t telling the whole truth as Adele had already been contacted by a few teams asking about his avability for a transfer in theing transfer window, or in the summer transfer window of theing year, but he wasn��t lying about not having made a decision.

    Adele had already been contacted by Manchester United, Paris Saint Germain, Athletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, and a few other teams, but those four were the big names that had contacted Adele and that was already enough to surprise Jason.

    Out of those four big names however, Manchester United seemed like they were the ones who wanted him the most as the level of enthusiasm they showed was much more than the rest, and they were willing to pull out all the stops to acquire him in the summer transfer window of theing year�� or at least that��s what he was told.

    Paris Saint Germain had just added his name to their list of probable transfers since they had money lying around and could go into the market for whoever they wished, though that was causing them more bad than good.

    Athletico Madrid seemed a bit more serious, but they wanted Jason on a free transfer instead and weren��t willing to spend any money on Jason whose price had been inted way too much and would leave a huge dent on their finances.

    Borussia Dortmund had a bit more enthusiasm and was willing tomit to signing Jason as long as they could either reduce his price to a reasonable level or raise enough funds to pull through with the deal.

    Jason hadn��t been able to make his decision as there weren��t any final offers on the table yet and it was still a long way till the summer transfer window of theing year since he didn��t n to leave Porto in the middle of the season.

    However, if these were the final options he were stuck with when the time to make the decision came, he would rank his choices with Manchester Uniteding in as his first choice, Borussia Dortmund as second, Athletico Madrid as the third, and Paris Saint Germain as thest.

    His reasoning for this was simple and though some of it was due to a bit of his bias, he thought his reasoning was objective enough.

    Despite Manchester United��sck of sess in the domestic league and on the continental stage ever since Alex Ferguson retired, joining the Manchester United team would have himpete at one of the top levels in the world and the team wasn��t a bad one.

    Maybe he could even win a few trophies there.

    It also helped that they wanted him there quite a bit�� also, Manchester United was a major part of Cristiano Ronaldo��s origin story and Jason wanted to feel the atmosphere at Old Trafford and see if he could recreate some of his idol��s achievements in the red shirt.

    Borussia Dortmund and Athletico Madrid were in a close tie for Jason��s second choice because they were very good options as well.

    One was in the German Bundesliga where the physicality of the game was at one of the peak levels ofpetitiveness and intensity, while the other was in a league where the two behemoths of the game that housed the two GOATs of the current generation were�� of course, Ronaldo had left Madrid already, but that didn��t do much to Real Madrid��s status.

    However, theck of effort on the part of Athletico Madrid who only wished to sign Jason on free was not something Jason wanted.

    If he was going to sign for them on a free transfer, then that would mean he would have to stay an extra season at Porto because his contract didn��t end until January 2022 and Porto had a six-month extension use to keep him with them till July 2022 which was something Jason would rather avoid, hence his decision to put Borussia Dortmund above Athletico Madrid.

    As for Paris Saint Germain�� Jason didn��t know where to start.

 Chapter 334: Considerations for a New Home II

    Chapter 334: Considerations for a New Home II

    Paris Saint Germain was actually a pretty good choice as they would be able to match up to Porto��s asking price.

    They would also be able to pay him a ginormous sry which was no doubt, very attractive, not to mention their line-up.

    They had the best youthful talent in the football world in the person of Kylian Mbappe ying for them and they had the best of the best yers in every position.

    They also had yers like Neymar Junior, Angel Di Maria, Julian Draxler, Mauro Icardi, Marco Verrati, Pablo Sarabia, Ander Herrera, Marquinhos, Presnel Kimpembe, Keylor Navas and many more.

    Any of these yers would have other clubs drooling at the chance to have them in their ranks and it was clear that their team was one of the best teams in all of Europe, but there was a major w this brought.

    Jason wasn��t one of the bias people who put down every league in the world but the top four which were the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, and the Bundesliga, but Jason also knew that their title as the top leagues in the world wasn��t a sham.

    The French Ligue 1 wasn��t too far off from the top leagues, but it still paled quite a bit inparison and this had been validated by yers who could easily make rounds in the Ligue 1 going to the top leagues and bing unable to pull off such performances.

    Radamel Falcao was one of such yers and his outing from the Ligue 1 to the Premier League could not be said to be anything less than disastrous with him only able to four times for Manchester United in twenty-six appearances in the 2014/15 season. He was also only able to score one goal for Chelsea after 12 appearances for the club in the 2015/16 season which was way worse than Gonzalo Higuain and Alvaro Morata who were touted as Chelsea��s worst transfers in the striker position.

    Anthony Martial was another such yer, but he was way better and was able to perform quite well outside the Ligue 1, his physicality was no match for the Premier League and he spent most of his time in Manchester United in the recovery rooms.

    There were other examples like Bakayoko who couldn��t hit top performances once they left the Ligue 1 despite constantly pulling off impressive performances in the French League.

    The yers at Paris Saint Germain however, weren��t like those yers.

    They were tried and trusted yers who had conquered leagues outside France before joining Paris Saint Germain, but this was where the problem began.

    With yer pedigree like that, and a team that was as impressive as that, the Ligue 1 which wasn��t much of a challenge to the PSG yers in the first ce became like easy mode which took off theirpetitive edge, hence, despite qualifying for the Champions League every year, they hadn��t been able to do much in the knockout stages and usually ended up being knocked out as early as the quarter-finals once they came up against any other European giants.

    They had managed to make it to the finals in the previous season, but it was quite clear that their luck had a great deal to do with it as they hadn��t faced any major European giant of their level until the finals and were only faced with Borussia Dortmund, Atnta, and RB Leipzig.

    Of those three, only Borussia Dortmund posed a bit of a challenge and Atnta was a team that couldn��t match up to them in any aspects.

    Leipzig was the worst of those three as they hardly had any history with the Champions League or even at the top level at all. They had only surfaced recently and were shaking up the Bundesliga quite a bit due to Borussia Dortmund cking off in thest few years, leaving Bayern as the only title contenders.

    As soon as PSG were faced with Bayern in the finals, they lost.

    Of course, there could be other reasons for this, but to Jason, it was clear that there was a majorck ofpetitiveness in the Ligue 1 which had relegated Paris Saint Germain to the bottom of the list among the main contenders for his signature.

    He wanted to be a legend of the game and he would rather prove himself in tougher leagues than go to the Ligue 1 which people called a ��farmers league��.

    ���� Ok, maybe that is a little too biased,�� he thought to himself wryly, but he wasn��t changing his mind.

    History was there as a guide for people to learn from and Jason would have to be blind to ignore the examples, especially Neymar Junior who was once touted as one of the greatest and waspared with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, yet after his transfer to PSG, he slowly disappeared from the conversation.

    Neymar went from beingpared to Ronaldo and Messi to beingpared with yers like Sterling and Dyb.

    Sterling and Dyb were good yers of course, but imagine the disrespect.

    Neymar, the prince born in an era of two kings beingpared to mere nobles?

    Nah�� there was just no way Jason could ignore that and attribute it to Neymar��s choices regarding money and his lifestyle.

    Not when there was more than Neymar as an example.

    Marco Verrati, a yer who had burst onto the scene before Kevin de Bruyne and someone who was touted to be one of the next legendary midfielders at the level of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric also degraded to the level where he was beingpared to the likes of Jorghino.

    Like, what in heaven��s mercy was that disrespect?

    Of course, this was due to Marco Verrati��s lifestyle choices as he never stuck to a strict lifestyle of a footballer and was always out partying.

    Worst of all, he even began smoking at some point, yet no one called him out at the club because despite letting himself go, his raw talent was enough to still disy top-level performances that other yers could only dream of having.

    Jason knew himself and knew that if he ever let money or pride get to his head and he stopped putting in the effort he was constantly putting in, he would crash faster than a house of cards when a tornado blew past and he would probably never be able to recover.

    This was already his second chance and he doubted if he would get a third one so he had to be as cautious as possible of anything that could adversely affect his career even if it seemed like he was being too much or he wasn��t thinking straight.

 Chapter 335: Supa Eagles Tactical Dilemmas

    Chapter 335: Supa Eagles Tactical Dilemmas

    After talking about their future prospects, the conversation shifted to more fun things and the night passed quickly and soon the yers headed away from the table leaving nothing but empty tes behind.

    From there they headed to their rooms and settled in for the night, wanting to have a good rest to prepare themselves for theing day.

    The next day at the training ground, the manager had the yers have another internal scrimmage just like the previous day, but this time the two teams were using the 4-2-3-1 formation against each other.

    The movements of the yers on the field were a lot smootherpared to the previous day and it was very clear to see in the attacking, possession, and defensive efforts of the yers as they went against each other.

    After an hour of the simted match training session, the manager had them stop the training, called for a tactical meeting, and started giving the yers a detailed tactical setup of the tactics they would be using in theing game.

    It went without saying that they would be arranged across the field in the 4-2-3-1 formation since that was what they were training in, but the manager had made quite a few tweaks to the formation so it wasn��t the same as a conventional 4-2-3-1 formation.

    The reason for the manager going out of his way to make such a change to the formation he had almost always used with the Supa Eagles was of course, Jason.

    From Jason��s performance during training, it was clear that Jason would inevitably be a very important yer on the team, but unfortunately, the position that the head manager wanted him to y was not the same one he yed at his club. The reason for Gernot Rohri not wanting him to y as a winger was because there was already an abundance of wingers on the team, not to mention that there were even some talented wingers that were not called up this time so putting Jason on the wings would make thepetition for winger positions be problematic, hence why he was ying Jason in the Center Attacking Midfielder position which Jason could y reasonably well in.

    Unfortunately, this brought out yet another problem.

    Despite Jason being able to y well in the CAM position, the way he yed in that position was far from conventional as he preferred to run around a lot more and also preferred attacking from the nks than down the middle.

    The problem was that despite it being far from conventional it worked exceptionally well and there weren��t any problems that had arisen from this style of y so far as he still managed to do his duties in the CAM position while adding his own personal ir��

    Unfortunately, no one else on the team could y like that which meant that if Jason wasn��t on the field, they couldn��t y like that and would need to change tactics or risk a major problem with their performance.

    Gernot Rohri��s solution to that was that whenever Jason was on the field, their 4-2-3-1 formation would be more of a 4-2-2-1-1 formation with Jason taking the role of a supporting striker instead of just a CAM, but his role as a supporting striker would be as a false 9, or a deep-lying forward who had been given a free role and could join any part of the attacking section of the team.

    He could stay up front with the striker in attack, work the ball down the wings, ore into the midfield to help the midfielders hold off their opponents either with quick passes or by applying pressure on the yers.

    The other yers on the team would then adjust themselves to fill in the space he left in the midfield whenever he wasn��t there.

    And if Jason wasn��t on the field, then they��d stick with the normal 4-2-3-1 formation, or shift to a 4-3-3 formation depending on the yers in the line-up.

    After an extensive tactical meeting with the manager giving out very specific instructions, the manager had the yers get back on the field and have another internal scrimmage match to test-run the edited formation and game n.

    The yers arranged themselves on the field with Jason��s team using the modded 4-2-2-1-1 formation while the other team used a normal 4-2-3-1 formation and soon the match kicked off.

    The training session yielded amazing results in the attacking department and despite it being their first time trying it out, it was clear to see that allowing the yers to let their youthful passion y out without trying to constrain them to the norms of the football world allowed them to burst forth with creativity and let them find all sorts of way to break through their opponents.

    However, it came at a cost�� a horrible defense.

    It wasn��t so bad as to say it was porous, but the Supa Eagles team wascking in a major defensive talent who they could entrust their backs to and if they slipped up and allowed their opponents through, it was likely to result in them conceding a goal.

    It didn��t help that their goalkeeper wasn��t top-level either.

    However, to the head manager, these were all problems that could be solved over time, the formation still needed a bit of tweaking, and over time, the yers would get morefortable with their roles on the team which should make things be better.

    For now, they would rely on outscoring their opponents to win games�� anyway, football was a game that was won by scoring more goals than the opponents, not by defending more goals.

    There was still work to do, but they were on the right path.

    After another hour of testing the formation, the manager had the yers stop and rest for a while before they went on to spend the rest of the day doing defensive drills to make up for the poor defense of the formation.

    Slowly the day went by and the preparations for the uing match continued till the sun started dipping behind the horizon.

    The yers headed off the field exhausted, but excited for theing day.

    ����������������������������������������������������-

    Hey amigos, Author here�� again.

    I��m sure you might have noticed specific words that seem like mistakes in the chapter this time.

    Well, they��re not mistakes and I��ve been advised to change up on the realistic names to avoid copyright issues in the future and I��ve taken that advice.

    Don��t worry though, I��ll only change things up as little as possible so you guys can easily understand who or what I mean.

 Chapter 336: Nigeria vs Sierra Leone Round 1 I

    Chapter 336: Nigeria vs Sierra Leone Round 1 I

    ** Friday, 13thNovember 2020**

    *3:43 pm*

    The Supa Eagles had begun their day with an early flight to Benin City in Edo state where the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium that was the scheduled location for the match was located.

    On arriving, the yers had had a bit of a rest before heading to the stadium and had done a little pre-match stadium

    They were now in the locker room, preparing for the game while the manager was going through thest arrangements for the game, one of which was selecting the starting line-up.

    ��Our starting line-up for the match is as follows;�� Gernot Rohri began to call out names with a notepad in his hand.

    ��Madika Okoyi is our goalkeeper, Kh Omeruo and Williem Troust-Ekong will be the two center backs for the game,��

    ��i Aina will be the right back while Zaidiu Sanusi is our left back,�� ��Aribo Joey and Etebor will be the two defensive midfielders, while Aleix Iwobi will be the center attacking midfielder,��

    ��In the left mid-field will be Simeon Moses while Ahmad Musa will be on the right and up-front will be Keliechi Ihanacho,�� Gernot Rohri finished calling out the names in the starting line-up.

    After calling out the names of the yers in the starting line-up, a tactical meeting began with the yers as the head manager took his time to exin the game n as much as possible, constantly reiterating each person��s role and how they were to y in their game.

    Everyone listened attentively, including Jason who was putting on his training vest over his upper body, leaving his jersey unworn as he would be on the bench.

    He wasn��t displeased that he was on the bench as he understood that despite how well he had performed in training, there was no rush in getting him on the field especially since it was a new experience for him.

    Anyway, the manager had already promised that he would be given some game time, so he patiently waited for the manager to make good on his promise.

    There was no point in being anxious or displeased anyway as it wouldn��t change anything now that he had already put pen to paper.

    The yers listened intently to the manager��s instructions while time rolled by swiftly and it was soon time for the yers to head out to the field.

    The bench yers and the manager headed out first while the starting yers went to wait in the tunnel.

    Jason dapped his new friends in the team and left with the bench yers to head out to the stadium.

    A few minutes after they had reached the bench, the yers of the two countries began stepping out to the field with the referees leading the lines and they soon arranged themselves on the pitch to begin the pre-match formalities.

    They started by singing the national anthems of the two countries in the order of the home team and the away team and everyone on each team had to participate, though Jason was mostly just chewing up his own mouth as he hadn��t fully learned the Nigerian national anthem at that point yet.

    After the national anthems of the two teams were sung, the pre-match formalities that Jason was more familiar with continued.

    The coin was flipped and the Supa Eagles won the toss.

    They chose to pass first and left to arrange themselves on their half of the field when Sierra Leone chose their half of the field.

    At 5:00 pm, the referee��s shrill whistle blew loudly to kick off the game and Keliechi Ihanacho kicked off the game with a pass to Ahmad Musa.

    ***

    # 11thminute��

    The game had gotten off to a bit of a boring start with the two teams testing themselves out tactically without really making major efforts to break through the other��s defense.

    There had been a few potshots from both sides, but none of them looked like they would evene close to scoring.

    On the sidelines, Gernot Rohri watched the game intently, waiting patiently for his yers to find a breakthrough moment, but so far, nothing had shown up.

    Just now, Simeon Moses had tried to dribble past a Sierra Leone defender but had ended up having the ball swept away from him and cleared giving Nigeria a corner kick.

    Ahmad Musa ran over to the g to take the corner while the yers of the two teams arranged themselves in the Sierra Leone penalty box as they waited for the iing cross.

    *Fweeeee*

    At the referee��s whistle, Musa ran at the ball and sent it flying into the penalty box, prompting yers of the two teams to shuffle against each other as they tried to get to the ball.

    Outmuscling everyone, Williem Troust-Ekong managed to get away from his marker and rise to meet the ball and catch it with his head.

    {Great leap!?}

    {Goal!}

    {He heads it home and sends his Nigeria into the lead!}

    {It hasn��t taken them long, the Supa Eagles have taken off already!} thementator shouted excitedly as the scorer celebrated his goal with his teammates.

    The Nigerian fans in their homes watching the match shouted and pumped their screens as they watched the ball go in, while another group of fans who had also made bets on the Nigerian game had an even brighter smile on their faces as they watched the scoreboard change.

    #18thminute��

    After the Supa Eagles opened up the game with their goal, they upped their efforts and tried to further their lead, but the Sierra Leone team was resisting really hard and making efforts of their own to get back in the game.

    Soon, the Sierra Leone team found space in Nigeria��s half of the field and started a quick counter after snatching the ball from Etebor.

    The ball flew from yer to yer as it moved diagonally across the field from the right to the left until the left winger received a through pass from the striker just as he stepped into Nigeria��s 18-yard box.

    He didn��t hesitate to rifle a shot at the Supa Eagles�� goal and sent the ball flying past a sprawling Madika Okoyi to equalize the game.

    {Goal!}

    {They have their equalizer!}

    {That right there is a splendid response to going behind!}

    {Sierra Leone don��t n on easily letting their opponents take away all three points from this game!}

 Chapter 337: Nigeria vs Sierra Leone Round 1 II

    Chapter 337: Nigeria vs Sierra Leone Round 1 II

    #28hminute��

    After the equalizer from Sierra Leone, the two teams were back to where they had started and they once again began tearing at each other, trying to get the all-important goal that would decide the difference between them.

    The Supa Eagles were being especially very attacking in their ying style and the possession stats was sixty-three percent to twenty-seven percent in favour of the Supa Eagles.

    However, possession wasn��t always an indicator of who would win a game as a chance suddenly appeared for Sierra Leone.

    The Nigerian yers had been trying to break through the Sierra Leone defense, but they were unable to break through and were pushed back to pass the ball into their defense.

    i Aina had received a pass from Etebor and wanted to send the ball forward, but his pass was intercepted by a Sierra Leone yer who immediately pushed the ball forward before sending a through pass past the Supa Eagles defense line that was loose due to the yers being out of position.

    The Sierra Leone striker got the ball behind his marker inside the Supa Eagles�� penalty box and he quickly took his shot.

    {He shoots! He scores!} {Minutes after getting an equalizer, Sierra Leone take the lead!} thementator shouted excitedly as the Sierra Leone yers celebrated their goal while the Nigerian yers held their hands up and called for offside as the Sierra Leone striker was behind his marker when the ball was sent his way.

    However, the assistant referee��s g stayed down and soon the rey of the goal was shown on the screens of the viewers and it could be seen clearly that though the striker was behind his marker, Zaidiu Sanusi was behind their defensive line and had yed the striker offside, so the goal counted.

    The Nigerian yers could only ept the situation with bitter smiles, but they didn��t lose theirposure as it was still early in the game and anything could happen.

    Soon the yers were once again arranged across the field, ready to kick off the game for the fourth time in less than half an hour.

    #35thminute��

    With Sierra Leone taking the lead in the game, the momentum had shifted, and though the Nigerian team was able to keep ahead in the possession stats, they weren��t doing half as much as the Sierra Leone team when it came to pressuring their opponents.

    The Sierra Leone team had them on tenterhooks most of the time even though they had the ball most of the time and Gernot Rohri had been shouting at his yers from the sidelines to get them to calm down and make use of their possession and advantages.

    Unfortunately, his shouts seemed to be falling on deaf ears as nothing was changing.

    Spurred by the shouts from the head coach, Aribo Joey wanted to start an attack by sending a lobbed-through-pass forward.

    His thinking was if they couldn��t get through the defense, then they��d go over it and that was exactly what he tried to do, but before the ball could move a few meters into the air, a Sierra Leone yer jumped into the ball��s path, blocking the pass and sending the ball into the air.

    The ball flew high into the air beforeing down in Nigeria��s half of the field, not making it past three meters from its starting point.

    As the ball wasing down, a Sierra Leone yer rose to catch the ball with his head and send it to the nearest teammate who was just outside the Supa Eagles penalty box.

    The yer received the pass with a smooth tap to bring it under control, but his next move shocked everyone.

    Just after barely bringing the ball under control, the yer��s leg swung back and he rifled a thunderous shot at Nigeria��s goal from almost thirty yards away.

    {Has a look and has a go!}

    {GOAL!!!} thementator screamed as he watched the Sierra Leone yer just pull off a once-in-a-lifetime goal.

    {My word! My word! What a stunner!}

    {He sent it into the top corner and left the goalkeeper no chance!}

    {How beautiful! How unexpected! How Puskas worthy!} Thementator knew that this goal was one for the historic reels and hismentary elevated to match such a scene.

    {With that, Sierra Leone have struck back at their opponents! not once, but thrice in a span of less than half an hour since going behind!}

    {What amazing powers of recovery!}

    The Supa Eagles didn��t even know how to feel after seeing such a stunner scored against them, putting them into a two goal deficit against their opponents, but they were professionals and were not going to give up this early in the game, sothey headed back to their positions for the kickoff with hard looks on their face.

    They still believed, but they no longer wore the smiles that they had worn on their faces when the match started.

    #43rdminute��

    The game��s dynamics had shifted more in favor of the Sierra Leone team after scoring their third against Nigeria, but the Nigerian yers weren��t going to leave themselves open for their opponents to just have their way with them and they had entered a state of high focus as they yed.

    They had managed to keep the ball away from their fired up opponents and prevent them from building off their already immense momentum.

    The Supa Eagles had adopted a patient, step-by-step approach against their opponents and they were finally about to reap the dividends of their patience.

    Simeone Moses was facing off against the Sierra Leone right back on the left nk.

    He tried to evade the yer and cut in, but the Sierra Leone defender wasn��t letting up and Moses instead decided to feint towards the right before rolling the ball towards the left into the path of Sanusi who was running over from behind.

    The feint worked and Sanusi caught up to the ball and pushed it forward before cutting in slightly and sending in a low cross into the penalty box.

    The ball found its way to Aleix Iwobi who hit it first time into the bottom right corner before the goalkeeper could get to the ball.

    {Goal!}

    {They have one back!}

    {After a series of shocks, the Supa Eagles are finally looking like they��re back on track} Thementator��s voicecked the enthusiasm of a huge goal, but his words were soothing to the ears of the Nigerian fans, especially the ones who had ced bets on the Nigeria team winning the game.

    ***

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    {It��s half-time!}

    {It was Nigeria who ended the half on a high note, just getting a goal before the whistle was blown giving their fans hope for a better outing in the second half}

    {Will we see yet anothereback in theing half? Stay around to find out} thementator spoke as the yers of the two teams headed off the field and down to the tunnel for a much-needed rest after that steam-roller of a first-half.

    Jason and his bench buddies followed after the manager who walked into the tunnel, heading to their locker room.

    It did not take more than a minute for the yers to get to their locker room and settle down with some people drinking water while some sitting down to rest their muscles.

    Some of the yers were even receiving massages.

    ��I��m not going to mince words with you guys, that was a disastrous outing from you guys�� especially defensively,�� Gernot Rohri quickly began addressing his yers as there was a lot to talk about and adjust if the team was going to have a chance against their opponents in the second half.

    ��What were you looking at that our passes kept getting intercepted?��

    ��Also, the moment they hit us on the counter, you guys were always out of position for some reason, allowing them to easily get past us and score,�� It was clear that the manager wasn��t happy as he spoke.

    ��And you���� Gernot Rohri almost growled as he stared hard at Madika Okoyi, but he didn��t say anything else, seemingly swallowing his words before they came out.

    ����Anyway, the first half is gone and we only have forty-five minutes left to turn this game around so listen up,��

    ��First thing first, Vitor Osimen will being on for Ihanacho,�� Gernot Rohri started with line-up changes before going into the instructions.

    He gave more indepth instructions to the yers and pointed out the mistakes they had made in the first half before giving them ideas on how to make sure such situations didn��t repeat themselves in the second half.

    After all, they had finally managed to reduce the deficit to one and they wouldn��t want it to be extended any further and put them back even further.

    After a gruelling fifteen minutes of tactical adjustments, the two teams finally returned to the field for the second half with the two teams having switched sides on the pitch.

 Chapter 338: International Debut I

    Chapter 338: International Debut I

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    The referee��s whistle blew loudly and the second half got underway.

    It was Sierra Leone who kicked off the second half and as soon as the ball began moving, they immediately went on the attack, trying to immediately tap into their momentum from the previous half, but Nigeria responded in kind and charged at them with fervor.

    #49th minute��

    Sierra Leone had been pushing hard at the gate of Nigeria��s goal and had already sent quite a few shots at Nigeria��s goal, but they hadn��t managed to put any pressure on Madika Okoyi who had easily scooped up the ball every time it came his way.

    However, he couldn��t let uppletely either as the ball was currently being moved around in Nigeria��s half of the field by the Sierra Leone team.

    A Sierra Leone midfielder sent the ball over to the left wing and the Sierra Leone yer received the pass smoothly before facing off against i Aina.

    The Sierra Leone right winger first tried to do a stepover to confuse the right back, but Aina wasn��t budging so the Sierra Leone yer opted to feed the ball past him before chasing after the ball. The ball flew past Aina and the Sierra Leone chased after the ball he fed forward, but Aina wasn��t easily letting him past and stayed on him, but the Sierra Leone yer wasn��t budging and held Aina as they chased after the ball.

    At this point the ball had rolled into Nigeria��s 18-yard box which was dangerous for the Nigeria team so Aina increased his efforts to push off the Sierra Leone yer and all of a sudden, the yer who was so hard to push off before, suddenly fell to the ground surprising the Nigerian right back whose hands immediately went up to signify his innocence, but the referee didn��t believe him and the whistle went off immediately.

    *Fweeeeee* the referee blew hard as he ran over with his hands pointing to the penalty spot.

    This singr gesture of the referee had the hearts of every Supa Eagles fan watching the game, the yers, and the team manager, drop into depths of despair.

    The Nigerian yers immediately ran over to the referee to debate the foul, calling for a dive, but the referee wasn��t budging as he had seen i Aina m into the Sierra Leone yer from behind, sending him sprawling in the penalty box.

    The rey of the scene also made this clear so the referee stuck with his decision much to the dismay of the Nigerian yers who watched the Sierra Leone yers already celebrating before they even yed the penalty.

    The Sierra Leone captain took up the ball to the penalty spot once the penalty was confirmed and the referee busted himself arranging the yers outside the penalty box.

    A few secondster, everything was ready and everyone was in ce and the referee��s whistle went to his mouth before blowing hard.

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    The Sierra Leone captain ran at the ball and smashed it hard into the bottom left corner while Madika Okoyi had dived right.

    {Goal!}

    {Well taken penalty!}

    {The second half has barely begun, but they have made it four, once again taking a two-goal lead over their opponents!} Thementator spoke excitedly as the Sierra Leone yers celebrated their fourth goal of the game while Nigerian yers could only look on with bitter smiles on their faces.

    On the sidelines, Gernot Rohri called out to Jason who he had told to begin warming up as soon as the penalty was given.

    ��Hurry over,�� He said while his mind ran races in all directions.

    His initial n before the match was to bring Jason on muchter in the second half as he had expected that they would befortably winning the game by then, but the game which had taken a surprising turn was now spinning out of control.

    If there was any time to make changes to his ns and to make desperate moves, there couldn��t be any better moment than now.

    They were already behind by two goals so the earlier he made changes, the better, otherwise time would soon run out.

    Jason who had been called didn��t even think of dragging his legs as he wanted to get onto the pitch even more than the manager did.

    For him, it wasn��t even about who was winning the game or not, he just wanted to y.

    Of course, that did not mean he wanted to lose either.

    This would be his international debut in two lifetimes so he definitely wanted it to end in a win.

    Hence he quickly finished his warm-up routines and began donning his jersey which had the number 17 on its back.

    As he was putting on his jersey and making sure everything was in ce, Gernot Rohri was giving him instructions.

    ��You��reing on for Moses, so Iwobi will move over to the left nk while you��ll take his ce in the center, but the two of you are free to switch positions if the situation demands it,��

    ��Your job on the pitch is to make sure the ball gets forward. I don��t care how you n to do it, but get the ball forward, and then whether you choose to score or send the ball to a teammate is up to you,��

    ��Just make sure their is sent flying at least three more times before the referee blows the final whistle,�� Gernot Rohri only gave a general idea of what he wanted from Jason because he understood that when dealing with young talents, it was best for the manager to let the yer��s own creativity be the main thing on his mind.

    Outliers like Jason had their own style of y and constraining them to a specific type of y which didn��t fit their talents usually did more harm than good so it was best to just let them be.

    That was why special talents like that usually had a team built around them instead of being made to fit into a team.

    Making everyone else y for them was the way to go and that was what Gernot Rohri was nning for.

    He had quite literally made Jason the leader of the team and the only thing that remained was the captain band and even that would surely fall into Jason��s hands someday as long as he kept performing like he was already doing.

    {The assistant referee is holding up the board and it seems like a yer would being on for Nigeria}

    Simeon Moses jogged over to the sidelines on seeing his number on the board in red and he high-fived Jason who ran onto the field, sweeping his hair away from his face and tying it up tightly behind his head.

    {It��s Jason Bolu who ising on and it will be his first international cap for Nigeria}

    {After his impressive performances for Oporto since his debut in February, the Supa Eagles head manager couldn��t keep his hands to himself and leave such a talent out of international football}

    {At his debut for Oporto, his team was down by two, and now that he��s finally getting his international debut, his nation is also down by two}

    {Perhaps the manager is hoping that he could recreate the magic that helped his team back then, and considering the yer��s qualities, I wouldn��t put it past him to do just that}

    {Sierra Leone will need to put their guards up if they intend to hold on to their lead in the minutes toe} thementator spoke extensively but the referee wasn��t bothering himself with thementator and had blown his whistle to resume the game.

    Jason had already told Iwobi the manager��s instructions and he received the ball from the kick off before passing it instantly to Ahmad Musa on the right.

    # 57th minute��

    Jason��s appearance on the pitch changed the dynamics of the whole game.

    The Nigerian yers whose confidence has been hit by going behind had received a slight boost when he came on and their performance from that moment on which had managed to start pushing back the Sierra Leone team had only further boosted their confidence.

    They had already managed to get away three shots in the few minutes since he hade on and only the magnificent saves from the Sierra Leone goalkeeper had kept them from equalizing.

    For Jason personally, he hadn��t been able to do much because he had be the focal point of the Sierra Leone defense ever since he came on, but this had in-turn, given his teammates more freedom on the ball and helped them to y better.

    However, Jason wasn��t going to stay silent forever.

    The Sierra Leone team was in possession and had been passing the ball around fluidly as they tried to regain control of the game, but Etebor suddenly intercepted a pass from the Sierra Leone team.

    As soon as Etebor imed the ball, the Nigerian attackers started dashing forward, freeing themselves for a pass from behind.

    Jason who was near Osimen said in a low voice,

    ��Keep running.��

 Chapter 339: International Debut II

    Chapter 339: International Debut II

    �� Keep running,�� Jason said to Osimen in a low voice.

    Osimen nodded affirmatively and kept moving towards the Sierra Leone goal, while Jason reduced his speed and signaled for a pass from Etebor.

    Etebor didn��t hesitate and sent the ball rolling over.

    The ball reached Jason and he turned around to face the Sierra Leone goal only to find himself almost surrounded by the Sierra Leone yers with them closing at him by the second.

    Finding himself in such a situation, Jason didn��t hesitate and immediately pushed the ball toward where he could find the widest space.

    The ce with the widest space was on the right, and Jason immediately pushed the ball that way and took off, sticking with the basics and just pushing the ball out of the way of his opponents.

    Jason didn��t move straight and kept moving to ensure that the yers obstructed themselves and couldn��t reach him, but that wouldn��t work forever.

    However, it worked long enough for Jason who was drawing nearer to the right side of Sierra Leone��s 18-yard box. ncing forward to see Osimen still running forward and about to run past thest defender, Jason immediately swung his foot at the ball, sent it high into the air, and curling into Osimen��s path in front of the goal.

    Osimen saw the balling his way and jumped at it superhero-style, catching it off his head and sending it past the Sierra Leone goalkeeper who couldn��t reach the ball in time.

    {Oh my word!}

    {What a cross! And what a header!}

    {Jason Express Delivery and Osimen Airlinesing together to create an absolute peach of a goal!}

    {Nigeria have one back! Only one left in it now, and there��s plenty of time left!} Thementary was as wild as the Nigerian excitement and celebrations ensued on the pitch, off the pitch, and in every building in Nigeria where the match was being watched.

    Osimen had gone over to hug Jason and the other Nigerian yers weren��t left out of the celebrations as they wore their excitement on their faces.

    If one didn��t watch the match from the beginning, one would think that Nigeria was the one in the lead.

    #70th minute��

    After the Supa Eagles got their third goal, the Sierra Leone team tried to lock up their defense as they were now only one goal away from conceding.

    They had first tried to attack the Nigeria team as hard as they could, but after having two counters that almost ended in them conceding and losing their lead, they had decided to settle back and defend their lead till the final whistle.

    Unfortunately, the Nigerian yers disagreed with this decision of their opponents as that meant they would be the ones to lose the game, hence they had increased their efforts to get the goal that would be the equalizer.

    Sierra Leone��s response to this was a tighter defense and more aggressive style of y and it didn��t take them long to start racking up yellow cards.

    In less than ten minutes, the referee had shown two yellow cards and he was about to show another one when Jason was brought down on the right nk in Sierra Leone��s half of the field by a rough tackle from his marker.

    As Jason went down, Osimen hurried over and would have done something that could lead to a worse punishment, but he was quickly stopped by Ahmad Musa telling him to calm down.

    The referee didn��t hesitate to show the Sierra Leone yer a yellow card while Jason was pulled up by Osimen.

    ��Are you alright?�� Osimen asked Jason who nodded, the pain from the tackle already fading away.

    ��Go back to their penalty box, I��ll try to send the ball as close to their goal as possible, all you��ll need to do is dodge those guys and send the ball in�� Hopefully,�� Jason said to Osimen in a low voice while Ahmad Musa listened in on the conversation.

    After receiving a pitch-perfect pass from Jason earlier that helped him score, Osimen didn��t have any doubts in mind and he just nodded affirmatively and started heading over to Sierra Leone��s 18-yard box while Ahmad Musa did not move too far away.

    Jason took the ball and ced it down where the referee pointed out and nced at the Sierra Leone goal.

    He had been brought down on the right nk, just about ten yards from the right side of the penalty box, but the angle was too awkward to take a free kick, otherwise he would have tried to recreate Christiano Ronaldo��s rocket free kick from his time with Man Red.

    Of course, it wasn��t impossible to take the shot directly, but this was not the time for experiments.

    His team was losing and they needed an equalizer as soon as possible so Jason could only go for the better option of sending in a cross and hoping his teammates could finish off the cross.

    As for whether Osimen would be the one to actually score, Jason didn��t know as he knew that anything could happen in that situation.

    He had experienced it firsthand with Mylo and Fabio Viera in the match against Man Blue earlier in the season.

    Nevertheless, he was going to do his bit and send the ball towards where he had said he would, whatever happened after that was up to luck, though he hoped the ball ended in the back of the Sierra Leone goal one way or the other.

    The referee soon finished arranging the wall and blew his whistle loudly.

    *Fweeeeee*

    On hearing the referee��s whistle, Jason once again nced at Osimen from where he stood and took a deep breath before he started running towards the ball and hitting it deftly with his right foot, sending the ball flying.

    The ball took off and curled inwardly into the Sierra Leone penalty box.

    The yers of the two teams surged towards the path of the ball, but Osimen who had received a heads up from Jason was ahead of all of them and as soon as the ball appeared in front of the goal, Osimen was in the air to meet with his head.

    {He rises!}

    {Goal!}

    {It��s Jason Express Delivery and Osimen Airlines again and this time, they��ve gotten an equalizer!}

    {What a match! It��s the eight-goal that��s gone in with both teams having an equal four to their name!}

 Chapter 340: International Debut III

    Chapter 340: International Debut III

    The Nigerian fans watching the game could not keep their excitement to themselves and were unleashing their happiness in any way possible as they watched the Supa Eagles celebrate the goal that gave them the equalizer.

    Some people were shouting, some were pumping their fists excitedly, and some were hugging each other even though they were supposed to be socially distancing themselves, but at that moment no one cared about all that.

    All that mattered was that their team had equalized with quite a lot of time left in the game to go even further and get a winner.

    And with the way the Nigerian team was ying, it was not far-fetched for them to go on to make that thought a reality, however, the Nigerian fans could only watch and wait for it to happen while having smiles on their faces.

    Even if the match ended with the current score, some of the fans wouldn��t mind, but there were some that would.

    Those would be the ones who had made a bet for Nigeria to win, so it was either all or nothing.

    #76th minute��

    After Nigeria��s equalizer, the Sierra Leone yers had doubled down defensively even more than before and the major focus of their defense was killing any Nigeria attack before it could even start. To do that, they had put two men on Jason with a third yer waiting nearby to join in if Jason somehow managed to evade the two yers.

    It was already clear that leaving Chef Jason to cook would end with him stewing them up with another ��express delivery�� to Osimen Airlines that was always waiting for take off.

    However, despite their efforts to mark Jason, they weren��t able to keep the whole Nigerian team in check.

    After seeing what the Sierra Leone yers were trying to do to him, Jason changed his strategy and moved forward till he was almost standing beside Osimen.

    This was the 4-4-1-1 variant of their game n where Jason would start ying as a supporting striker instead of a midfielder, leaving the other midfielders with the job of y-making while he moved up to y as a half-finisher.

    This quickly threw off the Sierra Leone team��s defensive efforts and soon the ball started finding its way past their defensive line again.

    With Jason dragging three yers upfield, the midfielders behind him were having a field day and constantly sent the ball flying forward for the forwards to receive and send flying at the Sierra Leone goal.

    Etebor sent a lobbed through pass into Osimen��s path behind the Sierra Leone defense line, but a Sierra Leone defender quickly rose to the air and tried to clear the ball, but only seeded in sending the ball to the left wing where Aleix Iwobi quickly ran to catch it.

    Once he caught up to the ball, Iwobi did not hesitate to send the ball flying into the penalty box where his teammates awaited.

    The ball rose in the air and Osimen jumped for it, but the cross was a bit too high and flew over his head beforeing back downwards towards Jason who was behind Osimen.

    Despite the ball havinge down a bit, it was still too high and Jason had to try to head it, thus he lunged at the ball and caught it with his head, doing his best to try and stir it at the goal.

    His heading skills were no longer as disastrous as earlier in the year because he had set some time apart to train it, but it was still nowhere near enough and the Sierra Leone goalkeeper had no difficulty in punching away the ball.

    {Saved!}

    {He just couldn��t get it past the keeper!}

    {With that save, his quest for a debut goal continues!} Thementator said in a rushed tone as the ball that had been punched away by the goalkeeper was cleared by a defender who hit it towards the side of the pitch and put of y.

    There was no way he was going to voluntarily give the Nigerian team a corner kick after their team already conceded two headers in the game.

    #82nd minute��

    The Nigeria yers were constantly increasing the frequency of their attacks now that they had the momentum.

    They wanted to stamp their authority while they were on this roll because time was slowly running out.

    Ahmad Musa on the right wing cut inside the penalty box looking for space to shoot, but the Sierra Leone defenders covered the whole post from his view and he could not help but look for other options.

    Choosing to lob the ball to the waiting head of Osimen, he sent the ball flying into Osimen��s path and Osimen didn��t hesitate to rise to the ball, catching it on his head and sending it at the Sierra Leone goal, but the Sierra Leone goalkeeper seemed to have entered his own burst of form and he lunged spectacrly for the ball, reaching it just in time to tip it slightly and deflect the ball from it��s intended path.

    *Crash!*

    {Oh, the bar!}

    The ball rifles off the bar back into y and flew towards Osimen, but before it could reach him, a Sierra Leone yer jumped at the ball, catching it off his head and sending outside the penalty box before Osimen could do something with the ball.

    As the ball flew outside the penalty box, Jason stretched his leg at the ball that was just about to pass him as he stood at the edge of the box, barely managing to reach it, but before he could go on to get the ball under control, the Sierra Leone defenders began hassling him from behind.

    However, Jason did not give in and pushed off the yer hassling him before catching the ball before it moved out of range and then turning to quickly face the Sierra Leone goal.

    The yer he had pushed off earlier, immediately came charging at him, but Jason didn��t flinch and moved forward as well, dragging the ball forward with the front edge of his boot, before suddenly changing direction and flicking the ball to the right to perform a reverse stico and create a few centimeters of space.

    Not bothering to confirm whether his feint worked, Jason immediately swung his leg and unleashed a powerful shot at the Sierra Leone goal.

    {He gets a shot away!}

 Chapter 341: International Debut IV

    Chapter 341: International Debut IV

    {He gets a shot away!?} Thementator shouted as he watched Jason shoot.

    The ball flew at the Sierra Leone goal, but the Sierra Leone goalkeeper was on top of his game and did not hesitate to dive for the ball, just barely managing to reach it and deflect it.

    *ng!*

    {It��s the bar again!} Thementator shouted on hearing the sound of the ball rifling against the outside of the goalpost before flying out of y.

    Jason had his hands on his head as he watched the ball fly out of y instead of in the back of the.

    {Sierra Leone have survived, but just barely and they owe their survival to their goalkeeper}

    {I still can��t believe that none of those earlier shots didn��t go in}

    {There are at least eight minutes left in this game and the Sierra Leone team cannot dare to rx now} # 85th minute��

    After receiving scares from the Nigerian team, the Sierra Leone team did not dare to continue just staying back to defend their goal.

    They couldn��t only be on the receiving end, otherwise the ball would inevitably end up in the back of their.

    That led to them looking for any chance on the counter and a chance soon opened up for them when Aina misjudged the power he put in a pass and the ball ended up intercepted by a Sierra Leone yer.

    The Sierra Leone team immediately burst forward and the ball smoothly moved between the Sierra Leone yers as they quickly advanced on Nigeria��s 18-yard box.

    Barely a few secondster, the ball finally reached the Sierra Leone striker who initially wanted to get in closer, but he was already being harassed by the Nigerian defenders and he quickly took the shot.

    The ball thundered off his foot and flew at the top right corner of the goal, but Madika Okoyi was equal to it and unleashed a beautiful dive to just barely reach the ball and punch it over the crossbar.

    {Magnificent save!}

    {After each letting four past them, the goalkeepers have finally turned up to this game with save after save!}

    {With the goalkeepers disying such form, will we see a winner in this game!?} Thementator��s voice had reached a peak which could also be said about the blood pressure of the football fans who had ced ��straight win�� bets on the game.

    Their hopes were kept high but were constantly being dashed and their poor hearts could not get a break from this overly exciting game.

    #89th minute��

    Aleix Iwobi ran down the left wing, holding off his marker, his movements having a bit of desperation in them.

    Time was gradually running out and the assistant referee had only given an extra minute of added time which meant that the match would be over in about two minutes.

    Iwobi did not want the match to end in a draw after all that their team and gone through in the game�� Not after barely managing to finally equalize the game.

    He wanted to win and he was ying with that in mind and he was pretty sure his teammates shared his desire so he had faith.

    Pushing off his marker and finally managing to reach the left side of the opponent��s penalty box, Iwobi suddenly did a back chop to send the ball back in the direction he was running from.

    His marker wasn��t expecting it and was sent flying forward and he slipped, almost falling as he tried to regain control of his movements and stop Iwobi, but Iwobi��s move had already created enough space and time for him to get the ball away.

    Before his marker could recover, Iwobi quickly pushed the ball into an optimal position and hit it, sending a cross in.

    The moment the ball took off from his leg, Iwobi had an inkling that he had messed up.

    He had been a bit too eager and had hit the ball with more power than he was supposed to.

    Even the curl he had put into the ball was too much as the ball flew too high and was heading out of y after flying across the goal with no one able to reach it.

    As the ball flew, the Sierra Leone yers let down their guard as the ball was obviously flying out of y, but one yer didn��t give up on the ball even though there was no way to send the ball into the.

    Osimen chased after the ball and managed to get to it just before it crossed the line and flew out of y.

    He took off into the air and did his best to head the ball backwards into the penalty box, hoping his teammates could do something with the ball.

    As Osimen flew out of y instead of the ball, the ball he managed to get his head to bounced off his head and came back towards the center of the box where Jason was, but Jason wasn��t expecting the ball toe his way and by the time he caught himself, the ball was already almost reaching him.

    At this point, it was already toote to jump for the ball as he definitely could not reach the ball in time, yet despite seeming out of options, Jason��s body did not hesitate to move.

    His mind had not yetprehended how he nned to send the ball back into the, but his body was already moving and by the time he caught himself, his body had already turned his back to the ball and was already in a motion he recognized.

    Jason did not hesitate to go along with it and leaped into the air with his back to the ball that was flying at him before angling himself and then hitting the ball just as it flew over his head.

    Jason��s posture as he hit the ball was a posture anyone who had watched the Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Juventus would recognize.

    It was the posture Cristiano Ronaldo was in as he scored the most memorable goal in all Champions League history.

    {JASOOOOOONNNNNNN!!!!!!}

 Chapter 342: A Blast from Above

    Chapter 342: A st from Above

    {JASOOOOOONNNNNNN!!!!!!} Thementator screamed as he saw Jason take to the air.

    In that moment, it was like time slowed down and everything was moving in slow motion as everyone watched Jason take to the air.

    Even Jason who was the recipient of all the attention felt like time slowed down in that moment and a rush of exhration rose to his head, but he maintained full focus on the ball and ignored everything else around him.

    At that moment, it was like there was only him and the ball.

    He had even forgotten about the goalkeeper and focused on just hitting the ball.

    His mind had forgotten everything about direction, elevation, curl, skill, or power�� All he thought about was hitting the ball, and that was exactly what he did.

    *BAM!*

    Normally the sound of hitting a ball was loud, but this time it felt deafening, as Jason hit the ball and sent it behind him before crashing to the ground. {Ohhhhhhh!!!!}

    {What a goal!}

    {What have we just witnessed here!?}

    {Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful goal!}

    {A st from above!}

    {What a way to make his international debut!}

    {A magnificent goal and a match-winner!}

    {He is the man!}

    Thementator shouted into the microphone, but Jason who had crashed to the ground still looked behind him at the goal to check if the ball had actuallynded in the back of the.

    The words of thementator weren��t enough for him to believe what he had just pulled off, but as soon as he nced behind him at the goal and saw the ball on the ground in the back of the and an absolutely stunned-looking goalkeeper standing in front of the goal, reality finally set in and he shot up from the ground and dashed towards the sidelines with his arms shot out wide.

    There were no fans at the stadium, but Jason couldn��t remember it.

    He ran to the sidelines and with raw primitive joy coursing through his body, he jumped into the air, turned around executed the ��Siuuuuu��.

    As hended, he didn��t get the chance to think any further before his teammates smashed into him and jumped on him in excitement.

    {The Nigerian yers are celebrating excitedly and it is clear why!}

    {They have done it the hard way and have finally taken the lead once again in a topsy-turvy match that threatened to boil over!}

    {And it��s all because of one man!} Thementator didn��t stop singing Jason��s praises even as the Nigerian yers celebrated.

    The excitement at the stadium was only being shown by the Nigerian yers and their management staff, but everywhere else that the match was being viewed was boiling over as the rey of the goal began to be shown.

    The Nigerian fans could not stay silent and were making all sorts of exaggerated reactions as they did their celebrations.

    The gamblers were in even greater joy and were already jumping around in joy, imagining themselves already spending their winnings from the lead.

    Even the Sierra Leone fans could not resist admiring the goal even though they did so with bitter smiles as they covered their heads with their hands.

    Jason didn��t know this as he was too busy celebrating, but his image had been stamped into the hearts of millions of fans watching the game with just that goal, and that number was only going to increase once people made videos of the goal and spread it online�� In fact, it was already happening.

    Gernot Rohri watched from the sidelines as his yers celebrated, a happy and satisfied smile on his face.

    How could he not be happy?

    He had made a change to the gamen and his team had managed toe back from two goals down to win the game.

    This was without a doubt a great career stat to add to his achievements.

    He also knew that he couldn��t take full credit. Jason had just performed that well and proved to be the catalyst the team needed to go on and get the win.

    Gernot Rohri was over the moon internally as Jason kept validating his decision to pull out all the stops to bring him to the national team.

    Originally, if anyone knew what he had conceded to Jason to ensure he joined the Supa Eagles, they would have called him a fool, but now, they wouldn��t be able to utter such words and would instead be praising him for his foresight.

    Jason��s performance had made that much of a difference.

    Earlier, Gernot had told Jason that he would make him the face of the national team, but had also mentioned that Jason would need to get some good performances under his belt, yet with this kind of performance in just his debut game, Gernot could p Jason��s face on every brand linked with the national team and no one would dare object.

    As Gernot��s mind churned, the Nigerian yers had ended their celebrations and headed back to their half of the field to await kickoff.

    The Sierra Leone yers who were at the kickoff didn��t know what to feel.

    Normally they would be desperate to equalize, but Jason��s overhead kick smashing them into the backseat of the game loomed in their minds, preventing them from building up any defiance.

    After they kicked off, they tried to attack a few times, but they were no match for the Nigerian yers who seemed to be on fire at that moment as they put out every effort of the Sierra Leone yers before they could even get it going.

    It did not take long before the whistle that both sides were waiting for finally sounded.

    *Fweeeeeeeeee*

    {There it is, the final whistle!}

    {Nigeria��s Supa Eagles have triumphed!}

    {It was an exciting watch and many a time it looked like there was no way back for them in this game, but one man came on and changed all that!}

    {The new addition, thetest talent, the young debutant�� Jason Bolu!}

    {His performance in this match will earn him many udits}

    {Two assists and one beautiful, beautiful goal!}

    {In another few days, Sierra Leone will be weing the Nigeria team for the next group stage match in the AFCON qualifiers and they will have a lot to do after this unfortunate loss!}

    {I can��t dare to guess what the manager wille up with as his game n, but I dare say a huge factor in their chances of the uing meeting will depend on whether they can keep Jason silent!}

 Chapter 343: A Step towards AFCON 2022

    Chapter 343: A Step towards AFCON 2022

    In the locker room of the Nigerian Supa Eagles, the yers were rowdily conversing with each other as they changed out of their jerseys.

    There wasughter, smiles, and excited conversations going on in every part of the room.

    Someone was even ying music on a huge Bluetooth speaker that had been brought along by the yers.

    Jason was also in the room and was trying to change out of his jersey, but Osimen had an arm around his neck and was talking excitedly with Ahmad Musa, Iwobi, Moses, and Troust-Ekong.

    Osimen��s excited actions weren��t allowing Jason whose excitement had calmed down, to be able to change out of his clothes.

    It wasn��t that Jason��s excitement from the match had suddenly vanished, but he had managed to calm himself and was a bit less active now, though the smile on his face refused to go away even as his neck was being pulled around by an excited Osimen.

    In Osimen��s other hand was the Man of the Match award which had been given to him after the match.

    To the match officials, Osimen��s two goals and one assist were more deserving of the man-of-the-match award aspared to Jason��s two assists and one goal, but Jason didn��t have any issues with it. It was pretty close anyway and no one could say who was more instrumental, or who was more deserving of the award.

    Jason could argue that he was more deserving, but his two assists wouldn��t have been assists if Osimen hadn��t sent the ball into the back of the when Jason sent it flying his way.

    In this manner, Osimen wouldn��t have scored if Jason hadn��t sent the ball his way.

    The same could be said about Osimen��s assist and Jason��s goal, so it was a bit confusing and quite a few people would argue that the award should have been handed over to Jason, but well��

    Jason wasn��t even in the mood to care about the man-of-the-match award and was already almost imagining himself receiving a Puuskas award for scoring that beautiful goal.

    The goal was constantly reying in his head and Jason already knew that he was going to watch the rey of the goal on his phone until he went to sleep.

    ��Mus, you see how this guy just dey fly?��Osimen was still excitedly talking to Ahmad Musa when Gernot Rohri finally came into the locker room.

    It seemed he was finally done with the post-match interviews.

    Jason, Osimen, and a few other yers had already been interviewed a bit after the match, but they had long been released as there wasn��t much they would be askedpared to the manager, hence they had arrived at the locker room earlier.

    ��Good work out there guys. Your collective efforts to turn the game around did not go in vain and we were able to avoid a loss, keeping us on track to qualifying for the AFCON,�� Gernot Rohri began.

    ��Please a round of apuse for our captain who helped to keep morale high and keep pushing,�� Gernot said and his words were followed by a round of apuse while Ahmad Musa, the recipient of the apuse raised a hand and smiled.

    ��Also, our man of the match who put in two goals that helped us in oureback journey, as well as an assist that helped us finish our opponent,�� the head manager continued and another round of apuse sounded through the locker room again.

    ���� And finally, our newest member, who not only pulled off two assists aftering off the bench�� but also scored an absolute beauty of a goal that won us the game!�� the apuse this time was the loudest and Jason��s smile involuntarily grew a bit wider and a few tears even threatened to drop from his eyes but he quickly reigned it in.

    It wasn��t that he was emotionally weak, or that the goal was that big of a deal�� Rather it was the cumtive effect of everything that had happened till now.

    Ever since he had gotten this second chance, he had taken things slowly and done everything step by step and this path had led to him not having his professional debut for over ten years because he was training himself for the big stage, yet he had persevered, but now everything was happening so fast and in less than one year since his professional debut in this life, he had crossed so many milestones that he never even sniffed in his previous life.

    He had joined a top team in one of the top leagues in Europe,

    Be an important member of the team,

    Won a league title with them,

    yed in the Europa League,

    yed in the Champions League,

    And now, he had just had his first international cap and it was nothing short of a huge sess by any standards.

    These were all things he couldn��t even get close to achieving in his previous life, so there was no way he waspletely unmoved when he reminisced on all that had happened so far.

    Luckily, he had enough emotional strength to keep the tears in check and he simply smiled happily as the manager kept giving out des to the yers.

    The manager finally finished speaking and the yers started getting ready to leave.

    Throughout the manager��s post-match address, the manager hadn��t mentioned the negatives of the game, but the yers knew that it was probably because the manager chose to discuss such matters at training instead of talking about it at the moment and reducing morale.

    The Nigerian yers did not take much longer in the locker room and were soon filing out of the room and getting on the bus, wanting to head back to their hotel for some food and rest.

    The time was just around 9 pm so the streets were filled with lights as the bus drove back to the hotel.

    The roads were still pretty active and this was not the worst of it.

    Lagos had a particrly active nightlife among the Nigerian states so one could almost guarantee activities on almost every Lagos road at any time of the night.

    However, the nightlife of the city didn��t concern the Nigerian yers as most of them were too tired to even think about having a little fun that night.

    As for the ones who had the energy to care, they��d have to wait until they reached the hotel to attempt going out for some fun as the manager would not want the yers loosening up too much at night clubs and the likes at this moment.

    Gernot Rohri had already given the yers a day off, but that didn��t mean he wanted the yers to spend their off-time doing particrly wild things, or taking alcohol which was a given if they went out to experience any form of night-life.

    If any of the yers had any ns, then they were nning to sneak out.

    All that was however of no concern to Jason who was already feeling sleepy and by the time he got to the hotel, he only barely managed to stuff himself with some food before heading to his room, intending to crash onto his bed and not awaken for quite a few hours.

    However, before the waves of sleep could drag his consciousness into oblivious depths, his phone suddenly rang, prompting Jason to alert.

    He was annoyed that he was receiving a call at that moment, but he still dragged his arm towards his phone and picked it up.

    Seeing that it was his aunt who was calling, he didn��t hesitate to swipe the green button and put the phone to his ear.

    ��Hell-o,�� Jason spoke first with a little smile on his face.

    {Hey, how did your match go}Daphne asked as she heard Jason��s voice.

    ��It was good, how��s your side?��

    They exchanged pleasantries and spoke a bit before Daphne finally began talking about the secondary reason she called Jason.

    {Are you free tomorrow by any chance?} She asked Jason.

    ��Kinda�� why do you ask?�� Jason replied with curiosity.

    {Don��t you remember what tomorrow is?} Daphne replied with another question of her own.

    ��It��s not my birthday�� It��s not yours either���� Jason��s brain went into overdrive as he tried to remember if there was anything important happening the following day.

    {*p*} the sound of Daphne��s facepalming could be heard over the phone and made Jason smile wryly as he couldn��t remember anything.

    {I told you a few months ago that your cousin was going to be getting married this year, didn��t I?} Daphne said in an exasperated tone.

    ��Oh, ohh�� Ohhhhhhhhhhh,�� it finally clicked that she had said something about it at some point in time, but he hadn��t paid attention to it as he had not been especially inclined to attend.

    ��Wait, that was tomorrow?�� He asked in surprise.

    {If 14th November 2020 is tomorrow on your calendar then yes, it��s tomorrow} Daphne replied sarcastically and Jason could almost hear her roll her eyes.

    ���� Well, damn�� Wait�� Didn��t you say you were going to attend the wedding?�� Jason suddenly remembered that part of the conversation as well.

    {��Yes, I am going to attend}

 Chapter 344: Appearance of the Yoruba Demon I

    Chapter 344: Appearance of the Yoruba Demon I

    {�� Yes, I am going to attend} Daphne said matter of factly, her words throwing Jason into confusion.

    ���� How does that work��?�� Jason asked in confusion.

    If a person was going to attend a wedding halfway across the world, then they had to be halfway across the world a few hours to the said day, but Daphne hadn��t mentioned anything about traveling.

    ���� You did not���� Jason spoke as his eyes widened in realization.

    {Yes, I did} Daphne replied and Jason could hear her snickering.

    ���� ��

    ���� I have no words���� Jason managed to say after a long pause to let his brain limate to what he was hearing.

    ���� What dastardly n do you have that made you travel halfway across the world without telling me about it,�� Jason sighed, his head already aching as he knew that his aunt was up to no good by doing what she did. {Nothing, I��m innocent!} Daphne immediately cried out in objection.

    ��Hmmm mmm,�� Jason scoffed, not believing her.

    {I��m just attending my niece��s wedding with my nephew} Daphne said in a shady voice.

    ��When did you have another nephew apart from me?�� Jason asked in confusion as he didn��t know of any non-female cousins.

    {�� I don��t��} Daphne replied and Jason could have sworn he saw a wicked smile pop up on her face in his mind, but he didn��t care about that thought as her words had finally made everything clear and his response to that was simple,

    ���� Nope, not doing it,�� he rejected it immediately.

    {Your clothes are already prepared and I��ll be waiting for you tomorrow at Shoregate Hotel} Daphne continued like she hadn��t heard him say no and Jason could already feel a headacheing on.

    Despite bing more social and connecting with his family more in this life than in the previous one, things between him and any other family member apart from Daphne was awkward at best and estranged at worst.

    The cousin that was getting married was the daughter of his father��s sister who was also the eldest child in the Bolu family. Jason had met her family a few times in the past, but he had never really gelled with them all that much.

    She was a lot older than he was and it always felt kind of strange to talk to her, but the situation wasn��t any better with his cousins.

    His father��s eldest sister had three daughters and all but one of them was of a simr age to Jason and even the so-called simr age was about 3 years older than he was.

    This led to them treating him like a baby whenever he came around and that was a lot for Jason at the time so he had always made sure to avoid them at the time.

    Now his aunt was trying to drag him to one of them��s wedding ceremonies.

    ���� You know what�� On second thought, it��s not all that bad,�� Jason muttered after thinking things through a bit more.

    {Huh?} Surprisingly, Jason��s affirmative response was shocking to Daphne.

    Daphne had originally nned to go to the wedding ceremony alone because apart from knowing how awkward Jason��s rtionship with his cousins were, she also knew that he usually couldn��t leave Porto which was almost as far away from Nigeria as America was.

    Jason had a career to chase and it was not something he could just casually put aside, especially when he was this young, so she had nned to go on her own, but then as if by magic, Jason ended up being called to the Nigerian National squad and ended up in Nigeria around the same time as the wedding.

    Daphne immediately changed her ns and made secret ns and was half prepared to drag him to the wedding ceremony as she knew he would not want to go, but as an elder of the family, she was not going to stand around while the perfect chance to bring the family together appeared.

    However, Jason giving in easily more than surprised her because she knew how adamant he could be about things like this.

    ��I said I��d go. What time tomorrow is the wedding?�� Jason continued, not noticing his aunt��s bbergasted tone.

    {Uh, it��s 12�� pm} Daphne managed to utter.

    ��Alright. You have my clothes ready, you said?�� Jason asked again.

    {Yes} Daphne replied.

    ��The wedding is in Lagos, right?�� Jason continued with his questions while he had already started nning for the day.

    {Yes} Daphne answered again, still surprised at Jason��s response to the whole situation, and could only keep answering ��yes�� like a broken record.

    ��Hmmm�� I��lle pick you up at 9�� 10��ish,�� Jason said thoughtfully before saying his goodbyes and hanging up the phone.

    �� Goodnight,�� He said just before pressing the red button leaving a bbergasted Daphne to stare at her phone with her mouth agape.

    Jason didn��t know what was going on at the other end and had instead begun swiping at his phone, opening up his contact list and searching for a name.

    He hadn��t originally intended to attend the wedding, but knowing that with all the ns his aunt had made, he wouldn��t be able to escape going with her, he decided to give up on arguing quickly.

    What was a little awkwardness anyway?

    He had been in worse situations so he should be able to cope with any situations that came up at the wedding.

    With that said, if he was going to attend a wedding as a family member of the bride, then it was only fair he looked and acted the part, after all, whatever was worth doing was worth doing well.

    Jason wasn��t one to half-ass things, and this wouldn��t be any different, hence despite how sleepy he was he dialed a number to begin his preparations.

    *Ring* *Ring*

    The phone began ringing in his ears after he dialed the number and he held the phone to his ear waiting for the person he had called to pick up the phone while fighting off the waves of sleep that tried to pull him under.

    *Beep*

    {Hello} a voice that Jason easily recognized swept through his ear from the phone speaker, but Jason wasn��t about to reminisce and began speaking.

    ��I need you to prepare some things for me in the next few hours���� Jason got right down to business.

    ***

    *Ring* *Ring* *Ring*

    The loud burst of the rm clock woke Jason up from his slumber and had him groping for his phone while keeping his eyes closed as he didn��t want to wake up yet.

    He soon found his phone and turned off the rm with practised ease despite his eyes remaining closed, but after staying on the bed with his eyes closed for a few minutes, Jason��s eyes shot open and he slowly forced himself off the bed as he remembered that he had somewhere to be.

    He nced at his phone to check the time and found out that the time was still just a few minutes after 7 am, but that didn��t get him to rx and get back in bed because he knew better than to trust the traffic levels of the city named Lagos.

    Jason dragged himself into the bathroom to quickly have his bath.

    He was soon out of the bathroom and had begun dressing up when his phone began ringing.

    ��Hello,�� Jason said as he picked up the call.

    He didn��t recognize the string of numbers that had shown up on his screen in ce of a caller ID.

    {Is this Mr. Bolu Jason?} a voice asked through the phone.

    ��Speaking,�� Jason replied, putting the phone on speaker and resuming what he was doing previously.

    {I have a package that I should hand over to you} the voice continued after Jason had confirmed his identity.

    ��Oh, wait in the lobby, I��ll be down in a minute,�� Jason replied, immediately understanding what the caller had contacted him for.

    {Okay sir} the caller replied and hung up the call.

    Jason continued wearing his clothes after the call hung up.

    He wore something casual and picked a few things that he threw into a small bag that he slung over his shoulder before heading out of his room once he was done.

    Jason quickly made his way down to the hotel lobby and he pulled out his phone to start dialing the number that called him previously as he stepped into the lobby.

    As soon as the call went through, Jason heard a phone ring and his eyes followed the sound to find a middle aged man seated in one of the plush chairs in the lobby.

    ��You��re the one who called me?�� Jason said after walking up to the man and stretching out a hand for a handshake.

    ��Yes�� You��re Mr. Bolu?�� the man asked Jason as he stood up to receive the handshake.

    ��Yes, that��s me,�� Jason nodded in agreement as he sped the man��s hand.

    ��Alright. Here,�� the man first handed an envelope over to Jason.

 Chapter 345: Appearance of the Yoruba Demon II

    Chapter 345: Appearance of the Yoruba Demon II

    ��Those are the papers to the car, and here are the keys,�� the man said as he held up a modern-looking key that looked like a remote and only had a few buttons and the BMW logo on it.

    ��Hmmm,�� Jason nodded as he pulled out a bunch of papers from the envelope that were for the car.

    His call to Adele was to have her buy this car and a few other things.

    ��The car��s outside, yeah?�� Jason asked after looking through the papers for a while with no interruption from the man who came to deliver the car.

    The man didn��t dare to disturb a customer who had just bought a car worth over a hundred thousand dors, yet he looked like he had barely left school.

    Not to mention that Jason��s face was particrly recognizable to any Nigerian interested in football after what had happened the previous day.

    ��Yes sir, the car is outside,�� the man said, nodding respectfully.

    �� Lead the way,�� Jason said and tucked the papers back into the envelope. ��Yes, sir,�� the man said and began walking out while Jason followed closely behind him, tucking a hand into a pocket and pulling out a nose mask that he used to cover his face.

    In Jason��s previous reality, he didn��t know how quickly the effects of the COVID-19 virus dissipated, but in this reality, things were already almost back to normal in less than a year after the virus broke out.

    �� Okay, maybe ��almost back to normal�� was a bit of a stretch, but people were already out and about while originally it was estimated to take a lot longer than this for the virus�� effects to simmer down.

    ording to the news Jason had been hearing, a vine for the virus was almost ready, and in about a month or two, people could start getting vinated, which meant that returning fully to normal life wasn��t too far off.

    But until then, Jason wasn��t taking any risks and had thus put on a nose mask before heading outside.

    He had already contacted the virus once and while he had been lucky to escape from its clutches then, he knew that it was better if it didn��t happen again.

    Also, he did not want to be in quarantine for another 14 days.

    While Jason was lost in his thoughts, he was led to the parking lot of the hotel by the ��car delivery guy��.

    Before long, a sleek-looking gray BMW car came into view.

    Jason didn��t need the delivery guy to tell him that was his car as he had already seen the specifications of the car on the papers earlier and knew the car he had bought.

    Looking closely at the car, it looked quite simr to a Maybach, especially the frontal view, but the BMW logo gave away its true identity.

    ��That doesn��t really matter though,�� Jason thought to himself as he walked up to the car and ran his hand across the smooth body while the ��car delivery guy�� began talking about the specifics of the car.

    ��I already bought the car, you can stop talking bruh,�� Jason said with a littleugh, not understanding why this guy was giving him all the excess information that he didn��t need.

    He probably wasn��t going to drive the car after today anyway, after all, it wasn��t his name that was on the papers.

    *Beep*

    The headlights shed as Jason pressed the unlock button on the remote.

    ��Welp�� Thanks for delivering it,�� Jason said as he pulled open the door of the car, sat in the driver��s seat, and pushed the start button.

    The car came to life with a low hum and Jason shut the door as he suddenly remembered that he still had to reach the hotel where his aunt was staying and time wouldn��t wait for him.

    Before driving anywhere, Jason first connected the car to his phone so he could use the inte connection to use the map, after all, he had no idea where the ��Shoregate Hotel�� was.

    Less than a minuteter, Jason was driving out of the parking lot and smoothly cruising onto the streets of Lagos.

    Following the map, Jason drove along the streets when suddenly he saw a police car drive by him and it was only at that point that he remembered that he didn��t have a Nigerian driver��s license.

    He had also not brought along his international driver��s license since he hadn��t thought he would be doing any driving in a ce where he didn��t own a car.

    ��Shouldn��t be a problem, right?�� he thought to himself as he continued driving smoothly without skipping a beat.

    ��The wicked run when no one pursues them,�� Jason muttered to himself as he continued driving with confidence.

    No one should stop him and ask if he had a driver��s license or not if he drove like a responsible citizen�� Not that he would have driven otherwise even if he had the license with him.

    Luckily Jason managed to make it to his destination barely a few minutes after nine.

    He quickly parked his car in the parking lot of the hotel and made his way into the hotel while calling Daphne to tell her he had arrived.

    Daphne picked up the call and told him her room number which Jason quickly got directions to after shing a smile at the lobbyist and requesting guidance.

    The lethality of Jason��s smile was such that the lobbyist even forgot to ask herself whether she should be giving him directions to the room without confirming from the inhabitant of the room.

    Even after Jason left, she was still ncing in his direction in a slight daze, unable to erase Jason��s image from her mind even though Jason didn��t even register her image in his head.

    The fickleness of life�� So despairing.

    Completely ignorant of how he had set off a turbulent storm in the heart of a poor receptionist who was just bouncing back from a painful break up�� Jason arrived at the door of room 419.

 Chapter 346: Appearance of the Yoruba Demon III

    Chapter 346: Appearance of the Yoruba Demon III

    *Knock* *Knock*

    Two sharp knocks on the door quickly let Daphne know that Jason had arrived at her door and she put aside her makeup to go open the door for her only nephew.

    As she pulled open the door, Jason��s figure appeared in the doorway, his face once again covered by the nose mask.

    ���� What?�� Jason asked after a few seconds of her just looking at him.

    ��What?�� Daphne asked like she couldn��t believe her ears.

    ��Where��s the dramatic reaction?��

    ��What happened to ��it��s been so long since I��ve seen you?���� Or you could hug this aunt of yours at least,�� Daphne intoned, rolling her eyes at Jason.

    ��Ugh,�� Jason cringed, but he didn��t let that stop him from hugging Daphne who quickly responded by opening her arms wide. ���� It��s been so long since I��ve seen you,�� Jason said her exact words back to her mid-hug, not forgetting to make it sound like her as well.

    Daphne pulled out of the hug while giving him the ��bombastic side eye�� but Jason didn��t mind it and shamelessly held on to his straight face, though his lips quivered behind the nose mask on his face.

    ��I��ll let you go, for now, we have to get ready,�� Daphne suddenly remembered that they had to go somewhere.

    ��They��re probably already expecting us�� Me,�� She said as she pulled Jason into the room and shut the door behind him.

    ��Those are your clothes on the bed, there��s a pair of shoes in that bag as well,�� Daphne said as she pointed to a big ck stic bag on the bed.

    ��A shoe? Do you even know my shoe size?�� Jason asked with a raised eyebrow.

    Not that Daphne was ignorant or uncaring, but as a teenager, Jason was still growing physically in more ways than one, and one of those areas of growth was his feet size.

    Jason had even been feeling his ser boots bing too tight and was already nning to buy a new pair on his arrival back at Porto.

    Hence his question wasn��t meant to be a ridicule, but he was genuinely asking if she had not gone on to buy something with the wrong size.

    ��Don��t worry about that,�� Daphne said with a sneaky smile that immediately had Jason��s eyebrow rise.

    ��What do you mean, don��t worry about it?�� Jason asked as he had pulled out the shoes from the bag and was checking the size immediately, not even bothering to check whether it fitted his aesthetics.

    Surprisingly, they were the right size and Jason looked over at Daphne in slight shock but before he could ask any questions, a phone��s ringing tone went off.

    ��See what I said? Hurry up,�� Daphne said as she instantly recognized her phone��s ringing tone and grabbed at it.

    ��Whatever���� Jason rolled his eyes as he picked up the bag and headed to the anteroom to go change.

    Jason pulled out the outfit that Daphne had prepared for the asion and after pulling everything out of the bags, he whistled in surprise.

    Despite having over 270 tribes, Nigeria had three main tribes; the Yoruba, the Hausa, and the Igbo.

    Of the three tribes, Jason was from the Yoruba tribe and it was not surprising to say that they had their traditional outfits.

    What his aunt had prepared was the fullbination of the Yoruba tribe��s traditional wear for men which was a ��Buba�� (shirt), ��Sokoto�� (trousers), and �� Agbada�� (like a cowboy��s poncho, but way more luxurious looking).

    There was also a ��F�� (traditional style headwear) that Jason was wondering how to fit on his headful of hair.

    Having previous experience with these types of clothes, Jason quickly put on the clothes that had been tailored to match his body size and shape which was a bit surprising since Jason didn��t remember giving Daphne his measurements.

    The clothes were in a dark blue color that was very close to ck which Jason quite liked.

    He soon ignored those thoughts and continued wearing the clothes and less than five minutester, he was done with everything but the ��F��.

    Putting aside the headwear, Jason delved into the bag he had brought along with him and pulled out the male jewelry that he put on as well, entuating the already daunting look he was giving off.

    Once he was done with that also, he pulled on the shoes and sprayed on some perfume before heading out, not sure what to do with the cap.

    As Jason walked back into the room Daphne was, he saw her finishing off her makeup in the mirror.

    She was already fully dressed as well.

    ��Why aren��t you putting on your cap?�� Daphne asked Jason as she nced over while closing up her makeup kit.

    ��With my hair?�� Jason asked sarcastically and an eyebrow raised.

    ���� Juste here,�� Daphne rolled her eyes at him, ignoring his sarcasm.

    Jason walked over and Daphne pulled him in front of the mirror in less than a minute, she performed ��female magic�� on Jason��s hair that banded it together and brought it low enough that she was able to fit the cap on his head without it falling off or looking like the leaning tower of Pisa.

    ��Hmmmm mmm, better,�� Daphne looked at Jason��s hair with her head tilted at a weird angle like an entric sculptor admiring her handiwork.

    ���� Not gonna lie�� It actually looks good on me,�� Jason nodded to himself with a pleased smile as he looked at himself in the mirror.

    ��Ani seh, I sabi work(Don��t y with me, I know da wae),�� Daphne nodded to herself as she also looked at her handiwork in the mirror before looking at her makeup as well and continuously nodding to herself.

    They looked very impressive and regal and Daphne pulled out her phone to take a few pictures.

    ��Onest thing,�� Jason said as he pulled out a ck Cartier pair of sses from his bag and put it on his face and he nodded to himself even more.

    Seeing himself in the mirror, Jason couldn��t resist pulling out his phone and taking a few mirror selfies while also doing a short video.

    After they were done admiring their visages in the mirror another few secondster, Jason began posting the pictures and video on his Instagram page while his aunt packed up her stuff and got ready to leave.

    {#Yoruba Demon and Sugar mummy about to enter the city} Jason typed into his phone as the caption to his post as those were the first words that appeared in his head before he pressed ��Share��.

 Chapter 347: Appearance of the Yoruba Demon IV

    Chapter 347: Appearance of the Yoruba Demon IV

    Jason and Daphne headed out of the hotel room, down the elevator, and walked through the hotel lobby.

    As they headed for the door, they attracted the eyes of everyone around, but they weren��t paying any attention to the looks they were getting as they were more concerned about whether they werete to their destination or not.

    Luckily for Jason, his new look made him almost unrecognizable, especially with his eyes covered by the dark sses, otherwise he might have had someone recognize him.

    However, that didn��t happen and they safely made it out the hotel doors and Jason led the way to where he parked the car.

    ��When did you get this one?�� Daphne asked Jason as she saw him pulling out a key with a BMW logo as they walked up to it.

    ��Today, but it��s not mine,�� Jason said with a smirk.

    ��Whose is it then?�� Daphne asked as she got into the passenger seat while Jason held open the door.

    ��You��ll know soon enough,�� Jason said with a smile and shut the door before walking over to the other side of the car and getting into the driver��s seat. ��So�� Where are we going?�� He asked his aunt as he pressed the start button.

    ��We��re going to J��s house, I��ll give you directions,�� Daphne said to Jason who didn��t hesitate on hearing her words.

    They began heading to Jason��s aunt��s house to meet up with the family before they would head to the church where the wedding would be held.

    Daphne gave Jason directions as despite him having been there a few times in the past, he wasn��t confident that he could find the house in a city he wasn��t too familiar with.

    There were only so many maps he could cram in his head.

    Surprisingly, they managed to evade any traffic jams which was nothing short of a miracle considering how Lagos usually was.

    The car came to a stop outside a house that had a few decorated cars arranged outside.

    As the car came to a stop, Daphne got down with her phone to her ear as she was calling to let her sister know she had arrived.

    While she was doing that, Jason went to make a turning because, with how congested the street already was, it would be troublesome if he didn��t do it earlier.

    After finally making a turn, he parked the car and got out, looking around for his aunt only to find her hugging another woman who looked quite simr to her, but a bit more mature.

    Jason immediately recognized his other aunt and began walking towards the hugging aunties who were surrounded by a few other people who were moving hastily around, each on their respective missions.

    His approaching footsteps made the hugging aunties nce over at him and Jason wasn��t quite sure what expression to have on his face at that moment.

    ��This is a lot harder than dealing with fans,�� Jason couldn��t help thinking to himself, but on his face, a confident smile began to appear.

    ��Eh!�� Is this!?�� Jason��s second aunt was surprised when her eyes fell on Jason and she instantly recognized him despite how unrecognizable he was from how he usually looked.

    The fact that they hadn��t seen each other in a few years did nothing to hide Jason��s identity.

    ��You said he wouldn��t be able toe,�� Jason��s eldest aunt said with surprise in a questioning tone to Daphne.

    ��ns changed and I dragged him here,�� Daphne said to her sister while patting her chest with pride.

    ��Dragged me here as how?�� Jason squinted at this mischievous aunt of his but didn��t say anything to discredit her statement.

    ��Come here,�� J said as she held her arms open to hug Jason.

    ��You look a lot like my brother at your age,�� she said in a teary tone as she hugged Jason.

    ��Except for the hair, I��m sure,�� Jason replied wittily as he reciprocated the hug, a warm feeling appearing in his chest.

    His words caused his two aunts tough as they remembered that their parents usually did not let their brother have much hair. Especially their mother who imed that having too much hair would give a boy headaches.

    Of course, Jason��s father had revolted a few times and tried to keep his hair, but in a ce like Africa where children didn��t have ��speaking back�� rights, all it took was a few words and a flying slipper and he would have to get his head shaved to a point where he became a Tyrese Gibson lookalike.

    Jason��s father did finally escape from his mother��s blood thirst for his hair when he flew out of the country, but at that point, he was already used to not having much hair on his head and was morefortable that way.

    He only graduated from Tyrese Gibson��s hair level to Chris Tucker��s hair length at most.

    ��See this boy? He��s already taller than me,�� J said to Daphne as she removed herself from the hug and stood beside Jason who dwarfed her by almost a whole foot though her headgear was in Jason��s face.

    ��I don��t know where he��s growing to,�� Daphne��s words were apanied by her signature eye roll.

    ��That one is not your business, let him grow,�� J said whileughing at her sister.

    ��Come,e, let��s go see your cousins. They��re helping their sister get ready,�� J said as she began dragging Jason inside the house.

    ��Hurry up, we��re almost ready,�� J shouted at the people in thepound as she pulled Jason into the house while Daphne followed closely behind.

    Jason couldn��t do anything but let himself be pulled along by his excited aunt into the beautiful two-story house.

    J pulled Jason along a path he barely remembered as she headed to her daughter��s bedroom but they didn��t have to go far as they met the bride and her bridal train halfway.

    They were finally done with their preparations that had begun at 7 am that morning and were finally marching out with the bride in the lead.

    ��Teni, are you already done?�� J asked as she saw her daughter walking towards her with her bridal train.

    ��Yes ma,�� Despite all her splendor, the bride still replied respectfully to her mother.

    ��Good, good�� Ehen, see who hase,�� J said with a smile, as she showed off Jason and Daphne.

    Despite Jason being closer to her mother, Teni��s eyes fell on Daphne first.

    ��Auntie Daphne!�� She called out in surprise before her eyes fell on Jason.

    ���� And��is that Jason?�� She asked in surprise as she finally recognized the boy who stood beside her mother.

    ��Jason?�� Another surprised voice came from behind Teni, causing all eyes in the room to turn to the bridal train.

    Jason also looked over at the person who sounded like they recognized him.

    ��You��re�� Kemi?�� Jason immediately remembered the person when his eyes fell on her face.

    There was no way he had already forgotten the face of the person who had rescued him on the night when he had arrived in Nigeria and was stranded at the airport.

    ��Huh, you guys know each other?�� Daphne was the first to ask the question that was on everyone��s mind.

    ��Uh, yeah, we met at the airport and she helped me a bit�� Well, me and Adele,�� Jason started talking about their rtionship while internally wondering what kind of crazy coincidence it was for him to meet her here.

    ��Who��s Adele?�� J asked.

    ��My Agent���� Jason began before going on to exin the whole situation of how he had been left hanging by the driver who went partying instead of doing his job and picking up Jason and Adele at the airport.

    ��Oh wow,�� Teni couldn��t help saying when Jason finallypleted his story after talking for less than a minute.

    ��Our people sha,�� J sighed tiredly.

    ��I never actually imagined I��d meet you here,�� Kemi said as she was just as surprised as Jason to see him here.

    ��But wait first�� Why are you even in Nigeria in the first ce?�� Teni asked in a bit of confusion.

    She hadn��t originally given much thought to it when she was listening to Jason��s story and Jason himself hadn��t mentioned it, but now that she thought about it, it was confusing.

    Originally, Jason was supposed to be unavable because he was in another country, but then all of a sudden he was in Nigeria and was suddenly able to attend her wedding ceremony, which was a surprise on its own.

    ���� Didn��t you tell them?�� Jason turned over to Daphne to ask as he thought she had at least told them that much.

    ��I meannnn,�� Daphne shrugged and looked shamelessly back at Jason.

    ���� I��m a footballer, and I was called to the National team�� I had my debut like yesterday,�� Jason said after facepalming at his aunt��s antics.

    He himself hadn��t said a word about it to them, but he had been expecting that Daphne had at least told them that much.

    ��Huhhh?�� Everyone but Jason, Daphne, and Kemi revealed surprised looks.

    Kemi also revealed a slightly surprised look as even though she had heard Jason mention it the night that they met, she didn��t know much about it, but it sounded like a big deal now that Jason had told the full story.

 Chapter 348: Appearance of the Yoruba Demon V

    Chapter 348: Appearance of the Yoruba Demon V

    Chapter 348

    ��Wait�� Was it you that did the bicycle kick yesterday,�� a voice suddenly came from behind causing everyone��s eyes to turn in the direction of the voice.

    Jason looked over to see who the person was and immediately recognized the face of the person as his aunt��s husband, Femi Badmus.

    ���� Yes, that was me,�� he admitted.

    ��You know ball, my boy, you know ball,�� Femi said in a happy voice as he walked up to Jason and began patting him on the back.

    Femi was a huge football fan like so many other Nigerian men and though he didn��t keep up so much with the newest news on the lineup of the Nigerian National team, he usually made sure to watch all the matches live as long as he had time to do so.

    Hence he had been watching the previous day��s game and knew about Jason��s performance on the team, but since it had been a while since he hadst seen Jason in real life, he didn��t recognize him as his nephew-inw.

    Unfortunately, his wife was too busy helping their daughter with the wedding preparations so she wasn��t able to watch the match with him like she usually did. If she had watched the match, she would have recognized Jason instantly.

    However, everything was now out in the open and Femi couldn��t be happier.

    ��I heard that you y for Porto, that��s nice, but you shoulde to Chelsea soon,��

    ��It��s the same blue,�� Femi had quickly begun trying to push Jason into ying for his beloved team.

    ��Hahaha, I don��t think it��s the same blue, also, I need to be contacted by them for that to happen though,��

    ��Maybe if they call me with like a 200k euro per week offer, I could consider it,�� Jasonughed as he responded to his uncle-inw�� obviously, hisst sentence was a joke.

    The other people in the room�� Who were women, and couldn��t keep up with the conversation, but with words like ��Chelsea��, ��200k Euros offer��, and ��National Team�� flying around, they would be particrly dumb to not understand the gravity of the conversation.

    ��See this man? Your daughter is getting married and it��s football you want to be talking about?��

    ��Abeg,e off it!�� J immediately called out her husband even though she understood what they were talking about.

    ��Please please, leave me and let me help my team find their way back into the Premier League title race,�� Femi shot back at his wife.

    �� Ahhhhh, Daddy!�� The three Badmus daughters, one in a wedding gown and two in bridesmaid clothes cried out in surprise at their father��s words, but their father scoffed at their reaction.

    Whether he was there or not, his daughter would get married, but with the way his club was ying, there was no hope for them in the Premier League unless they brought in new talents that could shake things up.

    The ones they currently had were not doing enough in that aspect.

    ��Let your daughter marry first, the transfer season is already over at the moment anyway,�� J rolled her eyes at her husband while her words disyed a depth of football knowledge that one wouldn��t expect a Nigerian woman to know.

    ���� We will continue our chatter,�� Femi said to Jason as he acquiesced to his wife��s decision after thinking about it for a few seconds�� His daughter��s wedding was that important after all.

    ��Yeah,ter,�� Jason nodded and stepped aside to let the man go meet his daughter.

    Teni began arguing with her father who was about to ignore her on her wedding day because of football and everyoneughed as they watched it happen.

    The argument didn��tst long though and everyone soon started moving out of the house and getting into the vehicles that would take everyone to the church.

    While everyone went to the cars, Jason almost had to fight his way out of the crowd of bridesmaids who were trying to talk to him about all sorts of things.

    Luckily for poor Jason, Aunt Daphne was there to pull him out of the crowd of girls and drag him to their car.

    ��When I said you��d have to fight off the girls that want your hand in marriage, I know what I was saying,�� Daphne halfughed as they got to the car.

    ��Tch, whatever,�� Jason said as he pulled open the door of his car.

    It wasn��t his fault that he was handsome�� Though his money was his doing�� Kinda�� But who knew that all those girls who looked like they were older than him would suddenly start poking at him like that.

    Like,dies have some self-respect, please!

    ��I might have once had a thing for mature women, but that was a lifetime ago�� And they��re not even that mature,�� Jason thought as he nced over at the bridesmaids in their mboyant outfits as they entered the cars assigned to the bridesmaids.

    ��Let��s go, just follow their cars,�� Daphne called out to Jason, encouraging him to start the car and begin driving after the remaining cars.

    What looked like a convoy soon appeared on the streets as the Bridal team headed to the church where the wedding would be held.

    They arrived at the church at 11:30 am and the car carrying the bride and her father split off from the remaining cars that went to park at the church��s car park.

    Jason and Daphne got down from the car, met with the others, and headed into the church on foot.

    While almost everyone in the group began to see people they knew and went to meet up with them to exchange pleasantries, Jason asked where he could sit and he was directed to the front seats where the bride and groom families would be sitting.

    Jason didn��t mind sitting in front as he had realized that he might have be quite famous to the Nigerian Football fans after yesterday.

    He was probably not that well known by Nigerian Football fans previously, but after yesterday, it would be unimaginable to think he wasn��t recognizable by people.

    Even his aunt��s husband knew about him after yesterday��s match, so who was to say other people wouldn��t?

    He did not want to cause amotion around himself on a day that was supposed to be all about someone else.

    Luckily, his current outfit was the best disguise he had ever put on when trying to hide his identity, so as long as he wasn��t too careless, he shouldn��t be so easily recognized�� Or so he thought as he went to sit down.

    Jason didn��t sit alone for too long before some of the bridesmaids who had dispersed earlier suddenly sat around and started asking him all sorts of questions and Jason was soon in about five different conversations at once.

    He soon noticed the groomsmen giving him the ��criminal offensive�� side eye and he couldn��t help but shrug helplessly.

    Jason could understand their feelings and smiled wryly.

    There was supposed to be chemistry going on between better bridesmaids and groomsmen at a wedding ceremony, but Jason had arrived and stolen the spotlight from the unfortunate groomsmen before they even got any chance to shoot their shots at the beautiful bridesmaids.

    But, what could Jason do about it?

    He hadn��t asked for it either, but here he was, ying 69 questions with five different bridesmaids.

    Even his two cousins who were part of the bridal train didn��t save him and were also adding to his woes.

    Luckily for Jason, the wedding soon began, and only at this time did Jason look over at the groom.

    ��So this is the guy who is going to be marrying my cousin?�� Jason said as he scanned the guy standing at the altar in a white suit with ck trousers.

    The guy had a slightly stocky build and he filled out his clothes nicely, but Jason could tell from a look at his face that he wasn��t the muscr kind, but rather, his weight was exactly that�� weight.

    His face card wasn��t bad either, and he looked reasonably ok, but for Jason who spent his whole life ncing at his heavenly face in the mirror every day, the face was just barely passable.

    ��Well, the heart wants what it wants,�� Jason didn��t even know when he started scrutinizing the guy, but by the time he came to himself, Teni had already reached the altar.

    From then on, it was like Jason had seen in the finales of those romance dramas that his aunt always watched�� Just a bit less mboyant.

    ��Will I also be on an altar like that someday?�� the thought suddenly appeared in Jason��s head as he watched the couple say their vows.

    It was hard for him to picture it though and he soon put it aside as even though he tried imagining it and even created the scene of a marriage ceremony with Sofia in his head, it felt off.

    ��With how she��s acting these days, does she even like me like I like her?�� this thought popped up in his head suddenly.

 Chapter 349: Best on the National Team?

    Chapter 349: Best on the National Team?

    Once that particrly drastic thought appeared in Jason��s head, it began to snowball as other thoughts concerning it began to appear.

    ��Is there even a point in all this?��

    ��Does she like someone else?��

    ��Am I just wasting my time trying to explore this whole rtionship thing?��

    ��Am I����

    All sorts of thoughts began to appear but the words of the priest officiating the wedding threw Jason out of his errant thoughts.

    ��You may now kiss the bride,�� the priest said as the couple finished saying their vows and their ��I dos��.

    Teni and her ��husband�� kissed each other on the stage and the church immediately filled up with apuse. The apuse threw all Jason��s thoughts to the side and he fully refocused on the wedding instead of spending his time thinking of depressing thoughts.

    After the couple��s kiss, the rest of the wedding service did not take much time to be over with and the couple soon signed their marriage documents, and the wedding was officially epted by thew.

    Not long after, the wedding was over and the people started leaving the church to move to the event center where the wedding reception would take ce.

    Jason had to stay behind to take a few pictures with the couple and it was there he was finally introduced to the newest groom in the city.

    ��I��m Jason, this beautifuldy��s cousin,�� Jason said as he held out a hand for a handshake to the guy.

    ��My name should be on all the posters, but I��m Tayo by name,�� the guy said to Jason with a cheeky grin with a nce at a huge poster with his and Teni��s pictures and names on it, causing Jason to immediately like this fellow.

    ��Also, you look kind of familiar�� but I don��t think we��ve met before because I��d definitely remember you if we did,�� Tayo continued while taking Jason��s hand.

    ��What do you mean by you��d definitely remember if we��ve met before?�� Jason asked, intrigued.

    ��Well, I haven��t left Nigeria before, so someone like you with that kind of ent would stick in my head, you know,�� Tayo said with augh while ncing over at the people taking pictures with his wife.

    ���� Good point, but then I don��t think I have a face that people would easily forget,�� Jason replied with a confidentugh.

    ��Haha, maybe. You could take off your sses first before saying that though,��

    ��Hey, do you live in Lagos, maybe we should hang out sometime, we could y FIFA or we could y football, I��m a pretty good defender,�� Tayo spoke in a jovial tone.

    ��ying FIFA�� or even worse, football against me may be a bit out of your league my guy,�� Jason said with augh as he pulled off his sses.

    ����As I live and breathe�� you��re him!�� Tayo��s mouth flew open as he saw Jason��s face revealed as he took his sses off.

    The sapphire blue eyes gazing at him with amusement gave everything away.

    ��Him?�� people don��t usually describe me like that, but it sounds nice for a change,�� Jasonughed at Tayo��s surprised look.

    ��Teni! How could you do this to me?�� Tayo immediately turned to his wife on the side.

    ��What did I do?�� Teni asked her husband in confusion.

    ��You did not tell me your cousin was Nigeria��s best footballer,�� Tayo immediately shot back.

    ��I didn��t even know that one until today either,�� Teni immediately put up her defense.

    ��Hey, best footballer is a bit-�� Jason began saying in a bit of surprise while internally amused by the couple��s antics.

    ��Who else in that team has scored a scissors kick goal since the team was established?�� Tayo immediately interrupted Jason.

    ��I don��t know much about that��but I think I��m the only one so far,�� Jason answered after a bit of thought.

    ��Then you��re the best on the team,�� Tayo immediately said like it was a matter of fact.

    ��I don��t think that��s how it works though,�� Jason started speaking again, doing his best to stop himself fromughing at his guy��s sudden im of him being the best yer.

    ��Okay, who in that team can y better free kicks than you?�� Tayo suddenlyunched another question at Jason determined to prove his earlier point.

    ���� I��ve scored only two free kicks in my career bro,�� Jason halfughed as he replied.

    ��And no one else on that team has scored even one, so you��re the best in set pieces,��

    ��Now, who else on that team can run as fast as you can?�� Tayo continued his questioning.

    ���� Probably the captain, but he can no longer run as fast as he could in his prime, otherwise I wouldn��t be his match,�� Jason had decided to humor this guy and answered the questions he was asked as best as he could.

    ��So you��re just about the best when ites to pace,��

    ��Can anyone among our defenders even guard you?�� Tayo continued his research.

    ��Nah, I take their knees every day,�� Jason answered confidently.

    Of course, he was exaggerating a bit, but it was true that he could easily get past the defenders when they were in a good mood and weren��t looking to end his football career with a devious tackle.

    ��Then what else bruh?��

    ��Osimen is probably the only one better than you in the aspect of pure goalscoring, otherwise, you��re the best thing that has ever happened to our team�� and the best part is, you��re still eighteen,��

    ��Bruh, you��re even the most handsome one on the team,�� Tayoughed as he put forth his conjecture after a minute of questioning.

    His argument was so convincing that the people around him who stayed behind to take pictures and had begun looking over when Jason took off his sses began nodding their heads.

    ��I agree with my son-inw, that boy has always had sense,�� Femi Badmus who was nearby said while nodding his head which caused some people to look over at him in disbelief.

    ��Excuse me sir? Wasn��t it you that almost chased him away with a cuss when he said he wanted to marry your daughter?�� J asked with a raised eyebrow as if she couldn��t believe her ears.

    ��You even went to buy dogs when he used to visit us back then because you wanted them to chase him away whenever he came to visit,�� she continued,ying bare past events with every word that came out of her mouth.

    ��You even said, and I quote ��Unless all the men on this earth finish, I will not let this boy with extra beef added from heaven to marry my daughter. If I do, my enemies willugh at me.��,��

    ��If not because they begged you for days, you wouldn��t have let them get married peacefully,�� J couldn��t believe her husband.

    ��Leave that one, that was in the past. Back then, the only thing he used to watch was K-drama, but see him now. After a few years under my tutge, he has seen the light,�� Femi Badmus defended his honor immediately from his wife who was trying to stain his impable white.

    ������ J couldn��t even respond and just had her mouth drop wide.

    ***Back to Jason and Tayo��

    Jason opened his mouth to argue, but the words wouldn��te out as he realized that there was truth to what his cousin��s husband was saying.

    ���� You make a good point, but I wouldn��t dare to take that title yet, I��ve only yed one game with the National broskis,�� Jason said with augh after a few seconds.

    ��Anyway, aren��t we supposed to be taking pictures,�� he immediately diverted the conversation somewhere else before this guy said something that somehow managed to make it to the headlines.

    Jason had known to never trust the media in any part of the world and he wouldn��t be surprised if news about what had happened here today was on some news page tomorrow.

    The media��s means were that good�� or in this case, creepy.

    The taking of pictures soon continued and Jason posed with a few people to take pictures.

    After his identity was exposed, the number of people he had to take pictures with increased, but luckily, most of the people at the wedding had headed to the reception, and the only people left at the church were the couple, bridesmaids, groomsmen, family members of both sides of the couple, and a few close friends of the family.

    A few minutester, Jason had managed to somehow take a picture with everyone on site and was now trying to run away before the bridesmaids pulled him into another picture-taking spree while using all sorts of poses to cling to him and put their hands all over him.

    He didn��t n on going to the reception hall as he had deemed it might be a bit too much for the day he was supposed to be resting.

    Training would be resuming tomorrow and they would be flying to Sierra Leone for the next match soon so he couldn��t spend the whole day at the wedding ceremony.

    But before he left, he went over to meet Daphne.

    ��In the car, there is a brown envelope in the back seat with the car��s papers. It has those two love birds name on it,��

    ��Do me a favor and hand over the keys to themter,�� He said as he gave her the car keys and walked away with a smile on his face.

    ��Today wasn��t half-bad,�� Jason muttered to himself as he put his sses back on and got into the back of a car he had ordered to take him back to the hotel.

 Chapter 350: Round 4 of AFCON 22 Qualifiers I

    Chapter 350: Round 4 of AFCON 22 Qualifiers I

    The days leading up to the Supa Eagles next in the AFCON 22 qualifiers were full of training for the Nigerian yers.

    The morale at the training ground was at an all time high and the yers trained with seriousness and determination as they readied themselves for theing game.

    The previous match had ended in their win, but their performance in the match, especially defensively, still left a bit to be desired and the manager wanted that out of the way before they went into the next game, after all, they couldn��t always make aeback in every game.

    The yers also understood their faults in that match and listened to the manager��s instructions as he exined how he wanted the yers to y when they were not in possession of the ball.

    After a major refurbishment of their defensive ying style, Gernot Rohri had the yers take to the field to practice the new defensive tactics.

    The two days leading up to the matchday were spent in this manner and on the evening of the second day, the yers boarded a ne to Sierra Leone and arrived at Sierra Lee into the night.

    The yers headed to the prepared hotel to rest for the uing match.

    **17thNovember 2020** The Nigerian yers arrived at the Stevens Stiaka stadium, ready to build off theirst victory in the AFCON qualifiers.

    As they did their pre-match training, they often locked with their opponents who they had triumphed over just a few days prior, and the Sierra Leone team had no kind looks for their opponents.

    After fumbling their lead in thest game and losing to the Supa Eagles, the Sierra Leone team nned to make sure that it did not happen again, but whether the Nigerian team would just take such an intention lying down remained to be seen.

    The pre-match training was soon over and the yers headed down the tunnels to their respective locker rooms for the pre-match tactical meeting.

    In the Nigerian team��s locker room, the head manager began calling out the names of the yers in the line-up.

    ��Our formation for the match will be the same 4-2-3-1 variant we have been practicing in training thesest few days and in the starting line up will be����

    ��Madika Okoyi will be our goalkeeper, Semie Ajayi and Balogun Leone will be the two center backs assisting the goalkeeper to keep the ball out of our penalty box,��

    ��Zaidiu Sanusi and Ebuaehi Tyrone are our right back and left back respectively,��

    ��In center defensive midfield are Etebor and Shehu Abdhi, while in the center attacking midfield will be Jason,��

    ��Our captain, Ahmad Musa will be on the right nk functioning as a wide-midfielder and a winger, while Aleix Iwobi will be on the left doing the same and upfront will be Victor Osimen,��the manager listed out the yers in the line-up.

    Once the line-up had been confirmed, the yers began preparing for the match while the manager once again delved into the tactical set-up for the match, re-exining the game��s tactics to the yers and giving them specific instructions to counter their opponents.

    While this was going on in the Nigerian team��s locker room, the Sierra Leone team was also getting ready to face off against their opponents.

    ��I just received word about the line-up of our opponents and it is simr to what we predicted and prepared for,�� the Sierra Leone head manager began talking to his yers who listened attentively.

    ��I won��t spend too much time exining your roles on the pitch as we already went over this�� but as you can see, that Jason boy that made light of you people as soon as he stepped on the field in thest match and caused us to lose the game�� is ying,��

    ��Don��t think of him as harmless�� he is not,��

    ��I have analyzed his performances for his club since his debut early this year and it is clear that if you give him a small amount of space, he is able to punish us for it and I will not have that in this game,��

    ��So whenever he is near you, block him, stay on him, make sure he is never open to receive a pass, and if he somehow gets the ball, begin to press immediately,��

    ��If all that fails and he gets near our goal�� take him down before he enters the box����

    ���� In fact, don��t just take him down�� kill him,�� the Sierra Leone manager said with a slit throat gesture.

    The Sierra Leone yersughed lightly at the manager��s words as it was obviously a joke that the manager used to express the gravity of the situation.

    ���� No seriously����

    ���� Kill him,�� the manager repeated in a more serious voice when he saw the yersughing at his words, thinking he was joking.

    *GULP*

    As the Sierra Leone manager repeated his words, the room immediately went silent as they realized how serious the manager was.

    While he wasn��t asking them to go as far as actually killing him, he wanted something pretty simr.

    ***

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    The referee blew the whistle and the AFCON 22 qualifier match between Sierra Leone and Nigeria began.

    {The whistle has been blown and the match kicks off}

    {We are in the secondstage of the AFCON qualifiers from now on and it will be the two teams�� second time meeting each other in the AFCON 22 qualifiers}

    {That was a few days ago and it was a hard-fought match in which Nigeria dramatically came back to win the game after going two goals behind in a nine-goal thriller}

    {From what we��ve seen in thest game, it��s clear what to expect and we know that this match can by no means have a boring oue}

    {For now, however, let��s see as it goes} Thementator gave opening remarks as the game kicked off.

    #12thminute��

    Since the match began, both teams had been vying for the lead in the game.

    They quickly began testing each other dramatically, and the viewers kept their eyes on the screen waiting for who would buckle first.

    Aleix Iwobi received a pass from Shehu Abdhi, and he quickly began running down the left nk, but before he could go far, he came up against a stubborn defender who did not want to get out of the way even with all the tricky leg movements he was making.

    Without any way to get through the defender, he opted to look for the nearest teammate.

    ncing at Jason who was being tightly marked by, he decided to try passing to someone with less likelihood of losing possession to the opponents, but in that split moment when he nced away as if to look for another teammate, the yers marking Jason let their guards down and were unable to react to the no look pass Iwobi sent Jason��s way.

    Jason didn��t hesitate to burst out of the encirclement and receive the pass at the left edge of the Sierra Leone box.

    On receiving the ball, Jason made a run into the penalty box from the left nk and quickly found space to send a cross in.

    With a swing, he sent the ball flying low across the goal in the direction of Osimen, but Osimen struggled to reach the ball due to his marker not letting him off and the ball flew past him, but before the Nigeria team could rue the missed chance, the team captain appeared and coolly slotted the ball past the Sierra Leone goalkeeper before the ball went across the full length of the post.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Nigeria score first!}

    {Brilliant y from Iwobi and Jason to escape their opponents and send the ball across the goal and their team captain gave them a reward for their efforts}

    {Just like in the previous match, they take the lead first!}

    {As for where we will go from here? I do not know!} Thementator did not hesitate to unleash his fervor into the microphone while the Nigerian yers unleashed their excitement on the pitch and the Nigerian fans did theirs in their homes and viewing centers.

    #39thminute��

    The Nigeria team had increased their pressure on their opponents after taking the lead.

    They remembered what had happened in the previous game and did not want such a situation to repeat itself, hence they doubled down defensively when they were not in possession and unleashed their pent up fury on their opponents as soon as they got the ball.

    The Sierra Leone team was also not idle and had been attacking the Nigerian team with confidence as they knew from their four goals in thest match that it wasn��t impossible to score against their opponent, but so far, they hade up a stubborn wall.

    Sierra Leone had tried to start an attack and they had been carefully setting up their attack, sending ball from yer to yer, when Osimen who had been chasing tirelessly after the Sierra Leone yers like a zombie snatched the ball from a Sierra Leone yer and immediatelyunched a counter attack with a splitting through pass down the left nk.

    Aleix Iwobi quickly gave chase of the ball while the other Nigerian yers immediately began running at the Sierra Leone yers in full force.

    Jason was among the runners making his way at the Sierra Leone penalty box and he kept his eyes on Iwobi who had managed to catch up to the ball and was now bearing down the left nk and was almost at the left side of Sierra Leone��s 18-yard box.

    Jason immediately threw up a hand to call for the ball and Aleix Iwobi received the signal and immediately lifted his leg to send the ball over, but at that moment, a Sierra Leone yer appeared in Jason��s view, charging at him with intent to kill.

 Chapter 351: Round 4 of AFCON 22 Qualifiers II (A New Celebration)

    Chapter 351: Round 4 of AFCON 22 Qualifiers II (A New Celebration)

    As Jason ran forward after signaling for a pass, a Sierra Leone defender without any ns of letting Jason have the capability to receive the ball popped up in his vision charging at him with demolishing intent.

    Jason didn��t stop moving despite seeing the yering at him and instead his mind started thinking of the best way to evade the yer while the yer drew closer to him with every passing nanosecond.

    Jason had barely made up his mind and was about to jump out of the way of the Sierra Leone yer when Osimen arrived and jumped in the yer��s path, setting up a screen for Jason to use to escape.

    ��Thanksies,�� Jason thought as a little smile popped up at the corner of his lips and he skipped past the Osimen just after the ball came flying in.

    The Sierra Leone yer tried to push off Osimen, but Osimen held him off long enough to allow Jason to get away and reach the ball just before stepping into the penalty box.

    The Sierra Leone goalkeeper didn��t remain idle in the face of the counter-attack and rushed out towards Jason, but Jason just tipped the underside of the ball with the tip of his boot and chipped the shot over the goalkeeper before skipping over the goalkeeper��s body that came flying in.

    After jumping over the goalkeeper, he didn��t even have to look and took off down the sidelines before the ball even flew past the goal line.

    {GOAL!} {They have two!}

    {Splendid counter-attack, electrifying pace, beautiful screen, and a smooth and cheeky finish!}

    {As if scoring wasn��t enough, he decided to overdo it and humiliate the keeper while he was at it, yet no one but the men in Sierra Leone shirts isining!}

    {This is what we love to see!} thementator shouted as the ballnded into the back of the.

    Jason who had taken off to the sidelines stopped at the corner g and looked back, making a gesture with his hands as if he was looking through binocrs at his teammates, then he shrugged with a mischievous smile on his face.

    {It seems like a new celebration from the yer, and what a time to show it off!} Thementator did not hesitate to mention Jason��s new celebration even as the yer was now smoldering in the excitement of his teammates�� joyous reactions.

    Jason barely smiled when he heard thementator��s words because thementator wasn��t wrong.

    It was a celebration he had just thought up because he remembered what the Teni��s husband, Tayo was saying to him earlier about him being the best yer on the Nigerian national team.

    The looking through the binocrs gesture was him looking at his teammates and assessing the points Tayo had made, and his shrugging was him reluctantly epting that ��maybe, he was the best yer on the team����.

    Although, he was never going to tell anyone about the meaning of the jubtion until he could fully ept that he was the best yer on the team, no matter how long it takes till then.

    His teammates however didn��t care about the meaning of the jubtion and were just happy that the team had another goal and had taken a two-goal lead.

    #44thminute��

    With Nigeria taking a two-goal lead, Sierra Leone��s efforts at attacking had be almost frantic and there was a huge sense of urgency in their movements which presented a huge danger to the Supa Eagles.

    �� but at the same time, it presented an opportunity.

    The Nigerian yers stole the ball from the frantically ying Sierra Leone yers who had made a mistake and lost the ball, leaving themselves open for a counterattack.

    The Nigerian yers didn��t need an invitation to burst forward and they were soon flying at the Sierra Leone half of the field with the ball in tow.

    The Sierra Leone yers did their best to track back and stop the Nigerian yers, but the Nigerian yers kept switching the ball among each other at the slightest hint of trouble, and they did all this while maintaining the pace and urgency of a counterattack.

    However the Sierra Leone yers efforts weren��tpletely useless and they managed to slow down the Nigerian yers, but the Supa Eagles weren��t willing to let the chance just get past them and they kept sending the ball from yer to yer until it finally reached the frontman, Victor Osimen.

    On receiving the ball, Osimen��s first choice was to shoot the ball, but the Sierra Leone yers quickly appeared in the path to the goal and Osimen ended up faking the shot and passing the ball back to Jason instead.

    Due to the counter attack attempt, Jason was free of his markers, but it didn��t remain the same for long and they soon crowded him out, cutting off his passingnes and shooting space and he had no choice but to move with the ball to try and create space.

    A quick reverse stico and a nutmeg on the same yerter, Jason finally barely managed to create space to run into the left side of the Sierra Leone 18-yard box, but the Sierra Leone yers just wouldn��t leave him be.

    Because he had managed to sneakily step into their penalty box, they didn��t dare to tackle him too roughly and this was what barely allowed Jason to have some breathing space, but they were rapidly crowding him out and slowly pushing him towards the line while isting him from his teammates.

    Jason was slowly running out of options and decided to go out on a limb and make an attempt to break away instead of simply allowing himself to be shepherded out of y.

    With his mind made up, he pushed the ball forward like he was voluntarily running out of y, but just as the ball was about to roll out of y, Jason turned to the right and his right leg snaked behind his left to catch the ball and send it flying, executing a rabona.

    The Sierra Leone yers marking Jason did not expect this move and one of them moved out of reflex to try and block the ball, but in his haste, he had forgotten that his hand was still in the air and the ball missed his head and instead smacked against the side of his palm before continuing it��s flight, but before the ball could make it any farther, the referee��s whistle went off and the referee came running.

    As the referee ran towards the yers, his hand was pointed towards the penalty spot as what had happened was a clear handball inside the penalty area and was no doubt, a penalty.

    Even though it was a clear handball, the Sierra Leone yers still ran at the referee to try and convince him to change his decision, however, the referee wasn��t budging on his decision.

    Unfortunately for the Sierra Leone team, despite the International Football Association Board(IFAB) approving the use of VAR in officialpetitions since 2018, the use of VAR had yet to be implemented in Africa now.

    Even if it had, it would only dy the inevitable as what had happened was clear for anyone to see and Nigeria would still have to take their penalty.

    Jason picked up the ball and threw it to Osimen to take the penalty.

    It was his way of thanking Osimen for setting up a screen for him to use to escape the Sierra Leone defendering his way and score the second goal for the team.

    Nobody argued with Osimen taking the penalty so the ball was soonid down on the penalty spot with Osimen standing a few steps behind it and waiting for the referee��s whistle.

    *Fweeeeee*

    On hearing the referee��s whistle, Osimen stepped up to the ball and coolly rifled the ball into the bottom left corner of the post.

    {Well taken penalty!}

    {They have three!}

    {What andslide! We expected goals for sure, but we weren��t expecting this!}

    {Three for the men in green before the first-half whistle! It seems they have learned their lesson from thest game against this opponent and are putting their knowledge to good use!} Thementator��s voice wasn��t excessively loud, but it still got across the message to the watching fans while the Nigerian yers calmly celebrated the goal.

    After a mild amount of celebration from the Nigerian yers, the match kicked off again, but it wasn��t too long before the referee blew the halftime whistle.

    *Fweeeeeeeee*

    On hearing the whistle, y stopped and the yers of the two team began walking off the field and into the tunnel with the yers in white looking a lot more up beat than their dejected opponents in blue.

    {The first half whistle has been blown and what a half it was!}

    {The match got off to a quick start when the Supa Eagles captain managed to get on the end of a cross from the new man, Jason}

    {A whileter, Jason cheekily sent the ball over the opposition goalkeeper to bring a beautiful end to an electrifying counter attack and finally�� right before the second half, the team striker converted from the spot, bringing the scores of the game to three nil}

    {The Nigerian side must be happy with the results while I��m sure the Sierra Leone manager must be raging at his yers�� performance in that half}

    {Can he straighten his yers during the break and will we see a different performance from them in the second half?}

    {We��ll find out soon enough!}

 Chapter 352: Round 4 of AFCON 22 Qualifiers III

    Chapter 352: Round 4 of AFCON 22 Qualifiers III

    ���� Jason, you��ll being off for Joey Aribo in the second half,�� the first words of Gernot Rohri set off a wave of confusion in the Nigeria team��s locker room.

    Jason��s mouth dropped open in shock and confusion, but before he could object to the manager��s decision, Gernot Rohri continued talking.

    ��Iwobi, will also being off for Williem Troust-Ekong,��

    ��We have done well in the first half and have been able to secure a three-goal lead, and in theing second half, I want you guys to switch to a more defensive gamey so we can hold out against the pressure from our desperate opponents,��

    ��We already have a three-goal lead so as long as we can do enough defensively, then there shouldn��t be any problems with ending the match in our victory,��

    ��Hence we will be changing our formation to 5-3-2 with Williem joining the two center backs, Joey joining the two midfielders in the center and Musa will move towards the center and join Osimen as a center forward,��

    ��Our two strikers will stay upfront and wait for an opportunity to catch our opponents on the counter while the rest of you will have to focus on keeping the ball away from our opponents and stopping them from scoring,��

    ��Is that clear enough to you guys?�� Gernot Rohri asked after speaking. ��Yes�� but why are we going defensive all of a sudden when we��re winning by three goals to nil?�� Ahmad Musa immediately took the opportunity to ask the manager about his strange decision.

    ��Because it��s less risky that way,�� Gernot Rohri answered.

    ��I don��t have to remind you what happened in thest match when we gotfortable after taking the lead,��

    ��Our opponents are professional footballers who have the capability to punish us should we make the slightest mistake and from the tally they racked up against us in the previous match, it��s not impossible for them to score against us,��

    ��So far in the qualifiers stage, we already have three wins and if we end this match with a win, our qualification for the AFCON 22 is as good as confirmed so I think it��s better for us to y it safe for the rest of the match,��

    ��Also, with how desperate our opponents have gotten, they may start making deadly tackles on our guys if we keep the pressure high on them, hence my decision,�� the manager took a swig of a bottle of water after saying all that at a stretch.

    The dissension that had threatened to arise when the manager had first started speaking had quietened down at this moment.

    Most of the yers still didn��t agree with the manager��s decision, but after hearing his exnation, they could see the justification for his decision.

    Also, even if they didn��t see it, it wouldn��t matter as he was the manager and they had to do what he wanted if they wanted to keep being called to the national squad during the international breaks.

    Jason wasn��t happy about the manager��s decision to take him off, but there was nothing he could do about it and he grudgingly began to take off his equipment while the manager began to further exin the new tactic.

    He no longer bothered to listen to the manager exin the game n as it no longer mattered to him since he was going to be watching the game from the bench in the second half.

    Fifteen minutes after the whistle was blown, the yers of the two teams were back on the field and ready for the second half.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    {The referee��s whistle has been blown and the second half of this game has taken off}

    {After a thunderous bashing from Nigeria in the first half, Sierra Leone will be looking to somehow make aeback despite the odds of them being sessful looking as low as it can get}

    {However, football is a game of ��never say never�� and we will see what the second half brings}

    {It looks like the Nigeria side looks a bit different this second half}

    {They seem to have a different shape from the previous half and there have been changes made to the line-up}

    {The changes are a bit unexpected, and it looks like a tactical decision} thementator immediately got down to his job as soon as the second half started.

    The changes made to the team was quickly noticed by everyone watching the game and all the Nigeria fans couldn��t believe what their manager had done.

    In a beautiful house in the city of Lagos, a man sat downfortably on his couch and watched the television screen with a slight frown on his face.

    ��This man has started his nonsense again,�� the man scoffed as he saw the line-up changes on the Nigerian team when the second half kicked off.

    ��What did he do?�� a woman seated on the same couch a few centimeters away from him looked up from her phone to ask.

    ��He has started his nonsense defensive tactics again,�� Femi Badmus said, face palming as he watched in annoyance as the Sierra Leone team started pressuring the Nigerian yers right off the bat of the second half.

    ��Everytime, any small lead that we have and he will want the yers to start ying defensive football,�� Femi groaned in annoyance.

    It was obvious that he was fed up with Gernot Rohri��s antics.

    ��We have good attacking yers, and we are already leading by three goals, but instead of this stupid man to put even more pressure on the opponent and let the yers score more, he wants the yers to start ying defensively,��

    ��Rubbish!�� Femi spat out with venomced in his tone.

    ��Don��t call him a stupid man. At least the team is winning matches, let him do his job,�� J said with a nce at her husband and then at the television.

    ��Hmph!�� Femi scoffed and returned his eyes to the screen.

    He preferred to watch his team y attacking football and anything less than that felt like a sore on the eyes, hence he didn��t like what he was watching, but he could not do much more thanin.

    **

    #59th minute��

    After the second half began, the Nigeria team had gone on the defensive and their opponents had taken the opportunity presented to them to push hard at their opponents as they began to look for the goal that would give them a lift in the game.

    It wasn��t easy as the Nigerian team was doing their best to keep them away from their goal by any means possible, but when inviting pressure, there was always a risk that came with it and it began to look like the Nigerian team would sumb to the pressure.

    A chance soon came for the Sierra Leone team as their left winger managed to break free on the left nk before sending in a curling cross into Nigeria��s penalty box.

    The Nigerian yers immediately got to work trying to defend the ball and prevent anyone in a blue shirt from reaching the ball, but all they managed to do was hassle the Sierra Leone striker enough to get him to hit the ball slightly off target after managing to out jump the Nigerian yers.

    {Header!} thementator screamed, but the ball was slightly off target and mmed against the post before bouncing back into y.

    The Nigerian yers immediately chased after the ball, but they were a split second toote as a yer in a blue jersey appeared behind the ball and mmed it back in the direction of the Nigerian goal.

    Madika Okoyi lunged at the ball and got his hand to it in time, but he wasn��t able topletely push it away and the ball smashed off the back of his hand into the goal.

    {GOAL!}

    {It��s early in the second half and Sierra Leone already have one back!}

    {Is this merely a constion, or is this the beginning of aeback!?} Thementator��s excited shouts gave life to the Sierra Leone fans watching the game, igniting their hopes for aeback from their team.

    #82nd minute��

    After getting a goal back against Nigeria, the Sierra Leone yers had put forth their utmost effort to try and get another goal, but so far they had fallen short against the Nigerian team that had begun defending desperately, not wishing for their opponents to get one back against them.

    However, the Sierra Leone team did not give up and constantly moved the ball around, looking for the breakthrough chance and an opportunity soon presented itself as a splitting through was made by a Sierra Leone midfielder to the striker who was making a run.

    Williem Troust Ekong immediately reacted and held off the striker from running past the defense line, so the striker changed his direction slightly and just managed to reach the ball before it rolled past him and kicked it down the right nk.

    The Sierra Leone right winger ran up to the ball and sent a lobbed pass over to the left nk where the Sierra Leone left winger was making a run.

    The left winger caught the ball on his chest as he ran into the penalty box and soon brought the ball down to his feet before pushing forward.

    Balogun Leone immediately gave chase and tried to stop the yer before he reached the goalkeeper, but he was toote and the left winger sent the shot flying past Madika Okoyi, making it two goals for his club.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {They have two!}

    {Are we about to witness the impossible here!?} Thementator screamed in excitement while the Sierra Leone yers quickly began heading back to the middle of the field with the ball.

    #87th minute��

    After getting their second goal, Sierra Leone��s attacking y became even more frantic and they soon found themselves with another opportunity that could give them the equalizer they wanted so badly.

    The left winger had managed to somehow blow past  Aina and had sent a grounded cross behind the defensive line and the Sierra Leone striker had managed to get away from his marker and appeared in the path of the ball.

 Chapter 353 Skin Serenity I

    353 Skin Serenity I

    The ball flew across the ground at an rming pace and when the Sierra Leone striker made it past the Nigerian defenders to appear in the path of the ball, the heart of every Nigerian watching the game dropped.

    Jason who was on the sidelines had his hands fly to the top of his head when he saw the Sierra Leone striker get away from his marker and appear in front of the goal with the ball flying his way.

    The Sierra Leone striker tried to angle himself while running at the ball and as soon as the ball was near enough, he kicked at it, but in his haste, he suddenly slipped as his leg hit the ball.

    Instead of hitting the ball like he nned to, the slip had caused the force in his foot to diminish greatly and the ball hit his leg instead and bounced off it and flew towards Nigeria''s goal, but it had gained too much elevation and the ball flew upward, clipping the crossbar before flying out of y.

    {Oh my God!}

    {How has he missed that!?}

    {It was his one chance to be the hero and he''s blown it! And with how much time left, it''s unlikely he will get another clear chance like the one he just flopped!}

    {It seems like he slipped there, but I can''t figure out why! What poor finishing!} Thementator''s shocked tone as he delivered thementary wasn''t able to do justice to the stunned looks of everyone watching as they watched the Sierra Leone striker miss out on the easiest chance of the game.

    His teammates looked like they would bury him alive and even the Nigerian yers who were relieved couldn''t believe that they hadn''t been scored against.

    "What the hell just happened?" Jason asked nobody in particr as he sat back in his seat, not sure why he was standing in the first ce.

    "... I don''t know bro, it all happened so fast," Aleix Iwobi said from beside him with a halfugh.

    "I feel like Thanos just snapped his fingers to wipe out half the universe, but he didn''t have the infinity stones," Zaidiu said as well with a strangely straight face, his words making everyone''s eyes turn to him.

    "What?" Zaidiu asked when he saw his fellow benchmates looking at him.

    "...It was a�� pretty apt description," Iwobi said with augh and the guysughed a little, easing the tension they were currently feeling.

    Their focus soon returned to the game and they watched as the rest of the time ran out.

    The Nigerian yers on the pitch managed to hold out for the rest of the match and when the final whistle was blown, everyone supporting the Nigerian side heaved a sigh of relief.

    {The final whistle has been blown!}

    {Nigeria have held out!}

    {Their lead looked shaky quite a few times in the second half of the game, but they just wouldn''t let go of it!}

    {Some would argue that their luck yed a great part in giving them this win, but what I know is that they have won and will be taking all three points from this match, leaving nothing for their opponents, and with this performance, they have qualified for the AFCON 22} thementator began giving his closing remarks on the game.

    The yers on the field began walking off while some of them engaged in conversations and greetings with their opponents.

    After a few minutes, Jason was called onto the field to receive the Man of the Match award and he took pictures with his new award before heading back to the sidelines.

    A whileter the yers were in the locker room preparing to leave the stadium when the manager walked in with a few other coaching staff members.

    "Good work out there guys,"

    "While it looked a bit shaky for us out there a few times, we won and that''s what matters,"

    "Your performance for the national team is highly appreciated and I hope you can build off this performance at your various clubs ande back to give your best for the national team when next you receive a call up," the manager spoke, but his words sounded a bit too dreary for a post match address, but no one said anything as they understood how national call ups were.

    Anytime could be a yer''sst call up to the national team as long as they did not impress the manager well enough with the performances to cause him to call them for the next international game hence everyone understood the reason for this slightly dreary address, but they weren''t disheartened in the slightest.

    The yers had enough confidence in their abilities and knew they had a pretty high chance to be called back to the national team during the next international break�� or at least most of them had such confidence. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    About an hourter, most of the yers were on a bus driving back to their hotel where they would be resting for the night, but from the following day, the coaching staff would be heading back to Nigeria by themselves as the rest of the yers would be heading back to Nigeria by themselves now that the international break was over.

    Jason was among the yers not on the bus and was already on his way to the airport in a chartered car with Iwobi and Osimen.

    Jason had a few things to do at Porto before training began and since the flight to Porto would take at least twelve hrs, he decided to get on a ne that same evening and reach Porto sometime before midday the following day.

    If he had stayed at Sierra Leone until the following day, he would have to spend the best time of theing day on a ne which would be a waste of the day and Jason didn''t have that much time.

    He had to sign an endorsement deal and rest before training began on the 19thwhich was just about a day away.

    ''Best to make full use of my time, I can just sleep on the ne and wake up in Porto so that I won''t be too tired,'' he sighed, knowing fully well that flying tired a person, so he would still feel quite tired even if slept through the whole flight.

 Chapter 354 Skin Serenity II

    354 Skin Serenity II

    **18th November 2020**

    *8:47 am*0

    Jason walked out of the airport with his bag in tow and walked towards a blue BMW i8 that had just parked in front of him.

    "Wee back," Adele said as she got out of the driver''s seat.

    "Thanks," Jason said with a nod as he went to pull open the trunk and put his bag in.

    "Catch," Adele said as she threw the keys of his car at him and Jason deftly caught it with one hand.

    "You''re not gonna drive me?" He asked with a grin.

    "That''s boyfriend privileges, I''m just your agent," Adele replied and moved over to the other side of the car and pressed the button to open the door.

    "What if I increase your sry?" Jason asked while getting into the driver''s seat.

    "You don''t exactly pay my sry," Adele said while rolling her eyes at him.

    "Tch..." Jason clicked his tongue as he pushed the start button.

    He wanted to trick her into driving him as he didn''t want to do anything other than just lie down for a few hours, but tricking smart women wasn''t up his alley unless he started using his sex appeal and he was too tired to do even that.

    "Funny how sleeping on a ne only gets you more tired than you already are," he muttered as he drove the car out of the parkingne.

    "Speak for yourself, I can sleep anywhere," Adele replied.

    " Anyway, how were your first international games? I wasn''t able to watch the matches or anything, but I checked the scores and you guys won... And then I watched the highlights and if you don''t end up winning this year''s Puskas award or Golden Boy award, then the world must have turned upside down," Adele continued while nodding to herself with a very straight face.

    "The season barely started though, many things can happen between now and the end of the season," Jasonughed as he drove.

    " Impossible! If they award anyone else, the person giving the award must have been kicked in the head by a donkey to allow such a thing," Adele remained adamant about her opinion.

    "It''s the reporters who have the majority vote in all those awards you''re mentioning so anything could happen... Not that I don''t want it though," Jason said with a halfugh.

    It was one of Jason''s greatest desires to get a Ballon''d''or or any such significant award, but he also knew that those kinds of awards were very deceiving due to the process in which the winners were chosen.

    It was no longer just a performance or numbers game, but rather one in which one had to be liked by the reporters who were to vote for the awards.

    Of course, others apart from reporters would also vote, but the majority of votes belonged to the reporters and there were many times when their choice was unsatisfactory to the yers and the fans, but the awards were given anyway.

    The concept of fair judgement was true and false at the same time otherwise how would a yer like Thierry Henry not have a single Ballon''d''or even after all he had achieved in football?

    That was why Jason liked a particr phrase that Christiano Ronaldo always used to counter anyone challenging him with the fact that Messi had more Ballon''d''or''s than he did.

    ''The numbers don''t lie.''

    Numbers were as close to the truth about a yer''s level as one could get.

    If the numbers a yer can amasspared to hispetitors gave a clear enough distinction, then everything would be clear to everyone watching and waiting and that was what Jason hoped to be.

    He wanted to be a yer who amassed such numbers season after season that it would be clear if he was robbed of an award.

    ''Ipetence breeds disrespect,'' Jason remembered something a teammate of his in his past life once told him.

    That guy was the closest thing Jason had to a friend in his previous life and it was not of his volition. The guy was simply a hardheaded guy who chose to constantly talk to Jason every day whether Jason liked it or not. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    One day, they had yed a match against FC Shalke in a pre-seasonpetition and they had lost terribly, conceding 13 goals and being unable to register three shots throughout the match.

    As the no-names that they were, it was an understandable result as there was no way they could match up against a team like FC Shalke, but the fans at the stadium didn''t care about such a fact and sang jeering songs at them all throughout the match.

    That day, everyone on the team but Jason was in tears and even the manager stayed silent as he had nothing to say.

    What was supposed to be a match to help the yers gain exposure and regain fitness ended up in the most demoralizing situation possible.

    The only reason Jason hadn''t cried as well after that match was because his emotions were terribly dull at the time, and it was not his first time in such a situation so he was able to stay unaffected on the outside, but on the inside was a different matter.

    It wasn''t Jason''s teammates fault that they weren''t as good as the Schalke yers, especially when they didn''t have a tenth of the resources the Schalke team had, but the truth remained that they were ipetent and could not match up in any way which ended with them having their asses handed back to them by their opponents.

    Since that day, the rule of numbers became clear to Jason.

    Overwhelming numbers conquered all and that was exactly what Jason wanted to be, a conqueror... He still had a long way to go though.

    "What time is our meeting with Skin Serenity though?" Jason asked Adele as he drove to his house.

    "I got them to agree to a meeting at 2 since I figured you''d be tired," Adele said as she pulled out her phone, wanting to give Jason the details.

    "Did I ever tell you I love you?" Jason asked with teary eyes feeling touched.

 Chapter 355: The Sails See Wind

    Chapter 355: The Sails See Wind

    ��Did I ever tell you I love you?��Jason said while teary-eyed, touched by Adele��s consideration for his physical state.

    ��No, you��ve never told me,�� Adele replied a bit surprised by Jason sounding like an emotional person all of a sudden when all she had done was her job as an agent.

    ��Good�� I��ll only tell you when you can hit a moving target from over 3 miles away with a McMin TAC-50,�� Jason replied and kept driving, putting an end to Adele��s fantasy that Jason had learned to be more emotional and caring.

    ��I knew it was too good to be true,�� Adele muttered, fighting the urge to facepalm at Jason��s antics.

    Most of the time, Jason acted exceptionally mature for his age and wasn��t easily moved by instant benefits which made her job as his agent a lot easier than it would be for any other person his age, but there were random times like this when he would act simr to his age and it was usually him just ying a prank on her.

    ��Speaking of which���� Jason��s words suddenly put an end to Adele��s thoughts and she nced at him.

    ��What?�� she asked.

    ��I suddenly had the thought that on this trip, I discovered many hidden heritages that I didn��t even know I had, and then I suddenly felt curious about your nationality,�� ��I mean, you don��t look Portuguese, or sound Portuguese for that matter�� hell, your name is not even Portuguese, but I also doubt that you��re American, or British as your name would suggest because you don��t sound like them either,��

    ��So what are you?�� Jason asked ncing over at Adele now that he had stopped at a traffic light.

    ��What am I?�� Adele repeated Jason��s words from her perspective with amusement appearing on her face.

    ��The way you ask makes it seem like I��m an alien,�� sheughed.

    ��Well, in a sense, you are an alien�� if we are going by the definition of someone in another country,�� Jason replied, sounding like a nerd all of a sudden.

    ���� Good point, haha,�� Adele said after a pause to let Jason��s words sink in.

    ��Anyway, I��m like you in the aspect of citizenship�� I have two,�� she finally began answering the question.

    ��My mother is from Dominican Republic and my dad was well�� British from what I heard, but I never met him as he disappeared a few months after I was born,�� Adele��s tone became a little down towards the end of her sentence.

    ���� Oh�� I��m so sorry�� He must have gone to get some milk, but never found it,�� Jason said with a straight face, but his words caused Adele to look at him with a face that was struggling to contain herughter.

    ���� This is not funny,�� she managed to say while fighting the urge tough.

    ��Says the one who is trying so hard not tough,�� Jason replied with an eye roll causing Adele to lose control of herself and spurt outughter.

    Jason watched her lose control of herself to herughter and felt aplished in his heart before he began driving again as the light turned green.

    While his joke may be seen as insensitive, that was the way he always dealt with his pain�� he just found something tough about and he hoped Adele could find something tough about as well if she ever felt down.

    ��Anyway�� you��re a Dominican Republic woman huh?�� he muttered and nced at Adele who was gradually recovering from herughter.

    ��That exins a lot of things and confuses a lot of things at the same time,�� he said while eye-measuring her curves.

    Dominican women were known for their especially curvy women, and Adele wasn��tcking in that aspect and was quite ��endowed��.

    ��Are you checking me out? Did your teenage hormones finally start working?��Adele asked as if the moon had fallen.

    ��They were always working, I just didn��t know my agent was a Dominican Republic woman with daddy issues,��

    ��I would have put a use in your employment contract so you��d have to call me papi,�� Jason said with a smirk, sounding like he was joking, but Adele couldn��t tell whether he was joking or not.

    ������ Adele just gave him a side eye and shook her head wryly.

    ��That will be �20 million,�� she finally responded, causing Jason to nce over at her.

    ��Go start practicing your Spanish,�� He smirked as he pulled the car to a stop on his house��s driveway, turned off the engine, and got off immediately, leaving Adele looking at his chair with a stunned look on her face.

    ��He can��t be serious���� Those were the words that shed across Adele��s mind, but knowing how erratic Jason could be, she knew better than to expect him to be constrained bymon sense.

    After grabbing his bag from the trunk, Jason called out to Adele who was still seated in the car with a doubtful expression on her face,

    ��Are youing in or not, I need to lock the doors,��

    ���� Oh, I��ming,�� Jason��s words brought Adele out of her reverie and she got out of the car to allow Jason to lock the doors and they went into the house.

    ��Mi casa, su casa�� Until noon, I��ll be sleeping till then,�� Jason air dropped as he headed to his room after they got in.

    Leaving Adele behind without needing to hear a response, Jason headed to his room, threw his bag to the side, and jumped on the bed.

    Before falling asleep, he set an rm for 11:30 am, and only then did he let himself fall back into the darkness of sleep.

    ***

    *1:35 pm*

    ��Is that the ce? �� Jason asked as they drove up to a modern-looking building.

    ��Yes,�� Adele replied while ncing up from her phone, but her tone was a bit off and for some reason, she looked a little red.

    To know why, we have to go back a little��

    *

    Jason had woken up at the sound of his rm clock at 11:30 am and after having a much-needed bath, he dressed up once he was ready, he left his bedroom to go find Adele, but to his greatest surprise, she had made herselffortable on his favorite couch and was sleeping with all the pillows he had in his living room arranged around her on the couch.

    A devious smile rose on Jason��s face as he pulled out his phone to take ��ckmail�� materials and only after taking the picture from 69 different angles did he finally remember that he was supposed to wake her up because they had somewhere to be.

    ��How do I wake her up though?�� he wondered as he put his phone back in his pocket with ckmail material fully secured.

    As a professional single yer in life, he had never had to wake a woman up, not even his aunt.

    He had never done it and due to his maturity, there had never been an urgent case where he absolutely had to wake her up, so waking up a woman felt strangely foreign to him.

    People would argue that it was just the same thing as waking a man up, but Jason begged to differ.

    He could choose to wake Viera up with an ��Attitude Adjustment�� and they wouldugh it off after Viera woke up and returned the favor in the form of an RKO, but if he tried the same thing with Adele, the only thing he would beughing off would be his jail time after he got hit with the most ridiculous assaultwsuit known to man.

    ��I can��t pour a bucket of water on her face either, otherwise her clothes would be wet when we go out,�� he muttered as he stood beside her with a thoughtful look on her face.

    After a few more seconds of thinking, he decided to just wake her up the boring way.

    ��Adele, wake up, we need to go,�� he said, but she didn��t budge.

    �� Come on, we need to go,�� he called out again and shook her by the shoulder, but she barely shifted.

    At this point, Jason could already tell that she was a heavy sleeper and could probably sleep through the Titanic if he let her be, but he couldn��t do that at the moment as they had work to do.

    Bending anding closer to her ears so she could hear him clearer from thend of the beyond, Jason called out again,

    ��Wake up, or your dad will find your mum and give you a baby brother,�� he said in a louder voice with a smirk on his face but her reaction to his words stunned him and the aftermath was about to shock both of them.

    ��No!�� Adele screamed as her eyes shot open and she flew up from her sleeping position.

    Jason��s earlier call had slightly awakened her, allowing her to hear what he had just said and that sounded like a nightmare, causing her to wake and fly up, but Jason��s head was directly above hers and she didn��t know this until their faces collided with their lips on each other in the most confusing way for both of them.

    Because it was a ��lip-on-lip�� collision, there wasn��t much pain that registered in either of their heads which allowed them to stay stunned at the situation for a few seconds before both of them flew apart from each other with their shock still clear on their faces.

 Chapter 356: The Sails See Wind II

    Chapter 356: The Sails See Wind II

    ��*Ahem*�� Wipe off the drool on your face and meet me in the car, we��rete,�� Jason blurted out with everyst bit ofposure that he could gather within him.

    Immediately the words came out, he turned his heel and walked out as calmly as he could leaving Adele staring dumbfounded at his back view.

    ���� I don��t drool,�� Adele thought as she picked up her bag and pulled out a mirror to check her face.

    She quickly straightened up her look with the aid of the mirror, walked outside, and got into the car with Jason who was waiting with the engine already turned on.

    As soon as she got into the car and shut the door, Jason began reversing out of the driveway without a word. He got on the street and started driving while keeping his face forward.

    ���� So we��re just not going to talk about it?�� Adele��s words flew into Jason��s head and sent a chill through his body, causing him to flinch slightly, but his emotional stability wasn��t so easily shaken and he controlled his body movements.

    ��Talk about what? What��s there to talk about?�� He replied while keeping his face forward, still not daring to look her way.

    ��What��s there to talk about?�� Adele repeated slowly, her disbelief could be clearly heard in her voice. ��You kissed me!��

    ��That��s what we have to talk about,�� Adele said in a slightly higher tone than usual, her aggravation clear to Jason but he wasn��t having it.

    ��I kissed you? Girl, you kissed me!�� He shot back at her.

    ��What!?�� Adele immediately responded with disbelief.

    ��I was trying to wake you up, but how was I to know that you woke up like the undertaker?�� Jason fired back.

    ��How was I supposed to know where you were if I was sleeping!?��

    ��Also, why were you trying to give me a nightmare instead of just waking me up normally?�� Adele shouted back.

    ��How was I supposed to know that you were the type of Latina who could sleep through a flippin�� Tsunami!�� Jason fired back, not willing to be outdone when he wasn��tpletely at fault.

    ��I was tired! And you told me to make myselffortable!��

    ��Why couldn��t you just wake me up like a normal person,�� Adele shouted back.

    ��I tried but you were sleeping like a bear in hibernation!�� Jason retorted.

    At this point, they were already shouting at each other in a full-blown argument.

    If the car windows weren��t tinted, people would think it was a couple in a fight.

    ��Ah, fu*k, it��s already happened and it was a mistake, let��s just let it go,�� Jason said while rubbing his brows, the argument already draining him.

    ��No!�� Adele retorted immediately.

    ��Why!?�� Jason��s voice immediately shot back up his annoyance beginning to re up.

    ��That was my first kis- hmp���� Adele shouted.

    In the heat of the argument, Adele had unknowingly let out one of her biggest secrets and didn��t realize until she had spilled the beans.

    Jason��s annoyance disappeared immediately and bewilderment immediately took its ce as he stared at Adele with shock written all over his face.

    ���� That was your�� First kiss?�� The words tumbled out of Jason��s mouth, but he wasn��t even sure if he was still in control of his mouth.

    ��How can it be your first kiss?��

    ��Aren��t you like 22 years old?�� The questions just kept tumbling out of Jason��s mouth.

    ��So?�� Adele shot back, her voice taking a defensive tone.

    ���� Never mind,�� Jason muttered and returned his focus to driving as the car returned to silence with the exception of the engine.

    ��Urgh�� what a headache,�� Jason began an inner monologue.

    ���� Wait, did I just be a cheating bastard?�� he asked himself.

    ��No no no no, it was a mistake and I didn��t n for this to happen, though it is kind of my fault,�� he started justifying himself internally.

    ��I��ve never been anyone��s first kiss before���� He muttered, not realizing that he was no longer monologuing.

    ��Damn! I wouldn��t have been able to tell, ��Mr. yer on and off the pitch��,�� Adele shot back sarcastically, her voice full of venom.

    ���� Really ni**a?�� Jason couldn��t stop himself from looking at her with his annoyance clear.

    ��That was one time! One flippin time!��

    ��I don��t go around kissing every beautiful woman I see okay�� Not anymore at least,�� Jason retorted.

    ��Exactly what I��m talking about!�� Adele shouted like she had found the answer to an impromptu grammar quiz.

    ��What are you talking about?�� Jason asked confused.

    ��The words ��not anymore�� already tell me everything I want to hear,�� Adele stated with conviction.

    ��Well, you��re hearing wrong cuz it��s not what you think,�� Jason replied as he understood what she was driving at.

    ��I��m pretty confident I��m not,�� Adele retorted.

    ��Yes you are,�� Jason replied immediately.

    ��No I��m not,�� Adele shot back, not willing to believe Jason��s words.

    ��Yes you are,�� Jason repeated.

    ��No, I��m not. You know what, let me just ask you directly,��

    ��How many ��girls�� have you kissed?�� Adele asked the million-dor question, already tired of the back-and-forth debacle.

    ��And I want the truth�� The truthhhhh!�� She added with gusto.

    ���� Technically���� Jason began answering as she had asked him to be honest, but Adele immediately interrupted.

    ��Technically?�� She repeated Jason��s words.

    ��At this point, I don��t even need to hear the numbers as I��m sure it��s going to be a lot,��

    ��Prove me wrong,�� she said with a daring look on her face as she gazed fiercely at him.

    ������ Jason��s mouth came open, but he couldn��t utter a word as he knew that anything he said at this moment would make it worse.

    If he was to bepletely honest, it would be impossible for him to im that he had only ever kissed Sofia as he knew that was barely a half-truth.

    He had only kissed Sofia�� And now Adele, in this life��

    That was the truth.

    In all of his life, he had had lip-to-lip encounters with at least 100 women and he could have easily gotten a much higher number, but he had gotten bored of it after a while.

    That was the cumtion of his two lives and was theplete truth, but he couldn��t tell that to Adele.

    Like, he could, and normally he would, because he knew that she would not believe such a thing and would take it as a joke and that was what would happen if he said it now.

    The only difference was that she wouldn��t simply take it as a joke, but rather would think that he was joking around even in a situation like this one and Jason didn��t want that happening right now.

    He didn��t want this whole situation to be more annoying than it already was.

    ���� Why are you even so angry?�� He opted to ask instead of answering her question.

    ��How would you feel if you were consciously keeping something for over twenty years and it was snatched from you?�� Adele replied to him with a question of her own.

    ������ Jason opened his mouth to speak, but for the umpteenth time since they left his house, no words came out.

    When taken from that perspective, Adele had every right to be angry.

    He had been messing around and they had mistakenly ended up lip to lip�� Which wasn��t his intention, but he couldn��t free himself of me in this matter.

    ���� I��m sorry,�� Jason finally spoke the magic word, but Jason soon realized that whoever called ��sorry�� a magic word was a liar.

    ��Sorry isn��t going to bring back my lip virginity,�� Adele retorted sharply.

    ��Was mistakenly kissing me that bad?�� Jason ignored the original question that had popped up in his head and asked, suppressing his curiosity.

    ��No,�� Adele��s answer surprised Jason and his right eyebrow rose immediately.

    ��Then why are you so angry!?�� Jason couldn��t help asking again in aggravation, tired of the whole fiasco.

    ��I don��t know!�� Adele shouted back at him.

    ��Oh my God bruhhhh,�� Jason groaned, his annoyance fully escaping from his lips.

    ��You know what? I ain��t even gonna say nothing,�� he had officially given up on this argument and wanted nothing more to do with the topic of kissing for a few years at least.

    Adele��s mouth shot open and she was about to talk, but Jason wasn��t having that and his right index finger immediately flew on top of her lips, shushing her.

    ��Ah ah ah�� You shut up as well or I��m kissing you again,�� Jason said with seriousness in his voice�� He wasn��t going to do it though�� Maybe.

    ���� That��s called sexual assault,�� Adele spoke as soon as Jason��s finger shushing her lips was removed.

    ��No, it��s called a sacrifice for World Peace and Quiet,�� Jason said as he mmed on the elerator.

    Since he wasn��t nning to kiss her again to keep her from restarting the whole fiasco, he sped up and had internally decided that if she so much as said another word concerning the whole lip-on-lip encounter, he would make sure her internal organs would have been rearranged by the time she got down from the car.

    By driving crazy�� Not anything else.

 Chapter 357: Skin Serenity III

    Chapter 357: Skin Serenity III

    Jason and Adele arrived at the building where a conference room had been rented for their meeting.

    Since Skin Serenity was not based in Portugal, this was the only way they could meet with Jason without it being a public setting.

    Skin Serenity was a unisex skin-care brand that dealt with lotions, soaps, oils, skin-care face-masks, etc. and they had contacted Adele a while ago for an endorsement deal which Jason had put on a hold due to his injury, but now that he had gotten back to regr football, he finally had time to listen to their offer which had further increased thanks to his growing worth as a yer.

    Originally, Jason hadn��t been exactly ecstatic to sign a deal with them as he already had amercial with a perfumepany, Scentual Escapades, and he was already thinking that one self-care endorsement was enough.

    Especially with the deal with Skin Serenity having a use that would require him only to use their products.

    Jason was generally apprehensive of a controlling contract like that, but when he heard their offer, he made a U-turn on his decision.

    Skin Serenity wasn��t a bigpany yet and their worth just barely reached 70 million dors which put them at the level of a start-up brand in the worldwide skincare industry so far.

    They weren��t exactly rapidly rising either and their progress had stalled just barely three years after their start. Perhaps they were looking for a boost to their poprity which would give them the push they needed to rise and because of that, they hade to Jason with a particrly ludicrous offer.

    They wanted Jason to be the face of the male part of their brand for five years with a starting offer of 2 million dors which in itself was already a sizeable percent of theirpany��s worth.

    However, that wasn��t all, they had also put forth a contract use stating that on every brand he represented, he would get a percentage profit of every single sale and that was not just ludicrous, it was something any normal businessman would call stupid.

    Jason was merely a start-up celebrity, and he didn��t have a particrly strong fan base , yet thepany was so stupid as to literally put all their hopes on him and still giving him the benefits of a major investor in the business when all he did was endorse the product.

    If that wasn��t stupidity, then what was?

    The business world was a world full of sharks, yet these guys were out here being overly nice and that immediately tingled Jason��s money senses that he didn��t know he had until now.

    He immediately noticed that there was a sliver of desperation in their offers to him.

    It was like they didn��t want him to even think of rejecting the offer.

    Almost like not signing him would damage them greatly and that was strange so Jason had asked Adele to look into their situation to see what was wrong.

    He didn��t want to sign a deal that would be particrly damaging to his reputation no matter how huge or tempting it was.

    It had taken a while and was what had caused the dy till now, but Adele had managed to find out the situation behind thepany.

    The first thing Adele found out was that Jason wasn��t the only one to have received the offer from Skin Serenity, though the terms of the offer made to him were a lot more enticing than the others, nevertheless, he wasn��t the only one with the offer from Skin Serenity.

    It seemed thepany had cast out a wide and hoped to get at least one favorable response, and their targets were young, quick-growing celebrities.

    It wasn��t only footballers, thepany had also contacted debuting actors, singers, and even online celebrities, but so far, no one had signed the deal because they were still negotiating with Skin Serenity and trying to increase the benefits for themselves.

    The offers Skin Serenity made to the others were vastly different from what they made to Jason which meant Jason was a focal point in whatever n they had and the others were just add-ons.

    The second thing that Adele found out was an interesting story that took her a lot of effort to be able to listen to.

    The story went like this;

    Skin Serenity Co., a cutting-edge skincare brand was founded three years ago by innovative chemist, Dr. Maya Singh.

    With a revolutionary new product, Skin Serenity was poised to disrupt the industry and they did for a while, turning apany that started up with less than a million dors to a apany worth 100 million in less than two years.

    However, such good fortune didn��te without consequences.

    There is a Chinese saying that says that the bamboo that rises the fastest gets hammered by the windand Skin Serenity was the proverbial bamboo.

    Their speedy progress had aroused the interests of others in the same field and while some of thepetitors barely made changes to their products and put more effort into marketing their product, another group decided to try and take over the goose that wasying golden eggs.

    Thus a conspiracy began to unfold and it started with someone bribing the lead researcher of thepany, Victor Delgado.

    With his greed aroused, he used his influence to push out a research product that wasn��t yet ready for production. He framed good results for the product and made Dr Maya Singh believe that this was the next big thing after their original recipe.

    For Dr. Maya Singh who had been swamped by administrative duties and no longer had time to tinker with chemicals at theb, this was good news and she believed the words of Victor who she thought was her friend, and began working hard tounch the new project.

    Thepany took huge loans to finance the project��sunch and after a lot of work, the new product wasunched, but barely a week after itsunch, the product��s inconsistencies were revealed.

    The product began to be returned and soon thepany was bombarded with quite a fewwsuits.

 Chapter 358: Skin Serenity IV

    Chapter 358: Skin Serenity IV

    Things looked dire for Skin Serenity, but Victor wasn��t done yet and was making all sorts of moves to make sure he was the final victor in this espionage battle.

    He quietly sold the original recipe of Skin Serenity to a rivalpany, Aurora Skincare, while also hatching a n to try to push Maya out of the CEO��s position, but unfortunately for him, he had miscalcted.

    Dr. Maya Singh was no soft persimmon who had luckilye into money, but rather she was a fiery woman with a lot of spirit who had a great business talent and had already found out about his betrayal.

    She had already begun making her moves and soon she was able to oust Victor while also regaining a hold of the situation.

    She quickly recalled the new product, junked it, and hiredwyers to help with thewsuits, stabilizing the situation, but things were already in a dire situation for thepany.

    Dr. Maya Singh��s efforts had barely managed to make Skin Serenity stay afloat and they were now stuck with a ton ofwsuits, a huge debt, a damaged reputation, and doubtful investors to deal with.

    Maya Singh��s efforts had barely bought them some time, but the inevitable bankruptcy still loomed on the horizon��

    However, with every misfortune came a blessing. While returning to her roots because of the huge blow herpany had received, Maya Singh had been able to correct the issues in the new product that they had released, and from what had been heard, this product supposedly had more potential than the original recipe.

    This was the big break that could save Skin Serenity and put them back on the path to growing into one of the biggest skincarepanies in the world, however, there was a problem.

    They couldn��tunch the product.

    They were already in huge debt and were already running on a deficit and only managing to slow down their decadence thanks to the little sales from the few staunch customers they had managed to amass in their first two years of sess, hence there was no way for them tounch a new product as they already had their hands full with slowing down their inevitable bankruptcy.

    There was also the problem of their damaged reputation which would make it hard for them to make a ssh in the market thus they were stuck at an impasse yet again, only able to slow down their bankruptcy while theirpetitors eyed them like sharks while doing all they could to quicken their fall so that they could im everything that Skin Serenity owned once they were done.

    However, once again, Maya Singh came to the rescue and came up with a structural n that could potentially bring Skin Serenity to salvation and that was by turning public opinions back in their favor, and their way of doing that was by endorsements and not just anyone, but people who couldmand people��s hearts.

    On hearing this part of the story, Jason had been amazed and had realized what she was trying to do.

    People like Tailor Swift, Selina Gomes, Justin Biebar, Lebraun James, Leonel Messi, Christiano Ronaldo, and a few others could potentially change the public��s opinion of herpany and cause Skin Serenity to start selling like hotcakes.

    Something like that had happened not long ago, even�� Just before Portugal��s Euro 2020 match against Hungary, Christiano Ronaldo had just moved two bottles of Coca-C bottles away from the microphone, took up a bottle of water, and said ��Aqua�� which meant ��water�� into the microphone.

    He was probably just saying it because of his personal choice, but that singr effortless action of Ronaldo had caused Coco-C��s stock price to plummet and thepany lost around $4 billion in value.

    That was x40 of Skin Serenity��s value at its peak.

    That singr incident had given Maya Singh confidence in her n, but there was just one teeny-weeny problem.

    They couldn��t afford such a person.

    The endorsement fee to bring in someone with enough influence to do what Maya Singh needed would drown thepany��s finances.

    For apany living from hand to mouth and just barely worth $70 million, it was impossible to amass the hundreds of millions needed to even attract the agents of such people, hence Maya Singh had chosen to try and catch someone with such potential when they were still young and the focal point of her efforts were on Jason, one of the fastest rising footballers on the.

    Not to mention his face that would instantly quadruple their female fanbase if he so much as appeared in a picture with any of their products, his talent and star quality were rapidly rising at a lightning-fast pace, hence Maya Singh wanted Jason��s signature at any cost.

    There were other options avable as there was no shortage of ��young star quality�� but Maya Singh seemed dead set on Jason as the focal point of her ns for reasons unknown to Jason.

    After hearing the story, Jason could not say he was not interested in meeting Dr. Maya Singh who was single-handedly holding herpany back from bankruptcy.

    Also, he had a lot more to think about now concerning the offer from Skin Serenity.

    If he let himself get carried by ��Superwoman Singh�� he could potentially end up with an endorsement deal worth hundreds of millions or even billions in the future�� or he could end up with a stain on his reputation and at least $2 million��

    Or�� he could reject the offer and simply continue as he was now, hoping for better endorsement deals in the future.

    �� Naturally, Jason was more tilted towards the riskier choice as he knew from experience that the riskier the option, the better the profits thaty beyond for the iming if they survived the danger that they would need to confront.

    Dr. Maya Singh was sitting on a potential golden egg that could overturn the skin care industry in the near future if only they could survive now and Jason signing with them would give him a share of the pie thanks to the ludicrous contract offer he had received.

    Jason couldn��t deny his greed for such an endorsement deal.

    In fact, so great was his greed that a ludicrous thought had appeared in his mind.

    ��Why should I get a mere piece of the pie?��

 Chapter 359: A Pirate of Fortune I

    Chapter 359: A Pirate of Fortune I

    ��Why should I get a mere piece of the pie?��

    ��Why can��t I get the whole pie?�� This absurd thought had popped up in Jason��s headwhen he had been considering whether to put pen to paper or not.

    This thinking had opened to him a new option and that was what he was about to implement.

    Jason parked the car and got out with Adele who had switched to a business face despite what had happened earlier.

    Since Jason hade to not just sign a contract, but to talk business�� he had note dressed casually and was instead dressed in a pitch-ck suit with a ck shirt, tie, shoes, and socks.

    For once, he wasn��t even wearing any male jewelry and only had a watch on his left wrist.

    He and Adele walked into the building and after receiving directions from the lobbyist, they made their way to the conference room where the meeting was to be held.

    On reaching the entrance of the conference room, Jason didn��t hesitate to push open the door and walk in. On walking into the room, Jason��s eyes darted around quickly and fell on the four people seated at the table.

    Before Jason could even begin to visually assess the two men in the group, one of the women in his view instantly stole his attention, and without needing an introduction, Jason immediately knew that this woman was Maya Singh.

    The woman looked like she was of Indian descent as her name suggested and she looked like she was in her early thirties at most and had an impressive professional air surrounding her.

    Beside her, the aura of professionalism that Adele had around her seemed premature at best.

    The impressive-looking woman, the second woman, and the two men with her stood up from their seats as Jason and Adele walked in and walked over to them after which introductions ensued.

    After the introductions, Jason found out that he was in fact correct and the impressive-looking woman was Maya Singh, the superwoman behind the skin carepany, Skin Serenity.

    The second woman with her was Maya Singh��s secretary, one of the men was from the publicity department while the other was awyer.

    Jason and Adele didn��t need introductions but they introduced themselves either way before they sat at the table to begin the discussion.

    A few pleasantries were exchanged between both sides, but Jason and Maya Singh stayed quiet and simply stared at each other like it was some sort of staring contest.

    Maya Singh was trying to see what Jason wanted from her gaze as Jason��s condition for further discussion on the endorsement was for her to be in attendance which she didn��t have a problem with as she would do just about anything at this point to keep herpany afloat.

    The problem was that she didn��t know what Jason wanted which was disconcerting for a woman like her.

    In the business world, information is power and currently, she had no information on Jason��s n for her which required her to be in attendance which was why she was trying to gather some information from Jason��s gaze which could help in the negotiation, but Jason��s naturally impassive gaze wasn��t giving her anything to go off of.

    There was nothing in his eyes as he looked at her�� or so she thought.

    Ignorant of her thoughts, Jason was inwardly trying to estimate how old she was with how young she looked.

    Since she looked like she was in herte twenties, Jason estimated that meant she probably started the business in her early twenties and that she had managed to grow thepany this much was without a doubt, impressive.

    But while Jason was thinking all this, Maya Singh had had enough of the coded silence andck of information so she cut into the ongoing pleasantries.

    ��Mr Bolu�� perhaps you can borate on why you requested for my presence at this meeting,��she said, her voice overshadowing the others and her gaze firmly locked on Jason.

    Jason returned her sharp gaze with a colder gaze of his own,

    ���� I heard an interesting story����he began, his voice taking on a particrly emotionless tone.

    ���� A story of a young aspiring businesswoman who got into the business and made a ssh, but wasn��t able to keep up and got hit hard by people who had set their eyes on the golden goose she possessed, their minds overtaken by greed,��

    ��She even got betrayed by one of her close associates���� Jason continued speaking, his tone emotionless as he watched Maya Singh��s expression harden as words flowed out of her mouth.

    ���� But somehow, they survived that dire situation. She wasn��t a gymnast, but she bent over backward to ensure that herpany wasn��t washed over, and she didn��t stop there,��

    ��She had begun nning aeback and hatched a n that could potentially bring them back in the game and to do that, I came into this story���� Jason paused at this point to realize that everyone was listening to him with rapt attention, which wasn��t what he intended, but at this point he just rolled with it.

    ��My part in this story is not very clear, but I have made some conjectures based on what I have heard����

    ��Since this young businesswoman��spany cannot afford tounch a project in these dire times, they probably want to have me somehow whitewash their image in the market and push their already existing projects back into the limelight after which they would thenunch a new product which should hopefully make them a profit and push them forward����

    ��Dr Singh�� what do you think of this conjecture?�� Jason threw a question to Dr. Maya Singh.

    ���� I�� I��m not going to beat around the bush and say otherwise,�� Maya began, quite amazed by the intense presence Jason was giving off that made them listen raptly to his words right from the moment he started speaking.

    ��Yes�� you heard correctly about what happened to us�� to me�� and it is clear that you know what our n is,��

    ��I personally believe you have the potential to have as much star quality as people like Christiano Ronaldo, Lebron James and the likes, and not only that, you are likely to hit a high level more quickly than the other people we are looking at,��

    ��There are other people who could probably reach a high level of star quality like you, but you seem to have a particrly clear consistency which makes it clear that you are ying the long game which is the best for us, hence why we want you to be our gship,��

    ��You��re also right in that we wish you could help us to white wash our products and give the public a reason to patronize us, but that being said, I don��t understand why youid all that out, or why I am here,�� Maya finished, her gaze not leaving Jason��s face.

    ���� Dr. Singh�� Are you familiar with the concept of a savior?�� Jason said with a huge, wicked grin appearing on his face.

 Chapter 360: A Pirate of Fortune II

    Chapter 360: A Pirate of Fortune II

    ���� Dr. Singh�� Are you familiar with the concept of a savior?�� A wide, wicked grin appeared on Jason��s face as he asked the female CEO a question.

    ��Surely you don��t mean yourself, do you?�� Maya Singh returned a question to Jason, amused by this young man.

    ��Oh, me? Surely not,�� Jasonughed.

    ��I��m a shark, a pirate of fortune�� a calcted risk-taker if you will,�� he continued, his wicked smile growing wider by the second.

    ��I��m the oriole behind the mantis stalking the cicada�� only this time, I don��t wish for the mantis to kill the cicada as that cicada has the potential to be something greater,�� Jason stated.

    ��Where are you going with this?�� Maya Singh asked Jason because as amused as she was by his words, they seemed to have a meaning behind them and Maya wasn��t patient enough to wait for Jason to continue talking at his own pace.

    ��Due to yourpany��s previous misfortunes, your investors lost faith in your vision and most of them pulled out, leaving you with most of yourpany��s stake but nothing to show for it. In fact, that was what had elerated your plunge as you had to sell a lot of your assets to settle those people so that you could avoid the situation where yourpetitors get a stake in yourpany,��

    ��Hence, you have no extra funds which is why you can��tunch your new product�� but what if���� ��What if you couldunch the new product earlier than nned?�� by, let��s say next month?�� Jason asked with a grin.

    ��Highly improbable, but if we canunch the new product earlier and it can make a big ssh in the market, then we will be well on our way to recovery and maybe even growth,�� Maya Singh responded, half-heartedly.

    She was not one to expect sudden strokes of good fortune, especially in their current situation, so she hadn��t given it much thought and had kept her thinking realistic so far.

    ��What if you received enough money in cash flow to help with your efforts to save yourpany from the inevitable fall?�� Jason asked another question, but unlike before when Maya Singh had replied half-heartedly, hearing Jason��s words this time had caused her to pause and raise an eyebrow.

    ��And who��s going to want to do such a thing?�� Maya Singh asked with her eyebrow raised.

    What Jason was asking was a question she had asked herself quite a few times in the past.

    As someone who had seen a lot of things, she knew that money could solve almost every issue in the business world and if it could not, it was because you were not throwing enough money at the problem.

    If there was someone with enough money to spare who wanted to save Skin Serenity, then they would be able to do it easily.

    With enough money, they could help Skin Serenity hire lead researchers who could help them create a few new recipes to sell.

    With enough money, they couldunch these new products.

    With enough money, they could hire famous people to help them whitewash their brand name, or they could just change their brand name altogether.

    With enough money, there wasn��t anything they couldn��t do, but no sane businessman would put that much money into saving theirpany.

    The money required tounch a new product wasn��t the problem, the problem was the whitewashing part which could cost hundreds of millions.

    Rather, they would just let it go bankrupt, then they could acquire it at a low price and then probably turn it into a subsidiary of another much bigger brand, changing the name and all.

    Hence, Maya Singh had long given up on receiving any mary help from anyone as no such good Samaritan was willing to put that much money into saving a drowningpany and she voiced her thoughts to Jason.

    ��Yes, if we received a few million in cash flow, we could offset our debt to buy us some time, and thenunch a new product, but then we would still have to deal with the reputation aspect. It��s not impossible and it would make things a lot easier if we could get more money, but who��s going to give us that kind of money?��

    ��Unless there is that much of a significant benefit that can be gained from investing that much, then there is no one who would do so,�� She said.

    ��What you think can happen is not important right now�� What I��m asking is what you can do if you were given a chance?�� Jason cut her off before she could go any further.

    Maya Singh paused as Jason��s question resonated with her, and even though she still didn��t understand why he was asking all these questions, she decided to answer him anyway,

    ���� We can recover, and we can grow���� She stated confidently, her gaze firm and that was all Jason wanted to hear.

    ��Then let me make you an offer,�� Jason began and held out his hand to Adele who immediately pulled out a document signing pad from her bag.

    ��$35 million in investment for a 50% stake in yourpany,�� Jason stated and ced the signing pad in front of Maya Singh.

    The already silent room seemed to be a lot quieter in an instant as soon as those words came out of his mouth.

    ��What are you talking about?�� Maya Singh��s secretary said as she took up the document pad and opened it, while the rest of the Skin Serenity crowd could only stare at Jason in surprise.

    The secretary quickly looked through the documents to see what was written and after a while, she passed the document pad to thewyer among them.

    ��Boss�� �� Thewyer passed the document to Maya Singh after looking through it as well and saw what was written in the document was no different from what Jason had said.

    ���� What is this?�� Maya Singh asked as if she hadn��t been listening to what Jason had been saying so far.

    ��A contract�� You sign it and you hand over 50% of yourpany��s stake to me, and you get $35 million in funding,�� Jason repeated, his grin having reduced into a little smile at the corner of his lips.

    ��Simple, isn��t it?��

 Chapter 361: A Pirate of Fortune III

    Chapter 361: A Pirate of Fortune III

    ��Simple, isn��t it?��

    Jason��s words rang in the ears of the people from Skin Serenity and they stared at Jason in awe. When they hade here to convince him to sign an endorsement for theirpany, they had thought of him as nothing more than a young inexperienced footballer who would probably let his agent do most of the talking, but what they had experienced so far differed from what they had been expecting.

    Right from the start, Jason had taken the lead position in this conversation and he had kept their attention on him from the start and now he was making an offer to their boss that could potentially change their fates and he was doing all that with a smile on his face as if he was taking a walk in his backyard.

    ��I thought he was a footballer?�� Maya Singh��s secretary looked at Jason with surprise written all over her face.

    Among the Skin Serenity group, only Maya Singh was thinking about the offer Jason had made.

    It wasn��t impossible for her to give up 50% of thepany��s stake since she alone held 95% of thepany��s stake.

    Due to the investors pulling out one by one after the new product incident, She had to buy back herpany��s shares to prevent the shares from falling into the hands of herpetitors, hence she had that manypany shares, but that had cost her all the money she had managed to save up during thepany��s booming period.

    Selling 50% of Skin Serenity to Jason for $35 million would do a lot to help thepany stop its gradual copse and would do much more to help them get back on their feet, but some things still didn��t add up and the first one of those things was, ��Why are you doing this?��

    ��What do you stand to gain from investing that much money?��

    ��Also, do you even have $35 million?��

    ��Even if you did have $35 million, is it legit money or are you trying to use mypany tounder money?�� As soon as the first question came out of her mouth, other questions followed and she would have continued to throw out questions if she didn��t catch herself.

    ���� First, I feel like it, second, I stand to gain more money from investing in yourpany, third, yes I do have $35 million, and fourth, with an imagination like that, you should be writing fantasy books instead of mixing chemicals and running apany,�� Jason answered all her questions at a stretch, maintaining a poker face as he did so.

    ��Back to my question, Dr. Singh,��

    ��As beautiful as your face is, I do not have all day to spend looking at it, so are you in or not?�� He asked again.

    He was amused by her questions, but that did not mean he wanted to spend time exining to her why he wanted to invest in Skin Serenity since the answer was very simple��

    He wanted returns on his money.

    Due to making quite a few investments before and during the COVID-19 lockdown period, he had made quite a bit of money and even he was extremely surprised when he heard that his investments had grown from the original few million he had invested, to almost $40 million in worth.

    Originally, he had been nning to find a few start-up businesses to invest in and hopefully watch his money grow, but then he had encountered an already set up business like Skin Serenity with the potential to grow as long as he was willing to put in money and some effort.

    It was a risky venture, but why not?

    If things went well, then he could be the next Mathieu mini, and if things didn��t go so well, he would only lose some money which could be easily recovered back, so once again�� Why not?

    This was Jason��s mindset for the Skin Serenity investment, he wanted to do it so he would no longer ever have money problems, but at the same time he wasn��t so hung up on it and if he was rejected, he would walk out of here with the same sagacious contentment he walked in with.

    Maya Singh took up the document pad and began to read through the offer, leaving the room in silence while everyone else stared at her and waited for her decision.

    After about five minutes, she put the pad down and her gaze rose to meet Jason��s and she waited for a few seconds before opening her mouth,

    ���� If it��s something that can help thepany, then I��m all for it, but we need to discuss some of the terms in here,��

    ��Sounds like progress,�� Jason muttered and sat back down on his seat, gesturing for Maya Singh to go on.

    Maya didn��t hesitate to start talking and negotiations began.

    Many of the words flying out of Maya��s mouth didn��t make any sense to Jason, but with Adele there, negotiations went smoothly and they agreed on a reasonable deal for both sides.

    The money Jason would use to buy 50 percent of the shares had reduced to 30 million while the remaining $5 million would still go to thepany in the form of investment, but due to it being an investment, it would guarantee Jason an increased percentage in profit.

    In exchange for this, Maya Singh would get to keep her ce as CEO for at least the next five years, and only if she didn��t meet a set requirement would Jason be able to push her out of the CEO position.

    It was a use meant to safeguard Maya Singh��s position as CEO now that Jason has be the highest shareholder of thepany and could make arbitrary decisions in thepany without consequence.

    Maya didn��t trust Jason to not suddenly kick her out of the CEO position.

    Normally, it wouldn��t mean much, but it would cause her to lose almost all her power in the decision-making of thepany since she no longer had a high position, nor was she the highest shareholder.

    Technically even though she would still be the second highest shareholder, all her decisions could then be vetoed by Jason if he felt like it and she didn��t want that, but little did she know that Jason didn��t n to let her leave the position and would have chained her to the chair if need be.

    He didn��t have time to run apany now and he doubted he ever would�� Not even after he had retired from football.

 Chapter 362: A Pirate of Fortune IV

    Chapter 362: A Pirate of Fortune IV

    Afterpleting negotiations about the shareholders�� part, they moved to talking about future ns for thepany.

    It was here that Jason began toy out his ns.

    He knew that the Skin Serenity brand needed a washover to recover their damaged reputation but he also knew that that was easier said than done.

    Even with his help, thepany didn��t have the financial capability to pull off an endorsement deal with people capable of whitewashing thepany��s reputation, and Jason also knew that his fame and position in people��s hearts was not yet at such a level, so he opted for apletely different approach.

    No matter how painful it may seem if you can��t save a dying dog, then it is better to put it to sleep much earlier to avoid wasting time, energy, resources, and mental strength.

    That was exactly what Jason wanted Skin Serenity to do.

    To survive, they had to die first.

    It sounded a bit morbid, but it would be much more easier that way. It wasn��t a shutdown of thepany, but rather aplete rebranding and a change of name.

    Most of the general public didn��t care about the history of a brand, and they wouldn��t make a big ssh about it either.

    That didn��t mean people wouldn��t find out, but the spread of knowledge would be reduced vastly and they could use that time tounch one or two new products.

    Jason would be the gship of the new brand and would be spearheading the publicity�� And by spearheading, it meant they would be using his face and name to push the brand to people.

    They would also hire a few others to push the brand.

    In the best case scenario, they could make a big ssh on the market and start raking in profit on the daily.

    �� As for the other scenarios, Jason didn��t want to think of it yet.

    Anyhow, he made known his ns to Maya Singh and after thinking it through for a few minutes, she agreed with the n.

    To her, it wasn��t a bad idea and was not too far off from her original intention.

    Also, it would save a lot of time and effort, if they went down this route.

    There was a slight unwillingness to let go of the brand name she had started with, but Maya immediately killed that lingering feeling as it was of no help to her.

    That was merely her sentiment trying to take over, but as a businesswoman, she knew that she could not afford to be sentimental, especially in decision-making.

    After they discussed the n in a lot more detail, they finally left the conference room and visited the restaurant in the building to celebrate the agreement.

    It was a celebratory gathering of sorts and there was a light-hearted mood at the table.

    Everyone was happy with the negotiations that had been concluded.

    Even the intense aura of professionalism around Maya Singh had diminished a lot and she was now casually talking with Jason and Adele.

    After about an hour, the group finally went their separate ways with Maya Singh��s party heading to the airport while Jason and Adele went their separate ways as well.

    It was time for Jason to focus on resting and rxing for theing games and that was exactly what he did.

    ***

    **21 November 2020**

    {Here we are at the 3rd round of the Taca de Portugal between Fabrill and Oporto}

    {The international break is over and the yers are back in fine form after some pleasant and not-so-pleasant outings for their countries}

    {Someone with a very pleasant outing with his national team would be Jason Bolu who had his international debut during the international break and wow, what a way to start for his home country}

    {Coming off in the very first game and having a hell of a debut as he helped his team to make aeback from two goals down�� While also managing to score one of the most beautiful goals you��ll ever see}

    {He continued his heroics in the second game against the same opponents, managing to add another goal and assist to his tally, making it two goals and three assists for his national team in just two games!}

    {The Oporto manager seems to have some reservations about ying him immediately though and he is starting this match on the bench} Thementator gave an opening address as the Fabrill and Oporto yers marched onto the field.

    Just as he had said, Jason wasn��t in the starting line-up and he would be watching the match from the bench until the manager decided to call on him.

    Normally the manager would give priority to the younger yers during domestic cup games, but Jason was someone who had already broken into the first team so the manager was very willing to bench Jason and allow other young yers to get some game time in the domestic cup games while they could.

    The match soon kicked off and without suspense, Oporto soon took the reins of the game, passing the ball around with confidence and creating chances to take the lead at any opportunity they could.

    Shots were sent flying, but the opponents weren��t unprofessional and did their best to remain in the game while also causing the asional trouble for the Porto side, but soon, Porto poured a dampener on their enthusiasm.

    #38 minute��

    The first half was drawing to an end yet Oporto wasn��t willing to let the half pass by without getting one past the goalkeeper and soon a forward pass was sent behind the opponent��s backline and Mylo pushed past his marker to catch up to the ball with impressive pace, taking the ball to front of goal and curling it around the keeper to send his team in the lead.

    {Goal!!!}

    {Porto!!!}

    {What a way to resume after the break!}

    {The goalkeeper had no chance!} Thementator shouted as Mylo celebrated with his teammates.

    Celebrations soon ended and the match resumed.

    Oporto immediately began pushing off their momentum and tried to get another goal before halftime, but they were unable to further their lead before the referee��s whistle blew loudly for halftime.

 Chapter 363: The Race for Trophies I

    Chapter 363: The Race for Trophies I

    The second half began not long after and both teams immediately picked off from where they stopped before the whistle.

    Oporto immediately tried to build off the momentum of their first goal and further extend their lead, but Fabrill weren��t letting up defensively and were doing even more on the attack than they did in the first half of the game.

    The game remained deadlocked until the 76thminute when Jason who had been brought on as a substitute in the 56thminute took off on a run down the left wing, cutting in as he neared the penalty box.

    He quickly made it past the yer who showed up in his path and drove home the ball, sending the ball flying past the goalkeeper who couldn��t reach the ball despite making a dive.

    {Goal!!!}

    {It��s him again for the umpteenth time this season!}

    {A quick double step-over and a dart to the right were all he needed to open up some space for him to get a shot away and boy did he hit it!}

    {Oporto have two over their opponents and they look like they��ve got this one in the bag!} Thementator did not hesitate to do his job and immediately sang praises of the goalscorer and his team. After about half a minute of celebrations, the Oporto yers headed back to their half of the field to await kickoff.

    Soon the match kicked off, but despite the efforts of the two teams in the following minutes, the scoreboard remained unchanged until the final whistle, sealing Oporto��s win in the third round of the Taca de Portugal.

    The Oporto yers left the stadium with happy smiles on their faces while their opponents were left to rue their lost chance at advancing.

    ***

    **25thNovember 2020**

    *9:00 pm*

    It was a night in Marseille, France, but the lights at the Stadio Velodrome shone brightly down on two sets of eleven yers standing on the green field.

    A referee stood on the field as well, and at that exact moment, he blew hard on his whistle, signaling a kickoff to the fourth group stage match between Marseile and Oporto.

    After their loss to the Oporto team at the Dragon Stadium, the Marseile team was hosting Oporto at Velodrome at their home stadium this evening and were looking to change their fortunes after a terrible outing against Oporto in their previous match.

    Immediately the referee��s whistle went off, the Marseile team immediately kicked off the game and without hesitationunched an attack on their opponents.

    Oporto immediately reacted in kind and rushed at the Marseile team with gusto, matching up to them in enthusiasm and effort, managing to kill the Marseile team��s momentum before it could grow.

    After managing to dock their opponent��s moment, Oporto settled for a stable game and did not outdo themselves on the attack, but the Marseile yers did not agree with such a cautious ying style andunched attack after attack at the Oporto team.

    It soon became clear to the Oporto team that they could not afford to stay quiet in the face of such a vicious chain of attacks from their opponents, so they immediately increased their efforts and responded with enthusiasm.

    Soon the game was opened up in the 39thminute with a rebound effort from Zaidiu Sanusi who mmed the ball into the back of the after a header from a corner had been initially saved by the opposition goalkeeper.

    After putting one past their opponents, Oporto immediately increased their efforts and tried to build off their momentum, but the first half whistle sounded not long after with them not managing to trouble the scoreboard operator after the first half.

    Fifteen minutes of restter, the yers were back on the pitch and they immediately picked up the game from where they had stopped.

    Marseile immediately began trying to score an equalizer and they sent shots flying at the Oporto team causing them a lot of trouble and causing them to be unable to focus more on the attacking side of their game.

    #72nd minute��

    Jason received a pass from Uribe as he ran into Marseile��s penalty box, and came face to face with a Marseile defender who he immediately tried to dribble past, but the defender wasn��t having it and he made a tackle on Jason.

    Whether it was intentional or a miscalcted effort remained unknown, but the yer swept Jason��s legs from under him and sent him flying instead of sweeping away the ball.

    *Fweeeeee*

    The referee immediately came running over, calling for a penalty and bringing out a yellow card that he showed to the Marseile defender.

    It was the yer��s second yellow card of the game and a red card immediately followed and he was sent off the field.

    Sergio Oliveira stepped up to take the penalty and without disappointment, he rifled the shot into the top right corner, giving Porto a two-goal lead.

    The Oporto yers celebrated their second goal without remorse while the Marseile yers looked on at them with wry smiles as they were already poised to lose their second meeting with this opponent.

    #85th minute��

    The clock was quickly running down and it was looking very likely for the game to end in Oporto��s win, but the Oporto side weren��t done yet and wanted to further their lead.

    They passed the ball around boldly, having taken the reins of the game after their second goal and they looked like they would soon get another.

    Soon Oliveira sent a sweeping pass down the right wing and Jason gave chase, outpacing his marker and reaching the ball first before cutting into the penalty box and sending a low cross into Mylo��s path.

    {Mylo in the middle!?} Thementator shouted with excitement and anticipation as Mylo appeared in the path of the ball.

    Mylo didn��t disappoint expectations and mmed the ball past the goalkeeper with righteous fury before running down the sidelines in celebration.

    {Goal!!!}

    {The youth department at Oporto can be assured of a year bonus with the way the youth yers are performing match after match}

    {What a pass, what a goal!}

    {They have three and what a time to get it!}

    {This match is very much sealed now!} Thementator��s excitedmentary was the cherry on the cake for the Oporto fans who were celebrating ecstatically in front of their screens at qualifying for the Champions League.

 Chapter 364: The Race for Trophies II

    Chapter 364: The Race for Trophies II

    **28th November 2020**

    The Oporto team journeyed to Ponta Delgada for a match against Santa ra in what would be their eighth match of the Liga NOS 2020/21 campaign.

    Currently, the Oporto team was not in a very good position on the league table, especially considering that they were the defending champions of the title, but it was still too early in the season to make any conjectures about the league title.

    That being said, Oporto came to the Estadio de Sao Miguel at Ponta Delgada with the intention to win and begin their ascent back to the top of the table, but the win wouldn��t just be handed to them as their opponents also had their position on the league standings to y for.

    Time passed and the match soon began.

    The two teams were out on the field in their match kits, kicking the ball around with their intentions clear in every one of their movements, but the match maintained a high tension without anyone being able to trouble the scoreboard operator.

    As the end of the first half approached, an assistant referee held up the board, informing the yers that there would be two minutes of added time.

    The Santa ra yers passed the ball around their defensive line, wanting to end the first half with an even scoreline, but the Oporto yers weren��t keen on doing that and rushed forward on a heavy press and finally, they managed to win the ball in the final third. Otavio sent the ball down the nks to Jason and Jason didn��t hesitate to send the ball into the center at Marega who flew at the ball with his head.

    The ball bounced off his head, but the keeper was equal to it and lunged at the ball, punching the ball just enough to deflect it from the face of the goal, but he hadn��t done enough and the ball bounced off the bar and back into y arriving at the foot of Luis Diaz.

    Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Diaz drove the ball home and sent the flying, putting his team in the lead.

    {They��ve done it!}

    {Just before halftime, they take the lead!} Thementator shouted as the Oporto team celebrated their goal.

    After a quick celebration, the match resumed, but not long after, the halftime whistle went off loudly and the yers walked off the field for the break.

    Fifteen minutester, the yers were back on the field to continue the match.

    The second half kicked off and once again, twenty-two yers, one ball, and one referee constantly moved around on the field, each having different intentions.

    Despite it not being their home ground, Oporto yed like they owned the ce and they turned up the heat on their opponents, but time and time again, they were repelled.

    #68th minute��

    Jason unleashed a daring run from midfield, weaving his way between two Santa ra yers on the right nk before cutting in and taking a thunderous shot at goal.

    {He shoots!!!}

    {Saved!}

    {A potential goal-of-the-season contender! If only!} Thementator shouted excitedly, giving Jason des for his efforts, but his words didn��t make Jason feel any better about missing such a chance.

    For the rest of the match, Oporto was firmly in control and though Santa ra rebelled a few times, they weren��t able to do enough and the match ended with a score of Santa ra 0 : 1 Oporto.

    Despite Oporto only winning with a narrow one-goal lead, they still got all their three points and climbed to the fifth position on the league table.

    The Oporto yers left the field with a reward for their collective efforts, but personally, quite a few of the yers were unsatisfied with the score count of the game, Jason included.

    With the efforts they had put in, the game scoreline should have been outrageous, but somehow the defensive efforts of their opponents kept the number of goals conceded to just one.

    Unfortunately, the match was already over and they could only rue their missed chances at goal and hope to do more in theing match.

    ***1st December 2020***

    It was the first evening of thest month of the year and Oporto was hosting Manchester Blue at the Dragon Stadium for the fifth match in the group stage.

    Both Oporto and Manchester Blue had qualified in the group stage and the results from this match would at best be a deciding factor in who would end up in the top position of the group.

    Oporto had lost to Manchester Blue previously and this was their chance to one back at their opponents�� If they wished for such a revenge.

    The match soon kicked off and the ball began to fly across the field as both teams tried to score, but barely a quarter of an hour into the game, it became clear that Oporto was the side with more desperation to win than the Manchester Blue side.

    The Manchester Blue side seemed to put more effort into the defensive side of their game than their attacking side, but this didn��t mean that the Oporto side got more time because of that.

    Quite the contrary in fact, Manchester Blue��s way of defending was by hogging the ball all to themselves and, but not doing much with it and just contenting themselves with the asional attack.

    The Oporto side had to do a lot of ball chasing and whenever they had the ball, they immediatelyunched an attack that either ended with a wasted opportunity, either by shooting terribly or by losing the ball before they could even reach the Manchester Blue goalkeeper.

    The first half of the game yed out in this manner and by the time the referee��s whistle went off to end the first half, the scoreboard remained as it was when the game started.

    The two teams walked off the field, huffing as they walked into the tunnel and headed to their locker rooms.

    The two managers immediately got to work reminding the yers of their respective game ns while also making the necessary adjustments to the game n, lineup, and formation.

 Chapter 365: The Race for Trophies III

    Chapter 365: The Race for Trophies III

    The second half of the game kicked off with Manchester Blue resuming the game.

    The second half didn��t take long to heat up and soon the ball was flying rapidly all over the pitch as both teams looked to score a goal and break the deadlock.

    The Manchester Blue team were now making more use of their ball possession to attack the Oporto team and were constantly trying to score while the Oporto team did the same.

    #74thminute..

    Porto had gotten a corner after a failed attack and Otavio was the one who stood over the corner kick instead of Jason who normally took the corner kick.

    Instead of taking the corner kick, Jason was standing a few yards outside the box, waiting to enact a set-piece routine they had been practicing in trainingtely.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    At the referee��s whistle, Otavio ran at the ball and swung a grounded cross into the penalty box while Jason burst into the penalty box to meet the iing ball. Due to the spontaneity of the tactic, Jason managed to easily escape the yer marking him and hit the ball first time, sending it at Manchester Blue��s goal with impressive pace and power.

    Ederson dived for the ball but missed and the ball mmed into the back of the.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Porto!}

    {They break the deadlock!}

    {It��s been a long and frustrating game for them, but now they��ve got a goal, and what a time to put one past the goalkeeper!}

    {Impressive movement, clever set-up y, and they were rewarded with a goal!}

    {Where do we go from here?} Thementator did not hesitate to jump on the microphone, doing his job with such enthusiasm that the Oporto fans could feel shivers of excitement going through their bodies as they watched their team take the lead.

    #86thminute��

    After Oporto opened up the game with their goal, Manchester Blue had be more dangerous on the ball as they desperately looked for an equalizer.

    Pressure mounted on the Oporto team as they did all in their power to stop their opponents, but despite their efforts, the ball kept moving, being exchanged between the Manchester Blue yers until Bernando Silva was found on the right side of the Oporto penalty box.

    On receiving the ball, he danced circles around two Oporto defenders before curling the ball beautifully past Marchesin, equalizing the game just barely ten minutes after his team had gone behind.

    {GOAL!!!} thementator erupted.

    {They��ve gone and done it!}

    {Minutes after going behind they��ve scored an equalizer, putting an end to Oporto��s dreams of climbing to the top of the table!}

    Thementatormented excitedly without remorse for the Oporto yers or fans who were feeling like sh*t at that moment as they watched the Manchester Blue yers celebrate their goal.

    The Oporto fans couldn��t even be bothered to me their yers as they had watched the goal happen step by step.

    The Manchester Blue team hade crashing down on the Oporto team��s defense like a force of nature and the Oporto defenders had been swept away without any suspense.

    Less than half a minuteter, the game kicked off again and things got fric as the two teams desperately looked for a goal and the ball was being sent flying at both ends of the field, but the two teams did enough to hold out against each other and less than ten minutes after the equalizing goal, the referee��s whistle sounded for the final time that night.

    The match ended with a scoreline of Oporto 1 : 1 Manchester Blue.

    Neither team was satisfied with a draw, but there weren��t many demerits to the situation and things remained as they were before the match was yed.

    ***5thDecember 2020***

    It was matchday 9 in the Portuguese Primera Liga(PPL) and Oporto would be hosting Tond for a match that promised excitement to the yers and the fans.

    The pre-match formalities didn��t take long and the match soon began.

    The match got off to a quick start when Jason made an incisive run from the right wing, cutting through two yers before making a pass to Zaidiu Sanusi who was at the edge of the 18-yard box.

    On receiving the pass, Sanusi drove home the ball from long range and sent the bulging, sending Oporto into the lead just four minutes after the game began.

    Celebrations immediately ensued in the Oporto camp and the yers excitedly celebrated their goal for a little while before heading back to their half of the field to continue the game.

    Sixteen minutester, the Tond striker, Gonzalez, got on the dangerous end of a beautiful cross and sent the ball flying into the back of the Oporto goal with a carefully aimed header, equalizing the game for Tond.

    This time, it was the Tond camp that burst out in celebration while the Oporto yers could only shake their heads wryly while watching their opponents jubting.

    As usual, the celebrations didn��t take much time and the game soon resumed, allowing the yers to get back to tearing at each other, trying to decide who would ultimatelye out on top.

    #33rdminute��

    Tond��s attacking midfielder Barbosa, received a pass from Pedro Augusto and he immediatelyid it off to the team��s striker Gonzalez, but Gonzalez soon sent the ball back his way after realizing that he would be unable to get a shot away.

    With the balling his way, Barbosa didn��t hesitate to shoot, and he did so powerfully.

    He put his foot to the ball with as much power as he could muster and Marchesin wasn��t able to keep up as the ball mmed past him and sent his flying for the second time in the game.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {They��vedone it! They��vee back from behind and have taken the lead!}

    {In a match like this and against opposition like this, they deserve a reward for their efforts and if they can hold on to their lead till the final whistle, they��ll get to take all three points from this game!}

 Chapter 366: The Race for Trophies IV

    Chapter 366: The Race for Trophies IV

    #36thminute��

    On going behind, Oporto had immediately burst out on the attack after resuming the game with a kickoff and the ball soon found Jason on the right wing.

    Jason immediately tried running into Tond��s 18-yard box, but the yer in his path was proving to be an annoyance so Jason changed his n.

    Doing a couple of stepovers and then cutting right to create some space, Jason sent a mid-chest level cross into the Tond penalty area and Marega flew at the ball.

    {Diving header!!!}

    {Goal!!!}

    {Oporto!!!}

    {Just three minutes after going behind and they are level again!} {They��re making their intent clear!}

    {They will not be going down easily!} thementator shouted excitedly as Marega ran over to the sidelines to celebrate with the team, hugging Jason first before the rest of the team came to join in the celebrations.

    #48th minute��

    The first half had ended with the scores at 2 : 2 and the two teams had gone to their locker rooms for a rest and revision of their respective game ns.

    In this manner, the halftime break had easily passed and the teams were back on the field and ying for victory once again.

    Having switched their sides, the two teams sent the balls flying at their opponent��s goal with as much vigor as they could muster, and soon a chance opened up for Oporto who hadunched a counter-attack after a failed attack of their opponents.

    Marega had made a pass to Jason before running past him into the open space behind the defense line.

    On receiving the ball, Jason turned around and with the ball, watching Marega��s run and sending a lobbed pass over the Tond defense line at the perfect moment.

    Marega made it past the defense line, got on the end of the ball, and sent it flying past the Tond goalkeeper with a thunderous shot.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {3 : 2!!! Porto take the lead, and what a way to do it!}

    {Three minutes into the second half and Porto make it three!} thementator shouted unreservedly into the microphone as the Oporto camp exploded in celebration.

    #74thminute��

    The Tond team had gotten a corner kick after Marchesin pulled off a magnificent save to block a powerful effort from Barbosa just a few moments prior.

    *Fweeeeeeeeee*

    On hearing the referee��s whistle, the ball was sent flying into Oporto��s penalty box and the yers of the two teams jumped for the ball, but a Tond yer managed to beat everyone in the air and reached the ball first, getting his head to it and directing it downward towards Oporto��s goal.

    Marchesin followed the ball with his eyes and his body reacted appropriately as he made a dive and just barely managed to block the ball with his palm before crashing into the ground, but before he could rejoice that he had managed to block the shot, Tond��s striker, Gonzalez appeared behind the ball,pletely unmarked, and mmed his foot against it from behind and sent the ball back into the.

    Without a doubt, the was sent bulging.

    {Oh my! What a topsy-turvy game we have here!?}

    {Tond equalizes yet again!}

    {Oporto must be frustrated by the tenacity of their opponents!}

    {They just will not stay down!}

    {Will we see a winner in this game?} Thementator disyed his impartiality in his unreservedmentary that rang into the airs of the viewers while the Tond yers celebrated their goal.

    #79thminute��

    After Tond had drawn level yet again, Oporto��s fury had been aroused and they had immediatelyunched attack after attack right after kicking off to resume the game, and they were at it again.

    Jason received the ball at the edge of the box from Manafa and his marker immediately lunged at him, but Jason just pulled the ball back about half a yard before kicking the ball forward, sending the ball between the legs of the yer lunging at him.

    The ball rolled in between the legs of the yer and into the path of Evanilson who had begun making a run as soon as Jason got the ball.

    As he got to the end of the pass, he smoothly chipped the ball over the outstretched leg of the goalkeeper who hade rushing at him.

    The ball had flown past the goalkeeper��s eyes in almost slow motion beforending and rolling into the back of the.

    {GOA!!!}

    {It��s been five minutes! Just five minutes since Tond equalized and Porto are once again putting their tenacity to the test!}

    {It��s almost like they want to see how far their opponent��s tenacity can carry them!}

    {What confidence! What presence! What ability!}

    Thementator��s efforts to hype up the game at this point weren��t even needed as the fans were already heads over heels after watching seven goals go in.

    The Oporto fans were celebrating and the Neutrals were enjoying the game, but the Tond fans were once again thrown into displeasure and disappointment, they still had hopes that their team could still somehow make it back.

    Unfortunately, it was not to be any the scoreline remained at Oporto 4 : 3 Tond till the final whistle despite the efforts of the two teams to further the scoreline

    Jason ended up with the Man-of-the-Match award after his impressive performance in the game, with the focal point being that he had provided the assists to all of Porto��s goals in the game.

    The manager, however, hadn��t been too happy with the results as despite their win it was not a good time for him as the manager.

    While the match had been exciting for the fans and the viewers, that didn��t hold for the manager and he would rather see his team win with afortable 2 to nil scoreline than watch a game where there were eleven goals and his yers only managed to get one over their opponents.

    It signified that the defenders weren��t at the top of their game and that could cost them in future matches, so while the yers celebrated their win, he was already making ns for their next training session.

 Chapter 367: The Race for Trophies V

    Chapter 367: The Race for Trophies V

    Next on the road for Oporto was theirst group stage match in the Champions League against Olympiaco and the Oporto team had arrived at Piraeu, Greece for the match.

    At 8 pm, a referee��s whistle blew loudly at the Karaiskakis Leno Stadium, and the game kicked off.

    For the Oporto team who had pretty much qualified for the knockout rounds, there wasn��t much desperation in their movements, but the Olympiaco team which waspeting with the Marseille team for a ce in the Europa League didn��t share that sentiment and started attacking like their life depended on it.

    However, their aggressive style of y soon came back to haunt them when an Olympiaco defender roughly tackled Otavio in the penalty box and cost his team a penalty.

    A minuteter, Otavio drove home the penalty kick and took the lead for Oporto in just the 10th minute of the game.

    The match continued after about a minute of celebration, and the Olympiaco team which had originally been desperate began ying with even more intensity as they strove to get something from this game that would help push them to the Europa League.

    The match went on without much excitement apart from the asional shot at goal on both ends, but the scoreboard wasn��t troubled until the 77th minute of the game when Luis Diaz found Uribe in the penalty box with amazing precision.

    Uribe did his best to hold off his marker and drove his feet at the ball, sending it flying at goal and out of the reach of the opposition goalkeeper. The ball mmed into the back of the and Uribe took off jubting at scoring the second goal for the team.

    The whole team joined the celebrations and even on the bench, smiles appeared on the yers�� faces, and high fives were passed all around.

    Jason was among the bench yers and he hadn��t been put into the starting lineup by the manager, and with time running out, it was bing less likely that he would get any minutes on the field, but apart from a slight displeasure at being left out of the starting lineup, Jason didn��t feel anything towards the manager��s decision.

    He always wanted to be on the field, but he also knew that for his good and for the team, that was impossible, and he was slowly learning to be contented with it.

    In the end, Jason ended up watching his team coast to a 2-to-nil victory over their opponents.

    Their win didn��t do much more than rack up their goal difference, but the Olympiaco team that was now on equal points and goal difference with Marseile certainly didn��t feel the same.

    However, that was of no concern to the Oporto yers who swaggered off the field after their win.

    ***13th December 2020***

    Oporto were back at the Dragon Stadium for their 4th round match of the Taca de Portugal against Tond.

    It had barely been a week since they had weed this same opponent at the Dragon Stadium for the 9th match day of the Portuguese Primera Liga.

    In that match, they had managed to narrowlye out on top after an exciting match decorated with seven goals scored jointly by the two teams.

    With such a narrow loss, Tond would being into the match thinking they could gain something from the game as long as they put in more effort than in thest match, and it was the job of the Oporto yers to put an end to their delusion�� If they could.

    The match soon kicked off and it didn��t take long before thementator began screaming excitedly as Oporto had already opened up the game within just four minutes.

    Mehdi Taremi got on the end of a beautiful cross into the box, controlling it with his chest before driving it goalward, sending the ball flying into the back of the.

    The Tond goalkeeper jumped for the ball, but there was little he could do to stop the ball from going in.

    The nightmare that had ended a week ago, came back with a bang for Tond and they looked on distraught as the Oporto yers celebrated their goal against them.

    The match soon continued and the Tond yers�� dogmatism red up as they rode hard at the Oporto team, looking for an equalizer.

    It didn��t take long for an opportunity to open up for them when a Tond midfielder tried taking a shot from long-range.

    The ball flew at Oporto��s goal, but Marchesin saw iting all the way and lunged for the ball, punching it off target, but before the ball could fly out of y, the Tond left winger got to it and sent a chipped pass at the Tond striker who volleyed the ball with gusto, sending a rocket of a shot past the outstretched hands of Marchesin.

    {Goal!!!}

    {Twenty minutes into the game and Tond have equalized!} Thementator shouted as the Tond team immediately took off in celebration.

    It was just twenty minutes into the game and there had already been two goals, exciting the viewers who were already getting their popcorns ready to watch another match filled with goals.

    Just like they were expecting, the was soon sent bulging once more a few minutester.

    Viera made a run in from the right nk and sent the ball over to the left nk with a lobbed pass where Luis Diaz caught up to it with incredible pace, controlling the ball before sending a pass into the center of the penalty box where Marega was arriving.

    Marega��s marker could immediately smell what the Oporto yers were cooking, but he was too far away from the ball��s path and could only try to pull Marega down from behind, but Marega shrugged off his hand violently and mmed the ball with his right foot, sending the ball into the back of the.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {It��s Oporto again!}

    {It took them four minutes from the start of the game to score first, and now, four minutes after their opponents equalized, they��ve scored again!}

    {They are making their intentions very clear!} thementator shouted into the microphone without remorse.

 Chapter 368: The Race for Trophies VI

    Chapter 368: The Race for Trophies VI

    After the second goal by Oporto in the 24thminute, the game surprisingly entered a silent state where shots were being made but the wasn��t sent bulging again.

    Like this, the first half ended and the second half began, but thirty minutes into the second half and there still wasn��t another goal in the game despite the efforts of the two teams on the pitch.

    The goalkeepers and the defenders seemed to have finally found their form and were performing at the top of their game, killing every attack that seemed to have any potential of ending in the back of the.

    Five minutes to the end of the game, Jason who had been brought on as a substitute and had been searching for a goal ever since he came on the pitch received a pass from Nanu and he immediately took off down the field.

    A Tond yer stepped into his path, but Jason calmly stepped forward, nutmegged the yer, and stepped past him, continuing his run down the left nk before sending a lobbed through-pass over to the right wing where Viera was making a run.

    Viera jumped into the air to catch the ball on his chest, bringing it under control before continuing his run down the right with the ball while the other Oporto yers immediately began positioning themselves for a final pass.

    Viera didn��t disappoint and soon sent a chest-level cross that Oliveira jumped at in a dive and caught it off his head, sending it at the goal, but the Tond goalkeeper immediately made a dive, barely getting his hand to the ball, but doing enough to stop the ball from going in.

    The ball flew towards the left and looked like it would fly just a few yards past Jason and Jason immediately lunged forward at the ball, catching it off his leg and sending it back at the goal, but the goalkeeper seemed to have gone into superhuman mode as once again he was there to block the shot with a sweeping hand motion. Yet, even after a double save, the ball wasn��t out of y and Mylo appeared behind the ball, hitting it a third time.

    {This time to settle the game!?} thementator shouted as he watched Mylo hit theball.

    The goalkeeper once again jumped into the path of the ball and the ball mmed off his chest and flew upward, clipping the crossbar and finally flying out of y.

    {OHH!!!!}

    {How did that not go in!?}

    {Superhuman goalkeeping!}

    {Not once! Not twice! But three! That was a magnificent triple save!}

    {He��s kept his team��s hope alive!} thementator shouted unreservedly while the Tond yers hailed their goalkeeper with passion while the Oporto yers just stared on like they couldn��t believe their eyes.

    A corner kick was taken and the match continued, but the scoreline remained the same till the final whistle and the match ended with a scoreline atPorto 2 : 1 Tond.

    ***

    As Jason prepared for the next game which was a quarter-final match against Pacos de Ferreira in the Taca da Liga, he was also paying attention to his newest investment.

    He often had online meetings with Dr. Maya SIngh about thepany as for some reason Maya Singh always wanted to keep him updated about the progress of thepany.

    In her words, it was now half hispany and it was also his idea to change thepany name andunch a new brand, so he had to be involved.

    So far, they had decided on the new name of thepany and had started working on a few other things concerning the new product��sunch.

    After quite a bit of consideration, the new name for thepany had been decided to be ��Rosember�� which was abination of the words ��Rose�� and ��Ember��.

    The words suggested a fiery, energetic approach to skincare, but to Jason and Maya, it had different meanings.

    For Maya, it represented something like an eternal ember, oring out of the ashes like a phoenix�� or something like that, while for Jason, it featured the word ��Rose�� which for some reason just wouldn��t go away.

    Originally, there had been other names up for consideration like ��Luminara��, ��Dermavera��, ��Lyraxi��, and some others, but Jason had been a bit apprehensive of those names as they sounded a bit too feminine for apany that was targeting a general market.

    Maya had presented a good argument concerning the names of the brand by asking Jason about what brand of skincare products he used, but Jason had no answer for her because he didn��t remember.

    He was naturally blessed with good skin and he only ever used lotion as a skin lubricant to avoid any skin issues so he didn��t care about whatever brand he used and usually just picked anyone on the shelf, but this proved Maya��s argument that most men didn��t care about the name of the brand of skin care products they used.

    They mostly just took whatever was avable unless they had a very specific target when going to the market.

    However, there was no need for an argument when they finally selected the name ��Rosember�� which Jason quite liked.

    It gave a sharp feeling and felt like something that would be easily rememberable.

    It also felt like something that would be easier to endorse when considering who he was.

    Apart from deciding the new name, thepany had already begun nning for production and was already in the preparatory phase of the productunch.

    The first product to beunched was a lotion and thepany was already acquiring ingredients for mass production while also working on the designs of the packaging of the product.

    The productunch had been scheduled for the beginning of the following year, and Jason would have to head over to America for the promotion aspect during Christmas break.

    He would have to do promotional shoots for the product so he was already swamped with work before the Christmas break even arrived.

    Once the promotional videos were shot, that was when everything would start.

    Thepany would begin promotion while doing production in preparation for the productunch.

    The product was to beunched in three countries as a start which were the USA, Portugal, and Nigeria while there would be an online store as well that would partner with a deliverypany so that the product could be ordered from all over the globe.

    Maya nned to milk all of Jason��s fanbase.

 Chapter 369: The Race for Trophies VII

    Chapter 369: The Race for Trophies VII

    ***16th December 2020***

    {It��s the first game of the Taca da Liga and Oporto wees Pacos de Ferreira at the Dragon Stadium here in Porto}

    {Oporto have had a good run of formtely, having gone nine games undefeated and among those nine games, they had only one draw against Manchester City in the Champions League}

    {Pacos de Ferreira have a lot to do if they��re going to make sure they don��t be another number in Porto��s undefeated streak!}

    {We��ll see how it goes} Thementator gave opening remarks as the yers of both teams walked out of the tunnels and onto the field.

    A few minutes of pre-match formalitiester, the match began at the sound of the referee��s whistle.

    Oporto was the one that kicked off the game and true to their status as the stronger team, they didn��t hesitate in going on the attack.

    They yed boldly and confidently, passing the ball around and constantly sending yers into dangerous areas as they looked for the goal that would give them the lead, but the opposition team did not hesitate to prove that despite being the underdogs, they wouldn��t just roll over and let the dragons trample on them. The match soon became heated with the ball flying in the direction of the goal at both ends of the field, but it soon became clear that Oporto did more attacking than defending, yet despite this, the scoreboard operator remained untroubled all through the first half.

    At the referee��s whistle, the yers walked off the field, already feeling the heat of the cup match.

    In the locker rooms, the managers of the two teams began taking their yers through the game n again while also pointing out their mistakes on the field and giving them revised instructions.

    Some changes to the line-ups were also made and by the time the two teams wereing out of the tunnel for the second half of the game, Jason was joining the team as well.

    He had been sitting on the bench in the first half of the game, but the manager had substituted him on for Diaz during the break.

    The second half began and football resumed to its peak.

    It did not take long for the Oporto team to once again take the reins of the game and begin oppressing their opponents as they searched for a goal that would help them take the lead but despite their efforts, another twenty-five minutes went by and they had nothing to show for it.

    For once, even Jason was unable to create the spark that would bring his team to life, and to any professional eye, it was clear that for some reason he was off his game a bit.

    He had already been caught offside three times since he came on which for Jason who had an uncanny timing ability, was a lot.

    And not only that, he had lost the ball half the times he tried to dribble past his opponent which didn��t normally happen either.

    Thirdly, he had been poor in front of goal and had wasted two chances that he would normally find a way to get past the goalkeeper.

    Despite that however, he was still doing reasonably well and hadn��t caused any defensive problems for the team and the team was getting closer to their first goal with his help up front.

    #73rd minute��

    Oporto had a corner kick that Jason swung into the penalty box with as much precision as he could manage and Ivan Marcano rose to meet it and send it goalward but the opposition goalkeeper had been alert and was there to block the header.

    The Pacos de Ferreira yers immediately chased after the ball to clear it, but Sarr was there first and sent the ball flying at the goal.

    The goalkeeper wasn��t able to react in time and the ball smashed into the back of the, giving Oporto the lead in this hard-contested game.

    {GOAL!}

    {It camete, but they��ve finally taken the lead in this game!} Thementator��s excited voice filled the stadium as the Oporto yers took off in jubtion.

    #80th minute��

    Oporto was on the attack and Otavio sent a through pass behind the back line into Jason��s path.

    Running in from the left wing, Jason pushed hard against his marker to keep him at bay as he raced for the ball.

    He managed to get the first touch on the ball and continue his run with the ball into the penalty box, but his marker just wouldn��t go away.

    The guy kept pushing against Jason, contesting for the ball and Jason just barely managed to reach the penalty box before he gave up on running any further and took a shot at the goal.

    As the ball left his feet, the Pacos de Ferreira goalkeeper got ready to leap and he managed to reach the ball in time with a spectacr save, deflecting the ball ever so slightly so that it flew off target and smashed against the right post instead of the back of the, but before the goalkeeper could recover and scoop up the ball, Viera appeared behind the ball and smoothly tapped it into the back of the.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {What a time to take a two-goal lead!}

    {They��re running away with it!}

    The Oporto camp once again burst into celebrations as it became apparent that they would end up on top after the final whistle was blown about ten minutester.

    The celebrations as usual didn��t take much time and the match soon continued, but not long after the shrill st of the whistle that put an end to the game sounded loudly in the stadium.

    {It is over!}

    {Oporto advance to the semi-finals of the Taca da Liga!}

    {It was a hard-fought match, but they didn��t let up halfway through and they did enough to win it!}

    {Oporto fans must be feeling ecstatic to be moving closer to some silverware this early in the season and they will keep their hopes up in otherpetitions as well}

    {It��s Porto��s tenth match undefeated in allpetitions so far and it looks like they can keep this run going on for much longer!}

 Chapter 370: The Race for Trophies VIII

    Chapter 370: The Race for Trophies VIII

    Jason walked off the field with his teammates, a smile on his face, but his eyes weren��t smiling the same way as he was instead, he was deep in thought as he walked past the others and headed to the locker room first.

    Luckily he did not meet any annoying reporters and the ones he met were calmly dismissed with a smile and a few words as they were more interested in talking to his teammates who scored instead of him.

    All in all, it worked out for him who didn��t want to be pestered much at that moment.

    He reached the locker room not long after and picked up a towel that he started using to wipe off his sweat while he sat on the ground in front of his locker.

    The other Oporto yers entered the locker room not long after but after exchanging a few words with Jason they went on to do their own things.

    The locker room soon filled up with the other yers who were allughing, chatting, and reminiscing on memorable parts of the game, but Jason stayed where he was, not participating because he was still too deep in thought to care about that part.

    ��Tough game, huh?�� Viera asked as he sat beside Jason.

    ��Kinda, I��m not too bothered by it,�� Jason replied honestly as he nced at Viera. ��Are you okay?�� Viera asked as Jason was a bit too non-verbal which was strange even for Jason who wasn��t someone who spoke a lot.

    ���� Yeah, I��m just thinking about some stuff,�� Jason intoned again,ying his head against his locker.

    ��Something I can help with?�� Viera continued asking, not willing to leave Jason be if he had any problems. That wasn��t something a good friend would do.

    ��Yeah�� No,�� Jason halfughed.

    ��Sounds like female problems, which unfortunately isn��t my area of expertise,�� Viera said in a light-hearted tone as he stood up from beside Jason.

    ��But if there��s one thing I know about problems, it��s that you have to face it,��

    ��Only then can you know whether you should solve it or run from it,�� he continued as he dapped Jason and walked away.

    Jason stared at Viera��s back as he walked away and he stood up as well and began changing out of his jersey.

    His showing in the match wasn��t dismal by any means and it wasn��t something he was worried about as he couldn��t be the most influential yer in every game.

    That was abnormal for apletely normal human being.

    What Jason was worried about was his mental state which was causing his distraction and was what was interfering with his focus during the match.

    Ever since he had gone to his cousin��s wedding, he had had a few thoughts on his mind concerning his rtionship with Sophia which was just another one to pile to the list of thoughts.

    However, this particr thought wasn��t going away and after his lip-to-lip coincidence with Adele, there had been an addition of another crowd of thoughts to his mind.

    So far, he had been pushing off all thoughts concerning his social life off the pitch, but he couldn��t push it off forever and everything was now surfacing one by one and refusing to go away.

    His kiss with Adele was like a trigger for a dam to burst and even now he was beginning to feel something towards her�� something simr to what he had for Sofia, which made no sense.

    It was like some romance series where there were multiple heroines fighting for the main character�� only in his case, they weren��t fighting for him physically but were battling against him in tandem inside of his head.

    He could not have mental battles against himself and some women while also having to keep his focus on his profession.

    Football was something that required focus and concentration and his current mental state was robbing him of those things.

    If he let things stay like this, then it would only get worse for him, but unfortunately, he had no choice but to wait�� again�� and this time, it wasn��t because he was indecisive.

    He had nned to confront Sofia with his emotions and make things clear so that he could know where he was going with this whole roller emotional schlongenesis.

    Unfortunately, Sofia was currently having exams at her university and the exams would go on till the the 23rd of this month which was a day before Christmas Eve.

    Jason wasn��t very emotionally intelligent, but even he knew that he couldn��t bring up such a huge decision when she was battling with medicine school exams.

    That was like begging for her to fail.

    Hence he had put off the matter once again till then, but due to his schedule for the Christmas Break, he wouldn��t even be avable at that time because he would be in the USA for his promotional events for Rosember.

    Yet, the discussion with Sofia wasn��t something that he wanted to have offline��

    ��Arghhhhh�� Why the fu*k is this sh*t soplicated!�� annoyance red internally as he was thinking.

    ��Anyway, the n is to get back early from the USA and then talk to her,�� he monologued as he halfheartedly listened to the manager��s words.

    Jason was done with all the emotionalplications he was feeling.

    He liked Sofia, but if there was nothing genuine that would happen between them, then there wasn��t a point in him holding on to such emotions.

    He had always been a professional at killing his emotions and this time wouldn��t be different�� just a bit more difficult, but he should be able to do it.

    His second chance had given him a chance to experience a lot of things he hadn��t experienced before, but if any of those things got in the way of his goal to be the best footballer on the face of the, then that bit*h was going to be kicked to the curb.

    Bing the Greatest of all Legends came first, things like emotional satisfaction didn��t evene second.

    He wasn��t here to y house.

 Chapter 371: The Race for Trophies IX

    Chapter 371: The Race for Trophies IX

    ***20thDecember 2020***

    It was matchday ten in the Primera Liga and Oporto would be hosting Nacional at the Dragon Stadium while hoping for another win to continue their rise up the table.

    After their shaky start at the beginning of the season, they seemed to finally be back on track, but the teams that were currently above them on the table were also snatching up all the points avable so it was proving difficult for Oporto to rise up the standings.

    However, everyone knew that whoever stayed consistent for long enough was the one who would end up on top so there was nothing Oporto could do but to stay consistent in their good results and hopefully, the teams above would slip up and drop some points which would provide the opportunity for them to be overtaken.

    The match between Oporto and Nacional soon kicked off and it did not take long before the match heated up.

    Both teams wanted to take all three points up for contention and they did not hesitate to start contending for it.

    Barely the first minute of the game, Jason had received the ball and had tried to make a run down the right nk, but his marker had roughly swept him off his feet before he could go anywhere.

    The referee quickly ran over and did not hesitate to show the guilty yer a yellow card even though it was still the game��s first minute. A freekick had been given to Oporto and the game continued, but just another ten minutester, the Nacional striker had made a rough tackle on Manafa as he tried to snatch the ball from him and he had received a yellow card from the referee for his efforts.

    That was Nacional��s second yellow card since the game began, but they hadn��t learned their lesson and another ten minutester, a Nacional defender fouled Oliveira inside their penalty box.

    The defender had been trying to block Oliveira from getting a shot away after he had received a pass from Jason, but he had been too impatient and had ended up doing too much and pushing Oliveira down roughly.

    The referee immediately came running over and a penalty was awarded to Oporto which Oliveira quickly took and without any suspense, put it past the goalkeeper.

    That was Oporto��s first goal in the game and their fans were ecstatic as they saw their team once again begin taking steps toward another victory in the league campaign.

    Hopes that Oporto could make it back to the top of the table were at an all-time high among the Oporto fans and the fans kept watching eagerly as the match kicked off again after the goal.

    The Oporto fans�� enthusiasm and belief in their was rewarded with another goal in the 39th minute.

    The Oporto yers had been passing the ball around cleverly among themselves as they drew nearer to the Nacional goal and they had been applying heavy pressure on the Nacional yers who chased after the ball relentlessly.

    The ball moved from Jason on the left to Oliveira in the center and on receiving the ball, the vice-captain sent the ball to Uribe in the midfield who once again sent the ball back to Jason on the right nk.

    As he received the ball, Jason immediately took off on a cutting run down the nk while slowly cutting into the penalty box.

    His marker followed after him, staying at afortable distance, not wanting to get too close to Jason and not staying too far away instead as both options had consequences against a yer like Jason.

    Unfortunately for Jason��s marker, staying at afortable distance was also a bad idea as it gave Jason just enough time to think of his next move and act on it and that was exactly what he did.

    As they reached the right corner of the penalty box, Jason made a sharp turn to the left and faced his marker causing the defender to immediatelye alert and make himself rigid, but the next moment, Jason suddenly cut back to the right leaving the defender surprised and unable to react.

    Before the defender knew what was going on Jason had already moved the ball to afortable distance and sent a low cross into the penalty box.

    The ball flew into the penalty box and was moving across the face of the goal when Sergio Oliveira got his head to it and sent it at the goal.

    {He leaps!} thementator shouted as the ball flew at the goal but the Nacional goalkeeper was at the top of his game and reacted aptly jumping at the ball and getting an hand to it in a sweeping motion and throwing it back out before the ball could go in, but the goalkeeper had barely crashed to the ground after his spectacr save when the Nacional goal was sent rocking after Marega mmed the ball that hadnded in front of him into the goal.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {It��s the men from Porto again!}

    {The blue and white strike twice here at Dragon Stadium!}

    {Nacional look distraught, but it was to be expected!}

    {When youe to a dragon��s den to battle a dragon, you have to put up a very good performance if you have any ns toe out on top, and Nacional have been very far from a good performance so far!}

    {It��s been mistake upon mistake from the Nacional yers and they are paying for it now!} Thementator was outdoing himself with thementary despite theck of major importance in the game but the viewers were enjoying thementator��s shenanigans as they celebrated with the yers from their homes.

    The Oporto yers at the stadium did not mind thementator��s exuberance either and joyously celebrated as well while the Nacional yers just watched in frustration.

    Luckily for the Nacional yers, they did not have to bear watching the Oporto yers celebrate for much longer and the game soon continued.

    As soon as the match resumed, the Oporto yers charged at the Nacional team wanting to steal possession of the ball and build off their momentum, but the Nacional team held strong till the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half.

    With the referee��s whistle, the yers walked off the field for a much-needed break, but fifteen minutester, they were back on the field with changes in their game n and line-up.

    For the Oporto side, Mylo had been brought on for Marega, and on the Nacional team, a change had been made as well.

    The second half soon kicked off and Oporto immediately resumed from where they had stopped in the first half and they once again took the reins of the game and oppressed their opponents as they looked for their third goal of the game.

    Soon a chance opened up for Oporto as Jason received the ball on the left side of the middle parts of the field and immediately took off at Nacional��s goal, but this time he tried running down the middle instead of the right nk.

    His marker immediately chased after him, not stopping for a moment to think about why Jason was running through the middle instead of down the right nk he was in charge of, but soon it became clear why as Otavio made a run down the right nk that was nowpletely free and Jason immediately sent a through pass his way.

    The Nacional left back who was marking Jason immediately left Jason and gave chase, but he was toote as Otavio had already reached the ball and entered the Nacional penalty box with the ball.

    Otavio soon sent a pass to Mylo who smoothly swept the ball past the Nacional goalkeeper.

    {GOAL!}

    {It��s three!}

    {It��s been five minutes! Just five minutes since the second half began and they��ve gone and scored another!}

    {Surely there��s no way back for Nacional now! Surely!} thementator shouted with excitement as the Oporto team began celebrations for the third time in the game.

    The match resumed shortly after but Oporto wasn��t done with the Nacional team and this time it was Jason bringing the thunder.

    He was hungry for a goal as it had been almost four matches since hest got on the score sheet and he was raring to put one past the goalkeeper.

    As he received a pass from Otavio he cut in from the right nk, used a reverse stico to cut past his marker, and took a powerful left-footed shot at the goalkeeper but the goalkeeper did not allow the ball to get past him and reacted appropriately, blocking the shot with his body.

    Unfortunately for the goalkeeper, he wasn��t able to get the ball under control and the ball bounced off his body and began flying back in Jason��s direction.

    Despite being stunned at not scoring the first time, Jason did not cease his movements and advanced at the ball, ready to send it into the goal with a second hit but before he could reach the ball, Mylo jumped into his path and hit the ball first sending a powerful carpet shot under the goalkeeper and into the back of the.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Over the hills and far away! No catching them now!}

    {They are rampant!} thementator shouted with fervor as the Oporto team began celebrations yet again, not caring for their distraught opponents.

    Mylo ran past Jason down the sidelines and jumped into a knee-slide, disying his happiness at scoring while Jason could only watch him from behind with a wry smile while he ran his hand through his hair.

 Chapter 372: The Race for Trophies X

    Chapter 372: The Race for Trophies X

    The Oporto yers began heading back to their half of the field after celebrating their goal and Jason instantly began calcting how he was going to score a goal since his previous attempt had been stolen by Mylo.

    The game soon resumed and the time slowly passed as the two teams yed attacking football and tried to find another goal to light up the game.

    #85thminute��

    Time was slowly running out in the game, and it was already almost guaranteed that Oporto would win the game with them being so much in the driver��s seat, but they were still constantly striving to add to their tally.

    Jason was especially putting a lot of pressure on the opposition defense as he ran at them whenever he got the ball and he almost always got through every time, but so far, they had just barely managed to hold on.

    However, they couldn��t keep this up for long as Jason finally found the opportunity he was looking for while making a run down the right nk.

    He nutmegged the first defender that came at him before making a clever body feint to the left before going right and escaping the second defender.

    Despite escaping the defender, he had changed his direction which gave the Nacional goalkeeper time to rush out at him just as he stepped into the penalty box. Seeing the goalkeepering at him, Jason waited until the goalkeeper was close enough before sending a chipped shot over him and at the goal.

    The ball flew high and seemed like it would not enter the goal, but Jason who had made the shot knew where the ball was going, and just like he expected the ball began dipping towards the top left corner of the goal, but just when the ball was about to go in, Jason saw Mylo running at the ball and lunging at it with his head.

    Just before the ball made it past the goalline, Mylo headed it and sent it into the back of the before he crashed back down to the ground as well.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {He��s made it a hat-trick!}

    {The initial chip shot looked like it wasn��t going in, but he made sure that it was and he��s got a hat-trick because of it} Thementator shouted Mylo��s praises while Mylo himself took off in jubtion, but Jason had to fight a frown from appearing on his face.

    ��This thieving bastard,�� Jason thought in annoyance as he watched Mylo doing an extravagant celebration after stealing his goal.

    This wasn��t even the first time in the match as Mylo had done the same with the goal before this.

    It was almost like he was watching and waiting to steal any goal opportunities that surfaced.

    Normally this was a good quality for a striker, but when it was Jason��s goals that were being stolen, Jason found it hard to ept it and just go with it.

    He had just barely managed to regain enough focus to y better and after squeezing himself out, someone had crashed in, pushed him aside, and stolen the reward for all his efforts.

    Jason didn��t even feel like joining the other guys in celebration and just began heading back to their half of the field, shaking his head tiredly, but before he even reached the other half of the field, he saw the assistant referee holding up the board with his number ring at him in red.

    ������ even in his mind, he had nothing to say and just began walking off the field, dapping Corona as he stepped off the field.

    The manager patted him on the back as he walked by and headed for the bench.

    Jason dapped the other guys on the bench as he sat down nodding at theirments, but not saying a word.

    He silently watched the game till the referee blew the final whistle.

    Jason nced at the final scores on the scoreboard as he stood up from the bench.

    *Oporto 5 : 0 Nacional*

    {The final whistle has been blown, and Oporto have won!}

    {They��ve left no room for doubt and have put out an undeniably good performance in this game which should leave their opponents in theiring game scared for the days toe!}

    {After this, Oporto will be going against Benfica for theCandido de Oliveira cup, and with the form they have disyed in this match, their fans will have a lot to look forward to with their hopes high}

    ******

    ***23rdDecember 2020***

    The Oporto team bus arrived at the Estadio Aveiro de Municipal for the long-awaited Candido de Oliveira Cup.

    The Oporto yer��s confident arrival at the stadium was fully covered by reporters who did not let a single second pass by without a shutter clicking.

    After the yers entered the stadium, they were led to their locker room where they quickly changed into training gear and headed out to the pitch for pre-match training.

    The yers did their warm-ups and began doing some light drills to warm up and prepare for the uing game.

    On the other half of the field, the Benfica yers were doing the same thing to prepare for the game.

    After about half an hour, the yers headed back to the locker room for the pre-match tactical meeting.

    ��We��ll be using our 4-4-2 formation in this match as usual and in the starting lineup are;��

    �� Augustine Marchesin as our goalkeeper as usual, Manafa and Zaidiu as our right backs and left back respectively,��

    �� Pepe and Mbemba are the two center backs, Sergio and Uribe will be in center midfield while Corona and Otavio will be on the right and left nks respectively,��

    �� For this match our two forwards will be Marega and Taremi,�� the head manager finished calling out the names in the line-up and went on to describe the adjustment to their normal ying style, giving specific instructions to each yer.

    Time slowly flowed by and soon it was time for the yers to step out onto the pitch for the match.

    The match formalities were not much different from a normal match and the only noticeable difference was the trophy ced near the entrance of the tunnel from which the yers walked out.

    ***

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The referee blew his whistle loudly to kick off the Candido de Olivera cup final between the two biggest teams in Portugal who would be battling it out for the next ny minutes for a chance at the first silverware of the season.

    The viewers did not have to wait long to get some excitement in the game as the two teams immediately began tearing at each other right from the first minute.

    It was already well known that whenever the dragons faced the eagles, one could always expect 90 minutes of spectacr attacking football, but whenever there was a trophy at stake, there was a different kind of fervor at which they went at each other and the viewers began to witness it right from the start of the game.

    #12th minute��

    Corona made an incisive run from the right wing, cutting through the Eagles�� defense like a hot knife through butter, but soon he ran up against the stubborn defending of Vertoghen and he had toy off the ball to Taremi who hit it with his first touch, sending a thunderous shot at goal.

    {Hits it first time!} Thementator shouted excitedly as the ball flew at Benfica��s goal.

    {Saved! The keeper was equal to it!} Thementator shouted as the Benfica pulled off a spectacr dive and punched the ball away.

    {In the grand scale of things, ny minutes isn��t a very long period of time, but it definitely wouldn��t be short of excitement!}

    {What a hit!}

    #19th minute��

    Benfica��s midfielder, Tarabt was having the time of his life ying around with the ball in the middle of the field and it was taking the full efforts of the Oporto yers to prevent him from taking the ball past them and causing danger, but even now, they were unable to take the ball from him as he cut through them, and finally got close enough to take a shot.

    Tarabt didn��t hesitate to take the shot, but the ball flew just wide of the post, allowing the Oporto yers to heave a sigh of relief.

    #25th minute��

    Oporto was once again on the attack and they were doing all they could to break the deadlock.

    Otavio made a cutting run inside from the left wing, pushing against his marker and twisting and turning with the ball for all he was worth, doing his best to avoid losing the ball and buy time for the strikers to free themselves.

    As Otavio gradually drew closer to the goal, his marker could no longer keep his cool and increased his efforts to stop Otavio from going any further, but to his surprise, Otavio fell to the ground after a slightly heavy push.

    That was not the end of it as the referee��s whistle immediately went off as he ran forward and pointed to the penalty spot.

 Chapter 373: Candido de Oliveira Cup

    Chapter 373: Candido de Oliveira Cup

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    {The whistle��s been blown and the referee��s running over with his hand pointing at the spot!}

    {It seems the referee is nning on letting that tackle slide and has called for a penalty}

    The Benfica yers ran over to the referee to object to the call for a penalty, but all their words only got the referee to do what he was initially going to do which was calling on the VAR for more rification.

    In the end, even the VAR agreed with the referee��s decision, and the penalty decision was given.

    It took another half a minute to prepare the yers for the penalty and soon Oliveira was standing behind the ball while staring off the Benfica goalkeeper.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    At the referee��s whistle, Oliveira ran at the ball and sent it flying to the top right corner of the goal while the goalkeeper stood rooted to the spot. {Well taken penalty!}

    {He sent a rocket into the top corner and they��ve takenthe all-important lead in this game} Thementator shouted with excitement as Oliveira took off celebrating the goal with the whole Oporto team joining in.

    The Oporto fans also joined in the celebrations as well, infected by the yers�� excited reactions to the goal.

    ***

    The match soon kicked off again and the game soon heated up.

    Having gone behind, the Benfica yers were doing all they could to get back in the game and this presented an enjoyable spectacle of beautiful attacking football from both sides as Oporto also looked to further their lead and reduce the danger of their opponents equalizing the game.

    However, despite the goal-scoring attempts they made at each other, the scoreline remained the same till the referee��s whistle blew to end the first half of the game.

    ****

    The second half began shortly after and the match continued right from where they had stopped, but even after almost twenty minutes, neither team had managed to send the ball past the goalkeeper for the second time in the game and soon the managers started making substitutions, hoping that one of the new yers could change the game��s status.

    Jason soon found himself standing on the sidelines with Mylo, preparing to be subbed onto the streets.

    {The manager is bringing on the youthful thunder to the pitch, probably hoping that their youthful exuberance could do more upfront for the team}

    {Jason will being on for Corona and Mylo will being on for Taremi}

    Jason and Mylo were soon running onto the pitch after dapping their teammates who were now headed to the bench.

    The match soon resumed and it did not take long for everyone to see that the Oporto manager had made the right decision by bringing Jason and Mylo onto the pitch as they injected new energy into the Oporto attack that was previously looking drained.

    Jason wreaked havoc on the nks, easily gliding past his markers and constantly sending crosses into the penalty box while Mylo was always moving around in the center and was always looking to get on the end of dangerous passes.

    The two of them did not give a single moment of rest to the opposition defense and soon enough the Benfica defenders startedcking behind in their movements and were unable to keep up anymore soon, Jason received the ball again, faced his marker, and did a step over before darting left, leaving the poor guy stumbling over.

    With the space he had created, Jason sent a low cross into the penalty box at Mylo.

    {Mylo is in the middle, can he find some space?}

    {He hits it!?}

    {Goal!}

    {Oporto!!! They are pulling clear here!} Thementator exuberantly described the goal to the viewers even though they were watching and could see the whole process.

    The Oporto camp immediately erupted in celebrations as the ball went past the goal line.

    At the 82ndminute of the game, going two goals up almost guaranteed them a win in the game and considering that it was a game that would end with them lifting a trophy if they won, there was no way they wouldn��t be happy at scoring an important goal like the one that had just gone in.

    The Benfica yers could only watch as the Candido de Olivera Cup seemed to disappear in their imaginations.

    Some of them still harbored a strong enough will and a belief that the game wasn��t over, but they also couldn��t deny the reality of their situation.

    If they put too much focus on attacking and trying to somehow find two goals before the final minutes, they would leave themselves open to counterattacks, and with the energetic Jason and Mylo looking for any opportunities they could find, that could prove to be their undoing.

    They couldn��t ponder for long though as soon the game had to resume.

    With nothing to lose anymore, Benfica switched to an all-out attack and tried to find something to sustain them in the game and give them hope, but it was not to be as the Oporto team responded just as strongly, defending well and pressuring them with sudden counterattacks.

    *Fweeeeeeeeee*

    Before they realized it, time had run out and the final whistle had been blown by the referee.

    The Oporto camp immediately erupted in jubtion after the final whistle.

    {It��s over! The final whistle has been blown!}

    {After a hard-contested match between the two giants of Portugal, Oporto have proven themselves to be on top, at least for the ny minutes that have just flown by!}

    {They are ecstatic about the results and will get to lift the trophy in a few minutes!}

    {Their joy is clear for all to see and the Benfica yers are not happy about it!}

    {For the next few days at least, the Benfica fans have lost their bragging rights and will beying low, especially on social media. Twixxer is especially not a good ce to be} thementator snickered after hisst sentence.

    He knew from experience that thest ce any fan would want to be after their team just lost a cup final was Twixxer.

    The banter going on would make any fan bury their heads in shame.

    While thementator was thinking about his past experiences, things were moving in the stadium as the preparations for Oporto to lift the trophy had already begun.

    Moods were high as the trophy awarding ceremony began a few minutes after and in a couple of minutes, everyone on the team had gotten their medals and were raising the Candido de Olivera Cup as they celebrated.

    After the trophy was awarded and the yers had celebrated for a bit, individual awards were given out after.

    Marchesin got the goalkeeper of the tournament award while Mylo was named the yer of the tournament.

    Jason didn��t get any individual awards even though he could be considered as the yer with the highest number of assists.

    He wasn��t happy about missing out on any individual awards, but there was not much he could do about it other than to work harder.

    However, while he himself knew that he had been off his game for a while, he hadn��t expected that the award of best yer would be given to Mylo who had literally just kicked the ball in while he had done all the work.

    If they had given someone else like Otavio who had caused the penalty for the first goal, or Oliveira who had scored the penalty, or even the team captain who had led the defense line of the team and ensured that the team ended with a clean sheet, Jason wouldn��t have minded as much, but for some reason, seeing Mylo looking all smug as he took pictures with the award irritated Jason.

    Part of it was because of what had happened in thest game where Mylo had quite literally stolen two of his goals toplete his hat trick, but Jason felt like there was another underlying reason for him feeling annoyed by Mylo.

    However, he attributed it to the things that had happened when they lived together.

    In the end, he couldn��t change what had already happened so he changed his focus and focused on the next important thing for him at the moment.

    ying better was paramount, but first, he had other things to do to ensure that his $35 million didn��t go to waste.

    As the celebrations continued to the bus, Jason was on the phone texting Adele about his schedule for the next five days.

    Adele and Maya Singh had been working together on how best they could use Jason��s publicity and they had arrived at a few conjectures.

    Due to football being a major sport in Portugal and Nigeria, there wasn��t much of a problem with Jason just directly endorsing the product, but in the USA where thepany itself was based, Jason didn��t have much traction because football wasn��t a major sport there.

    It wasn��t even called football in America.

 Chapter 374: Wild and Out I

    Chapter 374: Wild and Out I

    Due to theck of interest in football as a sport in America, Jason didn��t have much fame there.

    Of course, there were his Instagram followers in America, but they wouldn��t be anywhere near enough.

    If they chose to ignore this fact and go on with doing promotions, using Jason��s face as the attraction ingredient, it wasn��t likely for the promotion to be ineffective because Jason��s face was guaranteed to bring in quite a few female customers at the very least, but neither Jason nor Maya Singh would settle with a half baked effort.

    To counter this, there was only one way, make Jason famous in the USA�� at least a little bit.

    Jason��s face was enough to gain traction, but first, it needed to be put out there and to do this, Maya Singh and Adele had arranged an over filled schedule full of appearances on different shows for Jason.

    There were some informal ones where he worked with online celebrities and some informal ones on some entertainment shows.

    Just looking at the schedule was already exhausting Jason, especially considering that he would have to be very interactive since that would help to enhance his charm, but Jason could already feel his resolve to be interactive crumble.

    There was no way he could keep a smiling face through a schedule like this one so he would probably just do whatever he could and hope things ended out well. He was still in his thoughts about his schedule for the next few days till he drifted to sleep in the hotel room he would be spending the night at with another medal added to his collection.

    ***

    **25thDecember 2020**

    *8:27 am*

    It was Christmas morning and the atmosphere reflected it.

    Despite the great wave of corona virus that swept across the world earlier in the year, the world was already moving past it and people were out and about with smiles on their faces.

    Jason and Adele who had just stepped out of the Los Angele Airport had a hard time disying joyful expressions on their tired faces.

    They barely managed to keep their faces straight as they walked to the ck Chevrolet SUV that had been arranged for their transportation while they would be in LA.

    Jason especially didn��t say a word as he was exhausted.

    His tired was tired.

    After ying a tough match, he had barely had a few hours rest before getting on a bus to Porto and after then getting on a 17 hour flight to Los Angeles.

    Adele had met up with him at the airport and they had gotten on the ne together.

    Now that they were in LA, Jason was beginning to feel very grumpy as Adele had just told him that there wasn��t any rest period for him yet as he was to be on an entertainment show, Wild and Out.

    Jason knew about Wild and Out which was a show created and hosted by American actor,edian, and rapper, Nick Cannon.

    It was quite an interesting show and Jason had watched quite a few youtube shorts of it during his free time and he would normally have been quite happy to be on the show, but now he was too exhausted to be happy.

    ��Why are they even shooting on Christmas day? Don��t they have family or something else to do?�� he thought grumpily, but deep down he knew that this was the best way and was also the only he would be able to be on the show.

    His Christmas break wasn��t that long and he had to be back at Porto by the 27ttest if he nned to attend training and be even considered by the manager for the team��s game against Vitoria de Guimares.

    Hence he had between today and tomorrow to finish all promotion schedules before jumping on a flight by tomorrow and heading back to Portugal on another 20 hour flight which was quite stressful in it��s own.

    Thinking about it, Jason was beginning to think it would be better not to even feature in the team��s next match as he would be too exhausted and might not even be able to pass the medical tests before the game, but even then, he still wanted to y.

    ��No way around it then, I��ll just do the best I can,�� he groaned as he closed his eyes to rest for a bit.

    There wasn��t much he needed to learn about for the uing show as the show was something that was usually yed by ear.

    They had some set games, but usually, there weren��t that many preparations of lines�� or even if they were, Jason wouldn��t know as he wasn��t given a script or anything.

    He was just given a heads up of the games that would involve him and was told to prepare if he felt like it, but even if he didn��t he would just beic relief and would be an absolute looker for the female viewers.

    Before they headed to the set, they stopped by an hotel where they had booked rooms and they both went to have a bath, freshen up and change out of their clothes.

    Three-quarters of an hourter, they were back in the car looking less tired and a lot more freshened up than before, and as soon as they entered the car, the driver drove off.

    Jason didn��t know when it happened, but he slept all the way till Adele gently shook him awake, saying that they had arrived at the set.

    ��*Yawnnnn��*, oh, we��re here?�� Jason asked as he tried to rub off the remaining sleep from his eyes, but he could see clearly that he was failing.

    ��Okay let��s go,�� he muttered to Adele as he pushed open the door and stepped out of the car.

    There were some staff waiting for him and they quickly led him into the building.

    As they walked through the building, Jason saw some of the world-famous Wild and Out girls, but apart from being quite impressed by the pimping capabilities, Jason soon took his eyes off the ones he came across.

    Soon he was facing Nick who had been moving around constantly, making sure everything was ready for the shoot.

    ��We finally meet, I��ve heard a lot about you man,�� Nick said to Jason, his words polite and Jason nodded back, squeezing out a smile and grasping his hand.

    ��Thanks. I also know a lot about you, I mean I watched drumline 1 and I��ve seen you at AGT a few times, and then here, I admire your work ethics�� but I��m not gonna ask how many kids you got now,�� Jason cracked a light joke, his smile and the harmless tone in his voice making it clear that it was just yful banter.

    As someone who had been roasted by his friends too many times to count, Nick justughed off Jason��s words and replied.

    ��Hey, God said be fruitful and multiply. I��m just doing what he said,�� Nick said while shing his teeth, making his ostentatious clothes shine even more after he added his shiny smile to his look.

    ��This already feels like it��ll be fun,�� Jason said honestly, already enjoying talking with Nick.

    ��It must be a thing with people who��ve spent their lives making peopleugh, you just can��t hate them�� well, unless they��re an ass�� which funnily speaking, I��ve never heard of aedian who was an asshole in real life���� Jason had been thinking about one thing when another sudden thought appeared in his head and wanted to take control of the direction of his thinking.

    He quickly shook the thought clear and put it aside for a matter to think about and research intoter as it had made him a bit curious.

    ��And this is?�� Nick��s eyes finally fell on Adele who was standing half behind Jason.

    Nick��s eyes immediately gleamed with admiration as Adele stepped forward and held her hand out for a handshake.

    ��I��m Adele, his agent, we��ve spoken on the phone,�� Adele said, a beautiful smile appearing on her face and making her appear more beautiful.

    ��*Cough* *Ahem*�� Jason��s sharp cough and clearing of throat immediately awakened Nick and stopped his mind from progressing any further past admiration of beauty.

    Nick nced at Jason and saw the ��this one��s mine�� nce that Jason was giving him and he immediately took his hands off and backed away in his mind, though he could not deny that he did feel a bit of regret by doing so, but he consoled himself by admitting to himself that Jason could probably beat him in the ��picking up girls�� department with his looks alone so he had already lost if it was apetition between both of them.

    ��Come, I��ll take you to meet the others,�� Nick called out to Jason and started walking.

    Nick took Jason to a lounge like room of sorts where the cast of the show were just sitting around and talking, already prepared for the show that would be starting in less than an hour.

 Chapter 375: Wild and Out II

    Chapter 375: Wild and Out II

    In the room, Jason could see people he recognized from the show like DeeCee Youngfly, Hitman Holler, Ee-man, Carlous Miller, Chicoe Bean, Justina, Conceited, B.Cimone and some others.

    Nick quickly introduced Jason to the cast who Jason would be on the stage with and he quickly gave Jason a rundown of what would happen on the show.

    The format would be like what Jason had seen on the YouTube shorts, they would be split into teams and then wouldpete against each other in different games and whoever won each game would be decided either by points or by the spectators.

    After a basic rundown, Nick headed out and Adele left as well as she didn��t need to be there so Jason was left with the cast members.

    ��So you y ser, huh?�� Ee-man asked Jasonin a friendly voice, trying to build up some rapport before they went on to the stage.

    ��Yes, I y football,�� Jason replied.

    ��Isn��t football like a different sport?�� Ee-man asked with a raised eyebrow.

    ��American football is probably what you mean, but i don��t get why you guys call it that when you spend most of the game physically assaulting each other and spend less than 1% of actual game time actually kicking the ball,�� Jason replied, finally voicing out his discontention with the way Americans referred to football. ���� The kid��s got a point,�� DeeCee saidughingly from the chair he was lying on.

    ��Why do they call it American football though? It can��t just be to spite the actual football right?�� Hitman asked with a thoughtful expression.

    ��Knowing Uncle Sam, that��s probably the reason, they��re petty as hell up here,�� Carlousughed to himself as he said and his words immediately had the othersughing because they knew how things went in their country.

    ��Are those contact lenses?�� Justina asked a question Jason had answered to so many times that he immediately said on instinct.

    ��No, they��re not,�� he said as his pupils stared in her direction.

    ��What��s wrong Justina? You ain��t ever seen a brother with them blondie eyes before?�� Chicoe Bean asked, his tone jovial.

    ��No, I��ve never seen anything like that, it��s kinda rare,�� Justina responded.

    ��Ain��t nothing rarer than your voice that��s thicker than a Chevy,�� Ee-man immediately responded, not missing the opportunity to take a dig at Justina, and the room soon filled withughter.

    ��Yeah, my voice is as thick as I am,�� Justina didn��t even bother arguing and just tried to turn the situation in her favor.

    ��Thick my a**, God definitely took all your thickness and put it in your voice instead of you��re a**, you��re about as t as an ironing board,�� Conceitedughed, taking a dig at Justina as well.

    ��Is she though?�� Jason who had found himself dropped right into the famous bickering Wild and Out cast could not help giving Justina a once over.

    Her red hair was definitely dyed, but she was, by all rights, definitely not ugly and she actually looked quite beautiful and she was definitely not as t as an ironing board like Conceited had imed.

    She might not make it to low level on the African men��s thickness meter, but for a white woman, she was definitely not t�� Jason could tell from sight and experience.

    This was just a situation of a group of friends never admitting that the other party was actually a nice piece of a**.

    ��Here��s your hoodie,�� B.Cimone who had stepped out for a bit came to Jason and handed him a white hoodie with the words ��Wild and Out in pink.

    ��Thanks, beautiful,�� Jason said, shing her a smile as he took the hoodie from her.

    ��Beautiful? You gonna make me blush,�� Unlike her words, B.Cimone was already blushing as she responded in a flirtatous voice as she tried to nce away from Jason.

    ��What, the ��B�� in ��B.Cimone�� don��t stand for Beautiful?�� Jason asked, his voice sounding lower than usual, but just as confident and that was triggering all sorts of hormones in B.Cimone��s body.

    ��Boy, you better stop, or I��ll have to show you my riding skills, and they��re definitely not on a horse,�� B.Cimone said flirtatiously as she winked at Jason and bit her lower lips softly.

    ���� Well���� Jason started and paused, looking down into her eyes, then at his pants, and then his eyes looked back into her eyes again,

    ���� It wouldn��t feel much different for you,�� he said with a smirk and not just B.Cimone, but everyone else in the room had their mouth drop open.

    ��The kid��s got a Ph.D in rizzologics,�� Carlous couldn��t help but let slip out of his mouth.

    ��With a face and hair like that, and he still got that kind of sweet tongue. Nothing in this world is fair for real,�� Chicoe Bean said almost in pain as he rubbed his hand on the cap that covered his bald head.

    ��It��s been less than a minute since they even started talking and he already has her in the bag,�� DeeCeeughed.

    ��Yo, hitman, you��ve gotpetition!�� Ee-man shouted at Hitman who everyone knew to be the best rizzologist in the room and everyone startedughing.

    ��I��m just ying, I��ve got a girlfriend�� well, sort of,�� Jason said to B.Cimone whileughing as well.

    ��Sort of? How you got rtionship problems with all your ��advantages��?�� Conceited, he asked as soon as he heard the wordse out of Jason��s mouth.

    ��The heavens have eyes!!!�� Chicoe Bean who had been sounding depressed was suddenly joyous after hearing about Jason��s rtionship situation.

    ��Ain��t no hope for a single dog like me if you of all people have rtionship problems,�� Carlous beganughing as he thought about it.

    If someone like Jason who had more than enough charm artillery to probably make even a goddess of abstinence to fall for him hopelessly was having rtionship problems, then what hope did normal men like him have.

    ��As much as I��d like to exin and ask my seniors for advice on this matter, Nick is standing right behind y��all which means it��s showtime, so where can I change?�� Jasonughed as everyone turned to see Nick at the door.

 Chapter 376 Wild and Out III

    376 Wild and Out III

    Nick hade along to see how Jason was doing and to call the cast as it was already about time for shooting to start.

    On hearing that it was time, everyone began to move and Jason quickly took off the jacket he was wearing before and put on the Wild and Out hoodie instead before handing his jacket to one Wild and Out girl to help him give Adele.

    As they walked to the set where the show would be shot, Jason had little conversations with the cast members of the show, especially B.Cimone who had now be overly interested in him after the stunt he had pulled off in the lounge earlier.

    Originally, he had just been trying his hand at whether his flirting skills were still usable as it had been a lifetime ago when he had worried about picking up girls.

    Since he had been told that one of the games that they would be ying today was a game called "Let me Holler" where a Wild and Out girl was selected and the guys would have a shot at trying to "pick her up" with their best pick-up lines.

    Jason had watched this segment on the show many times on YouTube but had never actually thought he would participate in it so now that he needed to be able to pick up a girl or else he would turn toedic relief on TV and YouTube, he immediately tried flirting to see whether he still had it in him to pick-up girls.

    The conclusion of his experiment was that he definitely still had the sweet tongue that was more lethal than his face when it came to picking up girls, so it was all good for now.

    As for the other games, he would just y it by ear.

    Soon they arrived at the set, and all the cast members but Jason went to the stage and met the viewers.

    Jason was taken to another room that led to the stage as he would be making an entrance as a guest so he could not join the cast members to be on the stage first.

    While Jason waited behind the stage, the cameras had already started rolling and they started shooting the show.

    As a professional TV show host who was unarguably among the top ten in that profession in the country, Nick easily began the show and with a few sentences, he already had the audienceughing and warming up to him more than they initially did.

    Soon it was time to introduce Jason.

    When Nick started to do a little build-up and hyped Jason, the crowd did some perfunctory pping as they didn''t know who he was, but as soon as he stepped out from backstage and walked onto the stage, the apuse grew, especially from the female spectators who were now even cheering, no longer remembering how unimpressively they were pping just a few seconds prior.

    After apletely informal and unnned interaction between Jason and Nick on the stage, Nick put Jason in the new school team that would be going up against the old school team in the uing games for the shoot that day.

    There would be two teamspeting in the shoot, namely the old-school team and the new-school team.

    On the Old-school team were most of the more famous cast members since just by being in Nick Canon''s generation, one could already be considered old school and they were Nick''s old friends who were in the same generation as he was.

    The two teams were easily segregated from each other as the old school team had shirts that were in ck and yellow colors while the new school team''s shirts were in white and pink colors.

    "Let''s get right to it folks,"

    "We shall be starting the night with a game we all love, *Let me Holler*,"

    "We shall be bringing a Wild and Out girl to the stage and each team would send out contestants to use their best pickup lines to try and�� well, pick her up," Nickughed lightly and the crowd did as well, showcasing that they were listening to his words attentively.

    "If it''s funny you get a bell," a bell sound went off as he paused for a bit, n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "If it''s not you get the buzz," the DJ pressed a button and a buzzing sound rang through the room.

    "Whichever team gets more bells ends up with the win, so let''s get straight to it," he said and began walking to join his team.

    He said that, but the bells would actually be decided by the girl who was being picked up and if she found herself liking the pick-up line, she would hold up a green thumbs-up sign and the DJ would then ring a bell.

    The opposite would happen if she wasn''t impressed by the pick-up line.

    A Wild and Out girl holding a green thumbs-up sign in her right hand and a red thumbs-down sign in her left hand walked onto the stage shing everyone an extravagant smile.

    With caramel chocte-colored skin and a red tank top and leggings that entuated her beauty, she instantly fell into the good graces of every guy in the room and quite a few women could not take their eyes off her perfect imperfections that stood out quite well.

    However, the Wild and Out cast members didn''t have too much time to spend analyzing her as it was soon time for the first member of the old-school team to have a shot at impressing the Wild and Out girl.

    EE-man was the first one to step out for the old-school team and he walked up to the Wild and Out girl in center stage while smiling at the hoots and hails from his teammates.

    "Wassup girl," He said while smacking his lips and nodding to himself with a meaningful smile.

    "Hiii," she smiled back at him.

    "Are you my mum''s slippers, cuz you hit different?"

    "Heeehee," the girl giggled and raised up the green thumbs up and the bell immediately rang out.

    "It hit different cuz you were stupid and she had to beat your ass extra hard!" Carlos shouted at Ee-man from the old-school gathering spot.

 Chapter 377 Wild and Out IV

    377 Wild and Out IV

    "Shut up man!" Ee-man shouted back at Carlos as he jogged back to his team with a grin on his face.

    Next up was the new school team and DeeCee was the one who had chosen to go out and have a go at "picking up".

    "Wassup shawty, how you doin?" he started, his voice a lot lower than his usual mboyant tone and volume.

    "I''m doing good, wassup,"

    "I''m cool. Anyway, so check it, You know I don''t roll up no blunts and smoke no more, right,"

    "I wish I met you back when I used to cuz then I wouldn''t have to buy any lighters cuz you''re fire,"

    *Ayeeeeeeeee* The viewers were impressed by DeeCee''s line and they made their feelings known while the girl at the receiving end of the pick-up line immediately had the green thumbs up raised above her shoulders as she smiled.

    The bell immediately rang and the new school team was now back on equal points with the old school team and DeeCee swaggered back to his teammates and received daps from all the people around.

    Next up was the old-school team and the moment Hitman stood up, everyone was already nodding their heads as they knew that this guy was not the kind to fail at pick-up.

    "Hey," the girl spoke first unlike the previous times and everyone was alreadyughing at the contrasting treatment.

    "Hello, beautiful,"

    "Hey, do you have a pencil?" Hitman asked.

    "No, why?"

    "I want to erase my past and write our future," Hitman said with a confident smile.

    *Awnnnnnnnnnnnn*

    Everyone watching felt their heart skip as they heard this and the girl being picked up was hit the hardest of all.

    The green thumbs up immediately went up as she looked at Hitman, already almost falling for him.

    "That''s why he''s the GOAT! The GOAT!!!!" somebody in the old school team shouted and everyone burst outughing while Hitman headed back to meet his teammates.

    On the new school team, B.Cimone pushed Jason out to take the next turn and Jason didn''t have any choice but to go with her pushing him from behind.

    Once he was on the stage, he walked to her with his hands inside the hoodie''s pockets, a slight smile on his face that was already breaking the defense of the Wild and Out girl before he even said anything.

    Even the girls in the seats were already being rizzed up without Jason doing anything yet.

    "If he literally asked if she could sit on his face, she''d agree, stupid handsome bastard," Chicoe Bean whispered to Carlos who immediately couldn''t stop himself fromughing.

    "It''s not your fault you got extra head instead of good looks," Justinaughed at Chicoe Bean as well, her statement referring to his big head.

    It wasn''t every day she got tough at the guys as they all usually ganged up on her instead.

    Afterughing a bit, her focus returned back to the stage where Jason had already walked up to the girl.

    "Nice outfit," Jasonmented, his eyes zing over her clothes before returning to her face and staring right into her eyes.

    "Thanks," the girl muttered already blushing and causing Chicoe to almost curse in aggravation as he annoyedly repeated to Carlos, "See, this is what I''m talking about."

    "I could have sworn I''ve seen them on sale somewhere before though," Jason continued.

    "Oh, where?" the girl asked curiously.

    "My ce, a 100% off," Jason said with a smirk, but no one else could keep their reaction at the level of just a smirk.

    *Ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh*

    "Damn! He''s slick wit it," Nick couldn''t keep his voice down amidst the crowd''s loud hoots at the innovative and unexpected pick-up line.

    The bell was also continuously ringing as the DJ kept pressing the button while the girl held up the green thumbs-up sign while giggling, but as for whether it was out of surprise or not, no one knew,].

    Jason decided to add some ir and moonwalk away while humming Micheal Jackson''s famous song "Smooth Criminal".

    "You''ve been hit by, you''ve been struck by a smooth criminal," he sang and began executing a clean moonwalk away from the scene of the crime.

    "Smooth criminal indeed," Nick startedughing as he took the stage again.

    "After that pick-up line, I don''t think there''s anything anyone else will say here that will impress Annie over here so let''s just go straight to the end,"

    "DJ C-Reck, who won?"

    "Both teams are equal on points, but we all know that the new school team won that round," DJ C-Reck said jokingly.

    "Hey, we''ll take it as it is. Everyone, give it up for the new school!"

    The sounds of pping and "Whooooo"s filled the room. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Hey, this isn''t bad,'' Jason thought to himself with a grin on his face.

    Maybe because it had been a while since he had yed in a stadium with fans, he was extremely weak to the sounds of cheers, but it wasn''t a bad feeling and it was actually fun.

    Now he was beginning to look forward to the rest of the show.

    "Next up we have ''Talking spit''. We shall have a member of the two teamse up here and they will have to keep water in their mouth while other members of opposing teams will do all they can to make those two guys spit out the water in their mouth," Nick exined the format of the next game to the viewers even though it wasn''t necessary as most of the people here were consistent viewers of the show.

    They probably already knew about the game, but since the show was going to be shown on TV at some point, Nick had to do his job as a host and exin the whole thing so that new viewers could understand what was going on and would be able to easily follow along.

    Jason was selected from his team to be the one with the water in his mouth while Nick would be the one with the water in his mouth for the old-school team.

 Chapter 378 Wild and Out V

    378 Wild and Out V

    For apetition where all he had to do was keep a straight face no matter what anyone said or what was going on around him, it was a no-brainer for Jason to win the game.

    Despite there being topedians on the old-school team, their attempts weren''t enough to get Jason to spit out the water in his mouth with just their jokes.

    The only time the water flew out of Jason''s mouth was when someone in the old school team pulled off the only team that worked against straight men.

    "Keep the water in your mouth if you''re gay," they had said and what had followed was the watering out of Jason''s mouth with the pressure of a geyser.

    Jason wasn''t homophobic and could more or less care about gay people, but he wasn''t about to let any rumors about him be out and about just because he wanted to wlessly win apetition on an entertainment show.

    For famous people, rumors were more than enough trouble and for him who was still building his fame, it was doubly lethal.

    No one would believe if Lionel Messi said he was gay and everyone would think he was joking, but Jason who was in thend of the free would create a controversy and fuel thousands of news articles just by being unclear.

    Video editing was a very dangerous tool.

    It was not in any of Jason''s ns to have just finished a game where he scored a hat-trick, gave two assists, and helped his team to a ten-nil victory and the reporters began asking about his sexual orientation instead of about his performance in the game.

    Hence Jason was very clear when he spat all the water in his mouth at Ee-man who had asked the question and asked,

    "No fair y, I call for a VAR assessment!" Jason called out but everyone had justughed and the game continued.

    In the end, the new-school team won the game with a four-point lead and people were now wondering if Jason''s dopamine dispenser was broken as he hadn''t even twitched at some of the funniest jokes that had been cracked and had caused everyone to burst outughing.

    With another victory in the bag, Jason was more pumped up as they moved to the next game, which would also be thest one with his involvement.

    This one was called "Make a Song" and just like its name suggested, they would have to make a song and sing it on the stage.

    Each team would have their turn at creating a song of any genre while having to follow a pre-selected title. The song could be rap, R&B, Pop, gospel, or whatever came to mind, the only necessary thing was for them to add the pre-selected word into the song.

    22:34

    Each team would have their turn at creating a song of any genre while having to follow a pre-selected title. The song could be rap, R&B, Pop, gospel, or whatever came to mind, the only necessary thing was for them to add the pre-selected word into the song.

    Unlike the previous games, this time it was the viewers who would decide the winner of the game as they were the ones being performed to.

    It was a simple game where whoever the crowd liked more would win.

    The two teams were given their titles and as usual, the old-school team went first.

    While the old school team was on stage, singing a freestyle R&B song with the title of Holiday, the new school team was trying to decide on what they would do and after a bit of debate, they decided on making a rap song.

    ... Well it was less of decided and more like they didn''t really have any other options for a genre when considering the word they had received as a title.

    Kissing that A**... Was the title the new school had received, and when Jason first heard it, he thought it was a joke, but while Nick wasughing, it wasn''t because it was a joke, but rather that it was a funny situation. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Nick already knew from the start and had forgotten about it, but now that he was seeing it again, he couldn''t helpughing.

    The looks the new school team was giving Nick were especially funny to him and made himugh harder because he didn''t care, after all, he didn''t decide the words.

    It was usually decided by the Wild and Out fans on social media and then would be used in the show, and this time, the new school had ended up on the wrong end of the fans'' humor.

    Soon the old school team was done with their song and it was the turn of the new school to take the stage while the crowd apuded their entrance.

    The beat that had been decided immediately started ying and the new school team started rapping...

    Since using their title as a recurring lyric would be a problem, they just added it at the end of a line where it felt ok and everyone just took a turn.

    "And my niggas ain''t kissing that a**," " ying that bit*h but not kissing that a**" DeeCee rapped.

    " Trapping like I''m finding Carly,"

    "Though I ain''t driving a Buggati," " They ying for money and fame, but me, no, I''m just ying for barley," Jason jumped in and did his part.

    " Bit*hes going wild for a party," "I met that bit*h at a party,"

    "Trapping the way yatty yatty, but my niggas going wild at the party," a guy Jason didn''t know also jumped in and added his part.

    After getting this far, they realized that the freestyle wasn''t sounding like a wreck of a song and they got even more invested in the song as they continued rapping.

    The crowd was also giving along as the song went on and on.

    "There''s a party at nine for all my men who been in the long game,"

    *Ooooooohhhh* the crowd shouted as DeeCee left the center stage and Jason stepped into the center ready to take another turn,

    "... Man I ain''t kissing that ass," "Nah, I refuse to beg for a pass," " I''ve been with this weird gang for a while, imma go all rad,"

    " I''m on end game, I''m gonna wait for the main game,"

    " Get ready for the long game, cuz I ain''t ever gonna change game," *Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh* Jason finished and stepped away from center stage as another person took his ce and took off from where he left off.

    " Bit*h I ain''t kissing that a**,"

    "Imma blow, filling your a**" " Imma go for a bad chance, it''s a kill chance, and I''m killing your a**"

 Chapter 379 Boyfriend I

    379 Boyfriend I

    "Give it up for the new school!" *WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!* the raucous cheers of the viewers filled the room and it was significantly louder than the cheers that had been made a few seconds ago.

    The "Make a Song" game was over and they had moved to the judging stage and from the clear disparity in cheers, it was clear that the crowd liked the new-school team''s freestyle a lot more than the old school��

    Or maybe the girls were just screaming in ecstasy because of Jason''s face.

    Jason however, had no way to know that and wasn''t even thinking in that direction at all, rather he had a small smile on his face as he basked in the crowd''s cheers that let him know that his team was the people''s choice.

    Contrary to his expectations, this had ended up being more fun than he thought, but it was also exhausting.

    Unfortunately, he was merely starting his schedule and still had a lot of ces to be in the next twenty-four hours.

    *****

    ***27thDecember 2020***

    **2:17 pm**

    {Please fasten your seatbelts, we will be beginning our descent in five minutes} A mechanical-like voice came through the speakers and informed the passengers that they were already in Portuguese airspace and would soon be touching down.

    Some were anticipating their arrival and quickly fastened their seat belts, while a select few remained uncaring as they skillfully fastened their seat belts, showing professional-like proficiency with the otherwise tricky harness.

    As for Jason, he merely turned over his head and continued sleeping,pletely unaware of what was going on around him, but his seatbelt was already fastened as he had expected something like this to happen.

    After his hell of a schedule in LA that had him worrying about his mental health, Jason and Adele had finally gotten back on the ne heading back to Porto.

    It didn''t need to be said that he was exhausted and it wasn''t a mild case of exhaustion, but rather a severe exhaustion and he had been sleeping through most of the flight, trying to rest and recuperate so that he didn''t end up overly stressed and easily susceptible to injury.

    However, despite his exhaustion, Jason felt quite fulfilled as he had done his part in the publication of the newpany.

    He had done quite a few over thest two days to increase his presence to the American people and so far, he had high hopes.

    The shows and skits that he had made an appearance in hadn''t been released to the general public yet as these shows usually required some hardcore editing to make everything look more attractive than it would in a live situation.

    Jason didn''t have a problem with it as he had been busy with the actual promotional shoot of Rosember''s yet-to-be-released product.

    Now after all that, he was finally going to bending back in Porto to once again continue his journey towards bing the greatest footballer ever��

    ''But before that��'' Jason thought to himself as he opened his eyes after feeling the turbulence caused by the ne touching the surface of the earth.

    Before he could fully return his focus to football, there was one more thing that needed addressing before tomorrow''s training session and that was a serious conversation with Sofia.

    Now that he was awake, he waited patiently for the pain toe to a stop and began deboarding along with the rest of the passengers.

    Unlike when he had traveled to the USA two days ago with Adele, this time he was alone as she had to stay back to finish dealing with some matters concerning Rosember''sunch.

    At this point, she was already doing more than she was supposed to do for him and Jason appreciated it a lot.

    As his agent, all she was supposed to do was make his life convenient by helping him settle negotiations with clubs as well as helping him settle things like endorsement deals with otherpanies. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Nothing like helping him to run apany was part of her duties, yet she was doing it without so much as asking for increased benefits and Jason knew this was something that couldn''t be bought, yet at the same time, he was a bit confused as well.

    Despite the lip-to-lip incident a few weeks back, they had seemingly kept their professional attitude with one another and not mentioned it anymore after that day, but for once in his life, Jason could sense underlying tension in their rtionship.

    Right from when they had met each other, Jason knew that Adele viewed him favorably, but as for how far that feeling went, Jason didn''t know.

    However now that they had kissed each other despite it being under the guise of an ident, Jason felt like something would soon change in their rtionship and he didn''t know whether he wanted it or not.

    An ident would only remain an ident if the parties involved didn''t read further into the matter and it was very clear that it was impossible for neither of them to read into the matter.

    In fact, Jason suddenly had an inkling that the matter could turn into what was currently going on between him and Sofia�� a cacophony of confusion.

    He didn''t need any more of those and even the one he had, he wanted it cleared up and that was his mission for the rest of the day.

    Once he deboarded, he quickly headed to his car in the car park, threw his bags inside, ignited the car''s engine, and zoomed out of the car park, heading to Lisbon.

    Considering that he was just at an airport, he could have used a ne to go to Lisbon as it would be faster and less stressful than driving there himself, but it would be less flexible.

    He didn''t have a set schedule of when exactly he would being back, so it was better for him to take the car there by himself ande back on his own terms, no matter what time that may be.

    ***

    Two hours and half a minute after leaving the airport at Porto, Jason drove into Lisbon and began driving to Sofia''s ce with his phone to his ear.

    Due to how exhausted he was, he didn''t remember to call her before heading out, but as soon as he remembered halfway through his journey, he called her, but his calls hadn''t been answered.

    He had even stopped to send a message, but so far, his messages hadn''t been answered either and he wasn''t sure whether she had even seen it.

    He was already here anyway so he''d just go check for her at her ce.

 Chapter 380 Boyfriend II

    380 Boyfriend II

    Jason pulled on a nose mask and put on a pair of dark sses to cover his eyes before getting out of his car.

    His actions had been to disguise himself, but after getting out, he realized that his car was attracting more than enough attention to cause enough problems.

    Luckily, his face was covered well enough that no one recognized him instantly, but Jason immediately hurried his steps as he knew that his eyes weren''t the only things that could give him away, after all, no one else had hair like his.

    For now, this level of disguise was only stalling instantaneous recognition, but the moment anyone started thinking deeply about who he could be.

    What was worse was that this was a dormitory for students, and even worse, it was for girls, hence it was filled with teenage girls who had been known through time immemorial as nosy people who couldn''t ever keep their curiosity in check�� ever.

    They were always the first ones to die in any horror movie, and most of the time, they were the ones who caused the horror movies to start in the first ce.

    I mean�� who the hell draws an array to summon the worst type of demons for fun even after hearing the worst things about said incident?

    The answer�� did not need to be said, but for today, that wasn''t Jason''s business and he was only here for one of them and not the whole pack.

    Ignoring the looks he was getting from some of the girls seated outside the hostel, as well as some guys who hade to visit as well, Jason entered the hostel grounds and made his way through the confusing-looking pathways until he finally found Sofia''s room number.

    *Knock* *Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

    "Coming!" A loud voice came from inside the room in response to Jason''s knock.

    Outside the room, Jason squinted a bit as he did not recognize the voice, but then he remembered that this ce was a hostel and that Sofia would definitely have roommates.

    Sure as can be, when the door opened up and a scantily dressed girl appeared in the doorway, Jason nodded internally as he knew that there was no way Sofia had suchrge bodily proportions.

    The girl that opened the door was shocked as well as it was not every day that boys came into their hostel. As she suddenly remembered that while expecting someone of a simr gender to hers, she hadn''t bothered covering up some essentials well enough, a wave of embarrassment threatened to rise up, but it immediately disappeared as soon as she stared into Jason''s blue eyes when he took off his sses.

    "Good evening,"

    "Is Sofia in?" Jason asked, switching to Portuguesebut before the girl at the door could answer, a loud voice came from inside the room causing Jason''s eyebrow to rise because it didn''t sound like Sofia either.

    "Anita, who''s there!?" the voice asked.

    "Some guy is asking for Sofia!" the girl shouted back before turning back to Jason.

    "She''s not around, she went out for a bit," Anitasaid to Jason in a polite voice.

    "Oh?" this was not in his ns.

    "Any idea when she might be back? I really need to talk to her about something important," Jason asked, unwillingly to let this opportunity pass by.

    "Nope. She seems to have gone out with her boyfriend," Anita casually replied, not thinking much about Jason''s likely rtionship with Sofia.

    "I''m sorry, her what?" Jason asked like he couldn''t believe his ears, and actually, he couldn''t�� or rather, he chose not to believe what it seemed like he had just heard.

    Before Anita could say anything to confirm or deny her statement, another girl popped up behind the girl in the doorway.

    "Please don''t mind Anita, we don''t actually know whether the guy she went out with is her boyfriend," the new girl said to Jason with a wry smile.

    "What do you mean we don''t know, they were ki- *humph*," Anita had begun speaking, but her words were cut short by the new girl''s hand that covered her mouth and put an end to her words.

    "Like I was saying, don''t mind Anita, Sofia just said she wanted to go and let loose a bit after her exams and she would be going to a party at the Veltman Lounge with a friend,"

    "She and her friend left over three hours ago and they''re probably still at the Veltman Lounge," the new girl said to Jason.

    Unlike her dumb roommate, she already had a grasp of the situation and she wanted no part in it. Sofia was merely a roommate and if she was stuck in a love triangle, then that was her business, but as a bystander, she wouldn''t try to make the situation worse when it was none of her concern, so despite her curiosity, she just directed Jason to where he could find Sofia and hoped the matter could be quickly settled.

    "... Thank you," Jason said and turned away.

    As Jason disappeared down the corridor, the second girl took her hand off Anita''s mouth and Anita immediately began gasping hard for breath.

    "Were you trying to kill me? With that kind of grip, it''s a wonder you haven''t twisted off your boyfriend''s meat stick," Anita gasped for breath as she stared at her second roommate.

    "Sorry," the girl replied simply.

    "... Why didn''t you tell him the truth?" Anita said as she stared at Jason''s disappearing back.

    "What truth?" the girl asked Anita.

    "About the guy Sofia''s went with. He''s not just a friend,"

    "They have gone out together many times, and today they even had that long kiss at the doorway befor- OOoooooooooooooooh!" Anita had been going on when it suddenly struck her and everything instantly became clear.

    "There''s no fu*king way�� right? Right???" Anita asked her roommate while turning back to the corridor where Jason could no longer be seen.

    "Was Sofia like that?"

    "Two-timing? Really???" Anita asked with her mouth agape.

    "I don''t know, and to be fair, it''s not my business what she does with her life�� I just feel a bit sad for that guy. He seemed like a nice person," Anita''s roommate said and turned away, wondering why Jason''s face seemed familiar. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Her roommate was left behind staring into the empty corridor.

 Chapter 381 Boyfriend III

    381 Boyfriend III

    Jason walked back to his car with hurried footsteps, his mind in a buzz.

    He didn''t even know that he was walking faster than he usually would, and he had even forgotten to put the dark sses back on his face to disguise himself.

    Despite being less than informed about matters of the heart, he wasn''t stupid in other things, and from his very brief conversation with Sofia''s roommates, it seemed something was going on with Sofia behind his back.

    By all rights, it shouldn''t even be his business since they weren''t dating, but Jason couldn''t ignore it as they were already on that route.

    ''Or maybe I''m the only one that thought that way,'' the thought immediately appeared in his mind when he tried to console himself.

    As he reached his car and pulled open the door, wanting to immediately rush away to the Veltman Lounge to see what was going on, he heard a voice behind him.

    "Hey, you''re Jason Bolu, right?"

    "That guy that ys for Oporto, is there any chance I could ge-" The owner of the voice had been halfway through his words when Jason''s cold voice cut in, and for once, he wasn''t holding back so it felt chilly all of a sudden.

    "Fu*k off, I''m busy," Jason snapped and jumped into his car, mming the door shut, and turning on the ignition, not even bothering to give the person a nce.

    As soon as the car started up, Jason mmed down on the elerator, keeping his other leg on the brake, and spinning the steering powerfully, maneuvering the car into a burnout that he immediately exited before doing a full 360, and the car swerved out of the car park as if he was shooting a stunt scene for a Fast and Furious movie.

    "Where the fu*k is that Veltman Lounge," He half growled as he began operating the map with a skilled frenzy.

    At this moment, Jason himself did not know what was going on or why he was doing the things he was doing.

    All he knew was that he felt a sharp yet intangible pain in the chest, and he was hurriedly doing things that were risky.

    This wasn''t normal for him and he had hardly ever been in a frenzy.

    In fact, Jason couldn''t even remember if he had ever acted this frenziedly in his life, yet here he was.

    Something told him, that it was best for him to just turn off his map and get back on the highway, head back to Porto, get home, and sleep till tomorrow, forgetting that a person called Sofia ever existed and living like she was never a part of his life, because the truth was�� she didn''t seem like a part of it.

    Jason knew all that, yet, he couldn''t bring himself to actually do it.

    He wanted to know.

    He wanted to see.

    He wanted to ask.

    Why?

    Who?

    Where?

    Too much was going on in his mind and Jason couldn''t ever remember his brain ever running at this capacity even in his toughest and most emotional moments on the field.

    Yet, in all of this, he stayed quiet externally, however, internally, he was a cacophonious wreck, but he still managed to operate the electronic map and find the Veltman Lounge.

    Less than half an hourter, the car came to a stop outside a building with neon lights decorating the entrance of the building, attracting attention from the people walking past it.

    Jason exited his car, not remembering how he got there, but he seemed to have regained a bit of hisposure and was now wearing his sses over his eyes, however, in reality, it was already instinctual for him to put on his sses when leaving his car, so he didn''t even know that he had done it.

    Everything was looking darker, but there was not much light for him to look forward to anyway so he didn''t notice the difference and just walked into the building.

    He didn''t even remember to lock his car, but luckily, his instinctual movements won over and the car lights blinked behind him, yet he didn''t remember doing that either.

    He walked in through the front door and was instantly hit with a loud wave of music that was somehow kept within the walls of the building.

    He wasn''t even at the actual lounge and the music was already this loud, but this did nothing to shake him from his daze and he just walked through the corridor,pletely unresponsive to the guards at the door, and walked into the door that was pulled open for him.

    He was once again sted with an even louder wave of raucous music, but just like before, he barely noticed and instead his eyes swept across the room trying to find anyone that looked like Sofia.

    His amazing vision on the field that always helped him find the right pass did nothing for him here as he couldn''t find any semnce of Sofia at first sight.

    There were simr figures, but he immediately knew they were not what he was looking for and he had no choice but to dive into the crowd, his eyes darting around at close to seven movements per second.

    Yet even after going all the way through the crowd, he couldn''t find her and for a split second, hope that Sofia''s roommate was trolling him tried to sweep through his mind, but before it got far, his eyes locked on to a figure sitting at one of the tables at a distant corner.

    There was no one else at the table apart from her, but just her presence at the restaurant signaled something.

    A beginning of an end.

    Without much thought, Jason''s legs carried him all the way to the table and he sat across Sofia, but strangely she didn''t respond in the slightest.

    "... H-Hey," Jason tried to call out to her, but his voice quivered�� yet she stayed unresponsive.

    "Hey, are you okay?" Jason asked again and reached out to touch her, but what happened next shocked him as she fell face-first to the table,pletely unresponsive.

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 382 Boyfriend IV

    382 Boyfriend IV

    As Sofia fell on her face, Jason almost jumped in his seat�� almost.

    "Hey�� Hey, are you okay,"Jason''s hand shook her by her shoulders, but apart from a groan that let him know that she was still alive, she remained unresponsive.

    Looking at the empty bottles of whiskey on the table and a ss that was still half-filled, it was not hard to imagine what had caused Sofia''s current state.

    The smell of alcohol wafting off from her figure helped to add further confirmation, but Sofia''s alcohol-induceda was not Jason''s major concern at the moment.

    He hade here for answers and he couldn''t get it with her in this state.

    This ironically caused him to calm down a bit, but before he could think about what to do next, a light suddenly appeared on the side of the table and Jason''s eyes shot towards the light.

    He instantly recognized the source of light as Sofia''s phone and he picked it up.

    The phone''s screen seemed to have lit up because of a notification, but for now, nothing was showing on the screen and Jason immediately realized that he would have to unlock the phone if he wanted to find out the source of the message.

    He was about to put the phone back down when he suddenly froze and looked back at the screen of the phone.

    There was a good chance that this thing held all the answers he was seeking, yet at the same time, it might not.

    Even if it did, it might be hard to find what he was looking for, not to mention that he was going to be breaching her privacy, but all his reservations did not stay in his head for a full second before it instantly dissipated and he swiped across the screen of the phone.

    Sofia who was supposed to answer his questions was currently out ofmission and he couldn''t wait anymore to get the answers he wanted.

    The phone requested a Face ID or password to open up its secrets to him and Jason didn''t hesitate to grab Sofia''s head, hold it up, and use her face to unlock the phone.

    The phone didn''t immediately respond and it took a bit of time to get a clear scan of Sofia''s face before it finally opened up.

    Jason let her face back down and turned back to the phone.

    The phone was currently on the WhatsUpp application and whether it was good luck or terrible luck Jason did not know, but the first thing his eyes fell on which was also the top chat was a name he seemed to recall hearing somewhere.

    {Baumgartner} was the name of the top chat and it seemed he was the one who sent a message just a few seconds ago and alerted Jason about the phone''s presence.

    "Wait�� Baumgartner, Baumgartner, Baumgart-!" Jason mused for a while before his eyes suddenly lit up in recollection.

    "... it can''t be, right?"

    "There''s just no way. They probably just talk every once in a while," Jason was speaking to himself, but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more of that fact than to justify what he was seeing, however, he wasn''t able to stop himself from opening the chat.

    His hands quivered ever so slightly and Jason couldn''t shake off the feeling that he was doing something that he wouldn''t like being done to him, but at this moment, his rationality had long been thrown into the backseat and came after everything else.

    As at this moment, Jason was just grasping for straws and needed something to hold onto that would prove him wrong.

    Unfortunately�� it seemed likefort and constion were emotions that would be far from him in the nights toe.

    As soon as he opened the chat and read through thetest messages that were already showing on the screen without him swiping, he was already able to confirm that "Mr. Baumgartner" was definitely the one who hade to Veltman Lounge with Sofia.

    How did he know?

    Well, how could he not know, he was clearly seeing chats about Mr. Baumgartner going to pick up Sofia at her hostel.

    With this, it was already clear something was going on between Sofia and Baumgartner, but this wasn''t enough for Jason who was already sinking further into emotional pain and disbelief.

    He wanted to know everything and began swiping upward, reading chat after chat after in ascending order which was like reading a book from thest page back to the first page, yet, despite this, a clear picture of the whole situation was bing clearer and clearer in Jason''s mind and many questions were slowly being answered.

    When he finally reached what was seemingly the start of the the whole ''boyfriend'' fiasco, he inadvertently checked the date and time on the chat and slowly he started tough. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It was augh that was hard to describe.

    Laughter was usually used in happy situations, but hisughter carried pain.

    Not only was pain in hisughter, but there seemed to be a hint of danger as well as he put down the phone and just giggled quietly at the table, his palms covering his eyes as waves of what he couldn''t exin coursed through him.

    Jason couldn''t tell what all the emotions he was feeling was, but he could easily recognize the waves of anger that coursed through him.

    He was pissed.

    Fu*k the feeling of betrayal, the emotional pain could take a back seat for now, what he wanted more than anything else was to snap a person in two and it didn''t take a genius to know who that person was.

    "... It''s not worth it, Jay, it''s not worth it," he muttered to himself as he slowly stood up from the table, his fists clenched and ncing at Sofia who was still passed out on the table.

    He tried to feel hateful towards her, but all he was feeling was pain.

    It wasn''t even his fault�� he had literally no hand in this emotional turbulence that was going on, yet he felt like he was at fault somewhere.

    He couldn''t take it anymore and quickly turned away, wanting to run away from the pain�� at least for a while, but on turning back, his eyes fell on someone who was approaching.

    The figure approaching immediately stopped and his expression on seeing Jason turned to shock.

    Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a face Jason didn''t think he could ever forget anymore��

    "Mylo fu*king Baumgartner��"

    "You fu*kin snake��"

 Chapter 383 Boyfriend V

    383 Boyfriend V

    Jason stormed out of the doors of the Veltman Lounge with a bottle of alcohol in his hand.

    On setting his eyes on someone who was his teammate, roommate, and someone he had regarded as a close person though not quite his friend�� going behind his back to have rodeos with the girl he was quite literally his girlfriend, Jason felt his blood rush to his head and cloud his judgement.

    He had instinctively reached out and grabbed a bottle of alcohol that was still full and wanted to hurl it at Mylo and then pick up the shattered remains of the ss and use it to carve out millions of symbols of hate on Mylo.

    These were some of the mildest thoughts that had appeared in Jason''s head that moment, but he had suddenly heard a groan behind him and he had nced behind him to see Sofia being roused from her alcohol-induced slumber.

    Jason''s anger didn''t dissipate and burned even brighter, but he managed to regain control of his body movements even though his brain and heart was heating up.

    That short moment was enough for him to think about the repercussion of smashing a bottle on Mylo''s head.

    He could already see the headlines as well as the sanctions that would be stuffed down his throat just because he rightfully gave in to his anger.

    As much as it annoyed him to think about, he knew it was true.

    The club management wouldn''t care about the cause of the fight, but would only care about the fact that it would give them bad publicity while the media didn''t care either and would print and post whatever they could to get clicks and views from as many people as possible.

    While it wasn''t something that would end his career, it would definitely deal a severe blow to his reputation.

    ''It''s not worth it,'' thest bit of rationality that he was managing to cling on to whispered in his head, but it was immediately threatened by Mylo opening his stupid mouth.

    "I can exin," Mylo finally opened his mouth, wanting to seemingly defend himself, but Jason didn''t want to hear it.

    "Just fu*k out of my face," Jason cussed and immediately turned around to walk the other way. He didn''t trust himself to not reflexivelysh out at Mylo if he dared to walk past him.

    Mylo didn''t have any words to say as he watched Jason walk away. His mouth came open and words seemed to be about toe out, but he caught himself and didn''t end up saying anything, only watching Jason walk away, his thought process remaining unknown.

    Jason marched out of the lounge, pushingharshly at everyone in his way until he came out of the other side of the dancing crowd.

    Despite his furious steps, he felt defeated and walked out of the club and to his car like an angry zombie, not thinking much into his actions at all.

    Once he was behind the wheel, he started driving.

    He did not know where he was going, but he just kept driving aimlessly and when he finally came to, his eyes inadvertently fell on the bottle of alcohol that he had originally nned on smashing on Mylo''s head, but had ended up taking from the club.

    Parking the car by the side of the road, Jason pushed open his door and grabbed the bottle wanting to hurl it away in anger, but like a whisper calling to him, he caught himself just before throwing away the bottle.

    It was almost like the bottle had cast a spell on Jason and he just kept looking at it, the thought of opening the bottle and letting the pain of his heart drown within it''s content.

    For almost a full minute, he just kept looking at the bottle and just when his other hand moved and he was about to give in and twist the lid away,

    "Don''t do it kid," a low slurring voice came from his side prompting Jason to look over at where the voice came from.

    Looking around he noticed that in his unconscious driving, he had driven to a rough part of town and was surrounded by narrow streets, old buildings, and people who seemed to be enjoying their nightlife.

    In such an area, Jason''s BMW i8 stood out like a sore thumb, but apart from the few looks he was getting, nothing else was happening, yet none of that was of any interest to Jason.

    "Don''t do it kid," the voice came again and Jason''s eyes once again moved, and this time he finally saw the person who owned the voice.

    The man looked like what Americans would call a ''hobo'' which meant a homeless person, and he held a bottle in his left hand which was quite ironic.

    "Don''t do it kid," the man repeated once more.

    "I can see it in your eyes, you look hurt," the man continued speaking, surprising Jason because he did not think someone could easily read him like that, especially when the said person looked like he was one sip from passing out.

    "Looking at your clothes and your car, you seem to be doing well for yourself, so it''s probably a female problem," the hobo continued, making his voice a bit dramatic as he tried to sound like a private detective from old Hollywood movies.

    "Another skank has torn apart the heart of a good kid, and with your face, it is better you heal quick," Jason just stared at the hobo as he kept talking, his mind not responsive enough to stop listening at the moment. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The hobo''s words were slurred and he paused constantly between sentences, but his words seemed to make sense to Jason for some weird reason and he couldn''t stop listening.

    "I get it kid... you''re hurt... but the sce you neED... wouldn''t be found in a BOttle,"

    "A bottle doesn''t solve problems, it can only contain them... and that too for a limited time,"

    "And with alcohol that weak, the pain will be back tomorrow morning with a splitting hangover,"

    Jason just kept listening thinking how ironic it was for a guy holding a bottle of what seemed like cheap liquor and already dead drunk, advising him not to fall into a spiral of alcoholism.

 Chapter 384 The Bottle

    384 The Bottle

    "I get it kid... you''re hurt... but the sce you neED... wouldn''t be found in a BOttle,"

    "A bottle doesn''t solve problems, it can only contain them... and that too for a limited time,"

    "And with alcohol that weak, the pain will be back tomorrow morning with a splitting hangover,"

    Jason just kept listening thinking how ironic it was for a guy holding a bottle of what seemed like cheap liquor and already dead drunk, advising him not to fall into a spiral of alcoholism.

    "Trust me�� I know,"

    "Years ago�� when I caught my wife cheating��- on me, with my best friend,"

    "I turned to the bottle... because I didn''t want to deal with the betraYAl or lose myself to my anger�� but as I fell in love with the bottle��"

    "I lost sight of everything else and this gave her an opportunity to divorce me, and take almost everything I own!"

    "Even my chilDRen!!!"

    "... Now, my babies have taken to calling that bastard friend of mine their father while I�� I am a good for nothing that they hardly ever think about,"

    Jason saw a few tears drop from the hobo''s eyes and Jason himself could not help feeling a shiver sweep through his body as he heard the guy''s story.

    He had half forgotten his own problems and was just sympathizing with the poor guy.

    "Can I help you with anything though?" Jason didn''t know what made him say it, but the words tumbled out of his mouth.

    "Nah, don''t worry. Bout. Me," the hobo sang in a drunken voice.

    "Just leave behind the bottle of alcohol when you''re leaving, it''s been a while since I drank something... high ss," heughed heartily after, his tone dismissive.

    It was clear from his voice that he was a loser in life and he had epted that fact. He didn''t n to change it and just wanted to live the rest of his days dousing his consciousness with the contents of a bottle, having given up faith in making aeback.

    Even if he got a chance to change anything, there wasn''t a likelihood that he would, and Jason could hear that in his tone, but Jason could also hear his intention of not wanting anyone to follow him down this path either.

    "Here," Jason tossed the bottle at the hobo and surprisingly the guy caught the bottle with amazing ease despite being dead drunk.

    "Ahhhh... the good stuff," the hobo grinned as he looked at the bottle in his hand.

    "... Anyway, leave the bottle to losers like me while you try something else to deal with your pain��"

    "Ah! Don''t try ingesting anything that has weird intake methods," he added.

    "You mean drugs?" Jason asked with a raised eyebrow, a bit amused now.

    "Is that what they call it now?" the hobo asked with surprise in his tone, sounding like he was from a previous generation who didn''t keep up with the times, and with how rough he looked, he did look the part.

    "Anyway, try something else! Maybe go meet one of those people that take money to listen to your problems," he continued.

    "You mean a psychiatrist?" Jason added.

    "With a name like that, just fu*k her during the session. It shouldn''t be too hard to do that with your face," the hobo just said the most erratic things, his mind already beginning to shut down after he took another swig of the cheap alcohol he held.

    "Not all psychiatrists are female," Jason replied, not understanding why he was now actively conversing with a hobo.

    "..." the hobo stared at Jason long and hard before asking,

    "She has a third leg?"

    Jason face-palmed and almost startedughing.

    "There are a lot of freaky things going on in tha world now ey?"

    "Well, no matter�� just go to a church and go sing hymns and do those prayer things��"

    "... Or you can have a private meeting with one of those nuns�� you know, one of those confession thingies," the hobo rambled on and on. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "... I haven''t exactly sinned so I don''t have anything to confess," Jason countered.

    "No no no, I''m not talking about a "Forgive me, mother, for I have sinned" type of meeting, I''m talking about a "I''m sorry mommy, I''ve been a bad boy"�� type of meeting,"

    At this point, Jason was almost convinced that this hobo was just trolling him and wasn''t actually drunk, because why else would he be telling him to go to the house of God and go sleep with a nun just because he had experienced heartbreak?

    Jason wasn''t exactly what anyone would term a Christian as he hadn''t been at a church for years, but due to having been raised in a church till he was seven by his parents who were devout Christians, he felt quite repulsed to even think of doing something like that.

    "What are you on?" Jason asked, now having reasons to believe that whatever was in that cheap-looking alcohol was more potent than what was in the bottle he held a minute earlier.

    "You mean this?" the hobo asked, holding up the almost empty bottle of dark brown liquid that looked like a darker-colored apple juice.

    "It''s rum�� Captain Sparrow''s Rum," the hobo said, sounding dramatic all of a sudden.

    ''Ok, definitely, this nigga trolling,'' Jason thought with a littleugh.

    While he thought this, he wasn''t actually a hundred percent sure.

    In fact, he wasn''t sure anymore. The guy could have been lying about his family and might have simply fabricated an borate story just so he could get his hands on the bottle in Jason''s hands before, but now Jason didn''t even care.

    For a moment, he had been mentally defeated and had almost sumbed to temptation and no matter what happened, what remained was that the hobo had somehow managed to help him get over it and had even lightened his mood a bit which was quite helpful for him.

    For that, the hobo had his gratitude and Jason didn''t care about much else.

    He had faced a lot tonight, but this wasn''t the time to sumb.

    He had to get back on his feet and move on.

    With his mind having escaped his pain for a bit, he quickly connected his phone to his car''s speaker, and not long after a loud voice came out from his car''s speaker as Jason shut the door of his car.

    {Do you hear me calling} The voice of Juise WORLD singing a ssic red into Jason''s ears as he once again began driving.

    He had to get back to Porto tonight as his life had to continue�� this time with Sofia no longer in it.

    The hobo watched Jason''s car dart off and a satisfied smile appeared on his face, but the cause of his satisfaction would forever remain unknown.

 Chapter 385 Nightmares

    385 Nightmares

    ***29th December 2020***

    After stumbling on Sofia''s betrayal two days, Jason had driven back to Porto singing to the music in the car as he sped along the highways at breakneck speed, but his skill behind the wheel was enough to get him home in one piece and Jason had copsed into his bed as soon as he got home.

    Unlike what he had thought, it hadn''t been hard for him to sleep due to his exhaustion, however, the problem came after when his mind started reying the event inside his head while he slept, making everything seem like a bad dream.

    When Jason woke up the next morning, he was in a worse mood than ever.

    The images just wouldn''t go away.

    He had no doubt that physically he slept soundly, but his mind was never asleep and had kept reying those scenes like it was a movie on repeat.

    What was worse was that after a while, it seemed like his brain began adding dramatic effects like a CGI expert to make it stab into him more.

    However, that wasn''t his problem�� what was really his problem was when his brain began to delve away from the known and into the unknown.

    After reying the scenes of what had happened in his head for the umpteenth time, his brain had decided to start visualizing the scene of Sofia cheating on him and this was where he drew the line.

    He was disgusted and annoyed, but the images kept tormenting him.

    This was all because of the chats that he had read.

    The whole fiasco between Mylo and Sofia seemed to have begun on the night when she came to his house for a surprise visit, but he wasn''t there since he had been quarantined in Germany at that moment.

    Jason had thought she would end up going home to her mom''s ce, but it seemed that for some very stupid reason, she had ended up back at the dormitory where he had first lived with Mylo.

    The way it happened wasn''t very clear to Jason but from what he could tell from the chats, it seemed Mylo had girls over, and for some reason Sofia had joined them in a drinking game.

    What had caused her to join the game was uncertain, but the result was that all of them became drunk and somehow ended up in bed with each other creating one of the wildest scenes that would probably only be found on porn websites. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It was clear to Jason that it was a mistake and something that no one had expected, however, what wasn''t clear to Jason was why she had gone and done it again with Mylo�� and again, and again, and again.

    What was even worse was that she didn''t just break up whatever he and she had; instead, she kept sleeping with Mylo while having him on the side.

    From the chats, Jason had even seen that the same night he had ended up kissing her and got caught on a tabloid, Mylo had been in Lisbon that night and they had spent the night together.

    If Mylo was a lying, betraying, piece of sh*t, then by all standards, Sofia wasn''t much different as she had kept him around and led him on all while sleeping with Mylo.

    When Jason had been reading the chats, his first thought was that he had to be the most stupid and unsuspecting human being on earth, and even now, he hadn''t found anything to convince himself otherwise.

    He had been a fool�� a fool in love, but a fool nheless, and now his mind was punishing him for it.

    His mind was taking the bits and pieces that had been described in their chats and reconstructing them in his head, making him watch everything live inside his head.

    Jason so badly wanted to find some way to ckout himself and just shut off his mind for a while, but he couldn''t do that as training called.

    His life wasn''t going to wait for him to get over the mental trauma that gued him and he knew that so he forced himself to his feet and went to prepare for training.

    By the time he was ready to leave his house, his phone was ringing constantly and it was Sofia calling, but he hung up and blocked her on every tform where he could be contacted before heading to training.

    That chapter was closed as far as he was concerned.

    At training, he did his best to maintain his cool and rted well with his teammates, but hisposure threatened to blow off when Mylo arrived at the training ground, however, Jason kept himself in check.

    Mylo also had enough sense to stay away from Jason so training for that day passed without any events.

    No one was able to notice the rift between the promising talents on the team as there wasn''t any training where they had to interact that much, however, Jason had already decided something for himself.

    He did not care whether the team would like it or not, but he was never going to pass the ball to Mylo ever again on the pitch.

    He would rather try taking on the whole opposition team at once and lose the ball instead of giving Mylo a chance at glory.

    His stats might take a dip and talks about him being a non-team yer may spread, but he no longer cared.

    At this point, it was only a matter of time before what happened between them spilled out to the teammates so Jason didn''t care whether it was earlier orter, but his decision would remain the same.

    If it became an issue with the management, he would simply leave the club.

    It was already getting to that time for him anyway.

    With his mind made, Jason threw himself into training, doing his best to exhaust himself so he could sleep with a nk mind that night.

    He didn''t stop there and went on to train himself just enough to not strain his muscles, but he made sure to exhaust himself thoroughly before going to sleep, hoping for a dreamless sleep.

    When he woke up the next morning, he was in an even worse mood because his efforts to tire himself to death for a dreamless night hadn''t worked.

    His irritation was building and he wanted to pull out his hair in annoyance, but he calmed himself with a cold wash as he began preparing to leave for the training grounds to meet the team bus that would be taking the yers to Guimares for their match against Vitoria de Guimares.

    While he was preparing, the bell rang, alerting him of someone outside his house, leaving him wondering who would want to meet him at this time of the morning, after all, he wasn''t exactly a social person, but on opening the door, the urge to m the door back filled his body.

    How could it not fill his body when the cause of his nightmares was standing in his doorway?

 Chapter 386 Slammed Shut

    386 mmed Shut

    Jason''s eyes widened in surprise on finding Sofia in his doorway, but the surprise didn''tst and instantly rage, pain, and mncholy.

    Taking a quick but deep breath first to calm down before he opened his mouth and a cold tone burst out,

    "What are you doing here?"

    Jason''s feelings towards her were made clear in his tone of speaking, but Sofia didn''t seem to hear it.

    "You weren''t picking my calls,"

    "And for good reason," Jason cut in, not ready to deal with any bullshit as it was more guaranteed to hurt than give him any form of closure.

    "... I�� It was a mistake��" Sofia said, her voice so low it was barely above a whisper.

    "Mistake?" Jason asked like he couldn''t believe his ears.

    "Mistake?" he repeated like he wasn''t sure of what he had heard.

    "You might be a university student, but it''s clear that the knowledge thates with that status has been thrown out the window," Jason retorted sharply, his voice sharp and his words cutting in deep.

    "A mistake is something that happened once�� you��

    "... You slept with Mylo more times than I could count, while keeping it behind my back,"

    "... Sofia��"

    "How much of a fool do you think I am?" he asked.

    "It was a mistake!"

    "I came to check on you because you were injured, and you weren''t there, and I went to stay at his ce for the night and I admit that I was a little angry, and I drank a bit, but what happened after was an ident, I swear,"

    "I was drunk and we did not know what we were doing and�� and��" Sofia had rambled for a while, but at some point, she began to run out of words to say.

    "And what? And what Sofia?" Jason cut in when it seemed that she had run out of words.

    "That was the first time�� the first time, Sofia��"

    "If it was a mistake, it should have ended there,"

    "You should have deleted his number and stayed the fu*k away from him. You didn''t even have to tell me, you could have just stayed away from him, but you��"

    "... You slept with him the very next day!" n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "The very next fuc*ing day!" Jason''s voice was already quite a few decibels above his normal speaking volume, but that couldn''t hide the pained edge to his voice.

    He was shouting, and it was clear that he was angry, but more than anything, he was pained, he was hurt, and he hated it.

    "Care to exin that, huh?" he asked, his voice having reduced back to a normal volume.

    "I�� I was drunk," Sofia whispered, almost as if she didn''t want to answer the question, but still ended up answering it anyway, but her action caused Jason to react weirdly.

    "... What?" Jason asked, his confusion in his voice and all over his face.

    His brain was unable to keep up for a second and he was confused at her answer.

    "... borate further on that?" Jason asked, his confusion deepening as he still didn''t understand anything from her answer.

    "After waking up in his bed, I was devastated and confused��"

    "And?" Sofia began exining but Jason hurried her up, as he did not want to hear anything about her emotions.

    "... and I�� I tried to get rid of some of the guilt-"

    "By drinking!?" Jason cut in, his brain finally snapping to attention as everything in the puzzle fell into ce inside his head, and the image that had formed had him stunned in disbelief.

    He looked at Sofia for a sign that he was thinking in the wrong direction, but from the look in her eyes, it was clear that he had hit the mark.

    "... So, you mean to tell me that�� after making a grave mistake like that, not only did you not leave��"

    "... You instead decided to make yourself vulnerable in the same fu*king manner and in the same fu*king ce where you made a mistake, and in doing so, you slept with Mylo��

    "�� Again!" Jason presented his conjuncture, not believing himself for thinking of something so stupid, but Sofia wasn''t refuting it, furthering his disbelief.

    "How stupid can you get!?" At this point, Jason could no longer control his tongue, and a new level of dismay and annoyance at the situation was unlocked.

    How could she be so stupid?

    "You say sleeping with him was a mistake, but in your infinite wisdom, you decided to make yourself vulnerable in the same manner and in the same ce where you already fell once!?"

    "Did you not learn a single thing!?"

    "Do you even consider what happened to be a mistake at all?" the words kept flying out of Jason''s mouth.

    "Because that is the only way I can even fathom you pulling off the stupidest move I have ever seen anyone do in that kind of situation," Jason wasn''t even holding back anymore as he had heard enough bullsh*t.

    "What was I supposed to do, you weren''t around and I-" Sofia began.

    "Oooh?" Jaso cut in, his eyebrow rising.

    "So, now it''s my fault?"

    "Like really? You wanna put this one on me now?"

    "You know what�� It''s okay, I''ll take the me, and you''ll do something else so we''re equal,"

    "Get out of my life, and stay the fuck out,"

    "Don''t try to contact me, don''t try to talk to me, just do whatever you want while making sure to stay away from me,"

    "I wish you and Mylo all the worst things that can ever happen to a person, and also, tell him to stay the fuck away from me as well, or his parents might be one child lesser than they had a few days ago,"

    "Thank you," Jason mmed the door in her face after saying his piece, not giving her any chance to say anything.

    He didn''t want to hear anything from her�� not a single word.

    He was already having a hard time getting her out of his mind, and his fury was building up every minute, yet he was surprisingly unable to do anything about his emotions that were going out of control.

    This was a first for him�� but then, even the heart break was a first, and boy did it hurt.

 Chapter 387 Devil Mode... On I

    387 Devil Mode... On I

    After taking a few minutes to get back his breath, he went right back to preparing to leave, not wanting to spend any extra time thinking about what had just happened.

    It was past and he needed to make sure it stayed away.

    ncing at the clock on the wall, Jason realized that time had flown by quite a bit, but luckily, he was someone who always tried to be earlier than needed because one could never tell when things would be confusing and something could get in the way, hence he was still within schedule and didn''t have to rush himself.

    However, he didn''t slow down for a single second and went straight to getting ready, speed running his preparation and having his bag over his shoulder less than half an hourter. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Once he was done, he stepped out of his house and on realizing that Sofia hadn''t thought to wait around and pester him, he heaved a sigh of relief.

    It would be a difficult situation if that was the case, but luckily, it wasn''t and Jason could leave his house without any trouble and he made his way to the the Portogaia training center.

    Despite the interruption from Sofia, he still managed to be among the first of his teammates to reach the trainig grounds and without hesitation, he quickly parked his car, took his bag, and got on the bus.

    Onfortably taking his seat, he plugged his ears with his headset and let music y while closing his eyes to try and calm his mind in anticipation for the game, but try as he might, he could only keep his mind nk for so long before it was inevitably disturbed by thest few day''s urrences and Jason''s annoyance grew instead of slimming down like he had originally intended.

    Luckily, he didn''t have anyone pestering him and soon the bus was filled and the trip began.

    Throughout the trip, Jason had his eyes closed like he was trying to sleep as he didn''t want to be drawn into any conversations by his teammates as he couldn''t ensure that he had full control of himself at the moment, especially since Mylo was also on the bus.

    The guys around him took the hint and did not bother Jason at all, so with his eyes shut and his ears blocked, Jason wasn''t bothered by anything apart from his mind on the full trip.

    ***

    The Oporto team bus pulled up to Estadio D. Afonso Henriques at a few minutes past 7pm and the yers filed out of the bus and walked into the stadium amidst the shes of the photographers who were quite a bit more abundant in number than previously.

    With the threat of Covid having reduced a lot and the vine finally having been created and undergoing mass production, it seemed that the world would soon put this episode of Covid behind them which was good news for everybody.

    The footballmunity among other sportsmunities were especially delighted with this news as it meant that the fans would soon be able to once again fill up the stadiums and electrify the atmosphere of the matches.

    Both the fans and the yers were happy at that fact, so everyone inevitably had a lighter heart as they watched the fight against the virus slowly go in their favor.

    For the moment however, all eyes were on the Oporto yers who deftly walked into the stadium, prepared for the match.

    Jason was one of thest toe down, and unlike normally when he usually waved at a few cameras and shed a smile that couldn''t be seen anywhere but in his uncovered eyes, this time, his gaze was hard and he walked past the cameras like they were mere statues.

    He was annoyed, but he was doing his best to control himself which led to him being constantly locked in and in full focus.

    At that moment, the only thing on his mind was the game and everything that threatened to pop up quickly faced the brunt of Jason''s mental defense.

    In this locked in mood, he reached the locker room with his teammates and they quickly changed their clothes and got onto the field for a quick warm-up.

    After the warm-up, the yers went back into the locker room to have thest pre-match tactical meeting before the match.

    "In goal will be Augustine, Our two center backs will be Ivan and Pepe while Zaidiu will be on the left and Uribe will be on the right sides of our defence line,"

    "In midfield, we will have Corona on the right wide side and Diaz on the left while in center midfield will be Otavio and Viera,"

    "Up front will be Marega and Taremi," the manager quickly called out the final line-up for the game while the remaining yers that didn''t hear their names immediately knew that they were on the bench.

    Jason''s annoyance red for a bit on hearing that he wasn''t first choice, but he quickly calmed himself before he let his annoyance make him react stupidly.

    ''This is not the first time you aren''t starting, and it wouldn''t be thest time, calm yourself,'' he reminded himself countless times like he was reciting a mantra mentally.

    His annoyance was threatening his whole psyche and it was getting really annoying to deal with something that came as a result of something that wasn''t even his fault.

    Him not being a part of the starting line-up was apletely normal thing and he knew that, but this time, due to his irritation, he didn''t want to ept it and it was best if he got rid of these feelings that were making him vtile.

    Luckily, he had enough emotional control to keep himself in line as he listened to the manager''s game n with his teammates.

    Soon enough, the manager finished exining and it was soon time to take the business to the field.

    Jason and the other bench yers went to the bench while the yers in the starting line-up went to the tunnel to await their cue.

    In a few minutes, the Primera Liga''s next match day would kick off.

 Chapter 388 Devil Mode... On II

    388 Devil Mode... On II

    \After a quick run of the pre-match formalities, the yers of the two teams arranged themselves on the pitch and the referee blew his whistle to signal the start of the match.

    The match soon started with both teams vying for victory which would give them the points needed to climb the table.

    It did not take long for the game to be very exciting as in the third minute of the game Taremi unleashed a powerful shot at the Guimares goal from 24 yards away.

    The ball flew powerfully at goal, flew past the goalkeeper''s gloved palm, and smashed against the crossbar with a loud ng before flying out of y.

    {Oh what a hit!}

    {The keeper was rooted to the spot!} Thementator quickly got to doing his job while the Vitoria de Guimares collected a ball from a ball boy and prepared to take a goal kick, doing his best to show that he was unshaken by the ball smashing against the bar.

    The ball was soon sent back into the field for y to continue by a powerful goal kick from the goalkeeper and the match continued.

    Barely another ten minutester, Oporto had a corner kick.

    The ball was swung in by Otavio, who sent an inswinging cross from the left corner. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Pepe fought against his markers and rose to meet the ball, connecting with it powerfully and doing his best to direct the ball at the opposition goal.

    The ball flew interrupted at the Guimares team''s goal, the goalkeeper unable to do anything about it despite making an incredible dive, but luckily for him, the ball smashed against the left post and flew out of y.

    {Oh! How did that not go in!?}

    {Splendid header from the Oporto captain! It just flew wide!}

    From this, it could clearly be seen who was on the front foot and was pressing the opponent, but the situation on the field soon changed as Vitoria de Guimares tried to change their situation byunching yers forward.

    The Oporto yers did their best to hold out against the opponents and they had been doing well until a mistake by Uribe who had been trying to pass to Ivan, but hadn''t applied enough power on the pass.

    The ball moved too slowly and was easily interrupted by the Vitoria de Guimares striker who quickly closed in on Augustine Marchesin despite the Oporto defenders chasing relentlessly from behind after seeing the mistake.

    The striker however did not let them get to him and coolly slotted the ball past the Oporto goalkeeper before running down the sidelines with his teammates in celebration.

    {GOAL!}

    {In a stunning turn of events, Guimares score first!}

    {They had been pressured, oppressed, and toyed with for most of the game so far, but all they needed was one chance and they took it splendidly!}

    {A costly miscalction from an opposition was all they needed and now the situation has changed!}

    {Where do we go from here!?} Thementator''s words were cutting into the Oporto yers and their fans who were viewing the match were feeling exasperated at having gone behind just half an hour into the game.

    The match soon continued after the Vitoria de Guimares team was done celebrating and the Oporto yers got back on the ball, taking their offensive football to a whole new level, but their opponents who had been so easy to break past previously had tightened up at the back and were now even ying better football, their moods, and efforts seemingly elevated from taking the lead.

    #42nd minute��

    The game was slowly progressing towards half-time and the Oporto team was currently doing their best to get an equalizer before the half-time whistle was blown.

    Their movements were slowly getting fiercer and more frantic as they tried to get that one goal that would put them back on track toward victory.

    However, their frantic actions had presented a chance for their opponents who soon found enough space between the defenders, and a long through pass was sent between the defenders from the left nk.

    Everyone thought the pass was too long, but were stunned when they saw the Vitoria de Guimares striker appear like a ghost in the path of the ball.

    The Oporto defenders'' hands immediately shot up to call for offside as they had not seen how the striker had gotten to the ball, yet the referee''s g stayed down and the striker approached the Oporto goalkeeper uninterrupted for the second time in the game, and just like the first time, he made quick work of Augustine Marchesin and sent him sprawling while simultaneously sending the Oporto bulging.

    {GOAL! He''s got his second!!!}

    {Guimares are stomping forward here and are leaving their opponents in the dust!} As thementator gave hismentary excitedly, the Oporto yers went on toin that the Vitoria de Guimares striker was offside which elicited a pause.

    To deal with the yers''ints, the referee had no choice but to go check with the VAR, but after checking, it was clear that the striker wasn''t offside so the goal would stand.

    {It''s been confirmed!} Thementator went into another round ofmentary on the goal after the referee confirmed the goal while the Oporto yers were left to rue their misfortune.

    At this point, the Oporto fans were already pulling at their hair in frustration at their yers who were now two behind.

    While they knew that the game was not out of their hands yet as anything could still happen in the remaining time, the current situation did not allow for them to think optimistically or excitedly and they were more tilted towards pessimism.

    Going two behind was never a good thing no matter how anyone thought of it and for the Oporto fans, it was especially terrible to see their team seemingly struggling with taking the win against a team like Vitoria de Guimares.

    As defending champions of the league title, it was annoying to not be leading the table and still losing against little teams that would normally not even enter their eyes.

    Unfortunately, the urrences at the stadium didn''t care about the fans'' thoughts and the game soon continued, and before long, the chance that the Oporto team was looking finally appeared.

 Chapter 389: Devil Mode... On III

    Chapter 389: Devil Mode... On III

    Chapter 389: Devil Mode�� On III

    #45+1 minute��

    Oporto was currently losing to Vitoria de Guimares by two goals and the end of the first half was just minutes away.

    Despite being in the backseat, they hadn��t given up hope and were still ying as well as they could, trying to find a goal that would help increase the morale and hope for the second half, and soon it seemed like luck had finally fallen in their favor as they started an attack.

    Corona made an incisive run behind his marker to receive a through pass from Otavio and on getting the ball under control, he dashed forward with it, beating his marker for pace and reaching the right side of the penalty box.

    Instead of crossing the ball like everyone was expecting, he instead decided to cut in and he entered from the side.

    The yers in the middle were still expecting a ball from Corona, but to everyone��s surprise, Corona drew even closer to the goal, using the opportunity presented by the other defenders marking the strikers.

    Once he was close enough he took the shot, shocking everyone expecting a pass.

    The ball flew at the goal, but the Guimares goalkeeper reacted promptly and dived for the ball, stopping it with his palm but he wasn��t able to hold on to it because of the stinging power behind the shot and the ball flew towards Taremi in the center. The goalkeeper immediately spread his body as wide as he could to cover as much of the post as he could and he jumped at Taremi.

    The goalkeeper��s decision ended up as the right one as Taremi shot the ball at goal, but the ball was deflected once again and the ball flew back to the right where Corona still stood and he immediately smashed the ball into the back of the.

    All of this happened in less than three seconds.

    {GOAL!}

    {Oporto! They have one bac-! Oh, the g is up!}

    Everyone��s attention fell on the assistant referee whose g was raised, seemingly calling for an offside.

    The Oporto yers immediately ran to the referee to debate the decision, but the referee paid no heed to their shouts and focused on verifying the call and a few secondster, he got a response.

    Corona had been offside when Taremi had taken the rebound shot at goal, hence the goal would not stand.

    The Oporto yers and their fans were distraught as the referee informed them of his decision and while the yers had to quickly get back into y, the fans watched the rey of the goal and saw the scene of Corona��s offside position during the goal.

    It was clear enough that he was offside and no sane person would debate it.

    The Oporto team immediately tried to take the ball once again and continue their search for a goal, but the referee��s whistle to end the first half blew shortly after and y stopped as the yers of both teams trudged off the field.

    The yers of both teams headed to their locker rooms.

    Without it needing to be said, it was more silent than a graveyard in the Oporto locker room as the yers engaged in a staring contest with their manager for almost a full minute.

    After staring at his yers with annoyance for a full minute, the Oporto manager got to doing his job and began pointing and correcting his yers�� mistakes on the pitch while also making the necessary changes to the game n.

    Finally, he made a change to the line-up and Taremi came off for Mylo.

    Before this match, Mylo had been on fine scoring form and the manager was hoping for Mylo to still have some of that juice left in him. It would be of great help to the team in theing second half.

    After making all the changes that were required, time was already running out and the yers soon headed back to the field to continue the match.

    Through all this, Jason just watched, his face listless, but his emotional state unknown.

    Strangely, he didn��t feel angry seeing the manager put Mylo on the pitch as he knew that there was not likely to be a change.

    Jason could not deny that Mylo was a good striker who could punish a goalkeeper if the ball ever reached him, and he had enough space to get away. At the same time, Jason also knew that that was all Mylo was good for.

    He did not have enough talents elsewhere on the pitch.

    In game terms, Mylo was a yer with ample strength, good finishing, and good positioning, and he also had just enough agility to enable him to reach the ball when he was making a run.

    With these skills, Mylo had created a ying style, that made full use of his attributes.

    He would always stand very near to his marker, continuously looking for a space to run in-between the defense, and once the ball reached any of his intelligent teammates who could ensure the ball reached him, Mylo would make his move and get right beside his marker, holding them off while always ready to make a run.

    Jason could not deny that it was an ingenious ying style, but more than anything, Jason knew the weakness behind it, and that made him able to predict the second half��s oue if Mylo was supposed to be the one saving the team.

    ****

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The second half began and Oporto immediately picked up where they left off trying to take their first step towards aeback while everyone else watched the match with rapt attention.

    Barely minutes after the second half��s whistle, an almost unseen grin appeared on the edge of Jason��s lips.

    It was a grin filled with malice and not one you would expect to see on someone whose team was losing, but Jason couldn��t help it.

    Like mentioned earlier, Jason knew Mylo��s weakness on the pitch and it simply tranted into one phrase.

    Mylo was a striker�� a literal striker of the ball.

    He struck the ball at the goal, but if there was no ball, what could he strike?

 Chapter 390: Devil Mode... On IV

    Chapter 390: Devil Mode... On IV

    Chapter 390: Devil Mode�� On IV

    Oporto was doing their best to get their way back into the game, but against an opposition like Vitoria de Guimares who were the underdogs with a two-goal lead, it was not going to be an easy battle.

    After being lucky to get two past a strong opponent in the first half, it would be very stupid and unbing of an underdog team to y attacking football in the second half.

    That much could be easily predicted and even the manager had made ns for it in the gamen adjustments during the half-time break, but what the manager hadn��t made ns for was his yer��s performance.

    No matter how much one adjusted and tweaked a n, if the people who were to perform failed to show up, then there was not going to be a change in the results.

    As soon as the second half started, the Guimares team had immediately gone on the defensive, and with the goal being in the center, it stood to reason that the center was the most guarded ce, which was coincidentally the ce where Mylo would be ying.

    Normally, it wouldn��t matter much and as long as the Oporto team kept going at it, chances for Mylo would pop up, but for today, Jason didn��t think Mylo would be able to do anything.

    First and foremost, it was clear that the Oporto yers were ying a bit sluggishly and were not ying at the peak of their prowess which could be easily exined as bad form.

    Looking at the line-up, Jason could already imagine what would happen and luckily, it was happening. Since Diaz and Corona were wingers, their jobs were to make runs down the nks with the ball, hence they would only be able to supply crosses into the box which would be difficult for Mylo to get to.

    As for Otavio and Viera in midfield who could send passes at Mylo in the middle, they would rather choose to send passes down the nks when they saw that there was no way down the middle.

    Sure as can be, it did not take long for all forward passes to be made down the nks instead of the center after Mylo lost the ball more than five times due to being boxed in the center.

    For Mylo who didn��t have the agility to escape his markers, this was the only conclusion, and soon, Mylo became little more than a scarecrow in the center while all the forward passes were made down the nks.

    This was what Jason had been waiting for�� Mylo��s istion on the pitch.

    His team was losing and time was continuously running out, but for once Jason didn��t allow himself to care and just took pleasure in watching Mylo amble aimlessly around the field, unable to get his leg to the ball.

    It was like watching primeedy that left him feeling satisfied instead of humorous.

    At this point, Jason was already thinking that if the team lost, then so be it�� It was worth it to watch Mylo be useless on the pitch throughout the match.

    However, fate had other ns in store for the Oporto team.

    The clock ticked and tocked and time drained away every second.

    It felt longer than usual to the Guimares fans and felt shorter than usual to the Oporto fans.

    It was all a matter of perspective, yet the scores remained unchanged and the hope of the Oporto fans was slowly draining away while the game went on.

    The Oporto fans were mentally biting their nails watching the infuriating game while wondering why Jason was still sitting on the bench.

    The Oporto team could use a little Jason magic at that moment, yet the manager was keeping him seated on the bench, having him watch the game instead of actually participating.

    ��What the hell is that Corona guy even doing? He��s not even getting into the box!!!�� One infuriated Oporto fan muttered in annoyance as he pulled at his hair in exasperation.

    The game was slowly slipping away from them and there were only ten minutes left till the end of the game, yet they were still two goals behind.

    At this point, even the most optimistic of Oporto fans were already beginning to admit their team��s loss in the game, yet the worst was yet toe.

    #82ndminute��

    As if he had heard the viewersining about his bad performance in one-on-one situations in the match so far, Corona finally decided to take a risky chance at getting a goal and once he got the ball, he first darted out wide, pulling his marker along as well as another defender.

    Once they were out wide, Corona suddenly changed directions and began cutting back into the center, weaving his way in between every bodily figure he came across.

    He went past one, two, three, but just as he was beginning to forget himself, a strong tackle mmed into his heel from behind and brought him back to reality with a sharp jolt of pain as he crashed to the ground.

    The referee immediately ran over and pulled out a yellow card to show the opposition yer who made the tackle, but after a few more seconds, Corona still hadn��t stood up and was rolling in pain on the green.

    The medics didn��t need an invitation and soon ran onto the field to administer first aid to Corona��s injury, but even after administering first aid, it was clear that Corona was finished for the day.

    ��Jason, warm-up quickly, you��re on,�� the injury instantly made the manager look inward.

    ��Hurry up, you have one minute to get ready.�� he called to hurry Jason.

    Originally, the manager harbored belief that his team could equalize much earlier, but when that didn��t happen, he had chosen to give up on the game and instead rest the remaining yers on the bench for the next game.

    Hence he had not made any substitutions after Mylo and was already prepared for a loss, yet with the current situation, he had no choice but to bring Jason on.

    Jason stood up with expectation, not having much hope for the game��s results either, but not willing to turn down the chance to y�� not that he could anyway.

    He quickly did a few warm-up stretches and soon ran back to finish dressing up while the manager fired off a burst of instructions in his ears.

    The instructions were a mere formality and was literally the manager telling him to get on the field and y.

    ��Dribble if you have to, and if you see a chance, shoot,��

    That was all Jason heard, and that was all he needed to hear as it was exactly what he was going to do.

 Chapter 391: Devil Mode... On V

    Chapter 391: Devil Mode... On V

    Chapter 391: Devil Mode�� On V

    Jason ran onto the field to take Corona��s ce and he jogged over to where the ball was.

    As the main set-piece specialist of the team, he was usually the one standing behind the ball for any set-piece whenever he was on the field.

    Meeting up with Otavio and Oliveira who were there as well, they began discussing how to take the free kick while the Guimares yers arranged a wall with the supervision of the referee.

    Without much debate with the others, Jason stood behind the ball and waited for the wall to be arranged while the rest of his teammates arranged themselves in the box and around him to receive the ball.

    The ce where Corona was fouled was about thirty yards out so the wall was more of a customary arrangement than an actual attempt to block him from taking a direct free kick.

    Not even his own teammates were expecting him to take the free kick direct and Oliveira had evene up with a n for Jason to send a cross to Mylo into the box where Mylo would be waiting to jump at the ball.

    ording to their current situation, it was the safest way to attempt scoring, and when Oliveira was exining his n to Jason, he had done his best to exin what he needed Jason to do.

    Jason had listened intently, putting on a look of eptance, but inwardly he was thinking to himself that there was no way in hell that would be happening. When Oliveira was done talking, Jason nodded affirmatively and Oliveira moved away, slinking over to Mylo and telling him to expect a cross, not aware that he was making a wasted effort.

    Jason waited behind the ball, gauging the distance to the goal and wondering if he could send a shot powerful and urate enough at the goal that he could score.

    He did not n on crossing the ball to Mylo, but he also knew that if he actually dared to go against the vice-captain��s orders in a game like this, part of the me for the inevitable loss of the game would fall on his head and he didn��t need that.

    He needed to outshine Mylo on the team while isting Mylo from any chances of getting a good performance. Nothing else would do, hence his attempts at gauging the distance and gearing himself for a shot.

    In the end, the whistle was blown and Jason still wasn��t sure whether he would be able to score from that far out as he had never even tried something like this in training.

    However, the whistle was already blown and he had no choice but to move and that was exactly what he did.

    As soon as Jason moved at the ball, Oliveira who was waiting at the edge of the penalty box felt Jason��s intent as it was very clear in his eyes.

    ��What is he doing?�� he thought internally, but outwardly, the words, ��Don��t shoot!�� flew out of his mouth, but the words did not reach Jason who hit the ball with as much power and technique as he could muster.

    Jason had to make sure that the ball had enough power to be a threat to the goal while also not having too much elevation that it would fly out of y, but since this was his first attempt, he just did the best he could.

    The ball thundered off, shooting at Guimares�� goal like a rocket.

    It looked like it would fly up and out of y which gave the goalkeeper a sense of security for a split second, but almost immediately the ball was already in front of the goal and the goalkeeper realized that the ball wasn��t flying above crossbar level.

    The Vitoria de Guimares goalkeeper immediately dived for the ball and somehow looked to be almost reaching the ball, but at thest moment, the ball swerved slightly, flew past his outstretched palm and smashed into the top right corner of the goal.

    {Oh my!!!}

    {What a hit! What a hit!}

    {That was a st that none of us sawing!}

    {This kid was only on the bench a minute ago, but with his first touch on the ball, he��s gone and scored an absolute banger!}

    {The deficit is down to one and Oporto are much closer to equalizing this game now!} thementator went wild as the ball went in, but Jason who had scored the goal didn��t feel the inclination to do the same.

    When the ball had hit the back of the, an instinctive joy had risen from within him, but a nce at Mylo, another nce at the clock, and the fact that his team was still losing swept the joy away and he began jogging back to his team��s half of the field while making a gesture at his wrist, trying to remind his teammates that their time was running out and this was no time for celebrations.

    His teammates immediately got the hint and no one bothered to engage in any mboyant celebrations while one of the yers even went to grab the ball out of the back of the to hurry the game��s resumption.

    #86thminute��

    The game had quickly resumed due to the efforts of the Oporto team to hurry up the game, but after kick-off, the Vitoria de Guimares yers had tried to waste time with the ball, but the Oporto yers had descended on the in numbers, every single member carrying their own weight and hassling their opponents well enough to steal the ball back from them.

    Soon the ball was back with the Oporto yers and they immediatelyunched an attack.

    The ball was exchanged among the Oporto yers with skill and precision and soon the ball reached Jason.

    Unlike his teammates who had chosen to pass the ball in a tight situation, Jason reacted differently and used a reverse stico with his left leg to escape between two yers trying to tackle him and steal the ball.

    Aftering out of the situation, he had begun cutting in from the right and he could not turn back as the yers were hot on his heels.

    As he was the final man on the right nk, there was no one on the right he could send a through-ball too and ncing at Mylo who had created space in the middle to make a run and calling for a pass infuriated him, so he decided to go alone.

    There were four yers in between him and the Guimares goal; three Guimares yers and Mylo.

    Jason started with the first yer that came at him and used a simple drop feint to confuse him and run past him.

    A second yer ran at Jason after seeing him evade the first yer and just behind that guy was Mylo, who was asking for the ball.

    Jason��s response to the situation was one that shocked everyone.

    He did a marseille turn to evade the opposition yer, but when everyone was thinking that he wouldy off the ball to Mylo who was the best option with the ball, Jason rolled the ball with very precise movement in-between Mylo��s legs, using him as a decoy and jumping past him to chase after the ball, leaving the third defender eating his dust in confusion.

    {What��s this we have here!?}

    {It��s a confusing move to dribble your own teammate, but it��s gotten him one-on-one with the keeper!}

 Chapter 392: Devil Mode... On VI

    Chapter 392: Devil Mode... On VI

    Chapter 392: Devil Mode�� On VI

    {He��s one-on-one!!!} thementator shouted as he saw Jason escape thest defender.

    The Vitoria de Guimares goalkeeper immediately came off his line as he saw Jason escape thest defender. He was hoping to get close enough quickly to throw Jason off and make him shoot the ball wide, but unfortunately for him, Jason had other ns in mind.

    Before the goalkeeper had even taken three steps forward, Jason was already swinging his foot at the ball, unleashing a powerful shot that flew at the opponent��s goal.

    The ball flew at the goal powerfully, curling just past the goalkeeper��s palms and smashing into the back of the.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Would you look at that!}

    {How many minutes has he been on and he already has two!}

    {How stupendous! How dramatic! In less than five minutes of beautiful football, Oporto have equalized in a game that they had been trailing previously!} Thementator went wild on thementary and the Oporto fans in their homes who had previously lost hope were now off their seats, shouting joyously at their team pulling off something that looked nigh impossible less than ten minutes ago. Their hopes had been ignited once again, but the Vitoria de Guimares camp was now feeling the exact opposite of everything that the Oporto fans were feeling.

    One thing was for sure however, and that was that everyone��s eyes was now on Jason who was jogging back to his half of the field, high-fiving his teammates on the way, but his expression remained one of utter focus and determination.

    A smile had threatened to break out on his face when the ball had gone in, but remembering that his team wasn��t out of the woods yet wiped the smile off before it even showed up.

    Mylo appearing in his vision when he turned back had an added effect in making sure that any positive expression stayed away from his face.

    ***

    #89thminute��

    The game had resumed with a kick-off by the Vitoria de Guimares team and the game had quickly resumed to its heated peak with both teams now vying for the winning goal that would ensure that they ended this game with the win.

    There were still three points up for contention and both teams wanted to be the ones to take all the points, not willing to share the points with their opponents.

    With their moods bolstered by their sudden barrage of two goals, Oporto were now ying like the defending champions that they were and were now doing their best to oppress their opponents, making the right passes, holding the ball for longer, and finding more breaking through options than before.

    In the middle of the field, Viera suddenly saw Jason making a run at the defense line and he did not hesitate to send a lobbed forward pass over.

    Jason increased his pace as soon as he saw Viera send the ball over, but at that same moment, he noticed the Vitoria de Guimares goalkeeper also running off his line, thinking that he could reach the ball before Jason.

    It was a desperate attempt by the goalkeeper who wanted to do everything that he could to ensure that his team did not concede another goal and go behind at this juncture, but Jason could clearly see that the goalkeeper had miscalcted as there was no way he would get to the ball first.

    As they both ran towards thending point of the iing ball, it seemed the goalkeeper had realized this as well, but at this point, he couldn��t stop what he was doing as that would give Jason an even better opportunity.

    Seeing the goalkeeper not giving up on his actions, a devious thought appeared in Jason��s head for no reason, and unlike other times when he would avoid such ideas that were mostly just showboating, this time, he didn��t immediately sweep away the idea.

    As expected, it seemed like Jason would get to the ball first and the goalkeeper would get there about a secondter.

    Jason suddenly angled his body as if he would directly volley the ball at the goal, causing the goalkeeper to immediately spread out his arms and legs as best as he could to cover all angles, but to everyone��s surprise, Jason caught the ball on his foot with perfect motion, taking all the power out of the pass and in one swift moment, sweeping the ball on the ground in-between the goalkeeper��s legs.

    The goalkeeper who had jumped into the path that he thought Jason would shoot at came crashing down, but as if in a movie, he caught himself in a sliding motion and immediately turned after Jason and gave chase.

    Because of his cheeky actions, the ball wasn��t rolling towards the goal, but was rolling wide while Jason chased after it, giving the goalkeeper enough time to get back into a position to cover the goal, but as soon as Jason reached the ball, the goalkeeper was sent flying again after Jason faked another shot.

    ��Pass!�� Mylo who had just arrived in the penalty box called to Jason after seeing the awkward angle Jason was in despite sending the goalkeeper flying.

    Jason didn��t even bother paying any attention to hisses from the snake despite it being the better option as he was now surrounded by defenders.

    ��It��s just two guys,�� the thought shed in his head as he moved, feinting to the right before darting towards the left, escaping one guy before following up with an stico that he used to nutmeg the second guy, putting him in front of the goalkeeper once more.

    The goalkeeper didn��t think of the previous humiliations and immediately rushed at Jason once more and like a moth to the me, he once again jumped at the ball as Jason raised his leg to take a shot.

    As the goalkeeper jumped, Jason stopped swinging at the ball and pulled it out of the goalkeeper��s path before putting his leg on the ball and turning to use his heel to flick it into the back of the.

 Chapter 393: Devil Mode... On VII

    Chapter 393: Devil Mode... On VII

    Chapter 393: Devil Mode�� On VII

    {What have we just witnessed!}

    {What disrespect! What decimation! All done by one man!}

    {Hat-trick! And what a way to do it!}

    {It��s been seven minutes since he came on! And that was all the time he needed to three!}

    {He��s gotten his hat trick and he��s single-handedly destroyed his opponents and saved his team while he was at it!} Thementator couldn��t keep hismentary light after what he had just witnessed and neither could the Oporto fans or the yers.

    Even Jason had his mind clear up after the goal and hepletely forgot about everything else for a moment as he jogged to the side of the penalty box where he saw a camera pointing at him.

    He reciprocated the action, pointing at the camera and blowing a kiss at the camera.

    Less than a secondter his teammates jumped on him in celebration and Jason��s mental troubles that were about toe back were sent away once again as he now had to focus on surviving this suffocating experience. At this point, he didn��t even remember that Mylo might be among the guys jumping on him in celebration and he was just enjoying the feeling of ying well and celebrating with his teammates.

    While the Oporto team celebrated, the opposition yers all had defeated looks on their faces as they watched their opponents celebrate.

    Their eyes unanimously always fell on the handsome guy with long curly hair who had taken it upon himself to personally destroy their almost sure victory in less than ten minutes since he got on the pitch.

    The Vitoria de Guimares goalkeeper especially had a hateful, yet helpless look on his face as the memories of Jason toying with him shed in his mind.

    The defenders Jason had sent packing were also experiencing something simr, but the goalkeeper had turned into a depressed patient after less than ten minutes of facing off against Jason.

    The unthinkable things Jason had done to him were very fresh in his memory and as a fresh wave of embarrassment swept across his body, he covered his face with his huge gloved hands in shame, wanting to hide from the embarrassment.

    Nobody needed to tell him, that he would be the highlight reel of the week and would soon be known as the goalkeeper utterly decimated by a kid that was half his age.

    Even worse was that he would soon be on every form of social media as a video reel for people tough at.

    However, nothing he did now would change what had already happened so he got back to his feet as soon as it was time for the game to kick-off again.

    The game soon resumed and the Vitoria de Guimares immediately triedunching an attack from the get-go, trying to find a goal that would put them back on equal terms before the final whistle was blown, but the Oporto team defense was on top of their game unlike previously and they ensured that till the final whistle was blown, there was no threat to their goal.

    *Fwweeeeeeee*

    {There it is, the final whistle!}

    {Oporto have won!}

    {They have done it the hard way,ing back from being two goals down to ending the game with a one-goal lead and it��s all thanks to one man!}

    {Hat-trick hero Jason came onto the pitch due to the unfortunate circumstances of his colleague, but his appearance on the pitch turned out to be a very fortunate urrence for his team as he scored a hat-trick just seven minutes after stepping onto the pitch bringing the game to the score that we have as the final results of the game}

    {Vitoria de Guimares 2 : 3 Oporto}

    {With a performance like this one just before the January transfer window, Oporto may have a harder job than before trying to fight off teams that may not want to wait till the end of the season to get their hands on this man!} the partingmentary had somehow ended up being all about Jason instead of about the whole match in general, but the people listening could not deny thementator��s words.

    Many clubs were already keeping their eyes on Jason while preparing their finances for a bidding war in theing summer transfer season, but with the performance that Jason had just pulled off, those teams just might be letting go of their purse strings a little earlier than they nned.

    If any of those teams felt a threat to their ns of getting Jason in the summer and they made a bid early, then it was sure as hell going to set off a wave as the other teams wouldn��t want to miss the chance.

    However, all this was still mere spection from various people, and what would happen remained to be seen.

    As thementator gave his parting words, Jason went to pick up the match ball and also collected the man of the match award while he was at it.

    Next were pictures and a brief interview with some reporters which Jason coasted through, though in the interviews, he mostly gave one-word answers to the reporters unlike usual.

    Now that the exhration from the match was slowly draining away, he was slowly feeling less inclined to talk at all and just said the barest minimum before walking away from the reporters and heading to the locker room with his MOTM award and match ball in hand.

    Jason entered the rowdy locker room that immediately became livelier with his arrival. His teammates did not hide their happiness at their victory and they acknowledged his part in the team��s victory.

    Jason also put on a customary smile despite how he felt at being in a room with Mylo and responded to his teammates as he began changing out of his match kit.

    The conversation soon shifted to Jason��s goals.

    ��Honestly bro, I thought you��d pass to Mylo there, but you just went full devil mode and shed through those guys and scored so cheekily,�� Vieraughed, talking about Jason��s third goal.

    ��Yeah, even on the free-kick, you were supposed to cross the ball into the middle, no one actually thought you��d shoot direct from there,�� Oliveira also added, remembering that he had told Jason to cross the ball to Mylo, yet Jason had taken the shot, which was out of character for Jason who tended to pass more than he took shots.

    ��Bruh, that second goal, you even dribbled Mylo instead of passing the ball to him,�� Zaidiu addedughingly as well.

    Jason justughed at their words, not intending to tell them why he wasn��t passing the ball, but Mylo didn��t seem to take a hint, and like an idiot in full glory, all he heard was that he had missed the chance to get a hat-trick in the match if only Jason only passed to him instead of taking the shots himself.

    ��Tch�� You should have just passed the ball man,�� he clicked his teeth and said in an annoyed tone, his voice low enough that not many people shouldn��t have heard, but Jason��s eyes immediately snapped in his direction, anger, disgust, and disdain appearing in Jason��s eyes and became apparent on his face secondster causing the observant guy��s to have an eyebrow rise at what they were seeing take ce.

    ��I only pass to teammates�� not snakes,�� Jason retorted coldly, his words drawing attention to the situation as Jason now looked at Mylo with a face that contained anger while Mylo stared back defiantly.

    The rowdiness in the locker room reduced quickly as everyone��s eyes now fell on Jason and Mylo, the tension in between the two of them now clear for all to see.

 Chapter 394: Tension in the Locker room

    Chapter 394: Tension in the Locker room

    The team that was once rowdy due to the high moods of the yers after winning a game that was nigh impossible was now silent all of a sudden as everyone��s eyes fell on Jason and Mylo who were staring at each other without any of the positive emotions that was supposed to be in the eyes of teammates.

    ��What��s up with those two guys?�� one guy nudged his friend and asked in a low tone.

    ��If you��re asking me, who should I ask?�� the other guy responded back in an even lower tone.

    It was known in the team that there was no love lost between Jason and Mylo and no one could make the mistake of pronouncing them as friends, especially since they always attacked each other with words and Jason almost always won, but what the yers were seeing was apletely different type of banter�� in fact, things were too tense for anyone to believe that this was a mere banter.

    ��What do you mean by that, bro?�� Mylo finally responded to Jason��s words, and to the remaining guys it seemed like Mylo was taking a step back.

    ��You know what I��m talking about, don��t act like you don��t�� and I��m not your bro,�� Jason retorted, his words sharp without a hint of warmth.

    ��Seriously man�� urgh, that��s personal stuff, this is business,�� Mylo shrugged, as if he was annoyed by Jason��s actions and couldn��t understand why Jason was bringing up that matter here.

    ��Oh? So now you know the difference between personal and business?�� normally, Jason would be amused by Mylo��s words, but his anger at Mylo wasn��t allowing any other emotions to take it��s ce. ��Wow, what a genius���� Jason��s words were sarcastic and cold and he was about to continue speaking when the manager barged into the room.

    ��What��s going on here?�� the manager had been expecting the room to be filled with the loud and excited voices of the yers who would be talking about their win, and he had been intending to make them quieten down and remind the yers of what had truly happened in the game.

    The yers hadn��t been up to par until thest minutes and while some would say that his yers had simply been unlucky to be unable to score, he thought differently.

    They had simply not moved sharply enough and if not for Jasoning on in the final minutes and managing to jump-start his teammates�� morale, the game would have ended very differently.

    The team owed the whole victory to Jason and only Jason, and he had been nning to remind them of that, buting into the locker room and witnessing the pensive situation between Jason and Mylo, he instantly knew something was wrong.

    ��Can someone tell me what is going on?�� he asked again but no one responded as most of the people in the room didn��t know what was going on between the two new youth talents of their club, while the youth talents themselves weren��t going to say anything directly.

    Seeing that no one was saying anything, Pepe decided to take control of the situation and stood up.

    ��Something��s going on between those two kids,�� Pepe whispered to the manager while pointing with his eyes at Mylo and Jason.

    ��Okay,�� Conceicao immediately understood what he was to do next without Pepe saying anything.

    No matter what was going on between Jason and Mylo, for now it felt like it was something personal and thus it would be best if it wasn��t aired out in a situation like this.

    It could ruin the morale and team chemistry between the yers and thus this wasn��t the time to bring up such a matter.

    Of course, he also couldn��t afford to leave the issue alone and assume it would blow over by itself, but now was not the time.

    ��Okay, guys, good work out there,�� he changed the topic swiftly as they didn��t have much time to waste just sitting around.

    ��There were some hitches and we didn��t y as sharply as I would have liked, but we were able to pull out the performance we needed to end up with the win, so that is a start for us,��

    ��We��ll get to correcting what went wrong in theing days,�� Conceicao quickly addressed the yers while keeping an eye on Jason and Mylo.

    ��Of course, we cannot talk about our win without bringing up Jason��s performance, which is something I want you guys to emte,��

    ��A round of apuse for him please,�� the manager��s words was followed with a wave of enthusiastic apuse as the yers once again congratted Jason, their tones jovial as what had happened earlier took a backseat in their heads.

    ��Of course, not everyone will pull off such cheeky goals, but his work rate on the pitch is something I want to see more of from you guys����

    The manager continued addressing the yers for a few more minutes before finally ending his speech and the yers were once again free to continue their preparations to leave the stadium.

    The locker room once again became rowdy, but all was not forgotten and the Oporto yers continuously sent nces over at Jason and Mylo who were at the farthest corners away from each other.

    While Jason didn��t pay any attention to what was going on and focused on clearing up, Pepe drew closer to Viera and whispered to him.

    ��Any idea what��s going on between those two?��

    ��Nah cap, I didn��t even know they were fighting. They��ve always had their squabbles but this time it was different and it seems something major has happened,�� Viera whispered back to the Pepe, not making it obvious what they were talking about, but anyone watching them saw Viera nce over at Jason and immediately connected the dots.

    ��Any chance you can find out what��s going on?��

    ��It won��t be good for the quarrel to go on, it��s bad for the team��s morale,�� Pepe whispered back.

    What he was doing was under the orders of the manager, but it was also something he had to do.

    The manager couldn��t directly interfere by asking what was going between Jason and Mylo as it was no longer football business, and Pepe couldn��t do it himself since he wasn��t too close to Jason and his butting in could make the situation worse, hence he had no choice but to ask for Viera��s help as he was probably the closest person to Jason on the team.

    ��I��ll try to find out, and hopefully, he��ll talk,�� Viera sighed as he knew what he had to do.

 Chapter 395: Jinx I

    Chapter 395: Jinx I

    ***31stDecember 2020***

    The sun shone brightly on the green fields on the CTFD Portogaia where the Oporto yers were having their team training session.

    It was thest day of the year, which for so many people was the time for a year end break where they would travel to their homes to spend the year end with their factory, but the Oporto team was different in this aspect.

    Part of it was due to the professionalism of a top-tier club, and another part was that the manager wanted the yers at the training grounds preparing for their next game after a narrow escape against their opponents two days ago.

    �� Well, maybe that was the major reason the yers were hard at work instead of on their way home to their families all over the world.

    In a room that functioned as the manager��s office at the training ground, the manager was seated at the table drawing some things onto his pad.

    It looked like some sort of a tactical set-up, considering the shape and the names being used, but the work wasn��tplete yet.

    As the manager continued his drawing, he heard a sharp knock at the door. *Knock* Knock*

    ��Come in,�� The manager called out without looking up, his focus remaining on what he was drawing, but from the sounds that entered his ears, he knew that whoever had knocked the door had alreadye into the room.

    After a few more seconds of drawing, he could finally see what he was drawing take shape well enough that he wouldn��t forget after the interruption, thus he finally looked up.

    ��Pepe? What brings you here?�� he asked, his curiosity evident in his voice.

    Training had barely begun an hour ago so there shouldn��t be anything that would bring the team captain to his office, but what his eyes were seeing were suggesting otherwise.

    ��Ah�� it��s about what you asked me to do two days ago���� Pepe began, but could see that the manager��s curiosity hadn��t disappeared.

    ��About Jason and Mylo,�� he added, and immediately, Conceicao��s eyes lit up in remembrance of the matter.

    ��Are they still giving each other the cold shoulder? What happened between them?�� Conceicao immediately asked.

    He had forgotten the matter earlier, but now that he remembered, the urgency of the matter once again bore on him and he pushed aside the tactical drawings he was doing.

    ��We���� Pepe began and pulled out a chair for himself,

    ��We�� might have a problem�� a very big problem,�� Pepe sighed heavily as he sat down at the table directly across from the manager.

    ��That doesn��t soundforting,�� Conceicao thought, but he still needed to hear the story.

    ��Tell me, what happened.��

    Pepe didn��t hesitate to tell him what he had heard from Viera.

    Viera had acted on the Pepe��s orders and asked Jason about the matter and initially, Jason didn��t seem to want to talk about it, but after little bit of effort from Viera, Jason spilled the beans.

    What Viera didn��t know was that Jason had figured out that he was probably acting on someone��s orders to find out the situation between him and Mylo, and after weighing the situation, he had decided that there was no point in hiding the story, hence he had told Viera everything about the story.

    Jason had chosen full transparency and had told Viera about how he had met Sofia, what he had felt for her, his actions towards her and their progress with each other, and everything else until the night when he found out that he had been yed like a fool.

    Viera himself couldn��t believe his ears when he heard the story from Jason, especially since he had heard about Sofia from Jason before and he knew that Mylo knew her as well.

    After all, they used to be roommates and Sofia was also the only girl apart from Jason��s agent that had ever been seen with Jason.

    After getting all the information, he hade to training this morning like usual and he had told Pepe about what he had heard from Jason and Pepe told the manager everything that he had been told.

    ���� That��s a major issue that we can��t just hope to blow over,�� Conceicao sighed as he finished listening to what Pepe told him.

    ���� Are you sure that is the whole truth?�� he asked after thinking about it for a few seconds.

    ��I can��t confirm that, but I believe that it is very likely, sir,��Pepe began.

    ��Jason is not the kind of guy that woulde up with such an borate story to justify a quarrel between him and someone else, he��s more likely to ignore the whole situation,�� Pepe continued, saying what he knew about Jason.

    ��I��m not saying everything was fabricated�� but you��re right, that kid is too straightforward to y those kinds of games,�� Conceicao started out trying to defend himself, but midway through, he could not help but agree with his team��s captain.

    ��Also, from what I��ve heard, that Mylo kid is quite the expert in horizontal rtionships, so this sounds to be right up his alley,�� Pepe chimed in.

    ��That doesn��t give me any hope�� but we need to at least hear the story from both sides,��

    ��Help me with that as well,�� Conceicao asked Pepe who nodded while still seated in the chair.

    Conceicaoy back in his chair and rubbed in between his brows.

    Things had be quite troublesome.

    This was probably the worst thing that could happen to the team right now.

    Despite still being on a good run of form, they had been quite shaky in thest match and conflicts between the yers were the perfect ingredient to turn that shaky performance to a run of bad form.

    The problem was that there was no simple way to solve the problem.

    If the story heard was true, then there was now an irreconcble chasm between two of the team��s current best performers.

    There was no way to settle the matter because considering the age of the two yers, they weren��t likely to be able to put aside their differences for the greater good.

    In fact, forget about age factors�� Conceicao didn��t think even he would be able to work professionally with someone who slept with his wife.

    He was sure that whenever they were even thousands of kilometers apart, all he would be thinking was about shoving a knife into the guy��s throat and cutting his di*k off.

    It was already a wonder that a physical fight hadn��t broken out yet.

    Conceicao was thinking about what he could do to avoid any problems when someone suddenly barged into the room,

    ��*Huff* Manager, the yers are fighting!��

    ��Shit, I had to jinx it,�� Conceicao thought as he immediately rose from his chair.

 Chapter 396: Jinx II

    Chapter 396: Jinx II

    In the manager��s office, Conceicao was thinking about the best wayto avoid any conflict with team interestswhen someone suddenly barged into the room,

    ��*Huff* Manager, the yers are fighting!��the new arrival managed to huff out despite being out of breath from running all the way there.

    ��Shit, I had to jinx it,�� Conceicao thought as he immediately rose from his chairand began moving hurriedly out of the room.

    Pepe had already stood up much earlier and moved quicker as he was more athletic.

    ***

    *A few minutes earlier��*

    On the field, the yers were having a scrimmage match that was being watched over by the assistant coaches as well as other club personnel.

    The yers had been divided into two teams on the field and were ying against each other. Jason was on the B team and he currently had a bib over his training kit and luckily, Mylo was on the opposing team so there wasn��t any conflict of interest in Jason��s team.

    However, with Mylo now on the other team, it gave Jason enough justification to y against him and for some reason, Jason had begun to take a sadistic pleasure at embarrassing Mylo.

    Hence whenever he received the ball, he would run towards the center instead of down the nks while watching for Mylo and whenever Mylo came to tackle him for the ball, Jason would pull out the mostplicated skill that could send Mylo sprawling and use it.

    With Mylo��s talents more geared towards attacking than defending, Mylo almost always couldn��t react on time and was always sent the wrong way.

    Even the few times he wasn��t sent the wrong way, he still couldn��t reach the ball as he was no match for Jason��s agility.

    To the people watching, it was like Jason was showboating, but that didn��t stop them from hooting, calling, andughing until Mylo was red with embarrassment.

    At this point, some of the guys who were in the locker room after the match two days ago remembered that Jason and Mylo had beef and that Jason was probably taking out his anger on Mylo running around him in circles, but they didn��t bother interfering.

    It wasn��t their business what was going on between Jason and Mylo, plus Jason was very clever with his movements.

    He made sure to aggravate Mylo enough to ensure that Mylo would alwayse back for more, yet he didn��t overdo it to the point where he was going against the major point of the training session so everyone just watched the training session and let whatever was happening to keep on happening,

    It was quite entertaining after all.

    However, Mylo had had enough.

    The next time Jason received the ball, he once again began shifting to the center while evading other yers until he came face-to-face with Mylo again.

    The beginnings of a devious smile appeared at the corner of Jason��s lips as he saw Mylo charging towards him with clear intent.

    Jason waited for Mylo to get close enough before his right leg went in front of the ball and his left leg caught the ball from behind and pushed it onto his right heel.

    Before Mylo could realize what was going on, Jason was already in motion andpleted a rainbow flick carrying the ball over his back and over the iing Mylo.

    *Ohhhhhhhh!!!* Everyone shouted as Mylo almost fell while he tried toe to a stop.

    After almost slipping and falling, Mylo had recovered enough control of his body to turn back and chase after Jason, but just as he turned around, Jason flicked the ball that was still mid-air back over his head and he hopped back as well.

    *Ohhhhhhhh!!!* the loud shouts filled the air again as Mylo was once again swept by, however, Mylo had entered tunnel vision at this point and only Jason was in sight, so he once again ignored his surroundings and chased after Jason once again��

    This was exactly what Jason wanted and he waited for Mylo to rush up once more before coolly pushing the ball that was about tond in between Mylo��s legs.

    *Ohhhhhhhh!!!* the people watching went wild again andughter could now be heard as well apart from their exmations and this caused Mylo to snap.

    As Jason was smoothly drifting past him after slotting the ball inbetween his leg, Mylo��s arm shot out and he grabbed a hold of Jason��s shirt by the cor and pulled hard.

    This action surprised Jason who wasn��t expecting it and for a second, his breathing was constricted, but Mylo didn��t stop there and yanked even harder before sweeping his legs from the ground, and without surprise, Jason went crashing to the ground.

    ������

    For a second, Jason dazedly stared at the open sky above him, but a secondter, anger appeared in his eyes and a cruel smile appeared on his lips.

    His hands immediately went to the side of his heads and he did a martial arts kick up, immediately jumping onto his legs and turning to Mylo.

    ���� Wrong move, very wrong move,�� he muttered and began advancing at Mylo.

    ��Hey, hey, bro, chill,�� Otavio who was the nearest immediately called out to Jason, trying to dissuade Jason from doing what everyone could clearly see that he was going to do.

    Unfortunately for Mylo, because everyone had been too stunned by what was happening, nobody moved on time to stop Jason from reaching, but he wasn��t a fool either and could see that Jason was definitely not walking up to him to shake his hand, or pat his shoulder.

    Even if Jason did, he wouldn��t take it.

    After all, he had been embarrassed continuously and was now infuriated so he also moved towards Jason and to everyone��s surprise he swung at Jason first.

    Jason had been watching Mylo��s body movement so the moment, he moved his body to throw the hook, he saw iting from a mile away and he swiftly dropped his body and went under Mylo��s punch before countering with a powerful liver shot punch.

    *Ooff*

    The sound of Jason��s fist hitting Mylo��s body was apanied by the sound of Mylo��s agony at being hit, but as he doubled back, holding his abdomen, Jason rose back up.

    He wasn��t yet done beating up the snake.

 Chapter 397 Jinx III

    397 Jinx III

    Jason''s eyes scanned all over Mylo''s body as he stumbled back, his posture half bent over as he grabbed his abdomen where Jason had hit him earlier.

    Yet despite being close enough to follow up with another hit, Jason caught himself before he let his limbs fly at Mylo.

    Fighting wasn''t going to solve anything anyway and would only make him feel good for a little while, but the repercussions of hitting Mylo in the face could be troublesome for himter on.

    Jason knew his own strength and considering his current body''s condition, which included his mental aggravation, he knew there was no way he would hit Mylo on the face and not leave a clear mark.

    If that happened, then there would be talks about him being violent and the media would have a field day trying to ruin his life with nonsensical articles and this would affect him in the long-run.

    As his mind finished this line of thought, a wave of anger, annoyance, and dissension swept through his body and for a second, he regretted his rationality.

    If he wasn''t rational enough, he would hit Mylo all consequences be damned, but his rational mind was continuously shouting at him to stop where he was.

    Even now, Jason was thinking of hitting Mylo in a not-so-obvious location, but he knew that doing so would be just as bad.

    Jason could already tell that by tomorrow, there would be an article about this fight floating around somewhere as he knew that there was no way to cover up something that just about everyone including menial workers had seen.

    The gag orders wouldn''t do anything and everyone was now watching him.

    He was free to move, but at the same time, he was chained by the consequences of his decision.

    He wasn''t like Lion Ibrahimovic, or Ballotelli who did everything, not caring about the consequences.

    Unlike them who had established themselves as top footballers of their generation, he was just barely starting out and any mistakes he made could be potentially career-ending.

    He didn''t need such troubles now that he was finally moving towards his exit from Oporto.

    In another half a year or so, he would hopefully leave this club and not have to look at Mylo''s face again.

    Just as he had concluded and turned away from Mylo, other yers rushed in trying to hold him from hitting Mylo again, amusing Jason who had already gone through a whole decision making meeting in his head and decided against hitting Mylo.

    Just as Jason was turning away, Mylo who seemed to finally have caught his breath looked at Jason in anger and rushed at him, somehow managing to evade the other yers and swinging a fist at Jason.

    This time he saw iting, and despite his anger rising up and threatening to put asunder his decision not to take action, he controlled himself and easily dodged Mylo''s first swing which was immediately followed my another swing from Mylo that seemed to be trying to catch him on a upper cut, but that was obvious enough to Jason''s trained eye.

    He side stepped the upper cut easily, shing a cheeky grin at Mylo, but before Mylo could swing again his fist again, he was restrained by the other yers.

    "You guys should chill man," somebody shouted as they held back Mylo

    "You shouldn''t have hit him like that man, it''s just a tackle," Otavio said to Jason. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Just a tackle?" Jason repeated like he couldn''t believe his ears.

    "He had me by the neck and swept my legs right from under me, even in a match that''s more than enough for a red card," Jason retorted. He might not have hit Mylo more than once, but he was not going to let himself be med for this whole fiasco.

    "Well, maybe if you hadn''t been embarassing him like that-��" Otavio began saying back to Jason when Pepe and the manager arrived at the field in a hurry.

    "What''s going on here?" Conceicao immediately asked as he arrived, looking at the tense situation among the yers.

    Siramana, one of the assistant coaches immediately hurried to the head manager''s side and quickly exined the whole situation to him.

    After the situation was exined to the manager, he thought for a few seconds before turning to Jason,

    "No matter how annoyed you are after a tackle, that doesn''t mean you get to turn the field into a UFC fighting ring," he said, but his words struck a wrong chord in Jason''s ears.

    "Haha, so now it''s my fault?" he involuntarily blurted out.

    "Why don''t you tell that to the person who had me in a choke-hold and kicked me down on that same field," Jason retorted, his words sharp toward the manager.

    None of his usual light-hearted tone could be heard in his words, but it was to be expected, he had been bottling things up and taking a step back every single time up till this point and was already very close to bursting out in anger.

    In Conceicao''s ears however, it sounded like a challenge to his authority as manager and he also became angry and retorted,

    "Well, if you didn''t aggravate your opponent, then you wouldn''t be in that situation to begin with!"

    "So is it now a crime to y good football?"

    "I have to dumb down my performance so that this nitwit can keep up?"

    "If he can''t y well enough, then he shouldn''t be here, it''s a simple as that, isn''t it?" Jason himself didn''t notice, but he was no longer holding back his words and this was quite a surprising scene to everyone at the scene.

    Everyone was rooted to the spot, watching this exchange between the meekest yer and the head strong manager.

    "If you had this kind of decisive attitude in other aspects of your life, maybe you wouldn''t be so angry at Mylo in the first ce!" the manager retorted sharply, his voice filled with annoyance and not realizing the gravity of his words to Jason.

    "... What?" Jason''s eyes shook as the manager''s words hit his eardrums and registered in his brain.

 Chapter 398 Jinx IV

    398 Jinx IV

    "... What?"Jason''s eyes shook as the manager''s words registered in his brain.

    A look of total disbelief filled his eyes followed by anger that was very evident as his eyes stared shakily at the manager.

    Jason considered himself a rational and observant person and he knew right from the start that the manager knew about what was going on between him and Mylo.

    How could he not know?

    Viera hade asking about the matter and as if that wasn''t clear enough, Viera had gone to talk to Pepe just earlier and Pepe had then gone to meet the team manager.

    Pepe and the manager even came together, yet instead of maintaining impartiality in this situation, he was saying this?

    "I said what I said," Conceicao said, ring at Jason, but unlike the anger in his eyes, inwardly, the manager was a mess.

    He hadn''t meant to say what he had said to Jason earlier, but he was already tense from previous events. After hearing about what was happening between Jason and Mylo and thinking about the effects it could have on the team, he was on edge.

    With a fight breaking out among the yers and increasing his tension even further, he had gotten angry and hurtful words had slipped out.

    Immediately the words came out, he regretted it, but he couldn''t take his words back at this point.

    He could only hope to settle the matter with Jasonter, but for now, he needed to quell the matter at hand as the yers were already riled up.

    Jason stayed quiet after his words, giving the manager a brief enough respite to quell the situation and send the yers back to training, after which Jason and Mylo were called aside.

    Despite the matter now being over, the two of them had caused a ruckus at the training ground and had to be punished ording to rules of conduct.

    The manager turned to Mylo first,

    "You made a rough tackle on your teammate and engaged in a fight, for that, you will be fined one week''s wages,"

    "I hope you''ll learn from this and not aggravate your teammates on and off the field," Conceicao said sternly to Mylo, his actual words clear despite his veiled way of speech.

    "As for you, Jason�� Unnecessary showboating to provoke a teammate, starting a fight, hitting a teammate, and insubordination��"

    "You''ll be fined two weeks of wages, suspended for a match, and will be on probation for the match after that," Conceicao said to Jason, his words harsh, but this was his way of telling Jason to ''chill the fu*k out''.

    Unfortunately, the intended meaning of his words got lost in the mail and Jason did not see it as nothing more than an unjust punishment while Mylo, an actual offender(from his point of view) was getting a mere p on the wrist.

    However, despite this, he didn''t raise a word in argument and he simply nodded in response, hinting that he had heard the manager''s words.

    With that done, the manager sent Mylo away first and turned to Jason,

    "Hey kid, about what happened between you and Mylo-��" he began, but Jason cut in.

    "I don''t think it''s a part of your job to discuss my personal life. I''d like it if it stayed that way," Jason said icily.

    "I''ll take my leave," he added and nodded at the coach before walking away.

    His actions and words were respectful, but the manager didn''t see it as such and he realized that he had really messed up the matter big time. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "*Sigh* Ugh," Conceicao rubbed his head in exasperation as he watched Jason walk away.

    From just a rift in his rtionship with Mylo, it had blown out of proportion and had now strained Jason''s rtionship with the club.

    There was no way this was going to end well and it was all because of a few words spoken in anger, yet despite sighing tiredly, the manager couldn''t change anything that happened and he couldn''t reduce Jason''s punishment, otherwise, it would seem like he was being partial to Jason which could cause problems with other yers.

    It was either one yer or the team and he did not need the club management breathing down his neck and reminding him that a yer wasn''t bigger than the club.

    For the greater picture, there was nothing else he could do, and he only hoped that things would blow over with time, yet he had a lingering feeling that things were almost certainly beyond repair.

    Unknowingly, the manager''s gut feeling was right and Jason had stopped seeing the manager and the team in a good light�� at least for the moment.

    At the moment, he felt betrayed and unjustly discriminated against.

    His rationality had chosen this time to stop working, not allowing him to look at things from a wider point of view and it was for good reason.

    Up till this point, he had always taken a step back and not over reacted to anything that came flying harshly his way.

    Despite everything that he had experienced in Oporto up till this point, he had never reacted over the top, and even when he had found Mylo having rodeos with Sofia behind his back, he had refrained from an over the top reaction not just because of his future prospects, but also because of the team.

    Yet this time it was too much for him to bottle in and he had chosen to react in the least harmful way to the team, yet he was getting punished for his troubles.

    He was feeling betrayed, and this was already having his mind in a knot as he inched ever so close to a very important decision.

    Despite how Jason was feeling or what he was thinking, he didn''t stop his training and resumed his training with even more vigor than before.

    He had been suspended from the next match by the manager so there was not going to be much of a problem if he spent more time training than usual was what he would normally think, but in reality, all he was doing was pushing himself as hard as he could in training because there was currently nowhere else for him to release his anger.

 Chapter 399 What The New Year Brought In I

    399 What The New Year Brought In I

    ***1stJanuary 2020*** n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    *Ding Dong*

    The tinkling sound of the doorbell echoed in low tones through the house, alerting its inhabitant of a presence at the house''s entrance.

    Jason rose up from the couch where he was going through his phone and nced in the direction of the house''s entrance, wondering who had no better job than to be at his door this time of the year.

    Not thinking too much into it, he stood up to go see who was at the door.

    On his way to the door, the bell rang once more, but he didn''t react until he reached the door, undid the lock, and pulled open the door.

    "... Don''t you have anywhere else to be on the first day of the year?" Jason asked immediately after he saw who was at the door.

    "Did you expect me to be able to enjoy the first day of the year when there''s something like this about you in the news?" Adele responded in a fiery tone as she held a folded newspaper to Jason''s face.

    "It was that bad, huh?"Jason sighed.

    He hadn''t seen what was written in the newspaper, but he felt like he could guess, nevertheless, he collected the newspaper from Adele and unfurled it.

    While Jason was busy with the newspaper, Adele dodged past his frame that filled most of the doorway and walked into the house, immediately heading for the kitchen.

    Jason sighed tiredly as she walked past him and closed his door while shaking his head at her antics. He followed after her shortly after, heading to the kitchen as well only to find Adele rummaging through his fridge.

    "What are you looking for?"He asked as he sat at the kitchen counter.

    "I''m unable to enjoy one of my few days off in the year, so you should make it up to me by having delicious food in here that I can eat while shouting at you��" Adele said while looking through the fridge, but at the end of her sentence she turned back,

    "But there''s nothing in here," she asked almost tearfully.

    "What do you mean there''s nothing in there, I literally stocked up just yesterday," Jason countered as he remembered that he had had groceries delivered yesterday to his house and he had spent quite a bit of time arranging those things into his refrigerator.

    "Exactly! Everything''s raw!" Adele retorted in a pained voice as she had been expecting Jason to have some leftovers that she could just pop into the microwave and wolf down.

    "Ingredients�� that are usually raw," he scoffed.

    "Tch�� anyway, we can get to thatter, let''s talk about the paper first," Adele clicked her teeth, closed the fridge and turned back to Jason.

    "Oh, right," Jason remembered the newspaper he held in his hand and began to read the news.

    It was a Portuguese sports newspaper and covered sports news and was usually issued daily which Jason knew since he read it sometimes

    However at the moment, right on the front page was clearly highlighted,

    "Portogaia Training Wars" and there was a picture of a close shot of his face facing off against a close shot of Mylo''s face.

    "... Well, it was definitely a war, but it wasn''t cuz of training," Jason muttered in a low tone before turning over to the next page to read the full article.

    "What was that?" Adele asked, hearing Jason mutter something.

    "Nothing," Jason responded half-mindedly as he began read the article.

    Just like he had expected, he had known that there was no way to keep the matter from leaking, but he hadn''t expected for there to be enough attention put on the matter that it made front page.

    He quickly read through the context of the article and soon got the gist of the article.

    It briefly described a quarrel on the training grounds between Jason and Mylo, but there weren''t any details as to the main cause of the quarrel and they had been a flimsy excuse of it being a spur of the moment thing because of heated emotions after a rough tackle.

    Jason didn''t know why there weren''t any details as it was clear that whoever leaked the incident definitely knew more, yet had refused to borate any further.

    This caused it to look like Jason was someone who couldn''t take a hard tackle and always reacted violently, but that was currently the least of his worries and he continued reading, however by the time he was done reading, he wanted to rip the paper to shreds.

    From everything written in the article, anyone who didn''t know much about the situation would think that Jason was at fault and had let his pride get to his head and was overreacting to a slightly rough tackle.

    The article also hinted at spections that this could be a y by Jason to facilitate a transfer awayfrom Oporto now that they were in the transfer season.

    It definitely wasn''t as bad, but in Jason''s eyes, it felt like a poorly scripted joke to make him look like the bad guy in that situation, however, he controlled his emotions and put the paper down on the counter and stared straight into Adele''s eyes while she stared back.

    "So�� What do you think?" she asked.

    "What do I think?" An eyebrow rose on Jason''s face.

    "You really want to know what I think?" he said as his hand moved forward and he picked up a lighter on the counter and lit up the paper.

    "Utter bullshit, that''s what I think," he replied as he ced the burning paper on the counter, his face impassive.

    "Ok, wow�� you really didn''t like the article," Adele halfughed, surprised by Jason''s dramatic actions.

    "No, I did not," Jason replied.

    "What was wrong with it? Was the reporter lying or something?" Adele asked Jason despite having already contacted the Oporto club earlier concerning the article.

 Chapter 400 What The New Year Brought In II

    400 What The New Year Brought In II

    "What was wrong with it? Was the reporter lying or something?" Adele asked Jason despite having already contacted the Oporto club earlier concerning the article.

    "Not really. I did fight with the snake bastard, but it wasn''t because of something as simple as a rough tackle, I take on at least five of those each game and I haven''t hit anyone else so far, have I?" Jason asked.

    "Well�� No, that''s why it''s strange and I''m curious what made you get into a fight,"Adele replied.

    "The article made it seem like I was over my head with pride because of my talent and could not take someone roughly tackling me, hence I got into a fight with the snake bastard," Jason continued exining, ignoring Adele''s curiosity.

    "They even make it sound like it was some sort of ploy for me to leave the club,"

    "As if I would get into a fight with that snake bastard just so I can leave the club. If I got into a fight with that snake bastard, it would only so I can punch that smug face of his till even the fellow sperm that he raced against to be inseminated can''t recognize him," Jason spat out annoyedly.

    "... All I heard was snake bastard," Adelemented, her voice tainted in disbelief as that was the most emotion she had seen Jason show towards a person�� apart from that one time.

    But this time, it was negative and it was clear that something serious had happened between them.

    "What is really going on between you and that Mylo guy, I thought you were close, after all, you were roommates and you even have great chemistry on the pitch," Adele asked, her curiosity once again getting the better of her.

    "Close? Hah, it''s already disgusting enough to be in the same sentence as the snake bastard," Jason spat out sharply.

    "For the sake of your upational status, It''d be better if you avoid making that a regr urrence," he continued, his annoyance already bubbling up again.

    "... This is serious," Adele muttered, even more surprised at the amount of dislike Jason was showing towards Mylo.

    "... Want to uh�� talk about it," she asked.

    "No, I don''t want to talk about it," Jason snapped.

    "Why don''t you want to talk about it?" Adele immediately fired back.

    "Cuz I just don''t want to. It''s not your concern who I''m fighting with anyway," he retorted.

    "Your mental state is my business, it''smy job to make sure that you can put your full focus on your football and that means I have to deal with almost all your other problems, especially if they will affect your mental state,"

    "This is the most I''ve ever seen you angry at someone,and you even got into a fight with him at training, causing all this," she said, pointing at the burning paper.

    "And you want to tell me that''s not my business?" she asked in a very serious tone.

    "..." Jason didn''t have any words against her argument as he knew that she was right.

    "... Uhm�� so, what do you want to eat?" he stood up and started walking to the fridge, stealthily trying to change the topic.

    "Don''t try to change the subject, Jason, this is very important," Jason''s attempt to change the topic didn''t affect Adele at all.

    "Since it''s the first day of the new year, maybe I should prepare something grand," Jason continued talking like he hadn''t heard her and he pulled open refrigerator''s doors.

    "Jason!" Adele''s voice rose as she grabbed his arm. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Talk to me! This is important! We need to fix what is wrong before it bes something worse!" her words sounded professional, but in her voice was a concern that was more than what a professionally involved person would have.

    "... " Jason just barely managed to stop himself from reflexively reacting to her hand that suddenly grabbed him.

    He turned around, and red at her for a second before turning his eyes to her hand that was on his arm.

    Adele immediately let go when she saw Jason looking at her hand and she remembered that she was holding him.

    "I�� don''t�� want�� to�� talk�� about�� it," Jason spelled out to Adele for the umpteenth time, but she didn''t n to take no for an answer.

    "Why?" she retorted.

    "And we are back where we started," Jason groaned in annoyance as this was beginning to be an annoying cycle.

    "You could end it all, just tell me what I want to know and we can work on solving the problem," Adele stayed headstrong.

    "Urgh... You know being alone in a house with a frustrated man is very dangerous for a woman," Groaning, Jason tried changing his tactics.

    "And what are you going to do to me, huh?" Adele retorted, folding her arms, but not backing down in the slightest.

    "Many things�� many many things," Jason smirked.

    "Yeah, right. You won''t do sh*t," Adele rolled her eyes at his words.

    "Have you seen yourself in the mirror? Woman, don''t push me," Jason scoffed and turned away, but in response to his words, Adele stretched out her hand and used one finger to push him on the chest.

    "I''ve pushed you, now what will you do?" she said and stared defiantly at him as if to tell him that his threats weren''t working on her.

    Unfortunately for her, Jason wasn''t the kind of person who made empty threats and he had to stifle a wickedugh from escaping his throat, but a chuckle still managed to escape.

    "Remember, this is your fault," he said while his right hand simultaneously snaked around her waist and pulled her closer.

    "Ahhhhh!" A scream involuntarily flew out of Adele at Jason''s sudden action.

    "This was not what I mean-��" she could not finish her words when Jason''s lips covered hers stunning her senses into irredeemable confusion.

    She was here to find out what had happened between Jason and Mylo, as well as what their actions concerning the situation would be, so what exactly was happening right now?

 Chapter 401 What The New Year Brought In III

    401 What The New Year Brought In III

    *Pshhhhhhh*

    The sounds of the spraying water filled the room in less than a second as the room''s heat sensor finally reacted to the burning newspaper on the kitchen counter and water sprayed down, immediately cascading down on the two entangled bodies.

    The water sshing on them brought them out of the lustful stupor that had threatened to overtake them as soon as they had fallen into its trap.

    "Ahhhh!" Adele squealed as she escaped Jason''s lips and she jumped back, the water wetting her clothes.

    Jason looked up at the showers that had quite literally�� rained on his parade.

    "Saved by the showers," he said as he swept his hand through his wet hair and nced at Adele who had stepped back, but the water was still pouring down on her clothes, making them stick to her body and rendering them slightly translucent.

    "Turn this thing off!" Adele squealed, not enjoying being poured upon by cold water.

    "It''s automatic, it should turn off by itself,"Jason replied and just as he finished talking, the showers stopped since the fire was out.

    "Trashy piece of tech," Jason muttered.

    When he had bought the house, he had been told about the sensor system that was supposed to counter against fire outbreak.

    It worked by sensing heat and once there was heat above a particr threshold, it determined it to be a fire and would automatically activate the pre-installed showers to put out the fire.

    By all rights, it was doing it''s job, but the reason why Jason was calling it a trashy piece od tech, was because it had been quite a while since Jason had set the paper alight, but it was only when he was kissing Adele that it had seemingly sensed "the heat" in the room.

    "Stupid senses the wrong type of heat," he muttered.

    "W-What?" Adele asked, shivering from the cold water that she was drenched in.

    "Nothing," Jason said as he took off his shirt and pulled out the band in his hair, standing shirtless in the kitchen with his hair flowing down his back.

    "W-What are you doing?" Adele stepped back, scared that Jason wanted to continue his assault on her lips.

    "Go have a hot shower upstairs, you are a sorry sight," Jason snickered at her reaction to his actions.

    "Right now, you look like a drenched kitten," he added but did not add the fact that her being wet like that made her look vulnerable, which was even more enticing.

    "There are some brand new joggers in one of my drawers. Help yourself with whichever one picks your fancy while I deal with this mess," he further added while gesturing to the kitchen that was now covered in water.

    "O-Okay," Adele replied with a red face and turned to leave, various thoughts swirling around in her head, but none of them concerned the reason she hade to Jason''s house in the first ce.

    *Sigh*

    "What am I doing?" Jason sighed aggravatedly to himself as soon as Adele was no longer in sight.

    He wasn''t proud of what he had just done, but he had just yed it off by acting confident.

    His not wanting to talk to Adele about Sofia and Mylo was one thing, but suddenly kissing Adele waspletely a different thing.

    He had been swept up in the moment and hade off as extremely decisive which ironically he had not been able to do with Sofia and that had caused that to end up the way it did.

    The manager''s words suddenly appeared in his mind and rang through his head once again.

    "Haah, maybe it really was my fault for being so indecisive,"

    But being decisive with Adele could make things awkward between them and could send her away as well since there wasn''t exactly anything actually going between them and it felt more like a one-sided thing from his side.

    It could even be termed as harrassment from another angle.

    "Haaah�� fu*k," He sighed tiredly and began working on cleaning up the water in the room.

    Since this ce was a kitchen, the only thing that shouldn''t have gotten wet were the electronics, but they were water proof and switched off anyway so there wasn''t any problem on that end.

    All he had to do was to clean up the water on the surfacesand mop the ground and that didn''t take him much time.

    Less than ten minutester he was done cleaning up, but Adele wasn''t back yet, so he decided to cook something to eat.

    He hadn''t eaten either so he was already feeling pretty hungry.

    It was the first day of the new year and there was nothing better to start the new year than a delicious serving of the world''s most delicious bird.

    Jason soon got to work and started making food for the two people in the house.

    He brought out the chicken that he had put inside sauce to marinate yesterday and chopped up some vegetables to stuff it with as well as adding a little bit of spice on it before throwing into the oven.

    With the main dish in the oven, Jason turned back to the refrigerator and surveyed the ingredients he had while trying to decide on the side dish to prepare along with the chicken, but he couldn''te up with something exciting after looking at the avable ingredients and decided on in old mashed potatoes as well as a fruit smoothie.

    With the sides decided, he once again began to work and halfway through what he was doing, he heard steps behind him and he realized that Adele was back, but due to hisplicated feelings at what happened earlier, he didn''t turn back to look at her.

    "Did you find something to change into?" he asked with his back turned.

    "Yes, I found something to wear. I''ve also put my clothes into the dryer. They should be dry enough soon," Adele answered from behind him.

    "Okay cool," Jason responded as he continued what he was doing and a few minutester he was done and finally turned around, but his mouth dropped open as soon as he saw Adele.

    "I said there were new clothes in one of the drawers�� I didn''t say you should wear my clothes��" Jason said as he stared at Adele wearing nothing but his favorite hoodie with the hood pulled over her head while she sat on the couch in an extremely cute position and stared back at him.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 402 What If

    402 What If

    "This was easier to find, plus it''s morefortable," Adele said in a pleading tone.

    "... But it''s mine, and I wore that just yesterday," Jason barely said out, his brain still processing what he was seeing.

    "Oh, that exins why it smells like you," Adele said as if enlightened and she took a sniff of the clothes.

    "Are you trying to say I smell?" Jason asked in a dubious tone.

    "Yes, you do�� but you don''t smell bad, you have this fresh scent ofvender, apple, and strawberries�� wait, why am I even exining all this?"Adele barely caught herself before she let out any more of her deepest darkest thoughts.

    "A-Anyway, when are you going to tell me what happened between you and Mylo," she quickly changed the subject to the first thing that came up in her mind.

    "You''re still on that?" Jason rolled his eyes in annoyance at her.

    "I''m not leaving here until we solve your problem and that seems to be the biggest factor in this situation, so yes, I''m not leaving this ce without an answer,"Adele replied defiantly, her attitude letting Jason know that there was no way he was escaping her today�� unless he pulled off another stunt like the one he did earlier, but that was impossible.

    He didn''t want to push his luck any further.

    Taking a nce around the kitchen to see that there was nothing that required his immediate attention, he sighed tiredly.

    "Fine, you win," he gave up and walked over to the couch.

    "Move over and let me make myselffortable, it''s a long story," he said as he reached the couch.

    "Oh, okay," Adele said and shifted a bit but there wasn''t nearly enough space for Jason who usuallyy down on his couch instead of sitting down.

    "Oh well," Jason muttered,y down, and put his head on herp.

    "Hey, what are you doing?" Adele asked in surprise as she saw Jason putting his head on her thighs.

    "You wanna hear the story or not?" Jason retorted immediately, no longer willing to stand up after feeling softnessparable to the softest of pillows in just the few seconds which he hady down on her thighs.

    "Ugh, okay, whatever," Adele gave in without a fuss, but her face was a bit red.

    "..."

    There was silence for a few seconds, and then,

    "It''s a bit hard to see your face from down here," Jason said truthfully.

    "That''s not my fault, nor is it the matter at hand. Start talking," Adele retorted sharply, doing her best to stop her face from turning red any further.

    "Alright, alright," Jason chuckled and took a deep breath before opening his mouth, finally about to talk.

    For some reason, he felt very nervous and worried about her reaction to what he was about to say, but at this point, there was no going back and he could only live with whatever results woulde of his divulgence.

    "You know that one time when I appeared in some tabloids for being caught kissing a girl��"

    Opening his mouth, Jason began his story.

    Surprisingly, Adele stayed quiet all through and Jason got morefortable talking and before he knew it, he had started talking about everything.

    When he told Viera about his beef with Mylo, he had only told him about the situation and had not delved into his emotional considerations, but here, he was doing the exact opposite to Adele.

    He told her everything, right from his first meeting with Sofia to how he felt about her and their first date together to his discovery of betrayal, when he caught her, and even when she came to visit him and spouted all sorts of bullsh*t.

    He seemed to be in a trance and when he finally came to, he realized that he had just poured out more to Adele than he had ever done with anyone else in all of his lives.

    On realization, he wanted to cover his face in embarrassment at how he had broken his ''hard guy'' status for a girl he wasn''t even dating, however, he managed to keep a straight face as he continued,

    "And that''s our issue with each other. Now you should be able to understand why we can never�� ever�� ever, see eye to eye," he stated, but Adele remained silent, her hand ying with his hair and rubbing his scalp every few seconds.

    She had started doing it somewhere in the middle of his story and it felt more good than he''d ever admit, but that was not the matter at hand.

    "... Apart from how it is weird to lie in myp and tell me your break-up story four days after the break-up, I get how you feel and now almost everything makes sense," Adele finally said after a while of silence.

    "Almost everything?" Jason asked confused.

    "What do you mean almost everything?" he repeated.

    "Wait, let me think��" Adele cut in, as she was trying to piece some things together in her head.

    "From what you said, you told your friend, Viera about what happened, and you are sure he told the team captain, who in turn told the manager, right?"

    "Yes�� there''s no way his words about me being decisive in other parts of my life could have meant anything else," Jason muttered, remembering the manager''s words and smiling bitterly despite how those words infuriated him.

    "Does no one else know about the matter?" Adele immediately asked. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Not that I know of�� I don''t exactly find it fun to share this information. If anyone else knows about it, then I wasn''t the one who told them," Jason responded.

    "I don''t think Viera or Pepe would share the information around nonchntly as it could cause problems in the team and neither of them has a loose mouths, but I think the manager would have to tell the club management as it is a pretty big issue for the team," he exined further based on his thoughts.

    "Then that makes no sense��" Adele muttered in a low voice almost as if she was talking to herself earlier.

 Chapter 403 What If II

    403 What If II

    "Does no one else know about the matter?" Adele asked Jason, her hands coiling and snaking around in his hair.

    "Not that I know of�� I don''t exactly find it fun to share this information. If anyone else knows about it, then I wasn''t the one who told them," Jason replied, enjoying this unexpected head massage.

    "I don''t think Viera or Pepe would share the information around nonchntly as it could cause problems in the team and neither of them has a loose mouth, but I think the manager would have to tell the club management as it is a pretty big issue for the team," he exined further as he thought about the situation.

    "Then that makes no sense��" Adele muttered in a low voice almost as if she was talking to herself earlier.

    "What makes no sense?" Jason asked instantly, recognizing a negative tone in her voice.

    "... Ok�� I didn''t tell you earlier, but I already contacted the club regarding the article, as while it does contain some truth regarding the truth, it also contains a lot of spection that is damaging to your reputation as a person and as a professional," Adele began exining.

    "I asked if it was possible to have them take down the article and sue for defamation as it contained too many false truths, but the reaction I received was ambiguous and I was told that the reporters usually y around with the truth every now and then, hence it was best to just leave the matter alone and let it blow over,"

    "But considering that it was their fault that the matter leaked when such matters were supposed to be kept under wraps, I didn''t like that response at all," n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "However my problem is,"

    ""Why is their response like this in the first ce?"" Jason and Adele asked each other at the same time.

    "It seems you''ve started thinking along the same lines I am," Adele nodded thoughtfully.

    "I''m not sure where this is going either, but now that you mention it, a lot of things are suspicious about this whole fiasco," Jason said as cogs in his head started turning sharply.

    "This may sound like a conspiracy theory, but let me start by saying the article itself is kind of suspicious and it''s almost entirely like something made to make you seem like the bad guy when both us and the club management know that is not the case�� so why are they not even reacting appropriately to such an article," Adele started speaking again.

    "... Continue," Jason muttered, not liking the angle that this seemed to be going towards.

    "... To make any further conjunctures, let''s put the whole situation on the table," Adele continued.

    "You and Mylo have an almost irreconcble quarrel which the management knows and they also know that this matter getting out is of no benefit to anyone, especially the club itself, and the only way to solve this problem is by getting rid of either one of you�� or even both of you, and the earlier the better as your quarrel will mess up the team chemistry which needs to be avoided if the team has any ns of winning any trophies,"

    "However, getting rid of both of you right will be an irreconcble loss, because youboth are currently the top performing members of the team�� attacking wise,"

    "So supposing they have no choice but to get rid of one of you soon, then a profitable choice would be to get rid of the more expensive one and use the money made from the sale to plug the hole you will leave behind, and they might even make a little extra money to bolster other parts of the team,"

    "If we suppose that that is the decision made by the club management, then all this would make sense,"

    "... I don''t quite follow," Jason was a bit stunned.

    He was smart and usually very quick on the uptake, but everything Adele had just said was making a mess of his thoughts.

    "*sigh*"

    "... If they decided to get rid of you, then this article would be a good ce to start as it would infuriate you who is already angry even further,"

    "This is probably the first step, but I suppose their end game is to get you to decide that you want to leave and make it known,"

    "They can then make a show of you being the one that wants to leave and sell you for less than the 100 million Euros that they quoted before,"

    "it''s basically apletely risk free business as they had paid literally nothing to get you, and you have performed well for them, helping them to win three trophies already,"

    "... Of course, this could all be me thinking too much and this could all just be a case of bad coincidences and the club has no hand in it,"

    "... But what if?"

    "Just what if?"Adele''s question was met with no response from Jason who was now deep in thought.

    It wasn''t that he was shockec by this line of thought or thought it to bepletely impossible�� in fact, he knew that there was a good chance that that was the case, after all, he had been in the professional sports world for the same number of years that Adele had spent just breathing, and he knew that in the end, the yers were justmodities to the club.

    Depending on their results, they were either assets or liabilities and in a business, liabilities were usually gotten rid of with the business trying to make as much profit as they could while getting rid of said liabilities.

    That was the cold hard truth of the professional sports world and it was a truth that Jason had epted long ago, so he wasn''t shocked by Adele''s conspiracy theory idea, but he was considering the usibility and surprised at how quickly something like this was happening.

    If Adele''s conspiracy theory turned out to be correct, then it meant that in less than a day since the incident, the club had decided to get rid of him.

    Even for him, that was a bit too short an amount of time for the club to decide to throw him away.

    "Damn�� that''s a bit disheartening," he sighed tiredly.

 Chapter 404 What If III

    404 What If III

    "But wait�� assuming this is true, why am I the one they would want to get rid of?"

    "I should be more valuable to the team than Mylo is, after all, we don''t have that many wingers, but strikers are more than enough, not to mention contributions," Jason muttered trying to make sense of the situation.

    "I just told you, the more valuable one has to leave,"

    "Mylo has just joined the team from the academy and he has been ying well so the club wouldn''t want to sell him yet as his market value hasn''t built up that much yet,"

    "If they chose to sell him, they''d lose a valuable talent and get paid around 20 million Euros at most when considering that he''s only been active for half a season, and even that would be an optimistic price as there aren''t many people looking to buy Mylo yet," n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "However you are a different case,"

    "You already have suitors from top clubs and are worth at least 60 million Euros in today''s market and that''s considering that you will be sold in a rush, otherwise you could garner a transfer fee of over a hundred million,"

    "They''d easily gain more, and you forget that you are the one who is dissatisfied, Mylo doesn''t seem to show any problems with the status quo, so everything is in favor of them wanting to sell you instead,"

    "If they sold you for 60 - 70 million Euros, it''s not just considered good business, it''s almost a case of sitting back and letting money appear in theirp, after all, you were almost free to acquire in the first ce," Adele exined again to Jason.

    "Ok wow," Jason muttered in amazement as he realized that her words made sense and the situation began to seem even more usible and no longer sounded like a far-fetched conspiracy theory.

    "Don''t take my words too seriously, I could be wrong and just be overdoing it with the conspiracy theory thing," Adeleughed a bit, hoping that her thought process was wrong.

    "Nah, I prefer to assume the worst, so let''s continue assuming," Jason stated.

    "Assuming that your conspiracy theory is true and the management wants me out, then what next?" he asked Adele.

    "If by what next, you are referring to yourself, then I don''t know, but if you''re referring to what I think the club will do, then I see two ways," Adele replied.

    "Continue," Jason urged.

    "First, they can be direct and make it clear that they are looking to offload you in this transfer window, and personally speaking, that is the best option for you as everyone gets what they want, but I don''t think they''d do that,"

    "Rather, I think they''d try to frustrate you more with anything and everything possible. Mindgames, weird articles, maybe not even letting you y so that you will have no choice but to hand in a transfer request. They''re probably confident that you''re already very dissatisfied and all you will need is a push," Adele exined.

    "But what''s the point of doing that?" Jason asked.

    "Their reputation�� if they directly say they want to sell you, it would raise a lot of questions about the matter and people will start wondering why. In the process of that, someone may find out about your issue with Mylo and that would affect the club''s reputation and may force them to make some adverse decisions concerning Mylo,"

    "Considering they wouldn''t want to lose both of you, it would be better to get you to be the one to hand in a transfer request,"

    "By doing that, you will be the one drawing the attention of the media and they would look like victims of a young talented yer''s whims who thinks he is too big for the club,"

    "At that time, even if the matter between you and Mylo is found out, people will not feel the same way and the truth may even be distorted in his favor instead," Adele exined.

    "Hmmmm��" Jason murmured as he tried to add that to the situation he had created in his mind and the usibility increased again.

    "Ugh, I don''t like how this conspiracy theory of yours keeps making sense every passing second," he muttered as he thought it through once again.

    He didn''t have much trust in the club''s management right from the start and knew that nothing he was thinking was too far-fetched, but at the same time, it was too early for him to ept all the conjunctures that had been ced before him.

    "I already told you, it could just be us over thinking the situation and the club might not have any thoughts in that direction at all," Adele repeated, trying to divert Jason''s thoughts from the matter as she saw that he had taken her words quite seriously.

    "But what if, Delle�� what if?" Jason asked.

    "Then we deal with it when ites,"

    "If what we are thinking happens at some point, then we simply deal with it then, unless of course, you have a different n in mind," Adele replied.

    "Now that you mention it, I do have a n in mind," Jason muttered and a smirk appeared at the corner of his lips.

    "If things are as you say, then I should begin to see the signs from tomorrow at training. If nothing happens like you said, then we''re all good for a bit, but if I notice anything strange, then I''m not going to just let things slide,"

    "if they''re looking to make a quick buck off me while also damaging my reputation in the process, then I can''t just let things slide,"he smirked.

    "But what will you do? A transfer is the only way out and either way I mentioned has it''s own perks and they could both be just as damaging," Adele pointed out.

    "You are right that a transfer is the best way out of this situation, but who said the transfer has to be a permanent one?" Jason''s smirk widened further.

 Chapter 405 What If IV

    Chapter 405 What If IV

    "You are right that a transfer is the best way out of this situation, but who said the transfer has to be a permanent one?" Jason said as he smiled deviously.

    "Oh?" Adele''s eyebrow shot up in surprise.

    "I want to leave as I don''t think I can stand seeing the snake bastard''s face almost every day till the summer transfer window, but if the club has ns to use me to achieve their goals while betraying me, then I can''t let them have their way either," Jason continued.

    "And you n to achieve that by taking a loan to another team?" Adele asked in confusion.

    "Exactly!"

    "The club probably ns to sell me so that they can use the money to bolster the squad, but that will only happen if I agree to the transfer, so instead I''ll request a loan transfer instead,"

    "I''ll be able to leave and not have to put up with the snake bastard for the rest of the season and the club will lose one of their top performers for the rest of the season and not gain anything for it," Jason smiled as if he had had an "Eureka!" moment.

    "Why would they agree to something like that though?" Adele asked him.

    "They don''t exactly have much of a choice if I threaten to leave on a free transfer instead," Jason smiled triumphantly.

    "But doing that would make you stay in the team till midway next season. Will you be okay with that?" Adele asked, clear on the fact that Jason would not like seeing Mylo''s face for another whole year.

    "Never underestimate the things a man would do for revenge," Jason smirked. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "In the end, I would go on loan and when Ie back at the end of the season, the club can then sell me to another club at whatever price. I''ll be happy to leave by then," he concluded.

    "... That could work, though professionally I wouldn''t advise it, but at this point, I don''t think I can stop you even if I tried," Adele nodded tiredly.

    "Yup, so don''t bother," Jason smirked in response because she was right.

    "Also, it could settle as ast test of sorts," he added added.

    "What do you mean?" Adele asked curiously.

    "So far, we are the only two that know about my n to go on loan till the end of the season, so when you meet the manager to tell him about my loan request, we will see whether the news leaks or not�� that will exin a lot of things and prove whether all our conjectures were right or wrong," Jason exined his reasoning to her.

    "Oh?" Adele eximed, enlightened now that he had exined.

    If they were the only ones who knew of Jason''s ns to go on loan and then they told one more person, which would be the manager, any leaks could immediately be ounted for and he could know whether the club really had some shifty ns in y.

    "Ah, right!" Jason sat up startled, remembering that he had ced the chicken in the oven a while ago.

    "Hold on for a minute," Jason called out as he stood up and hurried to the kitchen to check on what he was cooking, setting aside other thoughts for a while, but after reaching the kitchen, pulling out the chicken, and discovering that he had pulled it out in good time, his mind involuntarily drifted back to the matter.

    He might not have voiced it out directly, but he was very troubled by the likelihood of Adele''s conspiracy being true because it implied that after being aware of the full situation, the club would decide to take Mylo''s side.

    Of course that was not to say that they directly said it, but to Jason it would not make a difference as it was pretty much the same thing.

    ''What am I even doing worrying about things that have yet to happen,'' he calmed his thoughts as he realised that he was already over thinking the issue.

    However, try as he may, the matter refused to leave his head even as he and Adele ate and spent most of the day just lounging around.

    When it was finally time for Adele to leave, she repeated her earlier words to him.

    "Don''t over think the matter, we will solve whatever issues that arise," she said as she walked out of the door that Jason held open.

    "I should say the same for you, you''re the one who thought up the whole thing in the first ce," Jason replied.

    "I''m less worried about that and more worried about what is happening to our ''professional'' rtionship," Adele fired back at him, throwing him off bnce.

    "*Ahem*�� what about our professional rtionship," Jason coughed, not expecting her to be so direct.

    Despite his facial beauty and attractiveness having absurdly high values, he was not immune to sex harassment charges if one was mmed in his face.

    What happened after Jason asked Adele was something that surprised him as Adele sharply turned back and pushed him against the door before mming her hand on the space beside his head, putting them in apromising situation.

    "... What are you doing?" Jason asked with a straight face, but inwardly he was balking at what was happening.

    The answer to his question came in the form of a kiss that had him stuck in ce as this was something he had never seening.

    After smooching his lips for a few seconds, Adele bit his lower lip and pulled away.

    "There won''t be much of a professional rtionship left if this keeps happening," she said, trying to appear cool, but the redness of her face and her twitching pupils told Jason that she had no experience in what she was doing.

    "... Did you watch this in some Korean movie with a macho female lead?" Jason asked after a while as he recognized the format of what was happening.

    "Piss off!" she retorted, her face even redder after she had been caught and she quickly pulled away.

    "...But�� while I will not deny that I kind of like you, I am not going to be in a rtionship where I am a rebound," she said before walking off, not giving him a chance to reply.

 Chapter 406 Fact or Theory I

    Chapter 406 Fact or Theory I

    ***3rdJanuary 2021***

    After the first day of the year which was given to the Oporto yers as a day-off, the yers were back at training the very next day, doing their best to prepare for the next match.

    Jason was also at training, but since he already knew that he would not be participating in theing game, he trained without reserve, not holding back in the slightest as there was no reason to do so.

    Like this, the whole day went by and soon the next day, which was also the first match-day in the new year for the Oporto squad, arrived.

    The Oporto team would be ying Moreirense at the dragon stadium for a chance at the three points that would push them further up the table.

    As expected, Jason wasn''t named among the provisional squad for the match and had to watch the match from his couch.

    Despite his issues with Mylo, Jason was on his couch in time to watch the match as he only had a problem with Mylo and not everyone else on the team, but when he saw the line-up for the match, his face twisted in anger as for some reason, Mylo''s name was in the starting line-up.

    In that moment, Jason immediately turned to a Moreirense supporter and watched the match with the hope that Oporto would lose thanks to mistakes from Mylo, or that even if they won,Mylo would perform terribly.

    Of course, what he hoped for the most was for one of the Moreirense defenders to be possessed by the soul of Randy Orton and to perform an R.K.O on Mylo right there on the pitch, but his hopes were dashed when Mylo put one past the Moreirense goalkeeper in the twenty-eighth minute of the game.

    "What are you guys doing!? Break his leg!" Jason shouted at the screen in anger as he watched Mylo celebrate his goal, but he didn''t receive a response and could only rant at his screen unresponsively.

    Barely fifteen minutester, Jason resumed his ranting at the screen when Mylo connected with a header from Manafa to put the ball into the back of the, scoring his second goal of the game.

    "These fu*king retards! You call yourselves professionals with that kind of defensive skill!?"

    "How did he shake you off like that!? Just break his leg, or his arm, or his ankle, or even burst his balls! It''s not that hard!!!" At this point, Jason''s rage had gotten the better of him and he hated what he was seeing.

    It was like torture watching Mylo perform well on the pitch while he was condemned to watch the ball from his couch.

    The first half soon ended, giving Jason''s mood a much needed fifteen minute reprieve, but as soon as the second half began, Jason''s mood soured again as Mylo was still on the pitch.

    Every time Mylo was on the ball, calls for the Moreirense yers to send him into an ambnce echoed throughout Jason''s living room, but as if this match was being yed to torment Jason, the Moreirense defenders remained useless and all they managed to do was to stop Mylo from running at their goal all the time.

    By all rights, the Moreirense defenders were doing well enough, but to Jason, they were absolute dogshit and soon enough, Jason soon found another reason to rage as Mylo soon found himself shaking off a Moreirense defender as he sprinted after a through pass from Otavio.

    "Don''t let him go! Don''t let him go! Don''t let him go!" Jason murmured repeatedly as he watched Mylo and the Moreirense defender fight for the ball. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Younitwit! Don''t let him go! Just tackle him! Tackle him!!!" Jason shouted as he saw Mylo gaining the advantage, finally managing to shake off the defender and free himself for a shot.

    *{He takes a shot!?}*

    *{It''s gone in! Hat-trick!}*

    Thementator''s words echoed in Jason''s head like a dark knell and he sunk into the sofa, too infuriated to bother anymore.

    "Fu*k!" he cursed in a low voice and changed the channel, not wanting to watch Mylo celebrate his hat-trick.

    If he saw Mylo celebrate another goal, he was pretty sure that he would smash up his TV and considering how expensive the TV was, it wasn''t worth it if it was smashed up because of the snake bastard.

    For the next half hour, Jasonforted himself with watching UFC matches, but his curiosity soon got the better of him and he changed the channel back, but on changing the channel back, he realized that the match was already over and a post-match show was ongoing.

    Since he no longer had to watch Mylo''s sorry face, he decided to watch the analysis of the match, but soon the screen changed to a post-match interview of the manager.

    {Congrattions on your win, would you say you swept away your opponents?} a reporter asked the Oporto manager.

    {Your words, not mine} Conceicao joked.

    {But honestly, err, both sides yed well and our opponents threatened us a few times, but my yers followed the game n and did their best and we won game} Conceicao added, stylishly tooting his own horn.

    {I couldn''t agree more sir. How about Mylo''s performance in today''s match, he performed spectacrly, wouldn''t you say?} the reporter asked.

    {Ster performance from thed, I would say. I knew that he was in-form and I gave him a chance, and he proved my instincts correct with his performance} Conceicao answered.

    {Can I dare say that the other yers should learn from this performance?} The reporter asked.

    {Absolutely, his performance was ster, like I already mentioned, but more than that he was very driven on the pitch and cool-headed. He waited for his chances and he took them perfectly earning himself an hat-trick} Conceicao replied.

    {The other yers can learn from not only his performance, but also his behaviour and temperament. He''s a good kid, very humble and always willing to learn from others}he further added.

    "What bullsh*t is this blud cappin?" Jason swore in a low voice as he heard the manager speak about Mylo.

 Chapter 407 Fact or Theory II

    Chapter 407 Fact or Theory II

    {Speaking of temperament, it was said earlier this week, that there was an argument at the training ground between the two young stars of your team. It was also said that as a punishment, Jason would miss the match. Seeing as he''s not here, can we confirm that this is the reason he missed the match?} Another reporter butted in.

    {... It was a minor matter that has already been settled. Still, yes, there were some disciplinary measures taken by the management and that did lead to Jason not being present for today''s match, and as I said, it''s already been settled} Conceicao said on TV and Jason''s eyes twitched.

    ''Already been settled my ass,''

    ''Is he just going to lie tantly now?'' Jason questioned himself, his annoyance rising.

    The matter was definitely not settled, plus the fact that there was such a drastic difference in the disciplinary actions taken towards him and Mylo would make it seem like he was the bigger offender. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    It was like painting him to be the one at fault.

    ''It''s just a coincidence, calm down,'' Jason tried to convince himself, but he couldn''t believe his own words and just kept watching the interview.

    {It''s good to hear that the matter has been settled and the fans will be happy to hear that as his exciting presence was definitely missed on the pitch. The fans would like to know if they can expect him to make an appearance in the next match.} the reporter continued.

    {I can''t say anything about that. He''s still on probation, but as long as nothing unexpected happens, then he is definitely in the team''s ns for theing game} Conceicao replied.

    This time Jason had to stop himself from throwing the remote at the screen in annoyance at what he was hearing.

    The manager had literally said that the quarrel was already settled just a minute earlier, but now he was saying that there was a chance he would not y the next game.

    This was almost like directly saying that Jason was a troublemaker, but as long as he didn''t cause any trouble, then he should be in the next game.

    It was a perfect set up as if for any reason Jason did not make it to the starting line-up in the next game, then the fans would immediately think he had caused some trouble.

    At this point, Jason did not need to hear anything else.

    There was nothing more to it.

    At first, he wanted to think about why it seemed like the manager was throwing him under the bus. After all, even if the board wanted him out, it didn''t have to be done like this, but now he didn''t even want to think about it.

    It seemed that in the end, Adele was right and the club had decided to get rid of him.

    There was nothing more to it.

    Of course, he could be wrong and this could be another case of a bad coincidence, but even if it was, he didn''t need to see anything else.

    He had had enough of the bad coincidences.

    There was no need to wait longer to see what else the manager would say or do, he had made his decision and he picked up his phone to call Adele.

    Once he had dialed her number, he turned off the TV, not needing to see or hear anything else that would sour his mood even further.

    The phone rang twice before an audible click could be heard and Adele''s voice came through the phone.

    *"Has anyone ever told you you have perfect timing, I was actually just about to call you,"* Adele''s voice came through the phone''s speaker directly into Jason''s ear as soon as she picked up the call.

    "Perfect timing? Yes, it''s one of my many talents," Jason joked, making small talk despite his mood before making the call.

    Somehow, just hearing her voice had reduced his aggravation by a lot and he was no longer raging.

    *"At this point, how many talents do you even have?"* Adele retorted jokingly.

    "Apart from the ones I''ve shown you?�� Uncountable,"

    "I am without depth�� I am endless�� I am�� the rose dragon," he replied, trying to sound dramatic.

    *"Pffffft, do you really want to go back to that era of corny nicknames?"* sheughed at his attempts at being dramatic.

    "Please no, being called Jason Rose is already the best I can manage," heughed back.

    "Anyway, you said you were just about to call me earlier. What about?" he said, diverting the conversation back towards business.

    *"Ah, yes, that. After our conversation that day, I started looking into teams that will be looking to take you on loan,"* Adele began.

    *"Before you say anything, I was just trying to be prepared, just in case you know, it would be toote to wait until then so start looking for a team where you can go on loan,"* she added, knowing that Jason would likely interrupt wittily.

    "I wasn''t going to say anything," Jason halfughed.

    *"Rightttttt�� anyways,pared to other major leagues, your wages are kind of low, so I didn''t have to narrow down my search too much, plus you are currently a hot catch, so most teams wouldn''t mind bringing you in for a loan spell as long as they need a yer like you,"*

    *"Taking all that into ount, I narrowed down my search and I was able to select a few teams I could try offering you up to for a loan spell,"*

    "What teams are those?" Jason immediately asked, already hearing what he had called her for.

    "Well, considering your status and your appetite�� we could try Real Sociedad, they''ve had a shortage of numbers in the winger department for a while and they''re an okay team, not top level, but not too far off,"

    "We could also try Leceister as well, their status as a top-level team is kind of shaky, but, they''re an overall good team and you should be able to get an okay amount of game time if they take you on loan�� is what I was thinking earlier,"

    "But then another team contacted me,"

    "A team that you probably wouldn''t mind going to even on a permanent transfer," she added.

 Chapter 408 Clutch Player Rico Gulaz

    408 Clutch yer Rico Gz

    "And what team is that?" Jason asked immediately, biting the bait without care. At this point, he wouldn''t mind joining a lower-level team, not to mention a team that could garner his interest.

    *"Uventus��"* Adele''s voice was in aspared to how she had built up the conversation to this point, but to Jason, it sounded like a bomb just went off in his head. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Pardon me, I didn''t hear you very well�� surely you don''t mean the Champions of Italy and also the team that Christiano Ronaldo ys for�� do you?" he asked in surprise and awe.

    *"Yes, that Uventus, but so far all they did was ask for your avability for a transfer deal, however, I think they should be open to taking you on a loan,"* Adele replied.

    "Why would you think that?" Jason asked, still in shock that a team like Uventus was asking about his avability for a transfer to their club.

    *"Well, they currently don''t have any actual wingers other than Chiesa and Kulusevski. The other yers ying on their nks are not actual wingers and are simply filling out the spot due to theck of wingers, but this could be dangerous for the team if any of the actual wingers sustains an injury,"*

    *"The team is already a bit stretched thin from ying their wings as strikers due to one of the strikers being on injury, so they should wee you with open arms if you wish to join them on loan,"*

    *"The only problem is they might want you on a more permanent deal�� also, they will have to deal with Oporto who wouldn''t want to release you easily,"* Adele exined.

    "Hmm, I see," Jason murmured thoughtfully, but his thoughts weren''t about deciding whether to go or not.

    Infact, that decision was already made and he would pack his bags in less than thirty minutes if the transfer actually went through, after all, there was no loss for him.

    He would y in one of the biggest teams in the world and with one of the two brightest stars in the current generation of football�� what was there to think about?

    *"Anyway, what should I tell them, they''ve only asked for your avability and whether you''d be open to a transfer or not�� I''ve not given them a response yet,"* Adele interrupted his thoughts.

    "... Tell them I''m open to a short-term loan deal�� they could also make a loan with an option to buy deal if they wish, it shouldn''t be bad to y at Uventus for a while,"

    "However, I''m currently not ready for a permanent transfer," Jason stated after a bit of thought.

    "Just exin it to them in agent terms, also the earlier the better," he added.

    *"Huh? I thought you wanted to wait for a bit before deciding whether to go on loan or not,"* Adele was stunned at Jason''s tone of urgency.

    "I''ve seen enough," Jason replied deprecatingly with a sigh.

    *"Already? What happened?"* Adele was surprised at how fast things were going even though she was the one who first noticed things going in this direction, however, even for her, this was a bit too fast for things to get this bad.

    "Watch the post-match interview and prepare an official loan request, there should be plenty of material in there," Jasonughed lightly.

    "I will also tell the�� You know what, wait a bit," he stopped midway for a bit to think things through for a bit.

    "Here''s what we will do," he began after aligning his thought process.

    "First, reply to the Uventus side and tell them of our demands and try to receive a conclusive response before the eighth, that''s when our next match will hold,"

    "After what I saw in the interview today, there''s a high likelihood that I wouldn''t y, but even if I am added to the line-up and y the match, I''m still going to request a loan transfer,"

    "You have until then to confirm whether we can join Uventus on loan or not. If we can, then they can make their offer to the club after we''ve requested a loan, and if we can''t there''s still enough time to get a loan transfer arranged to another team," Jason told her of his n after thinking everything through.

    His mind was already made, but he didn''t want to give the Oporto club management time to disturb the transfer to Uventus�� if the Uventus side agreed of course.

    If he and the Uventus team hade to an agreement, then they could make their offer, and he could begin to put pressure on the club from his side.

    Luckily for him, there was a use that made it easier for him to leave the club as long as an offer was made for him.

    When he joined the club''s first team and there were issues about his wages back then, Rico made a use that made it easier for the club if they didn''t want to keep paying his enormous wage if he didn''t perform up to par.

    That was for the club to allow him to leave on loan so that the burden could be shared with another club while he would get ying time in that club, giving him chances to tap into his potential.

    Back then it was a fail-safe made for him, and a concession that was supposed to be beneficial to the club back then, but now, it was going toe back to bite them in the ass because ording to the use, if Jason ever felt dissatisfied with his ying time, or something else, then he would be allowed to go out on loan as long as a loan offer was made to the club.

    What this meant was that it was a game over for the club as long as the offer was made and Jason epted it.

    The club had probably forgotten about the use and would not ever think in that direction as firstly, no one would think to request a loan deal for Jason who was a first team yer at the club, and even if they did, Jason would naturally not agree as normally, he would have no reason to agree to a loan deal�� however, now, there was a reason.

    Hence, it would be best for Jason if there was already a confirmed iing offer from the Uventus side which he would simply just push for and the club wouldn''t have any choice to let him go.

    "That Rico bastard was a greedy a**hole, but he for sure knew how to do his job," Jason smirked as he remembered the man who was turning out to be the clutch yer in his escape from the Oporto team, Rico Gz.

 Chapter 409 Irony

    409 Irony

    After Jason had exined everything to Adele, they ended the call and went about their respective businesses.

    Jason stood up from his couch and headed to the gym to workout his excess emotions from everything that was happening while Adele immediately got to work constructing a response to the Uventus team.

    Soon the fiery sounds of keyboards cking filled the room as she constructed an email to send back to the Uventus team. She was all fired up to help Jason escape Oporto and she wanted to make sure that Jason could get the best out of this loan transfer and this was his way out.

    She had to make sure that this transfer did not fall through, but it was going to be hard and she wished to add more fail-safes to ensure that this deal went through.

    ''Now that I think about it, doesn''t the boss work with Ronaldo?'' midway through constructing her response, she remembered that her boss was the super agent Jorges Mendez who worked with famous names among which included Christiano Ronaldo who was currently at Uventus.

    "Maybe I should talk to him about this," she muttered and continued typing.

    ***7thJanuary 2021***

    The next matchday in the Primera League had almost arrived for the Oporto team and they would be facing Familicao away from home.

    The days leading up to the game had been loud in the media and at the training ground.

    After the big win against Moreirense, the pundits could not stay silent about Familicao''s chances against the in-form Oporto and had not failed to mention the match at whatever opportunity came up.

    As the hat-trick hero and the one behind Moreirense''s defeat, Mylo''s name didn''t disappear from the media as well, however mentions of Jason weren''t much on the entertainment media, but on social media, Jason''s return to the line-up was highly touted and people, especially the Oporto fans expected the manager to unleash both Jason and Mylo on their uing opponents.

    For the Familicao fans who could only watch in dread while trying to appear as confident as possible, it was like counting the time up till the ughter as they waited for the match day to arrive while not leting their hopes die even despite the odds they were faced with.

    At Oporto''s training ground, the yers were buoyed by their win and trained vigorously as they prepared for the next match.

    An added factor was that the manager had begun reviewing the yers in the second team and the junior team and had begun joint training sessions as he looked to promote more young talent to the first team.

    The yers didn''t know the reason behind this sudden decision by the manager and some attributed it to the manager getting greedy after Jason and Mylo, and was looking to see if there were any other talents in the academy that could shine on the big stage, but to them the reason didn''t matter.

    What it meant for the yers looking to be promoted was that there was now a chance to break into the first team while for the first team yers whose positions were already shaky now hadpetition and had to show off their performance so that they didn''t fall down the pecking order any further.

    The yers who did not have any issues also could not allow themselves to be outdone and thus the training sessions had be a lot more heated, crowded, and passionate.

    In all of this, Jason did not put forth any extra effort, after all, he was already training till he was half-dead everyday and did not have to do more, neither was he affected by the overflowing passion at the training ground.

    He was apletely different case from them anyway.

    It was already almost confirmed that the team wanted to get rid of him so nothing he did would change anything and he simply kept as mute as possible while training while staying as far away from Mylo as possible in every joint training session they were both involved in.

    To most people it seemed like there was no problem between both of them, but everyone in the know could clearly see the distance between the two yers and unfixable rift between them in the training session.

    Apart from that however, Jason was on his best behaviour and did not react to Mylo''s presence, treating him as nothing more than air and thus not leaving any chance for anyone toin about his conduct.

    Soon the training for the day was almost over and the manager arrived to name the provisional squad for the game.

    The list of yers going to Familicao for the next match was ced on the notice board by the assistant manager and he left along with the manager, leaving the yers to check for their names.

    One by one, the yers checked the board to see if they were among the lucky ones who were among the squad.

    Since he wasn''t expecting his name to be on the list, Jason continued his training without bothering to check the list, but Viera who had gone to check the list soon came back and informed that he was among the yers in the line-up which surprised Jason, but he didn''t overly react and just continued training.

    ''Nothing is going to change anyway,'' he thought to himself as he continued his training.

    ***8thJanuary 2021***

    **5:47pm**

    The Oporto bus pulled up into the Familicao team''s stadium and stopped at the entrance into the stadium''s inner rooms and the Oporto yers starteding off the bus.

    Jason came down from the bus with his headphones over his ears and nced around at the huge amount of cameras as well as a few fans at the entrance. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    There were quite a lot of peopleaspared to a few weeks ago and that was probably because of the news that fans would soon be allowed into stadiums in theing weeks.

    ''How ironic,'' Jason thought to himself as just when the fans wereing back to the stadiums, he was nning on leaving.

    If everything went as he hoped it would, it would soon be known that he nned to leave and he was sure it would feel like a betrayal to the fans and he currently didn''t know how to feel about it.

    This situation made him feel quiteplicated internally, but he didn''t skip a beat and walked into the stadium after his teammates, giving a few waves at the cameras.

 Chapter 410 Unfeeling Mind I

    Chapter 410 Unfeeling Mind I

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    The match between Familicao and Oporto kicked off with the shrill sound of the referee''s whistle and the ball began moving around the field quickly.

    The ball moved from Mylo in the center of the field to Oliveira who quickly sent it over to Diaz on the left wing.

    Diaz immediately tried taking off down the left nk, but his path was blocked by a Familicao yer who had support from his teammates as they jointly blocked Diaz''s path.

    Seeing nowhere to go, Diaz opted for a crossfield pass to the right nk instead of passing the ball back and killing the attacking momentum.

    The ball was quickly sent flying over all the yers all the way to the right wing where Jesus Corona was waiting for the ball and quickly brought it under control before trying to run down the right nk, but the ball was soon swept away from his legs and shot off the field.

    Jason watched the attack end from the bench with the other bench buddies and sighed, his mind running simtions of how he would have escaped if he was the one in that situation.

    This was one of his training methods as it always helped to have an image of escaping from such a situation in his head so that should he ever fall into the same situation one day, he wouldn''t have to start thinking about escape methods since he would already have the methods in his head and would only require his body to move.

    This would save him the split seconds of time that could determine whether he would be able to seed in maneuvering past the defenders or not.

    For now, that was all that was on his mind and he wasn''t bothered by the fact that he was on the bench running simtions in his head when he could be on the pitch performing all his previous simtions live.

    He had already been expecting not to feature in this match and though the manager had surprised him by adding him to the line-up, he had proven him right by not adding him to the starting line-up.

    Of course, there was still a chance that he might feature in the match bying off the bench but he didn''t have high hopes in that direction.

    As a matter of fact, he no longer cared that much after receiving good news from Adele earlier concerning the loan deal with Uventus. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    He didn''t know how she did it and he didn''t care to know, but she had somehow managed to get the Uventus side agree to make a loan offer for him, but she had told him that Uventus would probably make an offer of a loan to buy option as they wouldn''t want him to be overpricedter, however Jason doubted that the Oporto management would be able to ept that kind of offer.

    The use that could force them to ept a loan offer wouldn''t be able to force them to ept a loan to buy offer as that was no longer just a loan deal and could end with a transfer so they could reject it, but at this point, Jason figuredthat this matter was no longer in his hands.

    If the Oporto club management didn''t ept the loan to buy offer, then there should be a round of negotiations at least and he would have Adele interfere as best as she could to make things work out, but if it didn''t work out, he would just look for other options, however he could not help but hope that things worked out with the Uventus side.

    While he was in his thoughts, the match was ongoing and the Familicao team that was on the attack suddenly had one of their yers fouled in the Oporto penalty box.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The referee loudly blew his whistle as he ran over to the yers while pointing to the penalty spot indicating a penalty would be given to the Familicao team and the Oporto yers immediately tried to debate the referee''s decision but the referee wasn''t giving in.

    The penalty decision stood despite the protests of the Oporto yers and less than a minuteter, Marchesin was sent flying the wrong way, the was sent bulging, and the Familicao yers celebrated the goal that had given them the lead in the game.

    On the sidelines, the Familicao camp erupted in celebration as well while the Oporto camp was a bit disheartened after the goal, but their moods weren''t hampered too much as they still felt that the game was within their grasp.

    Barely ten minutester, the bench buddies belief in their teammates paid off as Oliveira sent the Familicao bulging after cleverly receiving a pass and using his momentum to escape his marker and send a powerful shot at the Familicao goal.

    The Familicao goalkeeper was no match for the venom filled shot and fell short, unable to reach the ball before it flew past him and ended at the back of the.

    With that Oporto had equalized the game while just barely getting past the half of the first half.

    The Familicao fans watching the game could feel their hearts sink as they watched the ease with which the Oporto team equalized their game and they could already feel their hearts quaking from what was toe.

    Before long, their bad premonition came through as Mylo got on the end of a curling cross from Corona on the right nk and controlled it deftly before firing it home and giving Oporto the lead just before half time.

    Thementator''s voice erupted as much as the Familcao fans'' hearts sank as they watched their team go from having the lead to getting equalized against and finally beginning to trail behind their opponents.

    As the match kicked off again, Oporto seemed to enter another gear in their attacking attempts and were looking like they would draw away even further, causing the Familicao fans to watch with bated breaths, but just as the pressure was getting too much, the referee''s whistle signifying the end of the first half blew loudly and y paused.

 Chapter 411 Unfeeling Mind II

    Chapter 411 Unfeeling Mind II

    In the Oporto locker room, the manager was going into the game n for the second half and giving each yer instructions on how they should y in the second half that would help the team to further their lead and move out of the reach of their opponents.

    The yers were listening intently to the manager, even the yers who weren''t in the starting line-up.

    Everyone except one person�� Jason.

    Not to say that he wasn''t listening, but he felt more like a spectator of the tactical meeting rather than a participator and it wasn''t difficult to figure out why.

    Originally Jason was a person that indifferent to Oporto and was never a fan of the clu or anything of the sort, but things changed when he joined the club.

    He began to root for them and hoped for their sess in every way, but now that he wanted to leave, he was slowly losing his positive emotions for the club and considering how he was mentally wired, this was easier for him than most people.

    Not to mention that he had experienced this quite a few times in his past life, though for some reason, something told him that he wouldn''tpletely lose all his positive emotions to the club.

    This was his new beginning after all, and this was where he first felt the love of football fans on arge scale so Oporto would have a special ce in his heart at the end of everything, but things couldn''t remain the same.

    Another thing Jason noticed was that Mylo scoring no longer bothered him as much�� at least not to the point of making him want to rage, but rather it ignited a desire to outy him on all levels and crush him with his own performance.

    He wanted the gulf between them to be so wide that no one would dare to put the two of them in the same sentence.

    He wanted the gulf to be as wide as the range between a yer like Christiano Ronaldo to a yer like Antony�� Noparison at all.

    That was the desire that burned within him whenever he saw Mylo on the field and he was not going to let go of that feeling for anything.

    Other than that, he waspletely unfeeling and unresponsive to whatever was happening and simply followed the motions.

    Once the half-time break was over, he and the other bench buddies marched back to the bench to continue watching the match from the bench.

    With that, the match continued and the second half kicked off with Oporto in the lead.

    As soon as the match kicked off, the Oporto yers rushed at their opponents looking to further their lead, but the Familicao yers weren''t going to allow themselves to be so easily swept aside by the Oporto yers and they fought back with everything they had.

    Unfortunately for the Familicao team, ying with everything they had was only able to keep the Oporto team at bay for a little while and the Oporto team soon found their way behind the defense with a splitting through pass into Diaz''s path on the left nk.

    With a perfect first touch, Diaz got the ball under control and pushed it forward past thest defender, and skipped past him perfectly with practiced ease before continuing his run toward the Familicao goalkeeper.

    The Familicao goalkeeper immediately rushed out to hinder Diaz, but Diaz quickly lined up the shot and quickly swept the ball under the goalkeeper''s arms and past the goal line.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {They have three!!!} thementator shouted into the mic as Diaz charged down towards the sidelines in celebration.

    The Oporto bench buddies also erupted in celebration at the same time as their teammates on the field as they celebrated their third goal in the game, but Jason didn''t do more than nod a few times.

    The game continued shortly after and as the clock ran down, the managers of both teams started making substitutions, each of them trying to influence the game.

    On the Oporto side, the manager started making substitutions and thanks to his team being in the lead he had the freedom to sub in just about anybody on the bench and that was what he started doing.

    Soon, all five people he nned to sub on were warming up on the sidelines and he began subbing them on one after the other in intervals.

    #80thminute��

    The match was slowly nearing an end, but both teams were still going hard at each other, each yer trying to leave his mark on the game.

    The new substitutes on the field were doing their parts and did not disappoint their coaches with each new yer doing his best to hinder their opponent and show off their presence on the field and for a while, the match settled into a deadlock with both teams going at each other, but neither team managing to register another number to the scoreline.

    Suddenly, the Oporto yers shifted to a new gear and pushed harder at their opponents, stunning their opponents with the sudden shift and rendering them unable to respond.

    Before the Familicao yers knew what was going on, the Oporto yers had moved the ball steadily past them and the ball was already rolling towards Mylo who skillfully used his first touch to confuse his marker and create enough space for a shot.

    Once the marker was out of the way, his leg swept at the ball powerfully without hesitation and sent it smashing into the bottom right corner of the goal, leaving the Familicao goalkeeper tumbling all over the floor, unable to stop the shot.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Surely now, it''s all over!}

    {No way back!} n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    {Oporto may be far from home, but they definitely do not hesitate to stamp their authority!} thementator shouted racuously as the Oporto yers erupted in celebration with Mylo, the goal scorer being the center of attention.

    On the Oporto bench, Jason watched all this silently with his hands tucked into his coat pockets, his face not flinching in the slightest despite the infectious joy spreading around among his teammates.

 Chapter 412 Loan Request

    Chapter 412 Loan Request

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    The final whistle blew loudly across the field and the match between Familicao and Oporto came to an end with a resounding victory in the favor of the Oporto team and it showed on their happy but exhausted faces.

    yers with quite a bit of energy left showed some of their happiness in their actions and body motions.

    For Jason, with the match being over, he just got up with his hands still in his coat pockets and he headed into the tunnel, his facepletely impassive, but it looked like a serious face to anyone looking.

    As he headed into the tunnel, some interviewers tried to stop him to ask a few questions, but with practiced ease, he sidestepped the reporters that he could and deflected the questions of the ones he couldn''t avoid.

    It didn''t take too long for him to get to the locker room with some of his teammates in tow and he just picked up his bag and sat on one of the avable benches.

    He didn''t have anything to pack as he hadn''t needed to get on the pitch, but after thinking that it might be a little too much for him to keep wearing his ser boots, he took them off and reced them with thefy sport shoes and wore a trouser over the Oporto jersey shorts.

    With that done, he was ready to leave, but the rest of his teammates were just beginning to file into the locker room after their excitement on the pitch.

    The manager was right behind them and as soon as he was in the room, he started giving des to to the yers he thought deserved them and the room was filled with the sounds ofughter and camraderie, yet despite being inside the same room and putting on a half-smile on his face while all this was happening, Jason could feel the distance between him and his teammates widening with every second.

    It was a weird feeling, but he didn''t try to avoid it as he knew it was something he would have to get used to.

    Normally, one would think he was used to leaving his teammates thanks to his previous reality, but this time felt different and more meaningful for some reason and Jason let himself soak in that feeling.

    *Pheww* letting out a long, yet silent sigh, he closed his eyes and opened them with determination. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ***9thJanuary 2021***

    "Sorry, can you repeat that?" Conceicao asked like he couldn''t believe his ears.

    He was currently at his office at the training grounds of the club as unlike his yers who usually got a day off to rest after every match, he was required to be at work almost every day.

    After all, he was the tactician of the team and he had to constantly be on the move, analyzing his opponents anding up with all sorts of countermeasures while making sure to get the best out of his yers at the same time.

    There was no rest period for him until the off-season.

    He wasn''t alone at the training center as other club staff were also hard at work, and some yers were also taking the rest day as a training day for themselves.

    These were some of the yers who did not feature in the previous day''s match and wanted to get in some more training time thanks to them not having any muscle fatigue to deal with.

    Among those yers were Jason and he had noticed him hard at trainng earlier, but now that that same yer was in front of him and saying some things that were hard to swallow down, how could he not be shocked.

    "I would like to request a loan spell outside the club," Jason repeated without much of a reaction to the manager''s reaction.

    He had already made up his mound and even if the managers jaw dropped to the floor in shock, Jason wasn''t going to care and was still going to say what he wanted to say.

    "But�� wait, Why�� Ah, wait, why are you requesting a loan?" Conceicao kept stumbling over his own words, and the right words to respond perfectly to the situation kept eluding him.

    ''As if you don''t know,'' Jason scoffed inwardly but still decided to speak.

    "I need some time outside the club for personal reasons and a loan will allow for that time for me while also allowing me ytime that it seems I will not be getting much of here at Oporto anymore," Jason said, his words almost brazen, but he was done holding back.

    "Personal reason? I get that you have a minor conflict with one of your teammates, but surely that doesn''t warrant such an important decision,"

    "Don''t you think you''re jumping the gun a bit here?" Conceicao asked.

    "Minor conflict?" Jason asked incredulously, spitting out the words with venom.

    "What happened between me and Mylo can hardly be called a minor conflict and I don''t get why you''re trying to y it off as something that can be brushed over, but I''m telling you now, Mylo Baumgartner is not on my list of teammates," He retorted sharply.

    "... Don''t you think you''re being a little too hasty in your decision?" Conceicao didn''t seem to want to give up.

    "Can we just stop? I''m not here for a therapy session with you, it''s not in your job description," Jason snapped.

    "I''m here to inform you of my intentions and an official request from my agent is already in the mail,"

    "I hope you''ll agree to my request so we can stop ying all these games. I don''t know why, but it''s clear that you and the management side with Mylo, and since there''s no way I will be ying with that guy on the field, it would be better for my career to go y football somewhere else that is not here for a while," Jason said without backing off, not bothering to y dumb.

    He hoped the manager would also do the same instead of acting surprised in a situation he should have seening right from the start.

 Chapter 413: Loan Offer

    Chapter 413: Loan Offer

    Conceicao watched Jason walk away and his earlier words rang again inside his head.

    ��I don��t know why, but it��s clear that you and the management side with Mylo, and since there��s no way I will be ying with that guy on the field, it would be better for my career to go y football somewhere else that is not here for a while,��

    ��At least he��s not an idiot,�� he muttered as hey back into his chair, watching the door close behind Jason.

    Despite his words making it seem like he was ignorant of the levity of the matter, he actually wasn��t ignorant of the whole fiasco in the slightest, after all he was the one driving matters this way.

    After reporting the situation to the management, the management had made a decision to oust Jason from the club and make a considerable profit from it, and he didn��t have a choice but to go along if he still cared for his job and the club.

    This wasn��t the first time he would lose a talented yer and the fact that said yer had an irredeemable rtionship with one of his teammates did not help matters.

    Naturally speaking, Oporto couldn��t keep a yer with as much talent as Jason for much longer, hence the club��s decision to get rid of him first, and that was the order he received.

    This was not the time the club had decided to get rid of a yer due to many various reasons, but it never got easier for him as a manager, especially when it was a situation like this one where the yer being ousted was the one on the short end of the stick. It wasn��t something he liked to do and that was why he had made it clear enough to Jason that he needed to leave.

    Doing this was going against the club��s management, who wanted the matter to be handled as stealthily as possible without giving Jason any reasons to point his fingers at them, but Conceicao couldn��t watch one of his favorite yers treated as a meremodity for profit by the club yet again.

    Doing things this way would make Jason antagonize both him and the club management, but it was the best choice for Jason as his career wouldn��t be hindered.

    Luckily, it seemed like his gamble was paying off as Jason had already made a decision and it was a decision he didn��t expect.

    He had expected a transfer request from Jason, but a loan request was just as good as it would hit back at the club that was trying to make a quick profit with Jason, but they would still be able to sell him for a higher price at the end of the season�� as long as things worked out.

    There would be slower returns for the club and they would lose one of their most important yers until the end of the season but they wouldn��t lose much from this move.

    ��All that remains is if someone wants to take him on a loan,�� he was muttering to himself when his phone suddenly rang.

    ��I wonder how the fans would react when they hear this,�� he thought as he picked up his phone and checked to see who was calling.

    ��Why��s he calling?�� Conceicao wondered on seeing the team��s Director of Football��s name as the caller ID.

    ��Hello,�� Conceicao spoke into the phone as he answered the call.

    *��Sergio, where are you right now?��* The Director of Football��s voice hurriedly rang into the manager��s ear.

    ��My office, Portogaia. What happened? Why do you sound in a hurry all of a sudden?�� Conceicao asked.

    *��First�� What the hell is going on at the club? You know what, I can��t say this over the phone, we��ll talk at your office, I��m on my way,��* the Director of Football said as fast as he could and hung up the phone directly without waiting for a response.

    ���� Okay,�� Conceicao muttered as he put his phone down, still confused by what was happening, however, without any other option but to wait for the sporting director to arrive, he went back to what he was doing.

    �� Less than an hourter��

    A knock sounded on the door and immediately after, the door was opened without waiting for a response with the club��s Director of Football barging into the office and surprising Conceicao.

    ��Okay, hold on, hold on, what��s the hurry?�� Conceicao asked the Director of Football who sat across from him.

    ��Give me a minute to catch my breath, okay,�� the director wheezed as he sat in the chair, his sudden exercise of his slightly overweight body now taking a toll.

    He grabbed a bottle of water from the table and poured it down his throat, gulping down hard all while Conceicao watched from across the table, still not knowing what could cause the club��s director of football to lose hisposure ande rushing over.

    ��Whew, okay���� The director finally put down the bottle after remosturizing himself enough.

    ��Now that you��ve got yourself in order, what is the problem,�� Conceicao asked the director but all he got was an envelope dropped on the table across from him.

    ��What��s this?�� he asked as he picked it up.

    With a nce, he could see that the envelope was already torn open so, the director should know what was inside.

    ��A transfer request�� or to be more specific, a loan request,�� the director replied immediately.

    ��Oh, that was fast,�� Conceicao immediately remembered what Jason had said earlier.

    ��That was fast?�� the DoF(Director of Football) repeated the manger��s words in surprise.

    ��You knew about this?�� he asked Conceicao, his surprise still in his voice.

    ��I just found out about it, but yeah, I did know about this,�� Conceicao replied as he took out the contents of the envelope and began perusing through it.

    ���� You want to tell me why one of the club��s best performers and current fan favorite wants to leave the club on loan?�� the DoF finally asked the question that had been on his mind right from when he saw what was in the envelope.

    ��Ah, right, he didn��t know about it,�� Conceicao nced up from the letter and finally realized the cause of worry of the DoF.

    Naturally speaking, what had happened was a scandal and the lesser ears that heard about what happened, the better, hence apart from the people that already knew, no one else was informed of what happened or the club��s decision, hence the DoF��s confusion.

    ��It��splicated,�� Conceicao replied andthe tone of his voice made it clear that he wouldn��t be saying anything else.

    The DoF picked up on that and nodded in response despite his curiosity.

    ��The fans aren��t going to like this,��he couldn��t resist saying.

    ��Well, there��s nothing I can do about that. Anyway, was that all you came here for?�� Conceicao asked as he put down the loan request and carefully folded it before cing it back into the envelope.

    ��No�� there��s something else,�� the DoF said as he sat back in his chair, thinking about the sudden barrage of incidences he had faced just an hour earlier.

    ��What is it?�� Conceicao asked as he put the loan request on his table, making a mental note to send it to the club managementter.

    ��An offer came�� for Jason,�� the DoF sighed tiredly, already feeling an headacheing from the negotiations he might be undertaking in a little while.

 Chapter 414 Loan Offer II

    Chapter 414 Loan Offer II

    "An offer came? Already?" Conceicao asked in surprise.

    "Yes, a short-term loan deal, with an option to buy at the end of the loan period," the DoF replied to the manager.

    "It''s even a loan deal like he wanted? Wait, which team made the offer?" Conceicao asked another question.

    "... Uventus,"

    "Hmmmm," Conceicao hummed in response.

    "Wait, Uventus as in the Serie A Champions Uve?" the DoF''s answer finally hit home and surprised the manager.

    "Yes, it is that Uventus�� what response do we give?" the DoF asked.

    "Hold on to that thought for a while, I''ll need to discuss it with the board," Conceicao answered, no longer in shock.

    "Are you really considering this?" the DoF couldn''t help asking the head manager.

    "We don''t have a choice, he wants to leave, and there''s an offer?"

    "The least I can do is speak to the board about it," Conceicao replied, finishing up what he was doing as he wanted to quickly get to discussing the negotiation with the board.

    "But that''s Jason! He''s way too important to the team to let him go just like that?"

    "What will the fans say?" the DoF could not stop himself from asking, after all, he was one of those fans who had a lot to say about this.

    "Hopefully they can ept his decision and move on, it''s best for everyone," Conceicao replied half-mindedly.

    "Bullshit! And you know that!" The DoF retorted.

    "Well, it''s bullshit they''re going to have to swallow,"

    "He wants to leave and though it means we will lose one option on the wings, we''re a team of professionals who will be able to cope with whateveres,"

    "I say, good riddance," Conceicao replied sharply, his tone sounding harsher by the second and causing the DoF to pause.

    "... You don''t believe that," TheDoF muttered after a few seconds.

    "... No��I don''t," Conceicao sighed tiredly.

    "... But I already told you, he wants to leave and I can''t stop him�� no one can,"

    "If we don''t let him go now, we''ll only be antagonizing him and that''s not good for team chemistry, and also, that''s a particrly annoying scandal to deal with if it ever gets out," he continued and closed his notepad before standing up.

    "He has made his intentions clear and an offer has arrived, it''s now up to the management to decide,"

    "I don''t run the club, they do," Conceicao said as he pushed out his chair and started walking.

    "I''m just a figurehead tactician who takes the fall for everything bad that happens here while almost everything good is credited to the yers�� there''s not much I can do in this situation," he continued, some of his actual thoughts slipping out, but he made no effort to correct himself despite his harsh words discrediting the club management and even the yers.

    The DoF couldn''t say anything either as despite how harsh the words of the manager were, they weren''t far from the truth.

    As the Director of Football of the club himself, he was in charge of all transfer deals and contract negotiations. He along with the sporting director and a few others always did all the dirty work when it came to acquiring new talent for the club, yet how many football fans even knew the presence of such people at the club.

    Most football fans didn''t even think in that direction and a great percent of the few that did, did not care to know who they were.

    Normally, they didn''t care about such things, but it was a bit disheartening to think about.

    "Anyway, let''s go, you''ll have to be there as well," Conceicao who had already pulled out his phone to arrange a meeting with the club management, called out to the DoF who was seated.

    "Oh,ing," the DoF called back in response and quickly got to his feet, it seemed like he would have a lot to do soon.

    ***10thJanuary 2021***

    "Jason Rose to Uventus! What''s happening behind closed doors?" Jason read aloud from the newspaper that Adele dropped on the kitchen counter as he wiped his hands.

    It was evening and Jason was done with his training for the day, but Adele hade over as they had matters to discuss regarding the transfer.

    "What does it say?" Jason asked as he continued preparing his dinner.

    "It is rumored that just hours after making a loan request to Oporto, a loan offer came from the Serie A Top flight team Uventus," Adele read out the first line but then stopped reading it aloud and read the rest silently.

    "It literally just talks about there being suspicion with the timing of the offer and it also talks about confusion behind why you''re trying to leave,"

    "It''s not trying to put you in a positive light, that''s for sure," Adele exined after she was done reading.

    "Does it say anything about the progress of the deal?" Jason asked, not taking the typed innocuous ramblings of the reporter to mind.

    "If that much information got out, that wouldn''t just be an information leak, but rather an information sinkhole," Adeleughed lightly.

    "That''s their business, you tell me, is there any progress?" Jason asked Adele, still wanting an answer.

    "Well, they didn''t reject the offer outright�� or rather they can''t, that Rico Gz guy definitely had a way with words and that use is very binding," Adele started.

    "However, they want a lot more money than Uventus is offering," she stated.

    "How much is Uventus offering?" Jason continued his questioning with a half mind while the rest of his attention was focused on what he was cooking.

    "Well, their starting offer is a short-term loan with an option to buy with a price range of between 40 to 50 million Euros depending on your performance at the club," Adele answered.

    "Hmmmm�� so a minimum of 40 mil and a max of 50 mil? That''s cutting it a bit close with yer valuation currently, but it seems pretty okay, right?" Jason asked calmly.

    "Well, your beloved club wants more," Adele replied immediately, a funny look on her face.

    "... How much are they asking for?" Jason asked, slightly curious.

    "One hundred��" Adele said.

    "Isn''t that a bit-��" Jason began to say, but Adele wasn''t done. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "... and eighty," shepleted her sentence.

    "I''m sorry, what!?" Jason asked in shock as he was sure that his ears were no longer functioning after what he just heard.

 Chapter 415 Mythical Treasure

    Chapter 415 Mythical Treasure

    "One hundred and eighty million!?" Jason asked in disbelief, his mouth agape.

    "Why not just go rob the Union depository!? Bloody hell!" Jason spat out, finding it hard to notugh at the situation.

    "Even Michael, Trevor, and Franklin didn''t steal that much from the union depository," Adele replied, not bothering to stop herself fromughing.

    "... Wait, you know GTA V''s story, and the characters?" Jason asked in surprise, finding another thing to be shocked about in less than a minute.

    "What do you think I do when I get off work?" Adele replied to his question with a question of her own while she rolled her eyes.

    "I don''t know, sleep, watch YouTube reels, read werewolf romance fantasy, sleep," Jason answered.

    "You said sleep twice," Adele rolled her eyes.

    "Also, that''s boring, there are tons of games to explore yunno, I mean, there''s Fortnite, GTA, Watchdogs, God of War, Among Us, and even Fifa�� if I''m feeling like something light," Adele said honestly, her eyes getting animated as she listed some of her favorite games.

    "..." Jason just looked at her with his mouth agape. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Can I kiss you?" the words slipped out of his mouth and he did not regret it.

    "What! Why!?" Adele recoiled in shock.

    "If you''re trying to seduce me, it''s working�� it''s working a little too much,"

    "Why didn''t you ever tell me you were a gamer girl!?" Jason felt like he had just uncovered the treasure mythical treasure that ever gamer bro looked to find his whole life.

    When other guys talked about it when he was ying multi-yer games, he had never thought much about it, but now that he was witnessing a gamer girl in the flesh, especially when it was a girl he was already attracted to, it suddenly felt like all was right in the world.

    "You never asked, the most you know about me is that I''m half-Dominican," Adele rolled her eyes at Jason.

    "..." Jason had first opened his mouth to reply but realized that he didn''t have the words to counter her.

    She was right and he hadn''t bothered to know anything more than the necessary.

    "Anyway, let''s get back to the matter at hand," Adele changed the topic after seeing Jason struggle toe with a response.

    Internally, she was happy with this victory and the fact that she was able to let him know that they knew way too little about each other for anything meaningful to happen between them.

    "With the club''s asking price being a little too sky-high, it''s not likely they will be able to find a middle ground on the transfer fee," she continued.

    "It''s more than a little sky-high, but yeah, that is a problem," Jason nodded affirmatively, but there was a lot more than his transfer fee on his mind.

    "To avoid the deal falling through, we may have to intervene," Adele said thoughtfully as she sniffed at the air that was heavily bearing the scent of delicious food.

    The smell was so heavy that despite being unable to tell the contents of the pot, her mouth was already watering and urging her to finish this conversation first.

    "Intervene how?" Jason asked while stirring the pot, not aware that he wascookingwhile cooking.

    "It''s looking like the only way out of here is a shock to both sides," Adele continued, swallowing hard.

    "How do we do that?" Jason asked curiously.

    "By entertaining an offer from another team, one that is just a loan without any option to buy," Adele began,

    "If we do that, it should cause the Oporto team to reduce their sky-high expectations and should hopefully encourage the Uventus side to be more enthusiastic in their attempts at acquiring your services for their club, "

    "Of course, I can''t leave everything to chance and I will speak to the Uventus side to see what I can do. Hopefully, I can convince them to remove their option to buy and instead try to buy you at the end of the season when your price should have reduced due to your contract being about to run out," she sighed as she finished exining her n to Jason.

    "Oh��" Jason murmured.

    "Even with that, I still don''t know what will happen, but I will do my best to get you out of here," Adele said all fired up.

    "I''ll hold you to your words," Jason said with a smile,

    "Anyway, are you hungry?" he asked and turned around only to see her waiting with a te and cutlery in hand.

    "You sure you don''t want to add eating to the things you do when you''re off work?" he asked with augh.

    "I would if I found someone who cooks like Gordon Ramsay without looking like he was half his age," Adele scoffed.

    "Why thank you for the praise, now sit down and make yourselffortable, mdy, dinner will be served soon," Jason did a little bow and took her te from her hands.

    "I quite look forward to it good sir," Adele replied dramatically as well, doing a littledy bow before she turned back.

    The next hour was spent with both of them eating while conversing with Jason finally making an effort to know more about Adele and Adele doing the same, but before they could enter an historical ss with each other as the subject, they were swept away by a conversation on games.

    One particrly reurring topic was the likely release date of the next sequel to the GTA series, the GTA VI game, however, like many others, they could only express their desire to y the game, but unable to determine the likely release date of the game.

    Soon it was time for Adele to leave and Jason picked up his keys, offering to drive her home as it was already prettyte outside and she didn''t have a car.

    They were soon on the road and barely an hourter, they seemed to be nearing her house.

    "Why don''t you have a car? Am I not paying you enough?" Jason asked jokingly as he drove her towards her house, following her directions.

    "Look at the bright side, now you know where I live," Adele replied as the car came to a stop in front of her house.

    "What am I supposed to do with that information though?" Jason asked in confusion.

    "I don''t know, you tell me," Adele replied mischievously and got down from the car.

 Chapter 416 Sports Talks I

    416 Sports Talks I

    ***11thJanuary 2021***

    At a studio of one of the leading sports TV channels in Portugal, three people were seated at a table and looking at their cue cards to remember what they would be talking about as soon as the advert break was over.

    Soon someone among the shooting crew held up a sign that indicated to the people at the table that the advert break was going to be over in a few seconds.

    "3, 2, 1��" the host of the show counted in a whisper as he received signals from the shooting crew.

    "Now!"

    "Wee back to Sports Talks, I''m still your host, Patricio Ortega and here with me are fellow pundits and reporters, William Jose and Martin Leveida," Patricio introduced himself and his co-hosts again despite having just gone on a short break just two minutes ago.

    It was a customary thing among reporters to keep introducing themselves for the benefits of any new viewers who might have joined the showter than the starting time.

    "Still on transfer news for the first month of the new year, let''s get right into the next topic which I have to admit is a very interesting one,"

    "I''m sure you guys would agree with me on this, Oporto''s very own Jason Rose on a loan deal to Serie A giants Uventus," Patricioid out the topic and the screen of the TV behind him immediately switched to a prepared graphic showing Jason edited into a Uventus shirt.

    "He does look good in a Uventus shirt, I''m not gonna lie," William could not help starting wittily.

    "That statement can have the Oporto fanse after you," Patricio said with augh.

    "How true is this though?" Martin asked, ncing at the picture.

    "Well, it''s been confirmed that Oporto has already received an offer and the two teams are currently negotiating the deal,"

    "Sources say that Uventus is looking to get him on a short-term loan deal with an option to buy at the end of the loan period. They seem to have made an offer of around 60 million Euros," Patricio exined the information that he had received prior to the show.

    "Oh, that''s a good deal, both for the club and the yer. I mean, it''s not every day one gets to y for a team with as much presence and history as the men in Turin," Martis nodded after hearing Patricio''s exnation.

    "The problem is how would the fans react to this transfer?" William butted in.

    "That is an important question, haha," Martinughed.

    "Well, I am sure the Uventus fans would be quite happy to bring a top talent to their club, but I don''t think the Oporto fans would be happy to lose him, especially now that it''s mid-season,"

    "Especially with their performances just beginning to perk up after a shaky beginning to the season which some of the Oporto fans still believe was due to his injury,"

    "In fact, I saw a poll on Twitter yesterday that was in favor of them not wanting him to leave, however, thement section was a bit of a madhouse," Patricio said with augh.

    "Haha, I can imagine that," Williamughed.

    "I think at this point, it all boils down to the yer himself, there were talks about him submitting a loan request to the club not long ago, weren''t there?" Martin asked calmly, thinking quite deeply about the matter.

    "Well, there''s nothing confirmed and so far, it''s just a rumor-" Patricio began but was interrupted by Martin.

    "A very well-known rumor," Martin added.

    "But a rumor nheless," Patricio continued.

    "However one thing we do know that was confirmed was that there was an issue at training on thest day ofst year which led to him facing disciplinary actions and he hasn''t yed since, on the other hand, the person he was said to have gotten into a trifle with, Mylo has yed in all the matches after that, amassing five goals in just two goals," Patricio said.

    "Oh, that''s a very good record, the kid''s on fire," William butted in.

    "True, but that''s beside the point, we''re trying to determine Jason''s feelings about the transfer, and whether or not he submitted a loan deal or not," Patricio cut back in, taking hold of the conversation again before they derailed from their topic.

    "If you put it like that, then there is a possibility of a quarrel between the two yers, or even more yers on the team and this could lead to him wanting to leave�� or there might be something none of us know about that could be the driving force behind his choice to leave," Martin calmlyid out his opinion. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "We aren''t sure that he wants to leave though," William said.

    "We aren''t sure that he doesn''t want to leave either," Martin immediately replied.

    "I am sure that he''s at least entertaining the thought. Apart from it being a very good choice for a transfer, if he truly had no ns of leaving, he would have made it clear that he has no ns of leaving, but so far, the yer''s side has been silent,"

    "He hasn''t said anything, his agent hasn''t said anything, and we know that negotiation is ongoing," Martin calmly exined.

    "What would you say is the likelihood of him leaving, like in percentage?" Patricio immediately threw a question at Martin who was currently on fire as he dissected the matter and had almost taken the reins of the show.

    "Eighty-eight percent," Martin replied without hesitation.

    "Oh wow, no hesitation with such a specific number," Patricioughed lightly.

    "I''ll tell you why, I''ll tell you why," Martin once again took the reins of the show,

    "The reason for me giving such a high number is because firstly, Uventus is sort of a dream team for any footballer. It''s a top club with top yers and their chances in any trophy run are quite high, both domestically and on the continental stage, hence, Jason would likely want to join such a team and much sooner thanter,"

    "Why would he give up an opportunity on a tter of gold?" Martin asked.

 Chapter 417 Sports Talks II

    417 Sports Talks II

    "Good point, I wouldn''t give up such an opportunity to do so if I were him," Williamughed.

    "Exactly, especially when there''s the possibility of a full transfer at the end of the loan period, that would mean a better sry, better ying conditions, more fame and all. Those are very enticing things for a yer, especially when it''s someone as young as Jason,"

    "The kid definitely has dreams to make it out of the Portuguese Primera Liga, and now with an opportunity having shown up, what''s stopping him from jumping on it," Martins continued, on a roll as the words kept flying out of his mouth and heating up the conversation.

    "Secondly, assuming our conjecture is correct and there is something going on between him and the club, be it the management or his teammates, this is a very good chance for him to escape and fly the coop," he continued, moving on to the next point.

    "I don''t know how it feels to be in such a situation considering I was never a football yer, but if the work environment was filled with conflict, then I assume it wouldn''t be pleasant for him and the pressure maye bearing down on him heavier than others, considering his age,"

    "I''m not saying anything''s happening, this is strictly a ''what if'' situation, so that''s that,"

    "... wouldn''t want to be sued for defamation," he added with augh.

    "Haha, you should be safe, hopefully," Patricioughed as he added and everyone burst out inughter despite the bittersweet reality.

    It was said that ''freedom of speech'' was a human right, but the person who wrote the constitution failed to mention that ''freedom after speech'' wasn''t guaranteed.

    "Anyways, the third reason would be the club. With suitors like Uventus who are known to have quite the deep pockets, the club might just be looking to cash in on the yer and then re-invest the money into the parts of the team where they arecking, which if you haven''t noticed, is quite a bit,"

    "The squad depth is barely okay at best and with the rush of games they are currently facing, injuries due to exhaustion would soon start showing up and it might hit the team hard,"

    "The management wouldn''t like that considering they are finallying back in their race for the league title and their progression in otherpetitions," Martin finally finished.

    "I have to admit, those are usible reasons, especially the third one. Facing an injury wave right now would not be good for the team''s chances in everypetition. They''re already progressively drawing close to the trophies in allpetitions and any mishap could lead to all their work up till now fading away," Patricio started, taking over once again.

    "If their way out is a sale for one of their more important yers so they can cover other parts of the team, then there''s a chance they could take it, but that would mean a direct transfer deal which is no longer the same thing, but well we can never tell with the negotiations," he said.

    "If that''s the case, why not just give the full hundred percent chance, why eighty-eight?" William asked Martin curiously.

    "Well, that''s because of two reasons," Martin began licking his lips a little as his throat felt slightly dry after all his previous talking.

    "First, I removed ten percent because of a fallout in negotiations between the two clubs,"

    "I purposely made the percentage as low as ten percent because that''s how low the chances of the negotiations falling out are. Both sides want to do business for sure,"

    "The Uventus will definitely want to get their hands on one of the new stars of the young generation even if they have to pay a bit of a hefty price to do so while the Oporto side definitely wants the money that the Uventus side has to offer, however, there could be a falling out if the price the Oporto side have in mind is too high even for the Uventus side that is willing to sacrifice quite a bit," Martin exined.

    "How much would you think is too high?" Patricio cut in.

    "Well, I''m not a business man, but based on the current day valuation of yers, I would say anything above seventy million Euros is already cutting it close," Martin responded.

    "Don''t you think that''s a bit low for a yer like Jason," William immediately questioned.

    "i mean, Mbappe was bought for one hundred and eighty million Euros by PSG and even Felix from Benfica was bought for over almost a hundred and thirty million Euros by Athletico, so why do you think seventy million is too much,"William asked.

    "Firstly, I never said it was too much, I said cutting it close. To be honest, no matter how we look at yer valuation in the current day and age, seventy million is still quite a lot of money and despite Uventus having quite the deep pockets, you forget that they were hit by the COVID break as much as every other person and their finances has taken the brunt of it,"

    "There''s even news about the club owing some yers quite a few million in wages so they can''t pull out the numbers you are expecting right now," Martin exined like a professional who spent his days analyzingpany assets.

    "That''s probably one of the reasons why they''re going for the option of a loan with the option to buy at the end of the loan, they may not have raised enough money and might be looking to get a buffer period to pay the transfer fees while already having him linked to them," Martin exined.

    ""Ohhhhhhh"" Patricio and William echoed at the same time.

    "That exins a lot," William said.

    "Yeah, it brings a new perspective into this, you should be a professional investigator," Patricio said with augh.

    "No way, I love my job," Martinughed.

    "Anyhow, what about the remaining two percent?" William suddenly remembered that there was still two percent left out of the calction. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "That two percent is the chance that Jason will reject the loan deal even if the two clubse to an agreement," Martin began exining thest part.

    "Don''t you think that chance is a bit low, considering that it might be a tough decision, especially if we bring things like feelings and the fans into y," Patricio asked.

    "The fans probably wouldn''t have much effect," Martin imediately replied in a confident tone.

    "Why do you think that?" Patricio asked.

    "I don''t know if you remember, but Jason had hardly made his debut when the stadiums were closed down to the fans so he hasn''t established that deep of a rtionship with the Oporto fans hence, their voice in his decision would be quite low and he might very well just do whatever he wants," Martin said and opened a bottle of water.

    "Anyhow, there you have it folks, we will be back after thismercial break," Patricio immediately took the cue to take an advert break so that they could rest a bit before moving on to the next topic.

 Chapter 418 Glory Addict I

    418 Glory Addict I

    ***12thJanuary 2021***

    "Viera, your job in the center is to draw out their defensive midfielders so that there will be enough space for the ball to reach the strikers,"

    In one of the locker rooms of the Madeira stadium in Funchal, Oporto''s manager was giving his yers instructions on the tactical set-up for their uing match.

    The Oporto team would be going up against the Nacional team in the fifth round of the Taca de Portugal and it was a pretty big day because apart from the importance of the match, it was also the first match since before the COVID break where fans would be allowed back into the stadiums.

    Of course the stadiums wouldn''t be filled due to some precautionary measures being taken, but sixty percent of the avable seats were sold.

    Due to it having been a while, the fans of both teams did not hesitate top up the avable seats and the seats were sold out in less than ten minutes after they were put up.

    This showed just how much the fans had been craving live football and they were finally going to get it in this match.

    Soon the manager was done with the tactical meeting and the yers moved out, with the yers in the starting line-up stopping at the tunnel while the bench yers continued out of the tunnel and moved towards the bench.

    Jason was among the bench yers and as he walked out of the tunnel was greeted with the sight of the fans in their seats and singing and having fun before the game started.

    They were supposed social distancing, but it was obvious that none of them cared about that and were already swept up in the joy of being back at the stadiums.

    As Jason and the rest of the bench buddies walked toward their, some of the fans spotted them and started calling to them, pleasantly surprising them since it had been a while and they waved back with smiles.

    Even Jason couldn''t resist giving a wave and a small smile appeared at the corner of his lips. For a moment, he even forgot his issues with the club and that he was likely to be joining another club soon.

    The yers hurried to their team''s bench as it was almost time for the match and shortly after, the starting yers started marching out of the tunnel in readiness for the match and for the first time in a long while, they were weed with the loving presence of fans shouts, cheers and chants.

    This also brought with it a pressure to the yer, especially the new members of the Oporto and Nacional team.

    The new yers hadn''t yed under the scrutiny of their own fans before and the older yers had not experienced the fans presence for a while so they could already feel sweat beading on their face before the match began.

    The pre-match formalities didn''t take long and the yers were soon arranged on the field with the ball in the center of the park as they awaited the referee''s whistle to kick off the game.

    The referee didn''t keep the yers and the fans waiting for much longer and soon blew his whistle loudly, kicking off the fifth round of the Taca de Portugal between Nacional and Oporto.

    The match kicked off with the Nacional team being the one to kick off the game after their luck had put them atop in the coin toss, but as for whether their luck would carry on to help them with the rest of the game, remained to be seen.

    The match got off to an exciting start as both teams charged at each other, each one trying to score first and take the upper hand in this cup tie that would determine who would continue toward the title.

    Despite being the team that anyone with any knowledge of football would call favorites, the Oporto team weren''t able to dominate their opponents like they would have liked because their opponents were ying as best as they could, their every move made almost in desperation.

    The Nacional team was doing all they could to keep the Oporto team in check, but they weren''t able to keep it up for very long and the Oporto team soon began showing why they were the favorites in the match up.

    #22ndminute��

    Corona broke away from his marker on the right nk with a well executed step-over and side step and immediately sent a powerful diagonal pass towards the center where Mylo was.

    Mylo immediately tried to control the ball, but the pass was more powerful than he expected and the ball bounced off his leg and flew towards Oliveira who was nearby.

    Before the ball reached him, Oliveira scanned to see which of his teammates was free, and to his delight, Diaz was making a run into the penalty box from the left.

    Without hesitation, Oliveira made a first-touch pass into Diaz''s path and Diaz received the ballpletely unhindered as he stepped into the penalty box.

    {He''s all alone!?} thementator began and the crowd were on the edge of their seats in anticipation as they saw Diaz about to unleash a shot.

    {Hit''s it!?}

    Diaz did not disappoint and hit the ball skillfully, sending it curling past the opposition goal keeper.

    {GOAL!!!} n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    {Such delicious curl!}

    {They take the lead!} thementator sang out and for the first time in a while, the stadium erupted in the cheers of the Oporto fans who were swept up in the joy of their team taking the lead.

    The Oporto yers were not left out of the celebrations and the whole team jointly celebrated their goal for a few seconds before they started heading back to their half of the field so the match could continue.

    The match resumed shortly after and like expected, the Nacional team took their style of y to yet another level after they went behind.

    The Oporto yers immediately reacted in kind with the manager shouting out instructions from the sidelines as well, hoping to coast through this period of high pressure, but it was not to be.

 Chapter 419 Glory Addict II

    419 Glory Addict II

    #25thminute

    The Nacional team that had taken their intensity a notch further had kept pushing immediately they went behind and it seemed that the universe was about to reward them for their efforts as they had pushed the Oporto team back and were now passing the ball around in their half.

    Soon one Nacional yer lost his patience as the Oporto yers were only trying to block their path instead ofmitting to tackles which would create space for them to break through.

    The yer sent a hopeful pass forward and the ball somehow managed to evade the Oporto yers before reaching the Nacional striker.

    Having gotten this far, the Nacional striker took control of the ball and took on his marker in a contest of strength, holding him off as he adjusted his direction into the best shape for a shot.

    As soon as he was in position, he did not hesitate to unleash a powerful shot at the Oporto goal. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    {A shot!?} thementator shouted as the ball flew powerfully at the Oporto goal but Marchesin wasn''t a decorative ornament and immediately lunged for the ball, getting in the way of the shot and punching it towards the right.

    Before the Oporto team could rx that they were out of danger, the Nacional right winger who had been lurking and waiting for a chance pounced on the loose ball and chipped it over Marchesin who had yet to recover from the save.

    {Another try!} thementator shouted as the ball flew towards the back of the.

    The Oporto defenders chased after the ball, but couldn''t reach it in time and the ball crossed the goal line, giving the Nacional team the equalizer just three minutes after going behind.

    {It''s taken them no time at all! You score, we score!}

    {With that they''ve equalized!}

    {It''s the fans'' first time at the stadiums after a while and the two teams are putting on a show that was worth the wait!} Thementator went on and on in his spiel while the Nacional yers and their fans celebrated joyously.

    Soon enough, the Nacional yers had to stop celebrating so that the match could continue.

    As soon as the match resumed, the Oporto yers also tried to take the reins and force another goal out of their opponents, but the Nacional team knew to transition to a more defensive game y and they defended like their life depended on it.

    Of course, this wasn''t able topletely keep out the Oporto team and was only able to keep their attempts at goal to a bare minimum, but the Nacional team''s luck showed its hand and the Oporto team was unable to register a goal despite having managed to create a few clear cut chances after a lot of work.

    Mylo was particrly wasteful as he managed to get two one-on-one chances with the Nacional goalkeeper, but was unable to get the ball into the back of the despite getting it past the goalkeeper.

    The first chance was hit wide when he tried to curl the ball around the goalkeeper and the second chance flew just over the bar when he tried to chip the ball over the goalkeeper.

    With the Oporto team wasting all their chances and the Nacional team''s few and far in-between chances, the first half soon came to an end and the yers headed into the tunnel for a fifteen minute consultation with their coaches while they rested their exhausted bodies.

    "Good work out there in the first half��"Conceicao started.

    "... but you haven''t done well enough out there, weshould be leading by more despite them ying defensively," he said, ring at his yers. It was clear that he was not happy with what he was seeing.

    "We already worked on this in training and I''ve emphasized time and time again on effectiveness,"

    "Not beauty! If you see a chance, you take it, I don''t care if you have to push in the ball with your balls!" he ranted in rage.

    "You can''t keep being wasteful like you were, otherwise, this might juste back to bite us if they score another one and park the bus,"

    "Mylo, that chance where you chipped the ball, next time, just hit it past the goalkeeper,"

    "This isn''t freestyle football, we''re professionals here, you try that again and you will be taken off, is that clear?" Conceicao turned to Mylo and said sternly.

    "Yes coach," Mylo muttered, but inwardly he scoffed at the manager''s words.

    "If all that is clear, then let''s look at how we are going to y in the second half," Conceicao turned away after receiving the answer he wanted from Mylo.

    For the remaining time, Conceicao gave instructions on how to crack the opposition''s defense. He didn''t need to say too much as the yers were already able to get through, but he needed them to be able to do it with more ease.

    Soon, the break was over and the yers headed back to the field with neither manager making any changes to the line-up yet.

    They seemed to have their own ns for when to start making substitutions, but now was not the time and the match soon resumed.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    With the referee''s whistle, the second half kicked off and the two teams once again went at each other, trying to take the lead and win the game.

    Time quickly ran down, yet neither team managed to score and the clock had already gone past the seventieth minute.

    The managers had long started making changes to try and shake up the game, but so far, there was no effect.

    The Oporto defense were still standing strong and barely allowing the Nacional team in while the Oporto team was still wasting the few chances they had.

    #76thminute��

    The Oporto team once again found a way past the Nacional defense and Diaz soon found enough space to send a cross into the penalty box.

    The ball flew into the penalty box and Oliveira and his marker rose to the ball, but due to constantly pushing against themselves, they both missed the ball and the ball flew past them and found Mylo who was all alone.

    Putting his leg out to catch the ball, he sent the ball high into the air and it soon starteding down towards him.

    Despite doing this, no one was near him and he had enough time to catch the ball and smoothly slot the ball past the goalkeeper, but Mylo''s next move shocked everyone as he turned his back to face the post and jumped into the air in a kicking motion.

    It was clear to everyone what he was trying to do, and it was an understatement to say everyone was surprised, but they were even more shocked when he mishit the ball and sent it high and wide.

    {What a chance! And What a letdown!}

    {What was he thinking!? He was all alone for that shot!}

    {He might have to start looking at the sidelines now to see if he will stay on after that miss} Thementator did his job not pulling his oral punches, and just as he had said, Conceicao who had his head in his hands immediately called out to Jason to start warming up.

    Jason did not waste any time and got to his feet to begin warming up, happy that he might get some y time after a while, and happier that Mylo was ying like shit.

    However, Mylo''s terrible wasn''t the end of Oporto''s problems as the Nacional goalkeeper quickly collected a ball from the ball boy and sent the ball flying back into the field.

    The ball flew powerfully at Oporto''s half of the field and somehow managed to reach the Nacional''s right winger.

    The Oporto team had been ying a high line to break past the Nacional''s defence and that hade back to bite them as the Nacional yer ran up to Marchesin and dribbled past him before slotting the ball into the back of the.

    {Shocking! Absolutely shocking!}

    {They''re looking to run away with it! What aeback against a stronger opponent!}

    {The Oporto fans might not be happy, but this is exciting football!} thementator shouted exuberantly as the Nacional team celebrated their goal.

    The goal also marked Mylo''sst moments on the pitch as the assistant referee held up his board and on it was Mylo''s number in red.

    "I want you taking Mylo''s ce in the striking position and trying to catch them off guard with your pace. They''re exhausted so you should wait on thest line and try to time your runs so you can get in behind,"

    "This is no time for anything fancy, we need goals and I trust you should be able to help the team get that," Conceicao told Jason as Mylo walked toward the sidelines, an angry look on his face.

    He didn''t even stretch out his hand for an handshake when he reached the sidelines which worked out for Jason because he would have pped the hand away.

    Ignoring Mylo, Jason did a cross sign and touched the field before running onto the pitch.

 Chapter 420 Glory Addict III

    420 Glory Addict III

    {Oporto seems to be making a substitution here} Thementator began speaking as he saw Jason waiting beside the Oporto manager and listening to instructions as the assistant referee held up the board.

    {What do you think about this, Mark?} thementator asked hismentary partner.

    {Well, the yering off has not put on a good performance out there. He''s been very wasteful with the chances he''s gotten out there and should have scored at least three} Mark began his ownmentary analysis as soon as he was given a chance.

    {Maybe it''s the pressure getting to him, but he''s not looked as sharp as he was in the previous games leading up to this one}

    {As for the yering on, well, it seems like the manager intends to y him out of his regr position, opting to sub him on for a striker, but we''ll have to wait until he gets on the pitch to see how the Oporto team would arrange themselves now that he ising on}

    {One thing''s for sure though�� if anyone''s going to change the game, there''s a high chance it would be him} Mark finished up his analysis as Jason began running onto the pitch.

    {You''re right about that Mark, he''s got an uncanny ability to perform in games like this, let''s hope the transfer talks that have been flying about in thest few days haven''t changed that} Thementator said just as the game kicked off again.

    With Oporto having fallen behind, they moved with hesitation and bore down on their opponents, looking for an equalizer now that it was sote in the game.

    They had just about fifteen minutes left to get something out of the game, otherwise, they would be crashing out of the Taca de Portugal in just the fifth round, which wasn''t something that happened very often and was a stain that would be hard to wash off.

    None of the Oporto yers wanted that and yed to the best of their abilities, looking for just that one goal, but their opponents who were so close to a much-desired victory were doing everything they could to prevent the Oporto team from getting past them.

    However, just like before, the Oporto team soon began finding their way past their opponents.

    Despite ying out of position, Jason''s presence on the pitch changed a lot of things for his teammates.

    He was seen as a threat and was tightly marked which made it easy for him to draw yers out of position by making decoy runs, thus giving his teammates more time on the ball while also opening up space for the ball to get through.

    The clock continuously ran down and the end of the match approached, but the Oporto team held on to hope and kept looking for an equalizer and just when all hope seemed lost, they finally found their chance.

    In the 89thminute, Viera received a pass in the center of the field and as soon as he stabilized the ball, Jason suddenly began making a run forward but his direction was slightly angled left.

    Viera immediately took the hint and as soon as Jason drew away his marker, the ball was sent flying over to Corona on the right nk.

    Catching the ball on his chest and pushing forward, Corona easily beat his marker for pace as he ran down the right nk and as soon he reached the side of the penalty box, he immediately sent a cross into the penalty box, however, he miscalcted the distance and didn''t put enough power into the cross.

    The ball seemed like it would barely reach the front of the goal, but Jason who had corrected his run after the ball had been sent to the right nk ran into the ball''s path and jumped past the ball''s path before the ball even reached where he was then used his back heel to catch the ball and hit it upward, giving it more elevation and power so that it could reach Evanilson who wasing from into the penalty box from the left.

    Not even bothering to trap the ball, Evanilson unleashed a powerful volley that thundered past the Nacional goalkeeper and smashed into the back of the.

    The stadium immediately erupted in cheers.

    {They''ve done it!}

    {An equalizer atst!}

    {We''ve expected it, doubted it, hoped for it, and finally, it''s here!}

    {They just will not go down without a fight and they''ve got the support of their fans right behind them every step of the way!}

    {With such a turn of events, where do we go from here!?} Thementator was in a frenzy as he spat out word after word which entuated the Oporto team''s celebration.

    For the first time in a long time, Jason felt the joy of the team and fans celebrating a goal sweep across him, making him shiver in excitement.

    He wasn''t even the one who had scored, but he was already feeling the quivers and this made him look forward to what it would feel like again when he scored.

    It would be preferably if it was a stadium filled with fans rather than this small, half-filled stadium, but at this moment, he didn''t care to choose.

    With the glory calling to him, Jason started ying with more enthusiasm than ever, but the time left was too short and the final whistle was blown by the referee.

    With both teams having a simr scoreline, they would be going to extra time and if a winner still couldn''t be decided, then it was penalties next.

    The Oporto yers didn''t have any ns of leaving their chances to the risky penalty shootout though, and their manager agreed whole heartedly and repeatedly emphasized on their attacking gamey, providing all sorts of tactics that they could use to get a goal before the extra time period ran out.

    After the short meeting with their managers, the yers went back to arrange themselves on the pitch the same way they started the match with there now being quite a bit of difference in their line-ups.

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 421: Glory Addict IV

    Chapter 421: Glory Addict IV

    Chapter 421: Glory Addict IV

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    The extra time first period was over and the score was still2 : 2in the favor of both teams and no one had managed to break the deadlock even after fifteen minutes of extra time.

    This was not to say that both teams didn��t try, but rather, they had both yed like they weren��t the slightest bit exhausted and went against each other with all that they had.

    The Nacional team had managed to create a few chances and had almost scored on two asions, but things had not gone in their way and Marchesin had managed to keep his team afloat.

    The Oporto team had also had quite a few chances with the most remarkable one where Jason had managed to draw out his markers and then gotten past them with a well executed skill move before sending a pass to Evanilson who had hit the ball into the back of the but was ruled offside because he was a few centimeters ahead of thest man when the ball left Jason��s foot.

    There were a few other chances, but like the scoreboard showed, none of them had ended at the back of the and it was now time for the second half of extra time.

    The match soon resumed with both teams still doing their best to take the lead before the time ran out.

    The Oporto was the obviously more tenacious side and this began to show up more and more as the clock ran down and finally in the 115thminute, everything changed. Viera sent a long through pass to the left nk where Diaz ran to meet it, beating his marker for pace and getting to the end of the pass.

    Without getting the ball under control, he sent a powerful curling cross into the penalty box.

    Jason ran into the path of the ball and jumped at the ball with a flying kick despite not being in front of the goal, barely touching the ball just enough to slightly change it��s direction and giving it a bit more elevation.

    {Jason reaches it!?}

    The Nacional goalkeeper did not realize what was going on until it was toote.

    The ball flew over him and just barely managed to clip the inside of the right post before bouncing into the back of the.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Oh my word! What a time to score!}

    {He needed it! The team needed! The fans needed it!}

    {He has delivered spectacrly!}

    {That��s a striker��s goal if I��ve ever seen one!}

    {There��s no such thing as out of position for him!} thementator continuously sang Jason��s praises as he ran down the to the sidelines, jumping into a knee slide with his arms folded before giving a two finger salute at the end of the knee slide.

    The crowd had gone crazy in excitement�� more specifically the Oporto fans, but it was not wrong to say the atmosphere was electric and the cheers and screams of the fans were like a drug to Jason.

    The noise drowned out everything and for the first time in a while, his brain went nk and the only thing he could hear was the fans cheering him.

    Even the annoying thoughts and images that constantly appeared in his head, continuously souring his mood ever sincetheincident was drowned out by the noise and glory in that moment and Jason stretched out his hand to bask in the glory because for the first time in a while�� everything felt okay.

    However he wasn��t able to enjoy this feeling for long as he was soon jumped on by his teammates who couldn��t keep their excitement in check either.

    Hugs, Daps, and even dance moves were disyed as the yers celebrated.

    The yers on the bench as well as the Oporto club staff weren��t left out and also celebrated the goal as well.

    Despite having a happy smile on his face, Mylo��s hand that held his water bottle was clenched tighter than usual as he watched Jason celebrate his goal. No one noticed Mylo��s actions as they were preupied with their own joy and Mylo clicked his tongue before turning away, anger shing in his eyes.

    The celebrations did not continue for too long and the yers soon began heading back to their half of the field to y out the rest of the match.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The referee��s shrill blew to continue the match and the Nacional team quickly kicked off. On kicking off, they quickly began exchanging the ball among one another, looking for a chance to get back on level grounds.

    They could not afford to be rash now and concede yet another goal, but the remaining time on the clock did not allow them to sit around and pass the ball among themselves for much longer.

    With less than three minutes to go, they quicklyunched an attack, but before they could get far, they lost the ball and Oporto didn��t waste any time trying to hit them on the counter.

    The desperate Nacional yers quickly raced back and managed to slow down the Oporto team��s attack just in time before they could get clear on goal.

    With the amount of time left, the Oporto team could easily sit back with the ball and wait for time to run out, but after being on the back foot for most of the match, they were burning with the desire to show who was the top dog.

    The ball moved from yer to yer and soon the ball found Diaz inside the penalty box and he tried to find enough space for a shot, but all the ways out was blocked and he turned around to pass the ball back.

    Viera received the ball, bringing it under control with one touch and sending it to Jason who was near the left corner of the penalty box with another touch.

    Jason��s first touch of the ball eliminated his marker and pushed the ball into shooting distance in one smooth movement and he followed with a shot, applying as much curl as he could to the ball.

    The ball took off slowly from the ground and flew high, looking like it was going wide, but it soon began curling inward and just barely managed to scrape past the top right corner before ending in the back of the goal.

    {Oh!!! Magnificent!}

    {What a hit What a hit!}

    {It was decorated with both dip and curl!}

    {Surely it has given them the glory!!!}

    {There��s no catching them now! Surely!} thementator cried out, but Jason was already brazenly charging down to the sidelines, but he didn��t stop and ran up close enough and started pping the palms of all the Oporto fans raging in excitement.

    Not stopping there, he collected one of the fans phones and turned on the camera before turning to the crowd and taking a selfie with both him and the fans in the picture.

    {Say Cheese!!!} thementator shouted with augh, also infected by the excitement spreading in the stadium.

 Chapter 422: A Picture

    Chapter 422: A Picture

    Chapter 422: A Picture

    *Fwee Fwee Fweeeeeeeeeeee*

    The sts of the referee��s whistle brought the game to a long-awaited end and the Oporto fans immediately broke out in cheers upon hearing the final whistle.

    {The final whistle has blown and it is over!}

    {It.Is.Over!}

    {Oporto are through! It��s been a topsy-turvy game with lots of goals,ebacks, and excitement, but in the end, they have qualified for the next stage of thispetition}

    {What a match!}

    {It��s the first time out for the fans sincest year march, but this performance from the Oporto yers has definitely been a satisfactory performance from the two teams} Thementator continued his match endingmentary while the yers on the field shook hands with each other tomemorate the match.

    After waving at the crowds for a bit, Jason was finally leaving the field, but after his performance in the match, the reporters weren��t going to just let him disappear down the tunnel without answering a few questions. Soon, he was standing with his back to a card that was being used as a background and had a few mics in his face.

    ��What a good performance you had out there. Coming off the bench to help your team coast to afortable win in extra time after they struggled with finishing for most of the match is quite something, wouldn��t you say, Jason?�� one reporter asked.

    ��I don��t know much about the team struggling, but yeah, we weren��t really hitting the target a lot earlier, but I��m sure even without me on the team, the guys would have stille up with a simr result,��

    ��Nevertheless, it feels good to do my part for the team and helping the team towards the victory in front of the fans is quite exhrating,�� Jason replied with a smile.

    ��With a performance like that, you just might be receiving a few more love calls before the month is over, Uventus especially seem to be quite taken with you. Would you say that the news of you joining Uventus has any grounds?�� Another reporter asked a question that every reporter here was itching to ask Jason.

    ��The Oporto fans would really want to know,�� the reporter added, hoping to guilt trip Jason into answering the question.

    ���� About me joining Uventus huh�� well, I don��t know, you tell me,�� Jason replied, confusing the reporter.

    ��Huh?�� the reporter asked in confusion.

    ��My job as a yer is to y football and keep myself in shape by training, things like transfer deals only get brought to me after everything is concluded with the club so I don��t know anything about what you��re asking me,�� Jason lied smoothly.

    ��Your source has a higher chance of knowing anything before I do,�� he added, still lying, after all, he was even more updated on the transfer talks than the Oporto team management.

    Due to alreadying to an agreement with the Uventus side, he knew about the offers that the Uventus club would make to the Oporto team before the Oporto team itself did and Adele was also pressuring the management so the moment the deal went through, he would be one of the first people to know.

    However, he wasn��t going to tell them that, and he definitely wasn��t going to say that on TV.

    ��Oh, ok,�� the reporter nodded, taking the microphone away from Jason��s face, but another microphone quickly took it��s spot.

    ��Still on the transfer talks, something the fans would like to know is that�� if the club and Uventuse to an agreement and the decision is up to you, what would you choose to do?�� the reporter holding the new microphone in his face asked quickly.

    ��Take a guess,�� Jason answered cheekily and started walking away, but as soon as his face was turned away from the cameras, the cheeky smile on his face disappeared like it had never existed.

    He had expected a lot of questions about the transfer deal to Uventus, but he hadn��t expected those guys to thrown very direct questions at him and try to guilt trip him with the fans into answering.

    If he got swept in their wavelength and gave the wrong answer, he just might end up being crucified by the media.

    It was clear from all the previous articles that they would not hesitate to do just that and the moment he said anything that could be used against him in the slightest, then he only had to wait to see his name in the newspaper about having no good feelings towards the team that brought him into professional football.

    There was nothing those guys couldn��t write if it would get them more sales and clicks, so he quickly ran away before they started asking more annoying questions, especially if they were about Mylo.

    No matter his beef with Mylo, he couldn��t allow himself to be caught on TV saying bad things about a teammate, especially now that the public didn��t know what had happened between them.

    For now it was best to just ignore him until the transfer deal happened as he did not want any problems to hinder the transfer from happening and considering how Mylo was a harbringer of bad luck, Jason wasn��t going to be taking any chances on his ticket out of seeing his face everyday for the next six months.

    With these thoughts, Jason headed down the tunnel, shaking the hands of a few fans who were crowding the top of the tunnel and smiling at them before disappearing down the tunnel.

    *Click*

    Somewhere from a distance behind him a shutter clicked almost inaudibly thanks to the noise from the crowd and the photographer who took the picture looked at the screen to see the picture, but in that moment, all he saw was a lonely back in a Oporto jersey disappearing from the view of the fans.

    ��What am I even thinking?�� he wondered to himself as he nced again at the picture.

    ��It would make for a nice picture for when he leaves the club though,�� the photographer thought to himself, already imagining himself editing it with that kind of format in mind.

    Once he had that thought, he couldn��t think much about anything else and he stopped taking pictures and went over to get hisptop to begin editing the picture, wanting to see the final image.

    It did not take long for him to arrive at the picture he wanted.

    It looked dreary, lonely, and incited an heartbreaking feeling just by looking at it which was more than he expected but he didn��t mind and saved the picture before sending it along with other pictures to the e-mail of the club��s publicity team.

 Chapter 423: Road To Turin I

    Chapter 423: Road To Turin I

    Chapter 423: Road To Turin I

    The answer to Jason��s prayers came in the form of the effects caused by his performance in the match against Nacional in the cup tie.

    Jason��s performance, coupled with Oporto receiving enquiries from Arsenal and Leicester City who had begun to sniff around after having been tipped off by Adele, created a chain reaction that caused the Uventus team to push harder for the deal.

    Unfortunately for them, the Oporto team had also be more confident in calling extravagant prices for Jason as he had proven his quality yet again and was now less inclined to reduce their asking price.

    In the end, the two sides ended uping to apromise.

    Jason would join Uventus on a short-term loan without an option to buy, but they would have priority rights to make a bid for Jason first in theing transfer season, however, they would only retain that right if they made a transfer offer of over a hundred million Euros.

    Both teams were pretty happy with that deal as for the Uventus team, it meant they would get the yer while also getting time to raise enough money to carry out the deal at the end of the season.

    There was also the chance that Jason would sell for lower then because his contract with Oporto would be nearing it��s end.

    For the Oporto team, it meant that there would be enough time for Jason��s value to appreciate, and they could also get rid of Jason for a while and avoid the risk of the team falling out with each other. Of course, there was the part that they would lose an important yer till the end of the season, but the Oporto management thought they had that part covered with the current team.

    With all that said and done, all that remained was the wage payment ratio from both teams but that was easily settled and the club��s side of the negotiations were over and it was then up to Jason to decide whether to ept the deal or not.

    The result of that was of course��

    ��*Shocking transfer move agreed!*��Adele read out to Jason as he drove.

    ��The medicals are when?�� Jason asked, turning the steering, but he had a small smile on his face as he was also one of the biggest anticipators of this move.

    ��Tomorrow, but you��re leaving today so that you can rest up today and quickly finish up with the medicals tomorrow and join the team training at Uventus,�� Adele answered, folding up the newspaper, not interested in reading the rest of the article.

    ��The earlier you join the team training, the faster you can get incorporated into the team, and the faster you are incorporated into the team, the faster you can crack the starting line-up,��

    ��I hope you have your bags packed?��she asked him.

    ��Kinda, I can��t pack too much as my amodation in that ce isn��t even sorted out yet,�� Jason answered back, keeping his eyes on the road.

    ��I��m already working on that, but it��s a bit difficult to find an okay ce that is also not very public, but also one that has a short lease,�� Adele answered, looking through her phone.

    Finding amodation for Jason��s stay in Italy wasn��t easy because his sry still wasn��t all that high yet.

    If he wanted to find a ce that was away from the public, they came at a high cost, and he wasn��t even looking to stay for a long time so his choices kept getting smaller and smaller, but it was nothing that couldn��t be solved.

    They would just have to look around a bit more, after all, they couldn��t do a lot from Portugal and would have to be in Italy to best settle the matter.

    ��Anyway, so where are we going, we��re done at the club right, shouldn��t you be getting ready to go to the airport?�� Adele asked Jason as she saw that he wasn��t driving in the direction of his house.

    ��What was that thing that humans need for sustenance?�� Jason asked with sarcasm dripping from all over his tone.

    ���� Food?��Adele asked in an unsure tone.

    ��Yes, food�� and I haven��t had any of that today, so unless you want Uventus��s newest yer to faint from ack of energy, you��d understand where I am going,�� Jason said with sarcasm, his hunger both for food and disappearing from the Portuguese hemisphere taking its toll on him.

    ��Fair point,�� Adele said with a nce at her watch.

    They had been at the club since morning, finalizing the details of the deal and signing what needed to be signed and even though the final signing would only take ce after the medicals in Italy, he was still pretty stressed out from all he had gone through, but it was the happy kind of stressed out and he didn��t mind the tiredness of negotiations adding to his tiredness of the match from the previous day.

    The fact that the negotiations were so rushed wasn��t clear to him, but he didn��t mind, however, his body did and it was alreadyining.

    The car soon stopped at a restaurant that had Jason flinch when he looked at the restaurant��s name.

    He had driven here on instinct because he had frequently chosen to dine here a lot of times in the past year, but he was finally remembering why he had note here for a few weeks.

    ��Sorry, wrong location,�� he muttered as he started the car��s engine, giving another nce at the ��Miami�� signboard.

    ��What are you doing!?�� Adele hurriedly asked him, not wanting to waste any time in going to another restaurant.

    ��Eating here is not a good idea, matter of fact, it��s the worst idea possible,�� Jason replied immediately as he turned to check whether there was any car behind him.

    ��Why, is their food bad or something?�� Adele asked, grabbing Jason��s hand that was about to put the car in reverse.

    ��Remember when I told you that Sofia��s mom owned a restaurant?�� Jason asked her with a knowing nce.

    ��Oh,�� Adele immediately understood without Jason needing to say another word.

    ��You know what, that shouldn��t matter, we don��t have time to waste going around to another restaurant,�� Adele said after a little pause, still of the opinion that they shouldn��t waste any time on things that didn��t mean much, especially when it was an ex that most definitely shouldn��t mean much.

    ��There��s another restaurant down the street though,�� Jason immediately protested, but Adele wasn��t having it.

    ��Doesn��t matter, it��s still time wasting,�� she shot back.

    ��Okay okay, I get it, sheesh, let��s just eat and go,�� Jason grunted in annoyance, giving in.

    He turned the engine back off and pulled on a nose-mask, not forgetting a dark pair of sses to keep the sun out of his eye as well as to keep his eyes hidden from view.

    Adele also pulled on a nose-mask as they both got out of the car and walked towards the restaurant��s doors with Jason in the lead.

    The had made it past the door and were going to find a seat when Jason stopped suddenly and Adele mmed into him from behind.

    ��What are you doing?�� Adele said in a hushed tone, but her voice was sharp as she recoiled from the shock of mming into Jason from behind.

    ��We��re leaving,�� Jason said without bothering to apologize.

 Chapter 424: Road To Turin II

    Chapter 424: Road To Turin II

    Chapter 424: Road To Turin II

    ��We��re leaving,�� Jason said in a t tone to Adele making a U-turn on the already over-turned decision.

    ��What? Why?�� Adele asked, rubbing her nose, which had mmed into Jason��s back.

    ��Snake and Serpent at two o��clock,�� Jason replied without looking back, but Adele��s eyes quickly fell on the two people that Jason did not want to see for any reason.

    Mylo and Sofia were seated at a table and engrossed in a conversation over lunch, not paying any attention to their surroundings.

    They were so into what they were doing that they hadn��t even noticed Jason��s presence in the restaurant even though he was standing tall in a pretty obvious ce.

    ��We��re already inside anyway,�� Adele grunted and grabbed Jason��s hand, taking charge of the situation.

    ��What are you doing?�� Jason asked, not wanting to be inside this space for one more second, but not able to force Adele��s hand off of his.

    ��Ignore them, I��m here with you,�� Adele stated firmly and dragged Jason to a seat that was a fair bit away from Mylo and Sofia. Adele had long noticed that Jason wasn��t over Sofia even though he acted like he was. It was pretty clear to her as Jason was quite literally running away from Portugal.

    Of course, if she asked Jason about it, he��d say that it was because he couldn��t y on the same team as Mylo, and he was mostly right, but that was not all there was to it and they both knew it.

    Jason just would never admit it out loud and she could understand why�� or at least she could try to understand why.

    She hadn��t exactly been in the same situation so she couldn��t actually say that she understood, but she knew that emotional wounds were not as simple as people made it sound.

    For now, she wanted Jason to confront his problem more instead of running away from it at the slightest sign of it appearing, and by it, she meant Sofia.

    In Adele��s books, Sofia didn��t qualify to be called ��her��.

    Jason reflexively looked around before taking off his sses, but luckily there were not many people in the restaurant, and the people in the restaurant were focused on their business and not looking his way which made things a lot easier.

    Without the threat of being jumped on by arge number of fans, Jason finally took off his face mask as did Adele.

    It didn��t take long for a waiter to attend to them and take their order and somehow, Jason and Adele almost finished their meal without incident��. Almost.

    When Jason was almost done eating, he involuntarily looked up and so did Sofia causing their eyes to meet across the room.

    Jason��s heart lurched to his throat, but he yed it cool and swallowed the food he was chewing and continued eating, moving his eyes away from Sofia��s direction in a disinterested manner, but only he knew that his performance deserved an Oscar award as he was internally trembling.

    ��Does the food taste bad?�� Adele asked, noticing a change in Jason��s look.

    ��It tastes like boiled paper, but it��s not the food��s fault,�� Jason replied, sweeping Sofia away from his mind and putting his full focus on Adele.

    Since he was had no desire to keep eating, he pushed his food aside and just stared at Adele as she ate.

    ��What?�� Adele asked, noticing how he stared at her.

    ��Nothing, I��m just watching food eat food,�� Jason said with a dirty smile, stunning Adele and almost causing her to choke on her food.

    ��You-*cough* *cough*�� Adele side-eyed him and grabbed a ss of water, but Jason��s brain was working overtime and another sentence flew out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

    ��Why choke on that meat when you can choke on mine,�� this was even worse than what he said the first time.

    ��Uhwk!,�� Adele almost spat out the water in her mouth and just barely got her hand over her mouth in time, but not before giving Jason the most bombastic side eye she could muster.

    Jason could have sworn he heard the words ��Boy if you don��t shut the hell up�� in his head just from making eye contact with the side-eye.

    ��Nah, fr, is your other nationality Nigerian cuz no one but our people canmunicate a whole ass sentence with just our eyes,�� Jason couldn��t helpughing as he saw Adele literally ��daggering�� him with her eyes.

    Adele just shook her head at Jason and went back to eating her food, leaving Jason to keep staring at her all he wanted.

    She wasn��t going to risk hearing another of those dangerous statements.

    ��Hey, I��m paying for this meal, right?�� Jason suddenly asked while grabbing the fork on his te, but Adele��s hand shot out and put her hand on the hand grabbing her fork.

    She didn��t need to hear anything else to know what was about to happen if she let Jason hold that fork.

    ��This one is mine!�� She said, her eyes sharply ring at him.

    ��Technically, I��m paying for it, so that statement wouldn��t hold in court,�� Jason grinned wickedly while eyeing the rest of the food on her te.

    ��Ugh, you��re a big baby,�� Adele muttered as she began side-eyeing him again.

    ��I��m a boss baby,�� Jason smirked.

    The argument ended with Adele not being able to win and having to concede one spoonful of what was on her te and to make sure that Jason didn��t take ten spoonfuls worth of food instead of one, she personally fed it to him, making it look like a romantic scene to the people around, but no one but Mylo and Sofia were looking in Jason and Adele��s direction.

    After Adele was finally done eating, Jason settled the bill and they got up to leave, but Adele needed to use the washroom and Jason headed outside to wait by the car.

    While waiting beside his car, Jason suddenly heard a voice from behind him,

    ��So you��re leaving to Uventus, huh?��

    The voice wasn��t one Jason wouldn��t recognize, after all, he had lived with the owner of the voice for half a year.

    ��Why do you care?�� Jason scoffed, ncing at Mylo.

 Chapter 425: Road To Turin III

    Chapter 425: Road To Turin III

    Chapter 425: Road To Turin III

    ��Why do you care?�� Jason scoffed, ring at Mylo.

    ��I do care, you��re my teammate,�� Mylo began but Jason didn��t want to hear it.

    ��Cut that shit out, cut it out, I ain��t about to hear some bullshit like that from your mouth,��

    ��You don��t like me and I feel the same way towards you, so step,�� Jason didn��t bother mincing words, but he also didn��t lose his temper.

    ��Who said I don��t like you though?�� Mylo continued like he hadn��t heard Jason telling him to quite literally ��get the fu*k out of his sight��.

    ��Really now? Cuz I could have sworn that I remember you sleeping with a girl I was trying to get together with�� you know what, matter of fact, I don��t even care no more,��

    ��Get your punk ass out of my face,�� Jason clicked his tongue and turned away, not wanting to get into a battle of words with Mylo.

    ��It wasn��t worth it,�� he thought to himself and turned away, but even after a few seconds, he didn��t hear Mylo walk away. ��You know what�� you��re right�� I don��t like you,��

    Mylo��s voice came from behind Jason, causing his ears to perk up in surprise.

    ��Would you look at this bit*h?��Jason thought in amusement as he turned back to face Mylo again.

    ��As a matter of fact, I��m happy you��re leaving, I wouldn��t have to deal with your ugly face either,��Mylo continued, staring directly at Jason.

    ��Ugly? Me?�� Jason��s eyebrow rose up in even more amusement as that was a word that had never been used to describe him before, but his mouth still came open without missing abeat,

    ��I feel the same way about you, you��re not special,�� Jason replied.

    ��That��s it right there, that��s why I hate you so much,�� Mylo retorted, his face contorting in anger.

    ��Why do you always have to sound so snotty like I��m below you, huh?��

    ��Just because you are talented and handsome, everyone likes you and you get the best of everything and you��re always strutting around with so much pride like it is a given!�� Mylo��s voice had turned sharp and he sounded angry.

    ���� And?�� Jason asked with a disgusted look.

    ��So what if it seems like I have everything? So what if I��m more handsome than you are?��

    ��So what if I y better? So what if the fans like me more?��

    ��Why are you hating me for it?��

    ��You know, I used to think you were stupid�� I guess I was overestimating you,�� he scoffed at Mylo.

    ��I��m not the one who wastes his time ying around instead of focusing on actual training,��

    ��I��m not the guy who focuses more on getting into women��s pants than getting into the penalty box,��

    ��I��m not the guy who stole his teammate��s girl instead of stealing the ball from the opponent,��

    ��And I��m not the hypocrite that is acting like that never happened,��

    ��That��s youuu! You��re that guy����

    ��You��re the head honcho of stupidity, hypocrisy, arrogance, and irrelevance�� but you hate me for being the fool that you are?��

    ��Wake the fuck up kid!��

    ��I��m not going to disappear because you wish it, oh no no no,��

    ��I will be here to torment you in every aspect of your life,��

    ��I��ll make sure you��ll never be able to hold your head up if you ever stand beside me,��

    ��If it��s a war you want, well congrattions, you��ve just signed up for hell,��

    ��From now on, I��ll make sure to always remind you of what you are to me����

    ���� Nothing�� absolutely nothing,�� Jason said in a calm tone and pulled open the door of his car .

    Without taking a look at the stunned Mylo who hadn��t been expecting his response, Jason started the engine and drove out of the car park, stopping in front of the restaurant to pick up Adele who had finallye out of the restaurant before driving off.

    ��You were talking to Mylo?�� Adele asked as Jason drove, humming a tone in a light mood.

    ��Uh? Oh, yeah, he came over to say some shit and I returned the favor,�� Jason said with a smile.

    ��Why does it look like you enjoyed the conversation?�� Adele asked, noticing that Jason seemed to be in a better mood than before.

    ��Well, I didn��t not enjoy it�� I had some things to say to his punk a**,�� Jason said with a smirk, enjoying how the air around him suddenly felt easier to breathe in all of a sudden.

    ��Maybe I should do this more often,�� he muttered.

    ��Huh?�� Adele asked, not hearing what he said.

    ��Nothing, nothing,�� Jason replied and stepped harder on the elerator, wanting to get on the ne faster than ever before.

    He had made a deration of war and now it was time to fulfill it.

    Jason dropped Adele off at her ce first as she would be following him to Italy as she had to be present when he was signing the contract.

    Once he had dropped her off, he raced to his house with his speakers sting out music at the top of its volume.

    Since he wouldn��t being back for a while, he packed a bag filled with the essentials, but he didn��t pack many clothes as he would need a change of clothes on reaching Italy when considering Italy��s cold weather at this time of the year.

    Italy, in January, was usually chillypared to Portugal��s warm January climate.

    Hence apart from his thicker clothes, he didn��t pack many other clothes, he��d just buy everything at Turin, he could use that time to take a tour of the city.

    Soon enough, he was done packing his luggage and considering that he was going to be gone for six months, one did not need more than a nce to see that he had under packed, but that didn��t matter to Jason.

    He quickly lugged his bags into his car only to nod to himself that he had done well by not overpacking as his car couldn��t carry much luggage anyway.

    Taking onest nce at his house, he got into his car and drove off, picking up Adele and they headed to the airport.

    Less than an hourter, they were in the first-ss seats of a ne waiting for take-off.

    While waiting for the ne, Jason suddenly remembered something.

    ��You can drive right?�� he asked Adele, ncing over at her, his blue eyes peeking out of the big white hoodie he had on.

    ��Yeah, why?�� Adele responded ncing up from her phone.

    ��You can keep this for a while then�� at least till I get back,�� he said and put the key of his car in herp before turning away and closing his eyes.

    Italy awaited his arrival.

 Chapter 426: Welcome to Uventus I

    Chapter 426: Wee to Uventus I

    Chapter 426: Wee to Uventus I

    Jason��s arrival at Turin did note with fanfare as he arrivedte in the evening.

    Quickly getting off the ne with Adele, they took their luggage and met up with a car that had been arranged for them by the club that took them to the hotel Jason would be staying in for the time being.

    After dropping them off at the hotel, the driver left them to check in and lodge at the hotel by themselves.

    Jason and Adele quickly checked in and went to their respective rooms with Jason opting to rest as he would have to face a medical examination the following day.

    Putting aside any thoughts of touring the City of Alps for now, Jason focused on resting his body so he could be in peak form for the medical examination.

    After a quick dinner, he went to sleep, but Adele couldn��t as she had work to do.

    She had to confirm Jason��s appointment with the club as well as the location and logistics of theing day.

    She also had to begin looking further into Jason��s amodation for his stay in Turin. Only after finishing all that was she finally able to shut her tired eyes and go to sleep as well.

    ***15thJanuary 2021***

    *6:45 am*

    Jason��s phone rang loudly, rousing him from his slumber and causing him to reach out in sleepy confusion.

    He tried to grab the phone and turn off the rm, but after touching a few strange surfaces that he didn��t recognize, he shot up rmedly.

    It was only a secondter that he realized that he was no longer in Porto.

    ��Ah shit, what��s the time?�� he thought rmedly, his darting around frenziedly as he looked for his phone to check the time.

    His eyes soon settled on the still ringing phone and he grabbed it and checked the time, only turning off the rm when he realized that it was still early in the morning and that he hadn��t overslept.

    Standing up to go check outside the windows, his eyes were met with the early morning light that rose over the day, slowly getting brighter with every minute passed.

    ��The originally scheduled time for the medicals was 10 am right?�� he muttered, turning away from the windows and turning on the room��s lights.

    The thought of checking out the hotel��s gym arose in his head, but he quickly quelled it, not wanting to take any chances with his medical examination at Uventus.

    He hadn��t experienced what the medical examination at a team like Uventus would be like, but there was a high chance that it could be a lot more stringent than anyone he had ever done.

    Of course he wasn��t scared of being sent back to Porto after failing the medicals, but the better the numbers he achieved, the higher and faster his chances of joining team action was.

    To that end, he had to avoid anything that would disturb his performance in the medicals.

    The most he could do right now was some yoga to warm up his muscles and help his flexibility and that was exactly what he did.

    Thirty minutes of yoga after calling for breakfast.

    He managed to finish his yoga routines before his breakfast arrived and he quickly ate before diving into the bathroom to wash up and begin preparing to leave.

    Another thirty minutester and he was dressed in a white shirt and baggy grey pants.

    Donning a leather jacket over the shirt to keep out the cold as well as wearingfortable white nike shoes, he was almost ready and only had his hair left to deal with, but with how Adele was staring him down and telling him to hurry up, Jason knew that he didn��t have any time to spend on his hair.

    Quickly grabbing a bandana and a hair band, he quickly gathered his hair and tied it up at the top with the hair band before going on to tie the bandana across his forehead.

    ��Let��s go,��Jason called to Adele and grabbed his already prepared sports bag.

    ��New club, new look?�� Adele asked as she started moving.

    ��I guess, maybe the fans will like it,�� Jason shrugged as they walked through the hotel corridor.

    ��If you wanted a new look, maybe you should have tried cutting your hair instead, they would be shocked,�� Adele snickered as she handed Jason a nose mask.

    ��Not happening,�� Jason reiterated immediately as he collected the nose mask.

    His hand involuntarily went up to his head and he ran his hand through his hair till the ends of his hair and he smiled.

    His long hair was not due to something as simple as fashion and there was actually a deeper reason as to why he kept growing out his hair and never let a razor touch his hair, and no it wasn��t because some angel told his parents to keep his hair longer so that he would have more football talent.

    No, it was actually something very childish.

    When Jason was younger and his whole family was still alive, Jason and his sister used topete with each other in quite a number of things and the most debatedpetition among the two of them was their hair length.

    Since Jason had longer and healthier hair than most people regardless of gender or race and he also had more hair than his sister, who was younger than he was.

    His sister however didn��t like that and always said that she would grow more hair than he did.

    Unfortunately he would never get to know whether she would be able to do it or not, however, he kept thepetition going even though his sister was gone.

    His hair meant a lot more than just an adornment on his head and over time he had be more and more attached to it so there was no way he was just going to just allow someone to put a razor into his hair.

    Other men cut their hair in different styles so that they could be handsome, but without doing anything, he was already more handsome than most, so there was no need to touch his hair.

 Chapter 427 Welcome To Uventus II

    Chapter 427 Wee To Uventus II

    *Ding*

    The elevator made a dinging sound as it opened up in front of Jason and Adele and they stepped into the elevator.

    On getting into the elevator, they realized that they weren''t alone inside the elevator and that there were three other people inside the elevator.

    Two girls and one guy and they all looked to be in their early thirties at the most and they were talking animatedly to each other even before Jason and Adele entered the elevator.

    Adele didn''t even bother trying to listen in on the conversation as they were speaking in anguage that she didn''t understand, but Jason immediately realized that they were speaking in French which was a bit strange since they were in Italy but he paid it no mind.

    However since he understood thenguage, he couldn''t help but be informed about what they were talking about.

    It seemed like they were on a trip and were travelling through Europe or something which was strange since the world was just recovering from the COVID-19 virus and a lot of ces weren''t considered safe yet due to theck of vinations but this guys had still thought it was a good idea to go on a trip in these times.

    ''At least they''re wearing nose masks,'' Jason thought to himself, minding his business, after all, it was not his ce to tell them what they should and should not do.

    With that thought, he was just about to take his attention away from them when he noticed one of the girls nce at him and then nudge the other two.

    "Don''t you think he looks kinda familiar?" the girl asked her travel-mates in French.

    "Now that you mention it, he does look kinda familiar," the only guy among them nodded in affirmation as he also nced at Jason.

    At that point, Jason realized he hadn''t worn sses to cover his eyes. It seemed he had instinctively removed it and ced it in his car when he had gotten down at the airport in Porto.

    ''Now I have to buy a new one,'' he internally face-palmed, but ncing at the three travel buddies sneaking nces at him.

    "I get that a lot, it must be my handsome genes," Jason said snarkily to them in French.

    Hearing Jason speak in French surprised the three of them as they did not expect Jason to understand them.

    "Ah gosh, that''s so embarrassing," One of the girls muttered and covered her eyes and from her pronunciation, Jason could immediately tell that she was probably originally American as her English was clear and had an American ent.

    "Not really, it''s not, I''m quite ttered," Jason said in English with a smirk.

    The surprise on the faces of the three travel buddies grew even more and their mouths dropped open when they realized that Jason could speak English just as well as he could speak French.

    "Who is this guy?" the only guy among the group involuntarily murmured in his own mothernguage which was Italian.

    "Just a regr guy, name''s Jason," Jason responded in Italian and stretched out his hand for a handshake, his smirk hidden behind his nose mask, but his eyes were twinkling mischievously.

    "You even know Italian!?" the guy asked in surprise, still speaking Italian.

    "Well, we are in Italy, what did you think I''d speak?" Jason replied, still holding out his hand.

    "When you say it like that, it does sound kind of normal," The guyughed, taking Jason''s hand, but he was soon pushed away by one of the girls.

    "Are you Italian?" the girl asked, grabbing Jason''s hand before he could pull it away.

    "No, I just have, uh�� experience with thenguage," Jason replied, slowly trying to pull his hand away.

    "I knew it, you''re-!" the first girl''s eyes widened in realization as she finally remembered where she had seen Jason''s face, but Jason''s hand moved quicker than anyone anticipated.

    "Shhhhh," Jason shushed her lips with his finger, doing the best he could to stop her from talking without making it seem like he was trying to kidnap her.

    "Let''s keep it a secret from your friends for now, yeah?" Jason quickly said and luckily for him, the elevator''s door opened just in time.

    "Uh, it was nice talking to you guys," Jason quickly said and grabbed Adele''s hand before quickly disappearing from the elevator and out of sight of the three travel buddies. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Nice to meet you!" the second girl called back to Jason before turning to her friends.

    "That was kinda weird, though he looked kinda hot, and also, his eyes were weird," the girl said thoughtfully.

    "Exactly! Who do you know that is African-American with long curly hair, has blue eyes, and could give those Korean idols a run for their money when ites toparing face cards?" the girl who had recognized Jason face-palmed.

    "Wait!? Don''t tell me?" The guy suddenly remembered someone who fitted the bill.

    His eyes widened and he rushed out of the elevator hoping to catch a nce of Jason and go after him to ask for an autograph, but Jason was already nowhere to be seen.

    "Some fan you are, you couldn''t even recognize the guy you''ve been talking about to us every day for thest year," the first girl scoffed at the guy, but the guy had no words and could only put his head in his hands.

    After Jason''s appearance in the world of football in his debut against Leverkusen, the guy had fallen for Jason''s skills and character and had always followed every news about him.

    As a matter of fact, they had justnded in Turin yesterday and the major reason for himing to Turin instead of going to his home in Mn was because he knew that Jason had joined Uventus on loan and he had been watching to watch some of the matches live while hoping that Jason would feature in one of theing games.

    Yet the same person he had been hoping to meet for thest year had just appeared and disappeared in front of him and he had not even recognized him.

    The guy did not know whether tough or cry.

 Chapter 428: Welcome To Uventus III

    Chapter 428: Wee To Uventus III

    Chapter 428: Wee To Uventus III

    ��You know�� I only just realized that I never asked you if you knew Italian,�� Adele said to Jason as they got into the car that would take them to Continassa which was the main training ground for Uventus�� first team.

    ��Well, now you know and you can remember to ask me the next time I��m making a transfer to a club in a new country,�� Jason smirked in response and took his sports bag off his shoulder before making himselffortable in the backseat.

    Adele watched him, still surprised that Jason knew how to speak both French and Italian apart from the English, Portuguese, and German that she already knew of.

    ���� Hey���� Adele poked his thigh with a finger causing Jason to open one eye and nce in her direction.

    ��What?�� he asked.

    ��I need you to bepletely honest with me now,�� Adele began.

    ��O�� kay,�� Jason drawled, opening his other eye as he tilted his head.

    ��You don��t happen to be a secret CIA agent who dropped out of the academy because you had more talent for football than espionage?�� Adele asked in apletely serious tone. ������ Jason stared straight at her for a few seconds, his brain processing what he just heard and the only response that he coulde up with was,

    ��Pffffffttttttt, hahahahahaha,�� he burst outughing.

    ��What the hell are you on about? Hahahahaha,��

    ��Me? A CIA agent, and not even a sessful one, but a dropout?��

    ��Come on now, hahahahaha,�� Jason managed to get out midughter.

    ��I��m not the one that knows fivenguages, can use guns, knows martial arts, and is smarter than everyone else his age�� kind of,�� Adele retorted, her face turning red from beingughed at.

    ��Eight actually,�� Jason said, rubbing the tears caused byughter away from his eyes.

    ��What?�� Adele asked confused.

    ��I know eightnguages�� English, Portuguese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and Yoruba,�� Jason reiterated.

    ���� Now you��re just bragging,�� Adele managed to say after a pause to unfreeze her brain.

    ��Yes I am, also, I am smarter than everyone else my age���� Jason said with augh.

    ���� Kind of,�� he added after some thought.

    ��Whatever, for now, focus on your football skills, you��ll need to impress your manager for the next six months in the next two days,�� Adele muttered and pulled out her tab.

    ��Yeah, about that, when is Uventus��s next match?�� Jason asked Adele.

    ��Uh�� let me check,�� Adele muttered and started manipting her tab to pull out Uventus��s match schedule.

    ��It seems like they have a match on the 17th�� that��s two days from now,�� Adele told Jason.

    ��Any chance the manager would let me in that match?�� Jason asked, the question seemingly directed to Adele, but he wasn��t expecting an answer.

    ��I don��t know, it will depend on your readiness and how well you adjust to the y style here, though there is a chance the manager might let you get some minutes out there so you can get a feel of the Serie A ying style,�� Not knowing that Jason didn��t expect an answer, she answered.

    ��However, I can��t be too sure about your chances since they��re ying the league leaders on that day,�� she continued.

    ��Wait, who are the league leaders?�� Jason asked, wanting to know more about the current league situation in the Serie A.

    ��Inter Mn, and they have a six-point lead over Uventus who are currently in second ce, however, there are two other teams with the same number of points as Uve,�� Adele answered Jason scrolling through her pad as she surfed through the avable information.

    ��That��s some crazypetition,�� Jason thought to himself and tried to think about where he would fit into the manager��s ns for his tenure at Uve.

    ��Hopefully, the manager doesn��t n to have me mostly y for the U-21 team or some sh*t like that,�� Jason thought to himself knowing that there was a possibility for that to happen if there was no space for him on the main team.

    He didn��t have time to think for much longer because they finally arrived at the Continassa.

    There were a few cameras weing Jason as he stepped out of the car, but there wasn��t too much fanfare as he was quickly taken inside and before long was facing Andreas Pirlo, the current manager of the Uventus team.

    ��Wee to Uve,�� Pirlo said to Jason, putting out his hand for a handshake and Jason didn��t waste any time in taking Pirlo��s hand.

    Once the greetings between all of them were over, Pirlo took the lead and started walking, all while addressing Jason.

    ��The medicals aren��t anything major because we already have your records from Oporto and it��s clear that you��re quite fit,��

    ��What you��ll be doing today is just a customary exam and a check to see if yourst match didn��t affect your physicals since you��ve not been able to do a fitness test after thest match,��

    ��I��m sure there��ll be nothing wrong though so we should get through that quick enough and you should be able to join the rest of the guys in training,��

    ��Ah, and yes, we��ll have to decide on your jersey number as well as arrange a few interview schedules for you, the fans will want to see more from you on and off the field,�� Pirlo spoke curtly, but there was friendliness in his tone that allowed for Jason to not be unnerved by how strict their meeting felt, not that Jason would have minded though.

    Despite him being a bit fidgety that he had joined a big club like Uve, a little bit of cold shoulder from his manager wasn��t enough to unnerve Jason, not to mentio that he knew that Andreas Pirlo was naturally a very strict looking person even when he was a bit younger and was still actively ying football.

    Jason could even have sworn that he had never seen a smiling picture of Andreas Pirlo, one of the greatest sniper passers of the game as well as a legend of the Uventus and Italy.

    ���� so, do you have any number in mind for your jersey number?�� Pirlo turned around to ask Jason.

 Chapter 429: Welcome to Uventus IV

    Chapter 429: Wee to Uventus IV

    Chapter 429: Wee to Uventus IV

    ��17,�� Jason replied to the Uventus manager.

    ��Hmmmm, interesting number, that��s the same number De Bruyne wears I think?�� Pirlo worded like he was talking to himself.

    ��Christiano also used to wear that once,�� he continued,

    ��Why do you want that number though? I��m not saying it��s bad, I��m just curious,�� Pirlo finally directed the question to Jason.

    ��It��s my birthday, the 17th of June, I consider it like my lucky number, kind of,�� Jasonughed lightly as he responded.

    ��I see,��Pirlo��s face softened a bit and for a second, Jason almost thought he would smile, but he didn��t.

    Pirlo quickly called to someone on the side and gave them orders about Jason��s jersey,

    ��Uh, how would you want your name to be written on the jersey?�� Pirlo asked Jason, turning away from the person he was talking to. ��Just Jason is fine,�� Jason replied and Pirlo turned back to the person he was talking to, using his eyes to ask if the person got all that down.

    The reply was favorable and Pirlo told the staff member, ��Tell them to have this done quickly, we��ll need to take pictures soon,��

    The staff member nodded affirmatively and left quickly.

    Andreas Pirlo soon resumed his walk, with Jason, Adele and a few others following after and Pirlo gave him a bit of a tour as they moved towards the gyms where the fitness tests would be carried out.

    ��So, I��m sure you know a little bit about us here at Uventus but here at Uve, we have a tradition of sorts where a new member of the team has to be a training partner with an existing member of the team,��

    ��This would allow the new members to get used to the new surroundings quicker, you know, get used to the ce, build friendships, and even start picking up thenguage a bit before they undergonguage learning sse-�� wait?�� Pirlo suddenly paused mid-sentence and turned back to Jason, suddenly realizing that from the time Jason arrived, he had spoken to Jason in Italian and Jason had also responded in Italian.

    ��You can speak Italian?�� Pirlo asked, amazement showing in his eyes.

    ��Uh, yeah,�� Jason replied calmly.

    ��Ahem, that��s good, you wouldn��t have to spend any time learning thenguage,�� Pirlo muttered, reigning in his curiosity at where someone of Jason��s age could speak very fluent Italian despite having not lived in Italy�� at least, that was what the records said.

    ��Anyways, as I was saying, we usually have our newer yers pair up with someone they can learn from and even train with, someone who can show them the ropes around here,��

    ��The good news is, you get to choose your training partner,�� Pirlo continued his exnation.

    ��That��s easy then, I want to work with Christiano Ronaldo,�� Jason didn��t hesitate and didn��t even let Pirlo finish. The moment he heard there was a chance for him to be the training partner of the one person he admired the most, he was sold.

    ��Haha,��

    For the first time since they met, Pirloughed a bit.

    It was almost like he wasughing at Jason��s choice and that somehow was more scary than being given the cold shoulder.

    ��See the thing with choosing a training partner is not as easy as it sounds because it is amitment from you to work with that yer and it is an obligation from the yer to take you in ording to the rules of the club,��

    ��What this means is that you��re at the mercy of that yer��s schedule, training style, training time, and even meal types,��

    ��This is not something that can be done half-heartedly especially when it��s with someone like Christiano,��

    ��If you be his training partner, it means you actually be his training partner and have to undergo the same kind of training he undergoes, the same amount of training he does, and you must also do it when he does it, meaning if Christiano wants to train from 5 am in the morning to 8 pm in the evening�� which he often does, then you��ll have to do the exact same thing for as long as Ronaldo is your training partner,��

    ��While we expect a lot from our yers and they are obviously professionals, most of them cannot keep up with Christiano in training,��

    ��You might want to think again,�� Pirlo smiled, shaking his head at Jason��s naivety.

    He understood where Jason wasing from and what it would mean for someone like Christiano to be his training partner, but at the same time, he knew that often times being ced beside the strongest version of anything you could ever aspire to be could be quite damaging, especially when you found out what they had to do to be what they were and then you realized that you couldn��t even keep up with their efforts.

    In this case, ignorance was often bliss, but Jason didn��t think so.

    He had already failed once and if the price for getting to learn from one of the greatest yers to ever y the game was just merely keeping up with their training endeavors, then Jason would willing do it.

    He was already training as hard as he could even without anyone pushing him.

    ��Where do I sign up?�� Jason asked with a smirk.

    ���� I like your confidence�� I��ll hand you over to him after we��re done here,�� Pirlo said tly, impressed that Jason was still willing to work as hard as Christiano Ronaldo who was also known as the genius made from hard work

    With that settled, Pirlo spoke to Jason about some of the interviews he would have to do in theing days as well as the media shoots he would be doing after the examinations, as well as the final signing of the transfer documents.

    Soon they were at the gyms where the medical exams would be heldand Jason was handed over to the team��s medical specialist.

    ��This here is Enrico Zargoza, the team��s no.1 medic, he��ll be in charge of this medical exam and you��ll meet him a quite a few number of times during your stay here,�� Pirlo said, gesturing to a man that looked to be in his fifties with an amiable look on his face holding a tab and looking at Jason.

    ��Let��s just hope you guys can keep seeing each other��s faces to a bare minimum,�� Pirlo added, his words sounding quite negative and rude, but it was for the best.

    Jason seeing Zargoza��s face more than required would mean that he had sustained an injury and that was no good for anyone, especially Jason.

 Chapter 430: Welcome to Uventus V

    Chapter 430: Wee to Uventus V

    Chapter 430: Wee to Uventus V

    Now changed from his previous into sports wear without any logos on it, Jason got on the treadmill and began warming up in ordance to Zargoza��s instructions.

    On the side, Pirlo was engaging in discussion with Adele as they waited for Jason��s fitness test to be done.

    Pirlo was taking Adele that Jason could quickly join the team as he didn��t need to be registered for the squad due to being under 21 years of age.

    It was part of the regtions that a yer who was younger than 21 wouldn��t be restricted by having to go through an extensive registration process and thus all that Jaon needed to y in Italy was a work permit.

    Since officially getting one would take too long, Pirlo had decided to use one of the work permit waivers that the team had.

    Each team usually had a few of these given to them at the beginning of the season and most times it wasn��t usually used unless there was a problem with getting a work permit for a yer that had topulsorily be on the pitch before a scheduled time, but luckily Uventus hadn��t had any such problems this season so Jason could quite literally take part in the next game once he was done signing the final papers.

    As for whether he would y or not however, depended on the manager��s mood, after all, the team wasn��t in a dire need of his presence on the pitch, they were doing quite well for themselves at the moment.

    Not where they would like to be for sure, but Jason��s presence on the team was just just as an added option for the time being and for how long that would continue remained to be seen. While Jason��s fitness was going on, the Uventus yers were already on the fields doing their team training and they were going quite hard at it, especially when they knew that they would be going up against the team that was currently holding on to the reins in the league.

    If they managed to win the game, they��d cut down the point difference between them to three and this would put them in a better position to take back the number one rank in the league standings.

    With such a game at stake, how could they not be training hard?

    However, the absence of their manager on the training ground was quite obvious.

    Unlike other managers who were much older, Pirlo had still been actively ying football just over five years ago so his methods of training differed greatly from those types of managers.

    He always got up close and personal to watch over the yers�� training and sometimes worked almost like a personal trainer for the yers.

    At times, he even personally showed the yers what he wanted to see from them, showing them different ways to switch up y, send in crosses, and pick out teammates in dangerous areas.

    He especially came to life in the passing-type training sessions and personally showed the yers time and time again that the passage of time had put no dent in the passing skills that made him a renown sniper passer in his legendary career.

    Hence the Uventus yers were almost always expecting to see him in training unless there was something else that required his attention and now that his presence was nowhere to be seen, they quickly started wondering why he was nowhere to be seen.

    ��I saw him earlier, I don��t think he��s left,�� Cuadrado was telling Mckennie who had been asking him about the manager��s whereabouts.

    As someone who benefited a lot from Pirlo��s personal training sessions, Mckennie always wanted to learn from the team manager and was quite disappointed that the manager was nowhere to be seen.

    ��I think it��s because of a yer, the new guy,�� Dyb who had been nearby joined in the conversation.

    ��I saw them going into the gym when I was leaving earlier,�� he added.

    He was also just recovering from an injury and had just barely began to join the team��s training but he��s had to take it easy and had to do constant check-ups with the medics so he had been undergoing a fitness test shortly before Jason arrived.

    He had left the gym before Pirlo arrived with Jason, but he had seen theming from afar.

    ��Oh, it��s that Jason guy then,�� Mckennie��s eyes brightened up in realization.

    ��Good for you, you��ve got a fellow countryman joining the team,�� Cuadrado said with a smile at Mckennie.

    ��I think they said he ys for Nigeria though, but yeah, he��s definitely a brother from the hood,��

    ��I can tell by his gangster attitude,�� Mckennie smirked and did a little crip walk.

    ��You make it sound like you��ve been in a gang before when you obviously used to live in a rich neighborhood,�� Cuadrado retorted with a teasing smile.

    ��You don��t know nothing about a hood ni**a like me bruh, I��m a real ni**a,�� Mckennie snapped back.

    ��I wonder who he picked as a training partner? The new guy,�� Dyb suddenly asked, sitting on a ball.

    ��That��s hard to guess though, it could be you, Bernadeschi, Chiesa, Morata, or even this guy,�� Cuadrado replied, pointing to Mckennie at the end of his words.

    ��Why didn��t you mention agent 007?�� Mckennie asked, referring to Ronaldo.

    ��Even though that is a very scary thought,�� Mckennie added, remembering that when he had joined the club, he had also wished to take Ronaldo as a training partner, but he was advised out of doing so after which he went with Cuadrado.

    Only after joining the team did he realize that he had dodged not just one bullet, but more than ten bullets because Ronaldo��s rate of training as well as his methods of training were insane and beyond his level of tolerance.

    Even at 35, Ronaldo wasn��t cutting down on his training and was even adding more sessions with newer and more effective methods to keep himself in shape.

    The training wasn��t the problem, the problem was the sheer amount of it.

    Before arriving at the training ground for team training at 9 a.m. every morning, it was said that he woke up as early as 4 a.m. to begin training and would have gotten at least three hours of training before he would start heading towards the Continassa, where he would then go on to train more than everyone else.

    While everyone else would begin leaving the training grounds, he would still stay behind to get some training in and even if he did leave, it was only so he could go to continue his training in his house that had more a more extensive amount of training equipment than a four star hotel.

    Being Ronaldo��s training partner meant that you��d have to do all that, or at least something very simr.

    Mckennie felt like he would die the one time he actually tried to do something like that and he wasn��t even able to finish the training n.

    ��Why would anyone subject themselves to such a torturous training schedule?�� Mckennie muttered.

    ��I mean, that��s why he��s the best in the world,�� Cuadrado replied, eyeing Dyb mischievously and sure as can be, Dyb side-eyed him bombastically.

    ��Second best, Messi is in number one,�� Dyb said, still side-eyeing Cuadrado who was doing his best to stop himself fromughing.

    ��Y��all can��t start that here, please,�� Mckennie quickly rushed to defuse the situation before Cuadrado��s mischievousness caused an issue.

    ��This guy,�� Mckennie internally shook his head, ncing at Cuadrado who was more mischievous than most people expected him to be.

 Chapter 431: Forza Uve

    Chapter 431: Forza Uve

    Chapter 431: Forza Uve

    Back at the gym, Jason was finishing up thest of the medicals and from the looks he was getting from Dr. Zargoza he felt confident in his performance up to this point.

    Soon he was done with the fitness test and was taken somewhere to go clean up as next would be signing of the final documents and a minor photo shoot tomemorate Jason joining the club.

    ��Quite the specimen you��ve got on your hands, that one,�� Dr. Zargoza said to Pirlo as he watched Jason walk away to clean up.

    ��He checks all the bills. He ispletely fit and very healthy,�� Zargoza continued, his eyes ncing at Adele who stood a bit of a distance away.

    ��So there��s no problem with him joining the team right away? Even making an appearance in the next match?�� Pirlo asked the doctor, not bothering to speak in hushed tones as he knew that Adele did not understand Italian and thus could not understand what they were saying.

    ��There��s no problem with him getting on the field right now from a medical point of view, however from a tactical point of view, I would avoid rushing things, otherwise I might be getting more visits from him in due time,�� Zargoza replied.

    ��The Serie A is a lot more physical than the Liga NOS where he��sing from and you have to make sure he understands that otherwise, his journey here might end before it starts. This is not the time to rush things,�� Zargoza added seriously.

    ��I know, I know, I was just thinking of giving him a few minutes so he can get a feel of the ying style and all, after all, we can��t bring him over and then not use him,�� ��Sheltered birds won��t grow much,�� Pirlo replied.

    They continued their talk until Jason came back and the group soon moved again.

    From there, they moved to a conference room where Jason signed thest piece of paper to finalize the deal after which they began taking pictures.

    The jersey that Jason would be using was already prepared and Jason first took pictures holding the jersey before he was taken to a media room that had a prepared background for a photo shoot.

    Donning the jersey, he was told to take on various poses while the camera men took pictures from various angles.

    At the end of everything, the picture that was settled on was one that Jason was doing for fun.

    As a ck kid who lived in the U S of A, there was no way he didn��t have any experience with basketball, so while he was boredly waiting for some adjustments to be made to the lighting during the photoshoot, he had started spinning the ball on a finger in front of his face.

    What he did not know was that someone had taken the opportunity to take a picture of him in that position.

    Due to the concentration he needed to keep the ball undercontrol, his face was the picture of concentration, yet he still maintained an air of suave ease.

    Of course, Jason wouldn��t find out about the picture until after the photoshoot.

    The media team moved fast and soon the pictures were ready and less than ten minutes after Jason was done in the studio, pictures of Jason in a Uventus jersey appeared on all of Uventus�� social media ounts.

    While Jason started heading to the training grounds with the head manager after getting everything rted to the transfer out of the way, reactions to his pictures in the Uventus jersey on the Uventus social media ounts started building up.

    The mid-season transfer usually did not receive a lot of attention because most of the high-profile transfers were usually done at the beginning of the season and the transfers done in the middle of the season usually justprised of bigger clubs offloading surplus yers after getting into a stride, or making adjustments to their line-ups.

    High-profile yers were also not usually very interested in changing clubs mid-season as it usually meant giving up their stats especially if they would be going to a different country��s league, hence Jason��s transfer was like a breath of fresh air to the fans who had only been hearing about boring transfers or none at all.

    Even though it was just a loan deal and there were no talks about a permanent transfer, the news set off a wave of interest in the football world.

    The more devout fans had already known to expect this as the god-like reporter Romano Fabricio had already confirmed the transfer a day earlier, but to most, the news was a surprise and a confirmation of a very interesting transfer.

    {Let��s go!!! Finally someone to bench that Chiesa guy, he��s an absolute disaster on the ball} a user namedLeoTemented under the Instagram post.

    {This guy is just a hater, Chiesa has been fantastic this season and if he wants to hold on to his spot on the team, then he��ll have to perform even better}SuperNight_Paulreplied toLeoTee��ment.

    {Finally! A good winger. Hope he��s here to stay longer than half a season}Plutomaniamented under the original post.

    {I��ve watched this Jason guy at Oporto and if he can bring that to the Uventus team, maybe we��ll have more passes being floated upfront for agent 007 to rack up his tally}Sphirmented under the original post as well.

    {I don��t know about you guys, but I smell something off with this transfer. Why would a yer like Jason want to leave his club mid-season on a loan deal no less} a user namedNimimamented and hisment immediately snapped something in the other user��s head.

    {Now that you mention it, it is kind of odd}Origin_Teoreplied toNimimad��ment.

    {Are you guys just realizing that? Something has smelt off before any news of the transfer even came out. There was something about a fight with another yer in the yground and though the managerter said in a press conference that the issue was settled, I��m guessing it wasn��t by how Jason ended up submitting a loan request a few dayster}Slothfulmonkexined and from what he said, it was clear that he had been keeping a watch over the situation right from before any talks of a transfer began.

    {But what kind of fight would it be that would cause Jason to want to leave immediately?}JasonFan2349askedSlothfulmonk, obviously intrigued by this news he was hearing.

    {No one really knows much about it as it was an incident in training and some inside info ims that they came to blows during an indoor scrimmage, but I don��t really know what to believe at this point. However, what is clear is that after that story, it was like only Jason was the only one who was punished for a fight that was supposed to involve him and one other person}

    {The other person that was said to be involved in that fight featured in the team��s next match and the one after that, yet Jason was nowhere to be seen because of the so called disciplinary actions}Slothfulmonksent an extra longment to exin what he knew.

    {It seems like the club was being partial or something, otherwise why would two people fight and one person get punished? I call bullsh*t!} A user namedSalmanjumped in on the thread.

    {Right!!! Otherwise, it makes no sense!}Origin_Teoadded with exuberance.

    {I smell skeletons in the cupboard! Oporto��s management needs toe out and exin themselves!}VoodVibemented as well, jumping in on the train as well.

    {I don��t even care about all that. What I want to know is the reason for the fight at the training ground in the first ce. I refuse to believe that Jason got into a fight with someone because of something like a rough tackle or some sh*t like that, that guy is way too nice and cool-headed for that}Moudassir_Aliasked a question that opened a whole new branch of questions and thoughts.

    {I know right, I��ve watched Jason y and he��s been tackled more times than I can count and though he almost always manages to evade his marker, he��s been brought down more than a few times with very rough tackles, yet he��s never really fought with anyone as far as I know}Cranelolreplied toMoudassir_Ali.

    {I might have an answer for that}Sphirmented with a gif of a 90s-looking investigator smoking from a pipe.

    {Let him cook!} a user namedQwekmented, adding a gif of a chef holding a zing pan and spinning it with ease.

    {Jason is said to have fought with this guy Mylo at the training ground, but none of us believe that it was a fight that happened in the spur of the moment and I didn��t believe either so I went searching and after my investigation, I can safely conclude that it all started because of a girl}Sphirmented with an added gif of a smirking doll that stood with his hands spread out, fire zing in the background.

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 432: A Bet

    Chapter 432: A Bet

    Chapter 432: A Bet

    At the Continassa, the training leading up to the match in theing days was supposed to be ongoing, but currently no balls were being kicked around and no one was running through any cones, rather all the yers were currently gathered at one corner of the field.

    The whole senior squad of the team barring the few who were injured and indisposed were currently standing around in front of the manager who was currently introducing thetest addition to the squad to the squad members.

    ��I��m sure you all follow the news and you know about thistest addition of our team�� for the next six months at least,��

    ��I don��t have to say his name I��m sure and I��m also sure that he��ll show why he would be a valuable addition to the team in thening days,�� Pirlo said and the crowd of yers took the initiative to apud Jason.

    ��Wee to Uventus,�� he said, turning to Jason and saying with a smile.

    ��Okay, that��s it for now. Off with all of you, we have an important matching up, one that we have to win, so train like you n to win,�� Pirlo turned back to the crowd of yers and began shooing them off.

    ��Ah, right, Christiano,e over here for a bit,�� Pirlo called out to the star man of the Uventus squad just as the crowd began dispersing and this little action immediately set off a wave of excited jeers among the crowd.

    Some of the yers even began looking at Jason with a little pity. ��See, I told you that kid might try something crazy,�� Mckennie whispered to Cuadrado, ncing back at Jason as they walked away.

    ��I��ll pray for the exhausted soul of that brother,�� Cuadrado snickered in a saintly voice.

    ��I��ll join the prayer, that kid will need it,�� Dyb��s voice came from the side and they all burst outughing as they walked away.

    At Pirlo��s side, Christiano walked over to the manager, ncing at Jason who nodded at him in greeting.

    shing an eased smile at Jason, he spoke to Pirlo,

    ��What do you need me for coach?�� he asked Pirlo and Jason could literally hear the confidence oozing from his voice despite his tone seemingly respectful to the ears.

    ��Well, er, this kid chose you to be his training partner, so ording to the rules, you��ll have to take him in and show him the ropes, he��ll also be joining you in all your training sessions from now on,�� Pirlo told Christiano about the arrangement.

    ��I hope to learn a lot from you,�� Jason added in Portuguese, speaking directly to Ronaldo who nodded in acknowledgement.

    ��Oh, ok, sure,�� Christiano didn��t seem to be put off by the arrangement though he had never had to do it before.

    ��You��re a winger, yes?�� Ronaldo asked Jason suddenly, turning to him.

    ��Uh, yeah,�� Jason asked, a bit stunned at being questioned directly by his football idol. Everything seemed to be happening too fast.

    ��So how do you y?�� Ronaldo asked another question that did more than stun Jason as it meant that Ronaldo had not watched Jason enough to take a note of how he yed.

    ��I-�� uh, I y as the situation demands it,�� Jason answered, smiling wryly as the realization set in that until this point, he had been nothing more than a name on a paper to Ronaldo who couldn��t care less to analyze him, especially considering the fact that they would have ended up facing off against each other in the Champions League Round of 16 if Jason had remained at Oporto.

    ��Coach, can we do a quick scrimmage so that we can see how the kid ys. That way I know where to guide him,�� Ronaldo said to Pirlo who didn��t hesitate to nod his head.

    He also wanted to see more of Jason from up close as all he had gotten to see of Jason until now were highlight reels and a few more clips sent over by the scouts.

    ��You wouldn��t mind that right?�� Pirlo asked Jason, and Jason gave an affirmative answer as he liked that he had quickly been given a chance to show off his skills.

    Hopefully, he could do enough to impress his teammates which would allow him to settle into the team much faster than he expected.

    ��Alright then, let��s get to it,�� Pirlo nodded, rubbing his hands in a bit of anticipation before he went ahead to pull out a whistle and blew loudly, signaling for the yers to gather round once again.

    The yers had no choice but toe back and they were quickly informed of the next training session��s ns and preparations soon began to be made.

    While the training staff began to take all the training equipment off the field in preparatio for the scrimmage, Pirlo busied himself with setting the team line-up for the scrimmage and before long, he came up with a tactical set-up for the two teams that would be taking the field.

    The first team wouldprise of Szey as their goal keeper, Chiellini and Boni as center backs, and Alex Sandro and Danilo in the left back and right back positions respectively.

    On the right side of midfield was Kulusevski and on the left was Mckennie while Arthur and Rabiot guarded the center of the park as the two center midfielders.

    Morata and Chiesa would be the forwards for the first team in the training match.

    For the second team, Buffon would be standing between the sticks while they would have De Ligt, Demiral, Rugani, and Cuadrado holding the backline.

    In the center of the park was Bentarcur and Ramsey while Bernadeschi was on the wide right with Jason taking the wide left.

    Up front would be Ronaldo and Correira.

    Uventus was very simr to Oporto in that they used the same 4-4-2 holding formation most of the time which meant that Jason wouldn��t have to spend too much time to adjusting to the formation.

    All he��d have to get used to was the different pace and different movements and capabilities of his new teammates.

    Pirlo made sure that Jason understood that it was a mere training exercise and that Jason could disy his skills without any pressure, but Jason could not take the manager��s words to heart.

    With the field already prepared for the match, the yers soon took to the field and Jason was standing nearby Ronaldo as they waited for kick-off.

    Considering that Ronaldo would be the danger man that he would be trying to get the ball to, Jason felt like he had to at least exin his style of y a bit to the danger man of the team.

    ��Since I��m ying from the left, it��ll be easier for me to cut in since my right is my stronger foot, so���� Jason began exining, but,

    ��Oh don��t worry, I��ve seen you y so I know all that,�� Ronaldo cut in, his words surprising Jason as he could have sworn that was not what Ronaldo said earlier.

    ��But earlier?�� Jason started.

    ��I was just joking and wanted to y with you on the same team first, regr training was getting a bit boring today. Also, I have something I want to try in a match,�� Ronaldoughed cheekily, leaving Jason open-mouthed at the situation.

 Chapter 433: A Bet II

    Chapter 433: A Bet II

    Chapter 433: A Bet II

    ��Who knew this guy liked ying around?��Jason��s eyebrow shot up in amazement.

    ��Hey, how about a bet?�� Jason called out to Ronaldo, suddenly having an interesting idea.

    ��Hmm? A bet? What kind of bet?�� Ronaldo looked over at Jason, his eyes twinkling in amusement.

    ��When we win, I bet that I have more goal contributions than you,�� Jason stated.

    ��Oh��? Interesting,�� Ronaldo��s eyes lit up inpetitiveness, his inner me fully stoked by Jason��s offer.

    ��If I win, I��ll live in your house for the next six month�� one of them, you��ve got a pretty big ce, right?�� Jason stated the prize he hoped to win.

    He didn��t know why he had suddenly gotten the idea to have Ronaldo settle his amodation problems, but the more he thought about it, the better it sounded.

    He��d get to live in a mansion that cost quite a few million dors, not to mention that it was the house of his football idol as well as the biggest celebrity in the whole world. If he ended up moving into Ronaldo��s house, then he could fully be present for every aspect of Ronaldo��s training and would be able to subject himself to the same level and amount of training that Ronaldo did for the next six months at least.

    That was without a doubt going to be very helpful for him, not to mention that he would probably be able to learn a thing or two from Ronaldo during his stay there.

    ��Living in my house? Okay,�� Ronaldo thought about it for a second and shrugged. It wouldn��t be a bother for him as like Jason had said, there was more than one house inside hispound so there was definitely space for one extra person.

    ��Don��t worry, I��ll still pass to you so you can score,�� Jason couldn��t resist adding a taunt, but deep within, he knew that he was just doing it to hide his nervousness at what he had just done.

    Here he was, not even having spent an hour with his new teammates and he was already challenging the no.1 footballer who everyone knew should never be challenged.

    The guy literally had gotten to where he was by rising above his challengers and stepping on them again and again, yet Jason had just challenged said person.

    It seemed like little more than a yful challenge, but even that was more than nerve-wracking to Jason.

    Ronaldo did not respond to Jason��s taunt other than grinning at him, but even that was scary to Jason as it felt like a grin an adult would give to a child that did not know how big the world was.

    ��Shit,�� Jason sweatdropped, but he didn��t have time to ponder any more on what he had done as the training match had kicked off with the other team kicking off first.

    As soon as the training match kicked off, Jason rushed over into the other side of the field, joining the press.

    Normally back at Oporto, he would not do much pressing as his role on the team did not epass much defending, but on joining a new team, Jason didn��t hesitate to join on the press.

    The manager hadn��t yet given him a specific role or a specific ying style he would like him to adhere to so he could only do whatever was currently required and for the current period of time, that was pressing.

    Luckily, Jason��s experience with martial arts made him an excellent reader of body movements and while it wasn��t easy to catch up to the ball which would always be faster than the human body, Jason was able to do enough defensively by blocking most of the path.

    However, Jason soon realized that doing just that wasn��t enough as the Uventus yers wouldn��t just pass the ball back because he was in the way.

    The Uventus yers had more than enough confidence in their abilities to run directly at him, trying to dribble past him and if they found that impossible, they didn��t mind bulldozing through him.

    It didn��t take Jason long to realize that the Serie A was a lot more physical than what he was used to.

    He had experienced a bit of that thest time when he had yed against Inter Mn in the Europa League and had gotten injured, but now Kulusevski did well to remind him of that fact by bulldozing through him when running past him.

    Jason hadn��t been expecting it and had soon ended up tumbling all over, eating grass while Kulusevski left him behind.

    As someone who was quick on the uptake, that was all the wake up call Jason needed and he quickly became more physical on his tackles and marking as well.

    After being pressed by the opposition team for a while, Jason��s team finally got the ball and trying to break past the other team in turn.

    Soon the ball found Jason on the left nk and he quickly took off down the nks, trying to get the ball forward before he was boxed in by the yers on the nks.

    Jason��s pace allowed him to quickly move the ball and he was soon in the final third but Danilo quickly came rushing at him.

    Not wanting to take any chances with the more physical Serie A defenders, Jason suddenly made to move to the right, making it seem like he was cutting in and Danilo quickly moved to follow, but that was what Jason wanted.

    By moving to follow, the space between Danilo��s legs widened and in a split second, Jason used his heel to tap the ball in-between Danilo��s legs, before racing past Danilo to chase after the ball.

    Danilo hadn��t been expecting himself to fall for such a trick and was stunned giving Jason just enough time to make it past him and when Danilo came to and tried to grab Jason before he made it past him, it was already toote and he was only able to grab the fringes of Jason��s shirt and Jason quickly smacked his hand off, running off with the ball.

    With Danilo behind him, Jason cut into the penalty box, not even bothering to look for a teammate who was free.

    Coming up against the well known defensive duo of Chiellini and Boni, Jason didn��t have the slightest hesitation as he drew closer to Chiellini who was nearer.

    He waited until he was close enough before suddenly flicking the ball sharply towards the left and following after it, reaching itfirst as Boni came after it, just barely managing to get a leg to it and flick it back to the right, just slightly escaping Boni��s leg sweep and just barely avoiding collision with those two tankers in human form.

    On getting through those two guys, he was through on goal and didn��t hesitate to hit the ball at the goal, Sczesny already rushing out to confront him.

 Chapter 434: A Bet III

    Chapter 434: A Bet III

    Chapter 434: A Bet III

    The ball flew at Sczesny who spread himself wide as he lunged at the ball, but despite being able to get a touch to the ball, he wasn��t able to get enough hand on the ball to deflect it from it��s intended path and the ball bounced off the underside of his arm before rolling into the back of the.

    ��Whoooo!��Jason shouted as he jumped up and punched up the air in a little celebration after scoring.

    He was happy that he was skills were enough for him to perform well even on a stage with yers of the Uventus team��s caliber, but at the same time, he also knew that beginner��s luck was also part of it.

    For starters, the Uventus yers probably had their guards lowered when he had begun moving at them so he was easily able to punish them for that. That it was a training match also helped as it meant that the yers couldn��t be too physical in their tackling so as to prevent injuries, otherwise, he would have been swept off the floor before he could take the shot earlier.

    However, despite all that, the fact still remained that he had been able to dribble past the Uventus defenders and score and that was a good enough start for Jason.

    He wore his happiness on his face as he began jogging back to his teammates.

    While Jason wasn��t very vocal about his excitement, the Uventus yers didn��t care to mimick that and were openly expressing their excitement and feelings about Jason��s impressive run and goal.

    As Jason headed back, Ronaldo shed a smile his way and gave him a thumbs-up, his behavior making Jason think that he had forgotten about their earlier bet. On the sidelines, Pirlo nodded to himself, happy at what he was seeing from Jason and already thinking of how Jason would fit into his ns for the rest of the season.

    While the manager, the training exercise continued and Jason soon found out how much harder it was to get past the Uventus defenders when they were switched on to his danger and willing to do whatever they could to stop him from getting past.

    If he tried to run past, they grabbed him by the shirt and held him back.

    If he tried to brush them off the ball, they inserted themselves between him and the ball and held him away until the ball rolled out of range.

    If he tried to do tricks, they stayed unmoving till he moved and in the off chance that he managed to confuse them enough to get past, they didn��t mind kicking his legs till they swept him off his feet.

    If Jason could ssify it ording to game difficulty level, then the defenders in the Primera Liga were ��Professional�� difficulty level while the Uventus defenders were ��World-ss�� or ��Legendary�� depending on the defender he was facing off against.

    He was slowly getting used to ying in these conditions, but he was a ways from being able to errantly run across the field, dribbling everyone he came across and wistfully creating a chance whenever he wished.

    He could only afford to be patient and only move when required, otherwise he would end up on his back.

    Jason was quickly learning to rein himself in, otherwise he would be railed out of the way by the tank-like defenders.

    The good news was that the defenders were his teammates, however considering that there were defenders of this level almost all over the Serie A, that didn��t count for much, however, at least he was learning to handle those kind of defenders from training.

    Another piece of good news was that it wasn��t that he wasn��t able to match up at all, all that he needed was a change in tempo and he would be able to disy enough of his capabilities.

    This showed during the training session as he was still able to perform enough to send a cross Ronaldo��s way which ended up as an assist for him as Ronaldo didn��t disappoint and sent the ball past Sczesny after taking to the air domineeringly and meeting it with his head.

    With that, Jason had two goal contributions while Ronaldo only had one.

    Jason was enjoying his victory as he watched the time of the training scrimmage slowly run out when Ronaldo who had just received the ball almost ten yards outside the box from Bentacur did the most ��Ronaldo-like�� thing he could do.

    Without a hint of hesitation in his movements, he put his head down and just hit the ball with all the power he could muster, sending a rocket of a shot at the goal.

    Needless to say, Sczesny wasn��t able to keep the ball out and the ball smashed into the back of the, sending the flying as it struggled to keep the ball within its grasp.

    ��What the fuck!?�� Jason��s mouth dropped open as his hands flew to the top of his head in absolute disbelief.

    In that single moment, Jason understood what it felt like to be the normal person on the team.

    Everyone was ying a normal training match, passing the ball around like normal people and trying to score like normal people and out of nowhere, Ronaldo just goes ahead and does somethingpletely unbelievable like scoring a goal from 32 yards out.

    ��Come on mannn, how?��

    ��Just how?�� Jason couldn��t stay silent after witnessing Ronaldo score a Puskas-level goal in training for absolutely no reason.

    ��How?�� he asked with his hands out as Ronaldo came running back in celebration with all over his face.

    ��That��s two-two now,�� Ronaldoughed at the bbergasted-looking Jason.

    He was enjoying this more than the normal training session as it had been quite a while since anyone had challenged him directly like Jason had.

    The training session soon continued and Jason threw away his reservations, no longer bothering to stay patient while waiting for a chance to get past his man.

    Once he had the ball, he ran at the other team��s defense as now that he and Ronaldo were on a simr scoreline, his confidence was nowhere to be found.

    He couldn��t trust that Ronaldo wouldn��t suddenly score an unimaginable goal out of nowhere so the only way to regain his confidence was by taking the lead in their bet again.

    Ronaldo was also doing the same.

    They were both on the same team, but they werepeting against one another and this was slowly bing a hell for the opposing team who were being made to run round in circles because of Jason and Ronaldo.

 Chapter 435: A Bet IV

    Chapter 435: A Bet IV

    Chapter 435: A Bet IV

    *Fweeeeeeeee!*

    Pirlo blew his whistle loudly, bringing an end to the training session before things became more heated and the yers exhausted themselves thoroughly.

    The whistle got the attention of everyone on the pitch and the training session halted with more than half of the yers sitting down on the ground immediately, exhausted.

    Jasony on the ground immediately, feeling more tired and battered than he had ever been in his life.

    Heaving, he tried to catch his breath as he stared at the sky above, his steamy breath billowing like small white clouds from his mouth.

    Despite the weather, he did not feel cold.

    No one on the field did, and he most especially didn��t feel the slightest amount of cold after pushing himself the hardest he could to keep up with these monster-like yers.

    ��Fu*k,�� he cursed in a low tone as he stared at the clouds tiredly. Despite his efforts at trying to get another goal contribution, he hade away empty-handed as the defenders he was facing off against weren��t people he could just decide to get past.

    When they really put their foot down, it was very difficult to get past them and when they had the help of one another, it was nigh impossible and it did not take him long to find out.

    At a point, he had to switch back to his patient y-style and pass the ball more instead of running at the defence by himself, but even then, it had been difficult to get away and they weren��t able to score another goal.

    Jason��s team did hit the bar two times after that though so that was some good news at least, but the opposition team had managed to score twice against them bringing the scores of the game to3 : 2.

    ��I guess I��ll have to settle for whatever Adele finds,�� he thought back to the stakes of the bet and rose up into a sitting position.

    ��So, when are you moving in?��

    Jason heard Ronaldo��s voice and turned over in the direction of his voice.

    ���� I didn��t win though,�� he replied in confusion, wondering if Ronaldo had forgotten the scores of their bet.

    ��I didn��t win either, so I��ll allow you to move in�� but only if you pay rent,�� Ronaldo said with a grin, his words surprising Jason whose face lit up.

    ��Do you ept rent in the form of assists?�� Jason asked with a cheeky smile.

    ��I take penalties too, I��m not picky,�� Ronaldoughed as he sat beside him.

    ��Ah�� and if you move in, you��ll be joining me in training whenever I��m training,�� Ronaldo added.

    ��Then you wouldn��t mind if I move in today,�� Jason immediately replied as that was the biggest reason he wanted to move into Ronaldo��s house.

    ��I��ll have one of the annexes prepared,�� Ronaldo responded with a distant look before turning and adding in a strict tone that was reminiscent of andlord.

    ��Come early, I��m not a fan ofte nights.��

    ��Yes sir,�� Jason replied immediately with a mock salute. He wasn��t a fan ofte nights either.

    ��I��ll call this piece, master and student cloud gazing,�� Jason and Ronaldo heard a voice from behind and looked behind to see Cuadrado kneeling and putting his hands out like he was trying to take a picture.

    ��Should I call you sensei now?�� Jason asked Ronaldo, his lips curled upward in amusement.

    ��Don��t worry, Juan��s just a clown,�� Ronaldoughed a little.

    Mckennie who was beside Cuadradoughed at Ronaldo��s words before walking up to Jason and offering a hand to Jason.

    ��Man, you were crazy out there,�� Mckennie said with a grin as he dapped Jason.

    ��It��s been a while since I saw anyone give those two oldies a run for their money like that,�� he continued, pointing with his thumb at Boni and Chiellini.

    ��Who are you calling old?�� Chiellini who had been near enough to hear Mckennie, yelled at him, but his voice made it clear that it was nothing more than a yful yell.

    ��Who else but you two were defending Camelot with King Arthur back before Jesus even walked the earth?�� Mckennie yelled back causing everyone to burst outughing.

    ��Rumors say that the presence of two round heads made the pration of the invaders impossible,�� Cuadrado added cheekily.

    ��Now that you mention round heads, it does look pretty round,�� Mckennie��s voice sounded like he had just discovered a great secret.

    ��You do know the Italians have world-recognized mafia, right?�� Jason asked with a smile.

    ��True, but these guys are too nice to even be a bodyguard in a mafia family despite looking all tough like that,�� Mckennie replied Jason.

    ��They��re no match for hood ni**as like us,�� he added before doing a hand sign that Jason immediately recognized as a gang sign.

    There was no way Jason wouldn��t recognize the hand sign, after all, he had seen many such gang signs while growing up.

    As a struggling student going through ounting school, there was no way Daphne could afford to live outside the hood before she started making money at her ounting job so Jason had lived in the hood with her for a while so there was no way he didn��t know about gang signs.

    He even knew how to do those hand signs as he had once realized that acting like a gang member would help him to avoid troublesome kids his age who had tried bullying him.

    With the opportunity to show off, Jason didn��t hesitate and responded to Mckennie with a string of hand signs of his own causing Mckennie to jump back in surprise.

    ��Now hol up, hol the hell up, I ain��t with that sh*t. I ain��t never popped a ni**a before,�� words flurried out of Mckennie��s mouth as he was surprised to have met Jason who thought was a real gang member.

    ��Don��t try this sh*t back at the wrong hood cuh, you finna get popped quick,�� Jasonughed while warning Mckennie.

    Irresponsibly throwing around gang signs in a ck neighbourhood in America was one of the quickest way to get yourself killed and Mckennie who thought gang signs was bad news to himself.

    ��Always knew you were a fake,�� Cuadrado burst outughing as he watched Mckennie��s stunned reaction to Jason performing actual gang signs.

 Chapter 436: New Home I

    Chapter 436: New Home I

    Chapter 436: New Home I

    ��That��s thest of it,�� Jason said to a big burly man who was more abundant than he was in size, both vertically and horizontally.

    They had just finished packing thest of his stuff from the hotel into a ck Mercedes SUV that would be taking both him and his luggage to Ronaldo��s house.

    Before they finished training for the day, Ronaldo had called some of the people from his security team toe over with an extra car that would help Jason move so immediately after training for the day was over, Jason headed to his hotel in thepany of the people the abundantly sized guy.

    His name was Gustavo, Jason had found out after a bit of conversation with the guy while they drove to the hotel.

    While Gustavo headed back to the car to wait, Jason headed over to Adele��s room to talk to her for a bit.

    There he told her everything that happened and that he would no longer need a house for a while so she no longer have to stay around in Italy.

    After quickly discussing a few other matters and then saying their goodbyes, Jason quickly rushed back to the car to meet Gustavo.

    ��Are we headed home now?�� Gustavo asked Jason as he climbed into the passenger��s seat. ���� Uh, yeah,�� Jason muttered, feeling a bit hungry.

    He didn��t know how the food situation was at his new home for the next six months, but he had enough snacks in his bag tost him for at least a day and that would be enough time for him to sort himself out.

    On receiving the order from Jason, Gustavo had already begun driving, cruising the streets with nothing but memory and heading towards the more affluent part of Turin.

    After almost a full hour of navigating trafficden streets, the car finally pulled up in front of a hugepound that screamed modern luxury, as did the remainingpounds all around it.

    The gate slid open and the Mercedes SUV drove into thepound, allowing Jason to feast his eyes more on the beauty of the wholepound.

    ��That��s a big a** house,�� Jason thought in awe but kept his awe out of his face as he stared at the big and beautiful looking house and the other annexes that looked like mini versions of the house scattered around thepound as far as the eye could see.

    The car soon came to a stop, allowing Jason to get down.

    Before his foot even reached the ground, Jason could hear the trunk of the car being pulled open and stuff being pulled out.

    Before he could go over to help out, someone stood in his way.

    It was a woman who looked to be in her fifties and had an air of authority around her.

    ��This way sir,�� she said, but her words left Jason in no doubt that he was the one she was talking to and he acquiesced, letting her lead the way.

    ncing behind him to watch his bag being carried in a different direction left him confused, but he didn��t say anything and just followed behind the boss-likedy.

    Jason was led into the main house and before long, he found himself in a room with a medium sized dining table, which was beginning to be amon thing.

    Since entering the house, Jason had realized that the only thing big about this house was its size, everything else inside was a normal size, however, there was a lot of everything and Jason had already seen two dining tables before reaching this one and he had no doubts that there were probably a few others lying around somewhere.

    However, there was one difference between the current dining table and the others that Jason had seen, and that was that someone was using this dining table.

    ��Nice ce you��ve got here,�� Jason said to Ronaldo who was seated at the table eating.

    ��I guess they were right, big dreams guarantee big returns,�� he added as he sidled up to the table, no longer following the woman who Jason considered to be something like a butler or caretaker.

    ���� Only if you work hard to fulfill them,�� Ronaldo said after swallowing what was in his mouth.

    ��Sit,�� he gestured to one of the chairs and Jason immediately dragged out a chair, needing no other incentive to rest his tired legs.

    As he sat, Ronaldo nced at the caretaker woman who immediately nodded and walked away, knowing what to do next without her boss having to say anything.

    ��One of the annexes has been prepared for you. Your bags have been taken there,��

    ��You��re the only one using the ce so you��ll figure your way around it, I hope,�� Ronaldo started, but before he could say more, the caretaker woman was back, pushing a tray of food that she skillfully set before Jason with nary a word.

    ��Enjoy,�� she said in English that was heavily ented by an Italian tone.

    ��Thank you,�� Jason responded with a smile before picking up his cutlery and diving into the Pesto-Infused Chicken with Whole Wheat Penne and Steamed Broli.

    ��Your caretaker has quite a lot of nutritional knowledge, this meal is good for recovery-boosting after hard training,�� Jasonmented

    ��It��s delicious too,�� heplimented after chewing a delicious mouthful.

    ��Actually�� I��m the one that tell them what I want to eat,�� Ronaldo said with augh.

    ��You did? If you know that much, you don��t even need a nutritionist,�� Jason said surprised.

    ��Oh I do�� he does the cooking,�� Ronaldo said, before getting back to his food and leaving Jason��s jaw dropped.

    ��Who hires a nutritionist so that he can use them as just a chef?�� Jason couldn��t understand the thoughts of the rich anymore and just returned his focus to his meal.

    They quickly finished their meal in silence, both of them swallowing away like disciplined eaters.

    Both Jason and Ronaldo didn��t know it, but they both agreed on the thought that there was no point in spending more than half an hour at most on eating.

 Chapter 437: New Home II

    Chapter 437: New Home II

    Chapter 437: New Home II

    ��Let me show you around,�� Ronaldo said to Jason, getting up from the table after they were both done eating.

    ��Sure,�� Jason replied and got up as well, already done with his own food as well.

    They soon began walking through the house and Ronaldo showed him a big pool in the back before they moved on to the training area in thepound.

    The ce had a gym fitted with top level equipment, a mini field, a bath house for ice baths, steam baths and hot water baths as well as a few other things.

    ��I know that normally it��s cold in January here in Italy, but it��s a lot colder than I was expecting,�� Jason muttered as they walked back towards the house, the sight of the swimming pool making him shiver.

    ��Yeah, I haven��t been here for too long either, but it��s colder thanst year,�� Ronaldo replied, rubbing his hands together.

    ��Hey, wanna swim?�� Ronaldo suddenly called out to Jason as an idea suddenly popped up in his head.

    ��Oh hell naw, not in this weather,�� was what Jason wanted to say, but the words refused to leave his mouth. ��That��s an extreme cold bath in this weather�� let��s do it,�� he ended up saying, already feeling himself shivering from the cold water.

    Ronaldo snickered when he saw Jason��s eyes that betrayed his actual feelings about diving into cold water and he almost burst out inughter, but he kept hisughter in check.

    Ronaldo led Jason to a nearby bathhouse where there were extra swim trunks and they quickly washed up before going back to the pool.

    Looking at the pool again, Jason was thinking to himself that this was probably the worst idea that anyone coulde up with at the moment and he was about to chicken out when suddenly somebody shoved into him from behind.

    ��Fu*k!�� he cussed as he fell into the water.

    *SPLASH!*

    Jason falling into the pool was a sight to see and Ronaldo wasughing at him from the edge of the pool after pushing him in.

    Quickly struggling to get himself in control inside the pool, he called out in annoyance

    ��Hey! What was that for!��

    ��The water is fre-�� zing?�� he was about to continue shouting when he noticed something strange.

    The water wasn��t cold, rather it was lukewarm and seemed to be getting even warmer still.

    ��Hahahahaha�� You should have seen your face,��Ronaldoughed at him from outside the pool.

    ��haha�� the pool has a heater, we can regte the temperature when needed,�� Ronaldo exined, stillughing at Jason and making him feel like a country bumpkin.

    That didn��t stop him from giving Ronaldo the stink eye before rxing himself inside the water, which was getting warm enough that it was almost like he was receiving a hot stone massage.

    ��Hahaa haaa�� Obviously, there��s no way I��d throw a teammate into a pool of cold water in this weather,�� Ronaldo added before taking five steps back like he wanted to take a free kick.

    ��You know, swimming is also a good form of physical training,�� Ronaldo called out to Jason.

    ��Whatever man, just get in the water,�� Jason yelled back at Ronaldo, his reservations at being in a new environment slowly being washed away in the warm, rxing water.

    ��Okay!�� Ronaldo said and started running at the pool before jumping into the air while shouting,

    ��CANONBALL!!!��

    *SPLASH!!!*

    A louder ssh than when Jason fell in rocked the water, discing arge amount of water for a little while before they came crashing back into ce.

    ��Hahahaha,�� Jason could not helpughing at Ronaldo who was proving to be more of a clown and fun-loving person than the disciplined and strict person that everyone who hadn��t met him thought him to be.

    ��Howe you��re the only one I��ve seen since earlier, where��s the bossdy and the little yous?�� Jason asked, regarding to Ronaldo��s girl and children.

    ��Oh that, they should be back soon,��

    ��Junior has to go to football academy after school while Eva, Mateo, and na are all with Gio,��

    ��She should have picked up Junior and they should be on their way back,�� Ronaldo murmured, swimming on his back.

    ���� Unless they stopped to get some ice cream,�� he added thoughtfully after a while.

    ��In this weather?�� Jason askedughingly.

    ��Y��all are just weird in yo family, but hey, the lion��s spawn can��t be scared of cold,�� heughed and dived back into the water, his full untamed air swimming along behind him.

    ��I think you mean tan, mine is a normal human family,�� Ronaldo responded jeeringly also diving back into the water.

    ***

    Outside the mansion, a convoy consisting of three cars drove into the mansion��spounds and drove up to the main house��s entrance before stopping.

    As the car came to a stop, the door was quickly pulled open and a leg came out first, its length and silky smooth skin betrayed by the slit in the ck gown of the owner of the leg.

    Georgina Gio stepped out of the car first holding her daughter, na followed by Ronaldo Junior stepping out with Mateo and Eva holding his two hands and dragging him along.

    ��Where��s daddy?�� na asked her mother, her eyes darting around, looking for a familiar figure.

    ��He��s inside,�� Georgina answered with a smile, wiping off a trace of ice cream from her daughter��s lips.

    ��Master is inside with a guest�� though I guess ��guest�� isn��t the right word,�� the female caretaker that Jason had met when he came earlier informed Georgina as they walked into the house.

    ��Guest?�� Georgina was surprised to hear this as she didn��t know Ronaldo was expecting anyone, but she refrained from asking the caretaker anymore questions about the ��guest��.

    ��Where are they right now?�� she asked instead.

    ��They��re in the pool,�� the caretaker replied sinctly

    ��Okay, thank you,�� she said in response.

    She started walking into the house, heading in the direction of the pool with the children in tow.

    It might not be a good idea for the children to meet the guest as they were, but normally they liked to go meet their father first after getting back home and she couldn��t stop them neither did she want to.

    As she reached the back of the house, the first thing she saw was Ronaldo in the pool and that was rtively normal so her eyes immediately moved to search for the guest.

    The next thing that Georgina��s eyes met was the back view of long, luscious, beautiful and wet, curly ck hair and at the thought that the guest could be a woman who was in the swimming pool with her husband, her heart sank into her stomach.

 Chapter 438: New Home III

    Chapter 438: New Home III

    Chapter 438: New Home III

    ��Daddy!��

    A word that would scare any unsuspecting man in the world was called loudly behind Jason.

    Being the African-American that he was, the word had a double effect on Jason who did a double take and immediately turned behind him to see who had called but there didn��t seem to be a need for him to do so as the second person in the pool was already reacting.

    ��na,�� Ronaldo called back to his daughter and began swimming towards the edge of the pool in the direction his family wasing from.

    Seeing that reaction from Ronaldo, Jason��s heart that had threatened to lurch out of his throat all of a sudden seemed to settle back in ce and he ran his hand through his hair, brushing away the wet strands of hair in his face as he did.

    He nced at his host��s family, and their faces didn��t look too off from what he had already seen on social media a few times though for a weird reason, he felt like Georgina had a look of relief on her face as she stared right back at him.

    ��That��s weird,�� he thought to himself, seeing no reason why his presence would bring relief to someone he had never even met, but a secondter he put aside his thoughts, thinking he must have been mistaken to believe that she was relieved.

    What he didn��t know was that on realizing that Jason was not some ��skank�� trying to deceive her husband with pleasures of the flesh, Georgina was more than relieved. It wasn��t even that she doubted Ronaldo��s loyalty, but rather more of her knowing that with the wealth and fame that he had, there were quite a lot of women who wouldn��t mind to try and catch Ronaldo off guard.

    Unfortunately, the man that she knew was too honest and open in matters of the heart and wouldn��t even know he was being drawn into a wrong rtionship until thest moment.

    But now that she saw that her worries were unfounded, she was more than relieved and involuntarily had her attention now on Jason who she thought was a woman earlier.

    He looked young and she could tell of his African origins by his skin color, but in contrast to that was long, untangled hair and blue eyes that she had never seen onpeople with a darker skin color than ��white as a mothefu*ker��.

    With how well ced his facind physical features were as well as his confident look that didn��t seem unyielding in the slightest, her first thought was that he was a model, but at the same time,mon sense let her know that Ronaldo was someone who didn��t even have time to meet female models so why would he meet a male model and bring him to their house.

    Quite a few thoughts went through her mind as she walked to the side of the pool with her children in tow, but they all remained unsaid until she was right by the pool where Ronaldo was climbing out.

    ��Daddy!�� na wriggled out of her mother��s arms and dived into the waiting arms of her father, not caring if he was still wet from the pool.

    Ronaldo did not hesitate to embrace her and he weed the rest of his family as well, asking how their day was and tantly stuffing Jason with all sorts of ��dog food���� as the Chinese would call it.

    Not just the children were weed though.

    Ronaldo didn��t hesitate to dive into the lips of the love of his life, leaving Jason feeling like he should dive into the bottom of the pool to sulk about his sad life and that was exactly what he did.

    Diving back into the pool after Ronaldo had so tantly reminded of the voids in his life, he wanted to just throw water on the lover birds and their family, but that would be considered rude so he contented himself with diving underwater for a few seconds to wash away the waves of annoyance and disgust that involuntarily swept through him.

    When he came back to the surface of the water, he was surprised to find that everyone was staring at him, making him more self-conscious than ever before, causing his face to harden slightly.

    ��Please continue catching up with each other, don��t mind me, I��ll be floating around until my presence is needed,��he said in Portuguese, rolling his eyes at them with a small smile on his face.

    ��Juste over here,�� Ronaldo called to him,ughing a bit and totally ignorant of what Jason was feeling.

    ��*Sigh*�� Aye aye captain,�� Jason muttered and dived below the water��s surface, swimming as close as he could before resurfacing above the water again, this time less than two meters away from the edge of the pool.

    ��Anyhow, you guys, this is Jason, the newest member of the team�� at least for the next six months,��

    ��He��s going to be living with us for a while because I lost a bet to him and he needed a ce to stay for a while since he just moved here,�� Ronaldo introduced Jason to the family, though his borate introduction only had an effect on the more knowledgeable members of the family.

    ��You beat Dad in apetition? What kind ofpetition?��

    It was Ronaldo Junior that spoke first and his voice was quite excited as he it was not everyday he heard that someone had beat his dad in apetition.

    ��First, no, I didn��t beat him, it was a draw, and second, it was a goal contribution contest at training,�� Jason quickly exined before the burden of admiration in the boy��s eyes that was pressing on his neck became any heavier.

    ��Considering that you were ying as a midfielder against me who was a forward and it was your first time training with those guys, I think we can count that as my defeat,�� Ronaldo interjected.

    ��Good point, but I��m a winger�� that��s still a forward�� technically,�� Jason retorted.

    ��Ugh, just take the win kid,�� Ronaldo facepalmed.

    ��Mrs. Georgina, the pictures I��ve seen haven��t done you enough justice,��

    ��You are stunning,�� Jason ignored Ronaldo��sment and turned to thedy of the house, causing her to smile at the praise.

    ��Of course, I have good taste,�� Ronaldo interjected before Georgina could respond, nodding pridefully.

    ��Ninja please,�� Jason rolled his eye at this guy who was even taking the praise for his wife��s good looks.

    ��You have good taste, she has a good face, so you decided to paste on her face?�� a sudden inspiration for a rap line appeared in Jason��s mind and he made sure that it stayed there, killing it in its infancy.

    ��Thank you for your praise,�� Georgina finally replied to Jason while rolling her eyes at her husband,pletely ignorant of what had transpired in Jason��s head.

    ��Praise? My words are nothing but the truth,�� Jason continued, smiling cheerily.

    ��I��ve always admired your work in the fashion industry, you know, as a model and all. I��ve actually got a skincarepany myself,�� his smile stayed on his face as he slowly started diverting the conversation in the direction he wanted.

    ��Oh wow, what��s it called?�� Georgina asked, her curiosity piqued.

    ��You have apany?�� Ronaldo asked in surprise.

    ��It��s called Rosember and it��s an upstart�� well, not really an upstart as it was previously already on the market under a different name, but there were a few problems that came up and well I was able to swoop in and buy most of thepany��s shares,��

    ��We��ve done a lot of refurbishing and even have a few new products prepared and we��ve been working hard on oureback,�� Jason quickly exined hispany��s situation to Georgina.

    ��I wish you luck then and hope for great sess,�� Georgina replied with a smile.

    ��Oh, we��ll need a bit more than luck for that much,�� Jasonughed.

    ��Would you fancy adding another endorsement deal to the ones you already have though?�� he asked with a smile.

    ��I definitely wouldn��t dislike it,�� Georgina responded with a littleugh, her dainty hands covering her mouth a bit.

    ��Splendid, I��ll have someone contact you soon with an offer,�� Jasonughed, happy that he had quickly concluded a negotiation that could help hispany rake in funds in theing months.

    With that done, his attention turned to the children who were still looking at him for some reason.

    ��With the way you guys are looking at me, one might think I��m made of ice cream,�� heughed, spotting a trace of ice cream on na��s cheeks despite most of it having been wiped away by Georgina earlier.

    ��Your eyes are soo beauriful,�� na finally gained the confidence to talk to Jason after he had spoken to her and her first sentence instantly won him over.

    ��You look beauriful too,�� Jason responded, purposely making sure to say it like she said it.

    ��They��re soo bluee,�� she added,ing closer to the edge of the pool and putting her two hands on the side of his face.

    ��I know, I know, I have gems for eyes, and you have dumplings for cheeks,�� Jasonughed and put his hands on the side of her face as well.

 Chapter 439: Why Do You Train?

    Chapter 439: Why Do You Train?

    Chapter 439: Why Do You Train?

    ***16thJanuary 2021***

    **6:28 am**

    ��*Heut*�� Jason involuntarily let out a sound as he turned sharply towards the left after a sharp dash forward as he and Ronaldo trained on the field behind the mansion.

    Following behind him was Ronaldo who turned sharply to the right.

    On the left where Jason was, there was a ball and Jason kicked it to Ronaldo on the right before continuing his run forward.

    His attention stayed on Ronaldo as he expected the ball back, and before long, the ball came back flying towards him, evading the training constructs that mimicked yers.

    The ball reached Jason in front of a goal that was almost half as small as a normal post, and as if that was not enough, there was a person in goal.

    The person was one of Ronaldo��s personal trainers and though he wasn��t able topare to a professional goalkeeper, he was still a presence in goal. Jason��s job was to get the ball past the trainer goalkeeper and into the back of the before the time for the training session psed and that was less than three seconds away.

    This was only one of the kind of training sessions that Jason had been subjected to since they began training at 4 am.

    It was an attacking form of training that incorporated agility, passing, vision, spatial awareness, shooting, and finishing all in one and it was barely one of many.

    That was the first thing Jason had realized from merely training for just over two hours with Ronaldo.

    This guy didn��t do the normal types of training that focused on one attribute most of the time and usually made his training more tailored towards putting himself in the toughest situations on the pitch.

    That was probably why he was able to keep hisposure in very crazy situations and was able to deliver most of the time even in the toughest of situations while keeping hisposure and wits around him.

    Another thing about this type of entric training method was that due to it incorporating a lot more than one aspect of training, it was faster, more effective, and more draining.

    While other yers were focusing on agility, Ronaldo��s training methods would focus on agility and about three other aspects which always made it seem like Jason was doing 4x the training, but the truth remained that he was probably growing 4x faster because of it.

    The downside was that it was very draining and currently Jason who was about to receive the ball in front of goal was feeling like there was no more air in his lungs despite the day just beginning, but he pushed himself and caught the ball on the volley and sent it at the goal with a powerful drive.

    Maybe it was too powerful as the goalkeeper wasn��t able to react, but Jason missed the target and the ball flew just wide of the goal.

    ��Ah, fu*k!�� he muttered as he copsed to the floor, tired out of his mind.

    His whole body ached and this was merely from personal training.

    He would still be going to Continassa for team training and he was sure to be exhausted even further if he was to be training with this monster, but he didn��t exactly have much of a choice in this matter anymore.

    After all, he had wanted this.

    While Jason wasying on the ground internally monologuing, Ronaldo had collected two hand held massagers and walked over to him.

    ��Here,�� he said as he handed one of the massagers to Jason.

    ��Thanks,�� Jason muttered as he received the massager and turned it on, putting it on his thighs and running it slowly across the whole length.

    The silence between the two of them as the massaged their legs was broken by Jason who had a question he had on his mind.

    ��You know, I��ve always wondered�� just as we are training, some others are also training, granted they might not be training as hard as we are�� maybe,��

    ��But in an actual match, there are many times when even being the best in the world does not stop you from losing a game,��

    ��How do you deal with that?�� he asked.

    ��Like you know you train harder than your opponents ever could and sometimes, it feels like your hard work is invalidated by losing a game to luck, or sometimes a bad decision from the referee,�� he was going to continue, but Ronaldo interjected.

    ��I don��t train to win,�� he said calmly.

    ��Huh?�� Jason asked in confusion, his head tilted.

    ��I don��t train to win,�� Ronaldo repeated, slowly massaging his legs.

    ��You don��t train to win?�� Jason asked and involuntarily looked around at the whole field full of training equipment.

    ��All this training equipment, waking up at times when the whole world is still asleep and then working till you��re half dead, but you��re not training to win?�� Jason questioned internally.

    ��Then�� why do you train?�� he asked, feeling that he might be missing something.

    ��All over the world, there are yers that train to win. As a matter of fact, almost all football yers in the world train to win,�� Ronaldo began, his voice calm and clear.

    ��If I do the same thing, then how would I stand out?�� he asked, not looking up from the massager.

    ���� By training harder?�� Jason answered, but his answer was more of a question to himself.

    ��That would simply make me a more frequent winner than most yers. Training a bit harder would make you slightly better ced to use your talents, but if there is one thing I��ve learned over the years, it is that����

    ��Talent is not enough,��

    ��No matter how much talent a person has, if he doesn��t work hard, one day he would fall to one who has no talent but works hard enough for it to not matter,��

    ��And that is why, I say, I don��t train to win�� I train to dominate,��

    ��Talent, luck, form�� I train to dominate all that,��

    ��I train hard enough that I can change luck with my efforts alone�� sure I might still lose sometimes, but it��s a process,��

    ��There��s no such thing as perfection, but you don��t need perfection to be the best,��

    ��All you need to do is to keep stepping forward with a mindset to dominate,��

    ��If you didn��t dominate in a match, go back to the training ground, work yourself off ande back to dominate in the next match, that��s all there is to it,�� Ronaldo said and finally looked up, but he was looking at the sky instead of at Jason.

    ��Get up, we have more training to do,�� Ronaldo said and stood up.

 Chapter 440: Style of Play I

    Chapter 440: Style of y I

    Chapter 440: Style of y I

    **1:42 p.m**

    Jason and Ronaldo were on the field receiving a thigh massage during their rest period during team training.

    Since the team had an uing match the very next day, their training sessions had been reduced quite a bit to avoid exhausting the yers, though the yers were not forbidden from getting a little extra training if they wished, they weren��t allowed to do anything too strenuous.

    Of course, that instruction had flown into one ear of Ronaldo and out the other�� well, notpletely though.

    He still went hard at training, but he didn��t push himself too much as he also knew that muscle exhaustion before a match would not help anybody.

    However, Jason wasn��t as used to such crazy training as Ronaldo was.

    He had thought he was since he trained almost round the clock even back at Porto, but Ronaldo��s training methods had let him know that his former methods of training had hardly been demanding on his body at all and were but a mere routine.

    Ronaldo��s methods felt like he was personally breaking down his body and this let him know that there would definitely be improvements in his abilities in theing days, weeks, months, and years. For now though, he was worried about something else, something that threatened to rip apart his ying style.

    Ever since facing up a more physical side to football here at training, he had noticed that his ying style of breaking through by using tricks to get past the defenders had lost almost all its effectiveness because of how physical these people were.

    Funny enough, the problem wasn��t that they were too good, but rather that he wasn��t good enough to get past them without the threat of injury which was one thing Jason wanted to avoid if possible.

    It wasn��t like he had lost his dribbling skills overnight, but rather it was how the Serie A defenders marked him and responded to his attempts at dribbling past them with tricks.

    Anywhere he was constantly being followed by his marker and there were always enough yers in the surroundings to immediately surround him once he received the ball.

    Hence it was almost always him against two to three defenders whenever he received the ball, and unlike back at Porto where the standard of defenders was lower, the defenders were less physical, or they mostly employed zonal marking��

    Here, the defenders were a lot better than before, they were a lot more physical and would not hesitate to pull him down when they couldn��t reach the ball, not to mention that they were very direct about their defending, none of that zonal marking thing where he would have time to settle on the ball and think of a way out before moving.

    In this ce, once he received the ball, he almost always usually had less than two seconds to escape from three very physical defenders who were almost always aiming to break his legs rather than to take the ball from him�� only reason why they were holding back was that he was a member of the team and that this was a mere training session.

    The way he had been managing to stay afloat was either by quicklyying off the ball or drawing back enough so that he wouldn��t be surrounded immediately he received the ball and that was tremendously dulling his attack sharpness and he didn��t like this so he had started thinking of a way to solve this problem, but it wasn��t easy for him toe up with anything so far.

    If he couldn��t cause problems for the opposition defense, then there wouldn��t be much he was needed for on the pitch.

    Uventus wasn��t a team that was short of yers who could do regr things on the pitch so if he wanted to ensure that he had a ce on the team, then he had to do the extraordinary, but that was slipping away from him.

    In the end, he had asked Ronaldo for advice on how to go about dribbling in this league, but Ronaldo��s words for him weren��t an immediate solution to the problem.

    What Ronaldo had said was that every yer had their own signature ying style and the way to be the best version of oneself was to tap into that talent and develop it until it could safely take them to the top.

    Every yer��s shooting style, finishing style, dribbling style, and even running style was different. There could be simrities, but they were all inherently different and linked to who the yer was as a person.

    For example, Ronaldo��s style of dribbling used to be filled with tricks when he was much younger, but when he realized that he was better at scoring goals, he changed his dribbling to be the most effective way to get him into a shooting position turning him into someone who almost always let the ball fly whenever he dribbled past a yer.

    Messi was different in that aspect as he used the simplest of moves to get past his opponents and never resorted to mboyant tricks because he never needed to do more than a simple feint.

    Hazard was a feint-and-go type of dribbler, he would fake a move and confuse his opponents while he went the other way.

    Neymar was someone who almost didn��t care for scoring and just had fun with the ball, resorting to all sorts of trickery even if he was going to end up shooting the ball wide.

    After looking at all those yers, Jason looked at himself and began to count out his own talents.

    He used both shy moves and simple moves to get past his opponent depending on the situation.

    He had learned to use both legs at virtually the same rate and no longer felt any form of alienation whichever foot he used.

    He was quickest after he started moving�� that was to say, his initial burst of eleration was when he was at his fastest and he could maintain his high pace for a while�� literally, he was fast and had a high eleration.

    He had passable passing skills and could shoot well from any angle thanks to being able to use both his legs.

    Just like that, he kept checking himself for what he could do and not do and it was only during this did he realize how far he had gone.

    In his previous life, he hardly had any of these attributes.

    His attributes weren��t talents, rather they were attributes he had drilled into himself year after year until he became who he currently was.

    Improvement was impossible as he was already a fair distance away from his starting line. If he looked back, he could no longer see the shadow of who he was.

    That was how far he hade.

    The thought emboldened him and gave him confidence to take the next step forward which was creating a signature dribbling style.

    Since he had internally noted all his attributes, he tried to summarize it and simplify everything and in the end two words stood out.

 Chapter 441: Style of Play II

    Chapter 441: Style of y II

    Chapter 441: Style of y II

    Versatility and Experience.

    Versatility was because of well�� versatility.

    He could shoot with both legs, could dribble with both legs, could dribble speedily or technically, and could dribble simply or mboyantly.

    It meant he was never out of his element anywhere in the final third and that was a good starting point.

    The second word was ��Experience��.

    It meant a culmination of everything he had ever done and gone through and it was probably what had helped him so far.

    They say you can��t teach an old dog new tricks, but he was an old dog who had seen all the tricks before and had experienced an age rejuvenation.

    Thanks to his experience, he could easily read people��s movement, motion, and their intentions and that had always helped him to be at the right ce most of the time, but what if he stopped using that attribute passively and began to use it actively both when he was on the ball and off the ball. If before the ball reached him, he moved himself into the best position to easily evade his marker right from his touch on the ball, then things would be a lot easier.

    It would be a lot harder for him to be surrounded by opposition yers.

    The key was his initial positioning and an already prepared escape n.

    The good thing was that since he was almost never out of his element, he could constantly think of a lot of ways to escape defenders.

    With a framework of an idea popping in his head, he started thinking more about how to best employ this new ying style, but unfortunately there wasn��t a chance for him to do that right now, however, Jason contented himself with image training.

    He had read somewhere that mental image training was just as effective as actual training�� though that was only in regards to technical training.

    Image training had no effect on the physique as any sane person would know.

    The rest of Jason��s day consisted of doing ��light�� physical training and doing image training during the rest periods in-between the training sessions.

    As the training for the day neared it��s end, the yers were called for a meeting concerning the uing match.

    On receiving the summons from the manager, the yers who were training immediately went to freshen up before heading to the meeting room where the match focus meeting would take ce.

    Jason, Cuadrado, Mckennie, Ronaldo, and Dyb arrived at the meeting room together for the meeting as they had been together when they were called.

    On a noticeboard near the entrance of the room, a list of the yers in the provisional squad that would be going to Mn for the match the following day was pasted for the yers to see.

    The yers went to check the list before going to their seats and as expected, everyone but Dyb was on the list as he was still not cleared to get back on the field.

    Jason was happy to see his name on the list as that was a good start, but he didn��t get ahead of himself as he knew that it was almost impossible for him to be in the starting line-up for that match for so many reasons.

    However, he did have some hope to get some time on the field in the match, but there was a high chance that might not happen.

    ��No matter,�� he thought to himself, willing to wait even though he did want to try out the new style he was developing.

    The guys around him didn��t talk much about it and he didn��t either and just sat to await the manager who soon arrived and after a few pleasantries quickly got into their game n for theing game.

    Jason watched and listened intently during the meeting, soaking in the tactical instructions given to each yer as it allowed him to have an idea of what was supposed to be happening on the pitch at any given moment.

    Listening to the tactical instructions would help him understand not only the game n, but also to understand his teammates and what each one of them were likely to do when they were with the ball.

    While he listened, Jason could not help but note the disparity in how things were done here in Uventus as to how they were done at Oporto.

    There was a lot more attention to details here at Uventus and what the manager expected a lot from his yers, but at the same time, he allowed them to pitch in on ideas as the yes at Uventus were yers who were all individual talents in their own rights.

    Any one of them could easily turn the game around when they were in a hot run of form and each had their distinct ying styles.

    To bring out the best from them, then the manager had to listen to their opinions and consider them when making his game ns if he wanted a team that was free to disy their best talents and bring about collective victory.

    Pirlo wasn��t someone so rigid as to force instructions that would be difficult to follow through on a yer.

    Freedom to a certain level was best in a team like this because all the yers had their own egos and if the tactics he chose to use didn��t match their style of y, they might just go ahead and do whatever they wanted on the field.

    That wouldn��t do anyone any good and could cause problems in team chemistry in the long run.

    With all this in mind, Pirlo exined the tactical instructions he had for the yers in theing match.

    ��Now that we all know our roles for theing match, here is the starting line-up,��

    ��Sczesny will be the goalkeeper, Chiellini and De Ligt will be the central defenders,��

    ��Cuadrado will be on the right side of the defense line while Aleix Sandro will be on the left,��

    ��In center midfield will be Ramsey and Arthur, with Mckennie on the left and Kulusevski will be on the right,��

    ��Upfront are Ronaldo and Morata as usual,�� Pirlo said and began to reiterate what he had said earlier but this time, he directed his words to the yers who had been chosen to be in the starting line-up.

 Chapter 442: Grudge

    Chapter 442: Grudge

    Chapter 442: Grudge

    The Uventus bus stopped outside the San Siro stadium in Mn and the bus waited for the gates to be opened.

    The presence of the bus signified the arrival of the Uventus yers for the match against the San Siro hosts and the fans who were around turned to look at the bus while a lot of them pulled out their phones to take pictures, but they were soon guided aside so that the bus could drive into the stadium grounds.

    Once the road was cleared, the bus drove into the stadium and drove to the reserved area for the yers�� arrival.

    Less than a minute after the bus came to a stop, the Uventus yers starteding down from the bus and their deboarding was weed with countless shes of cameras.

    Jason didn��t know what was going on outside the bus though he could probably imagine it, but that wasn��t what was on his mind as he slowly walked behind Ronaldo as they walked through the middle of the bus and finally reached the entrance in front.

    He hadn��t evene down the bus when the shes of the cameras brought him out of his thoughts and he remembered where he was.

    As Jason got down from the bus holding his sports bag, he began walking into the stadium just like the rest of his teammates, but before long he noticed that a lot of the cameras seemingly followed him as he walked into the stadium.

    It wasn��t weird as it had often happened to him at Oporto and he first thought that maybe it was because he was a new addition to the team, but as his eyes fell on Ronaldo who was walking just infront of him, his face a picture of focus and determination, Jason began doubting whether the cameras were on him or on the actual star of the team. ��Not that it really matters anyway,�� Jason thought to himself not feeling much pressure on himself as it didn��t really matter whether he was the one being captured by the cameras or not.

    There was already a low chance that he would even be featuring in this match and the manager had probably just brought him along so that he could watch his teammates y and understand a bit more of how the Serie A worked.

    A live lesson, he could call it, but it didn��t matter too much as Jason was already happy enough that he wasn��t relegated to watching the match from his couch.

    ��How many goals do you think you can score?�� Jason decided to converse with Agent 007 who looked like he was on a mission to obliterate his opponents.

    ���� I don��t know. I always want to score so let��s say, uhm, 3 goals,�� Ronaldo replied confidently without much thought, his face not showing anything but confidence in his words and his abilities.

    ��Don��t you think their defenders will have anything to say about that?�� Jason asked with augh as he remembered some of the Inter Mn yers he had faced off against months ago, especially that Skriniar guy who had injured him.

    Remembering that event made him shiver a bit and he involuntarily grasped at his left shoulder.

    It wasn��t aching at all, but Jason could feel a bit of phantom pain and suddenly began wishing he had been named in the starting line-up.

    He owed Skriniar some first-hand, ankle-dislocating, embarrassment, but it wasn��t likely that he would be able to do that with how things were.

    Jason who had given up any hope of ying in this match suddenly had his hope reignited and his eyes darted around looking for any Inter Mn yers.

    Ronaldo noticed the change in Jason��s eyes and became curious.

    While they began talking about Jason��s history with the Inter Mn team, they didn��t know that countless cameras were taking pictures of them together�� or rather, it wasn��t that they didn��t know but rather that they weren��t paying any attention to the cameras.

    However, the people behind the cameras didn��t stop shing away as the pictures they were taking were gold.

    Apart from the fact that the two of them were top specimens of the male gender, the fact that one of the top yers in the world was currently very close to one of the top talents in the football world was enough to shake up the football world a bit.

    It could be a case of a mentor and his protege�� a Batman and Robin story in the football world.

    This was already something that was rare and would no doubt attract attention, but if they yed even better when they were together on the pitch, then there would be a lot more to report, however, that remained to be seen so the cameramen contented themselves with just taking pictures for now.

    The reports they would write after the match would have to wait.

    **

    The Uventus yers had quickly settled into their locker room and did not waste any time changing into their training gear and quickly stepping out to the pitch for a little pre-match training to warm up their bodies.

    Walking out of the tunnel, they could see the slowly filling stadium and the Inter Mn yers who were already on one side of the pitch, but they paid them no attention and began their own training on the other side of the pitch.

    Jason nced over at the Inter Mn team and watched their yers doing their own training.

    It did not take him long to spot the one he was looking for.

    Skriniar was doing his training with his teammates when someone called to him.

    ��Do you know that guy?�� Hakimi asked him, gesturing in a direction with his left thumb.

    ��Who?�� Skriniar asked before turning in the direction Hakimi had pointed to and he locked eyes with Jason.

    On locking eyes, Jason smiled at Skriniar and did a little wave, the look in his eyes could hardly be called a warm or harmless look.

    ��Yeah, we yed against him in Germanyst year,��

    ��He was ying for Oporto then,�� Skriniar exined as Jason turned away jogged over to the remaining Uventus yers.

    ��Why is he looking at you like that then?�� Hakimi asked, a bit confused.

    He was also a loan yer like Jason and hadn��t been in the Inter Mn team at that time.

    ��I kinda injured him in that match and his team lost,�� Skrinar exined, smiling wryly.

    ��Did you at least apologize or something, cuz it looks like he��s holding a grudge,�� Hakimi asked, thinking of how Jason was looking at Skriniar earlier.

    ���� I forgot actually, but it doesn��t matter. Maybe I��ll talk to him after the match or something,�� Skriniar waved it off thinking it didn��t matter.

 Chapter 443: Live at the San Siro I

    Chapter 443: Live at the San Siro I

    Chapter 443: Live at the San Siro I

    *Fweeeeeeeeee*

    The whistle to kick off the game sounded loudly and it was followed by the cheers of a happy crowd.

    It had been months since the San Siro stadium had anyone in its stands cheering a football game and the fans who had arrived for the first live game since the lockdown due to the outbreak of COVID 19 were letting out all their emotions as the game finally kicked off.

    The yers on the pitch felt the loud waves of cheers sweep across them, but they maintained theirposure and kicked off the game without showing any reactions to the crowd.

    Due to the San Siro being the Inter Mn team��s home ground, they had more fans present than the Uventus fans and the cheers for the home sound was a lot louder than the cheers for the Uventus side.

    Perhaps due to this, the Inter Mn team seemed to hit the ground running, passing the ball around cleverly and ying like they had been heated up right from the start, causing a lot of problems for the Uventus team right after the game kicked off.

    The Uventus team seemed to be struggling to keep up with the Inter Mn team��s tempo and more often than not, they werechasing after the ball and trying to steal it from their opponents, however, the Inter Mn team were on a roll and kept pushing hard at the gates of the Uventus goal.

    Shots were sent flying, and the Inter Mn team kept pushing, but slowly, the Uventus team began responding and pushing back just as hard. The time the ball spent with the Inter Mn team began to reduce and the Uventus began to prove that they were just as much ofthreat to the Inter Mn team as they were to them.

    However, the Inter Mn team was not willing to just let go of their attacking spell��

    #12thminute��

    The Inter Mn team was on the attack and were pushing hard at the Uventus��s team defense.

    Vidal sent the ball to Hakimi on the right nk and Hakimi received the ball while on a run, skipping past Aleix Sandro and running to the right side of the Uventus�� 18-yard box.

    Aleix Sandro immediately took off after Hakimi, jumping into his path to block any crosses into the box, but Hakimi had seemingly been expecting this and opted to send a pass back to Eriksen who had arrived just behind him.

    Before the pass reached him, Eriksen��s eyes had been scanning for who to send the ball to, but his team��s two strikers were being tightly marked by the Uventus��s center backs.

    Just as he was about to give up on making a cross into the box, he spotted Vidal snaking his way into the penalty box while pushing off his own marker.

    Seeing that scene, Eriksen��s next move was decided and with his first touch on the ball, he sent a curling cross into the penalty box.

    The ball flew into Vidal��s path and he pushed harder at his marker as he made his way towards the ball before pushing off the ground with his head in the lead, aiming for the ball.

    De Ligt who had previously been marking Martinez, one of Inter Mn��s strikers saw the ball flying into the box and quickly disengaged fromMartinez once he saw that Vidal was flying at the ball uninterrupted.

    He wouldn��t be able to reach the ball in time, but he would be able to block it, he figured.

    As he jumped into Vidal��s path, the ball finally contacted Vidal��s head and bounced off it, flying towards goal but at a slightly different angle than De Ligt expected.

    The ball missed De Ligt��s torso and was flying past him when it met his outstretched hand, deflected off it��s path and bounced out of y.

    The Inter Mn yers around immediately raised their hands and turned to the referee, ready to voice out theirint but the referee was one step ahead and had already had his whistle in his mouth.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The referee blew loudly and pointed at the penalty spot.

    The Inter Mn fans at the stadium immediately cheered in response to the referee��s actions, cheering like the ball had already gone in.

    The Uventus yers and fans did not share such a cheerful disposition and immediately tried to argue to the referee, but the referee wasn��t going to be listening to anyints from the Uventus team.

    De Ligt��s hand was not hidden behind his body, but rather outstretched and the ball had bounced off it.

    It wasn��t a deliberate handball and for that he wasn��t giving De Ligt a yellow card, but it was definitely a handball inside the 18-yard box and that tranted to a penalty for the Inter Mn team.

    Nothing was going to change that.

    The referee quickly began sending yers out of the penalty box while Sczesny didn��t have a choice but to prepare to guard against a penalty kick.

    Vidal took up the ball and ced it on the penalty spot, stepping back while waiting for the referee to blow his whistle.

    *Fweeeeeee*

    The signal Vidal awaited soon came and he ran at the ball, hitting it deftly and sending it right to the center while Sczesny dived down to the left.

    The ball safely nestled itself in the back of the and Vidal took off down the sidelines in celebration.

    {Well taken penalty!}

    {They take the lead, punishing the Uventus yers for theirck of focus earlier!}

    {It��s not even a quarter of an hour since the match began and they are now in the lead}

    {Can they build off this advantage and elongate their lead in the minutes toe!?} thementator went crazy with hismentary, the excited frenzy of the Inter Mn fans as they celebrated infecting him.

    The Uventus yers watched the Inter Mn team celebrate their goal for a few seconds before they turned away and began taking their positions in their half again, not letting their moods be dampened in the slightest.

    The match had barely begun and they still had a lot in the tank to show against their opponents.

 Chapter 444: Live at the San Siro II

    Chapter 444: Live at the San Siro II

    Chapter 444: Live at the San Siro II

    The match resumed after the Inter Mn team was done celebrating their goal and the ball was soon rolling around the field again, being exchanged from yer to yer.

    Despite going behind, the Uventus team didn��t show any hints of desperation and kept ying as patiently as before, but before long, one could see that they had be sharper in both their attacking and defensive ys.

    It was their turn to dominate the match proceedings and they soon pushed the Inter Mn defenders back into their 18-yard box while they exchanged the ball aroundfortably.

    Crosses and passes were sent flying into the Inter Mn penalty box, searching out the Uventus forwards, but most of the time the ball was sent back fiercely by the Inter Mn defenders who were stayingmitted to the ��No-Nonsense�� rule they had been given by their manager.

    They couldn��t stop all the balls that came in though and quite a few times the ball found their mark in the penalty box, but they would quickly hassle the yer off the ball, or push him into a weird angle where he would not be able to easily threaten the goalkeeper.

    This did not always work though and the Uventus team had still managed to get a shot away, but Handanovic was showing why he was able to take home the golden gloves the previous season.

    Save after save came from the Inter Mn goalkeeper and when it still remained four minutes for the first half to end, the man had already amassed four crucial saves.

    #44thminute�� Mckennie released a through pass forward on the left side and Ronaldo chased after it.

    Ronaldo was not the only one after the ball as Skriniar was also chasing after the ball, but Ronaldo reached the ball first while Skriniar was barely a meter away.

    With his signature back-chop to the left, Ronaldo sent Skriniar away from the view of the camera following after them and got himself clear on goal.

    Without hesitation, he pushed the ball into a good position and let it fly.

    {Ronaldooooo!!!} thementator shouted as the ball took off and rocketed towards the top right corner of the goal.

    Handanovic leaped powerfully, not wanting to give up his team��s advantage but he couldn��t reach the ball in time and the ball smashed onto the crossbar, the inside of the right post before smashing into the back of the.

    {GOAL!!!} thementator shouted as loudly as he could.

    On seeing the ball in the back of the, Ronaldo already took off towards the sidelines in the direction of the Uventus fans at the stadium swinging his two arms like he was trying to pull off cobwebs before jumping and turning around mid-air.

    He didn��t even need to say a word and the fans shouted in the background.

    ��SIUUUUUUU!!!��

    {There��s your superstar!} thementator continued hismentary.

    {A saviour when you need him and a source of nightmares to his opponents!}

    {He��se through once again and has equalized for Uvent-��}

    {Oh what��s this here!?The assistant referee has his g raised for offside!} thementator��s words were like a dampener to all the Uventus yers and their fans.

    The fans immediately cried out in outrage while the Uventus yers went to meet the referee toin about the call of the assistant referee.

    Even Ronaldo left his goal celebration to go meet the referee as he did not believe he was offside.

    The referee did not have a choice but to consult theVideo Assistant Referee and soon stepped off the field to analyze the rey with the assistance of the VAR.

    After almost a full minute of agonizing tension, the referee finally left the screen and headed back to the screen and his final decision was to allow the goal.

    The Uventus fans erupted in cheers once again as if the ball had just rolled into the back of the.

    The Uventus yers heaved a sigh of relief and smiles appeared on their faces in the next second.

    On the sidelines, Pirlo pumped his fist after seeing that the goal was allowed, a hint of a smile showing on his face.

    It was better for the two teams to be on equal scores when the first half ended as it would be better for morale than if they were behind and everyone in the Uventus camp thought the same.

    The match soon continued and the two teams soon got back on the ball, each one of them trying to squeeze the ball past the other within the remaining time left in the first half, but it was not to be as the referee��s whistle soon blew loudly, indicating that they were out of time.

    {There��s the whistle}

    {The first half is over and what a first half it was}

    {Two goals, and oneing from both ends of the pitch as well as a lot of attacking football from both sides}

    {If I have any issues with that first half, it��s that there should have been a lot more goals, but maybe they have been saved for the second half} thementator did his job while the yers walked off the field, heading down the tunnels for some R & R�� Rest and Reflection.

    While the yers in the starting line-up went into the tunnels, the yers on the bench began moving onto the pitch to continue their warm-ups.

    Jason joined them, not asking why they weren��t to joining the other yers in the locker room as he had heard about this earlier.

    Unless the manager needed to make a huge change to the tactics or wanted to bring on one of the yers on the bench as a substitute in the second half, then there was no need for them to go to the locker room during half time.

    Everything they needed was outside anyway and it was better for them to warm up for the second half where some of them would inevitably be brought on.

    Jason joined his teammates in doing some warm ups with the ball while watching the fans.

 Chapter 445: Live at the San Siro III

    Chapter 445: Live at the San Siro III

    Chapter 445: Live at the San Siro III

    *Fweeeeeeeeeee*

    The whistle to kick off the second half echoed loudly around the stadium and the ball immediately began moving.

    The Uventus team was the one kicking off the second half of the game and the ball soon began moving quickly as they charged into the Inter Mn team��s half of the field, not bothering to y defensive, but the Inter Mn team held strong and repelled them, causing them to be unable to move any further and soon they lost the ball.

    When the ball was taken, the Inter Mn team also tried to start an attack, but the Uventus yers were not going to let themselves go behind once again and quickly got on defense.

    With how the yers of the two teams were running at each other, it was like they never stopped for half-time.

    ying with the same ferocity that was reminiscent of where they had stopped for the first half break earlier excited the fans to no end and they responded with cheers, chants, and songs.

    #52ndminute��

    The Inter Mn team had just gotten a corner after an attempt at goal was blocked by De Ligt before it even made it to the goalkeeper. Ever since giving away the penalty, he seemed to be trying to redeem himself and so far he had been doing so splendidly, killing off attacks before they became a threat and making sure that the yer he was marking had been unable to do much throughout the game.

    Normally Martinez was a very good striker, but De Ligt had made sure he was isted and no dangerous passes reached him.

    Even if they did, De Ligt swept them away from his legs before he could even get the ball to bnce properly on the ground.

    Eriksen was the one taking the corner for the Inter Mn team and at the referee��s whistle, he swept the ball into the air space about two meters above the Uventus�� 18-yard box.

    The yers of the two teams pushed against each other as they tried to reach the ball, but De Ligt reached the ball first and tried to head it out of the penalty box.

    The ball flew out of the penalty box but was caught by Ashley Young before the ball moved too far away.

    No one knew what Ashley Young was thinking, but he didn��t bother trying to look for a pass and decided to just wipe the ball straight at goal with as much power as he could muster.

    The ball flew powerfully at the Uventus goal but Sczesny was up to the task and jumped at the ball, managing to get a hand to the ball, but that was all he could do as the shot was too powerful.

    Before any Uventus yer could react to the ball that bounced back off Szcesny��s gloved hands, Nicolo Bare jumped at the ball and poked it with the tip of his boot, pushing it past the goalline.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {Once again, they take the lead!}

    {Uventus cannot catch a break here!}

    {Early in the first half, they conceded first, and now they��ve done so again!}

    {I��m sure Sczesny must have been wondering, ��Where are my defenders?!��}

    {We wonder the same!} thementator was having fun with the mic while the Inter Mn fans were having fun watching their yers celebrate after taking the lead once again.

    This time, the Uventus yers weren��t able to keep their displeasure off their faces.

    Ronaldo had an especially displeased look as he shook his head in aggravation as he watched the Inter Mn team celebrate their goal.

    Luckily, they didn��t have to watch for long and their annoyance soon disappeared from their faces as there was still more than enough time to get something from the game.

    It all depended on their efforts from that moment on.

    ***

    The match continued and the managers soon started making substitutions.

    For the Uventus side, Pirlo first started with substituting Morata and Bentacur off for Chiesa and Rabiot in the 60thminute.

    Seven minutester, Cuadrado and Chiellini came off for Danilo and Boni.

    However even with all this changes, the Uventus side weren��t able to still get that equalizer that they sorely needed.

    The defensive changes had made them a bit tighter at the back and they were able to ward off the Inter Mn attacks a bit easier, but their attacking attempts bore the same sharpness as before the substitution.

    The ball wasn��t getting forward fast enough for the forwards to be able to escape the Inter Mn defense.

    The Inter Mn team normally yed a 3-5-2 formation, but now they were ying defensively and had converted their formation to a 5-3-2 one, thus they had five defenders going up against Uventus��s two forwards.

    Even when Uventus��s two wide midfielders moved up to join the attack, they were still a few yers short and that would make their midfield weaker.

    Pirlo could see the game slowly slipping away from his team, but there was not much he could do

    The Inter Mn team was the one with the best defense stats in the league and from what he could see, it was clear that those stats weren��t for y.

    Even having a yer like Ronaldo wasn��t helping them as the ball was not getting into the right ces on time.

    ��Seems this game is out of our hands,�� he thought to himself with a frown, his arms folded across his chest as he watched intently.

    The only way out of this situation was if they were somehow able to score a lucky goal, or maybe from a set piece, but the Inter Mn yers also knew this and were doing their best to avoid giving the Uventus team��s any dangerous set-pieces.

    ��Or maybe���� Pirlo��s head was turning quickly as he looked for a way out and he looked over at the bench to see if any of the yers could give him an idea that could help out.

    His eyes swept across the yers as he tried toe up with a n that could use their specialties and soon his eyes fell on Jason and they lit up a bit.

    Originally, he only nned on ying Jason for a few minutes if their team was winning, but now, he couldn��t help but wonder if it was time to take a risk.

    ��Tell the new kid to kit up ande up here for instructions in a minute,�� Pirlo told one of his assistant coaches, checking the time on his watch.

 Chapter 446: Live at the San Siro IV

    Chapter 446: Live at the San Siro IV

    Chapter 446: Live at the San Siro IV

    After receiving the manager��s orders from the assistant manager, Jason did not waste any time, quickly took off his training vest, and put on his jersey.

    It was a short sleeve shirt, but underneath it was a white baseyer that would help him stave off the cold while also keeping his clothes from getting sticky from getting drenched by sweat.

    For Jason though, that was not enough and he pulled on a pair of ck gloves before going on to adjust his new ser boots.

    It was a newer Nike Mercurial unlike his older one, but they had a simr design, however, the color was different.

    It was colored white and minty blue with purple undertones.

    After checking his ankle tapes and shin guards finally, he got off the bench and jogged over to Pirlo.

    ��You��re going to being on for Mckennie so you��ll be ying on the left,�� Pirlo got right to giving him instructions without wasting any time.

    ��What I want from you is simple, annoy them,�� ��Once you get the ball, run down the nk, if there��s space for you to run in and take a shot or pass to the forwards, then do that, otherwise, I want you out there drawing fouls,��

    ��If there��s no space to get past the opposition, draw a foul somewhere around the final third,��

    ��If you can draw a foul inside the penalty box, than that would be for the best�� however, watch yourself,��

    ��If they start making dangerous tackles, avoid holding the ball. If we lose the game, then we can deal with it, but I would rather you did not get injured, especially on your first game,�� Pirlo instructed, but he still showed concern.

    It would be helpful for the team if Jason��s teasing actions could help the team to equalize the game, but he wasn��t going to allow to risk a serious injury just to win one game, especially as it was his first game.

    Jason listened intently to the manager��s words and his eyes glowed strangely, but there was a evil grin threatening to spout on his face.

    The manager��s words perfectly aligned with Jason��s intentions.

    He had thought he didn��t care about Skriniar, but since he had seen him before the match started Jason had been burning with the desire to return some ��tat�� for the ��tit�� he had received, however he had thought that he would not get the chance, especially with how the team was losing.

    Who knew the manager had received a mandate from heaven to help him seal Skriniar��s fate.

    Now Jason had been given full reigns to go on the field and show off without any risk of annoying his manager with his showboating.

    ��Go warm up for a bit till the ball rolls out of y,�� Pirlo instructed and Jason nodded affirmatively and started jogging on the sidelines.

    His actions were quickly noticed by the fans in the stands and thementator saw it as well.

    {Well, what do we have here?}

    {Uventus�� newest acqusition on the sidelines warming up and it seems like the manager ns to put him on}

    {Perhaps the manager is thinking that his presence on the field can shake things up a bit, but I think a lot of people will argue that it��s too early, however the manager doesn��t think so} thementator did not hesitate to put forth his own opinion on the matter.

    {Jason would be looking to make a good showing after his transfer over from Oporto but ot might be a little difficult for that, especially in a match like this, against opposition like this} he continued as the ball flew out of y and the assistant referee held up the board to announce the substitution.

    Mckennie saw his jersey number in red and came jogging over to the sidelines while Danilo who was going to make a thow-in waited for the substuitution to bepleted.

    Mckennie soon reached the sidelines and double-high-fived Jason, leaning in and whispering,

    ��Go kill em bro,��

    That was his way of encouraging a new teammate who was about to have his debut, but little did he know that Jason was nning to go ahead and do exactly that.

    Jason ran across the field towards the left side, dapping the teammates that he came across until he was in position, but he had barely taken his spot on the field when Hakimi saddled over, standing nearby.

    Jason didn��t need anyone to tell him what it meant.

    Hakimi was his primary marker, but that didn��t matter too much.

    He was fast, but Jason doubted that would be enough to keep himself in check, the guy was too attacking minded and was almost always upfront half the time.

    The real threat was the wide center back in charge of the left�� an old friend, Mn Skriniar.

    A smile threatened to appear on his face again, but Jason opted to run his hand through his hair to check if there were any errant hairs floating around, but none was.

    His new double tie-up style was doing it��s job of keeping his hair out of his face.

    The Uventus fans had apuded as Jason hade onto the pitch, but for now, they were watching and waiting for his performance before they did anything else.

    y soon resumed with a throw-in from Danilo and Bernadeshi received the ball well before trying to run down the right, but his path was soon blocked while he was hassled from behind so he quickly passed back to Danilo, not willing to lose the ball.

    For the next minute, the Uventus team kept passing the ball around on the right, trying to break through, but the Inter Mn team held strong.

    Since getting on the field, Jason hadn��t even touched the ball as he was on the left side of the pitch and though he had been moving around so that he would be open to receive a pass, the ball still hadn��te his way.

    Getting slightly impatient, he raised a hand to call for a pass and slowly started moving forward, ready to break into a run.

    Luckily it seemed like Danilo had seen his call and he quickly sent a long cross-field pass over towards the left.

 Chapter 447: Some Ankle Breaking Revenge I

    Chapter 447: Some Ankle Breaking Revenge I

    Chapter 447: Some Ankle Breaking Revenge I

    The pass was a bit farther than Jason expected, but luckily, he had been almost about to break into a run so he was moving along just in time, running at a quick pace towards the probablending spot of the ball.

    ncing over at the sidelines to see that the referee hadn��t raised his g, Jason increased his pace as he noticed that Skriniar was also running at the ball.

    Thanks to his pace, Jason who was farther away from the ball initially was now as near enough to the ball��snding spot as Skriniar was and just as the ball was about tond, Jason stretched out his leg to tap onto the ball first, flicking it in-between Skriniar��s legs as he ran at him.

    *EHHHHHH!!!*

    The crowd shouted as the ball rolled between Skriniar��s legs and Jason jumped Skriniar, but Skriniar wasn��t paying attention to the crowd and grabbed at Jason��s jersey as he ran past, slowing him down enough for him to recover.

    Jason smacked off Skriniar��s hand and chased after the ball, not stopping even though the referee had whistled for an advantage in the favour of his team.

    The manager had told him to draw fouls, but if there was a chance to actually score, Jason was going to take it and now that a chance had appeared, Jason was going to keep pushing till he was out of options.

    Skriniar grabbing hold of his shirt had slowed him down but he managed to reach the ball before it rolled out of y, but after getting the ball, he realized that Skriniar was right in front of him, blocking his path to goal. If Jason still had any ns to continue this attacking attempt, then he would have to get past Skriniar as there was no one nearby enough for him to pass to.

    Good enough, that was Jason��s n and he quickly rolled the ball further down left.

    Mn followed him, keeping his eyes on the ball, but Jason suddenly used the heel of his right foot to lift the ball off the floor.

    The ball rose up to Jason��s knee level and Jason kneed it outward causing Skriniar to try and react move back to the right, but the next second, Jason flicked the ball that was still mid-air over Skriniar.

    The swift, chained motions left Skriniar unable to react in time to the ball flying over him, and by the time he turned around to chase the ball his body already almost tilted off bnce, yet he was met with another surprise.

    Everyone had been expecting Jason to run off with the ball once itnded, but he instead flicked it back between Skriniar��s legs just as he turned around.

    Skriniar waspletely thrown off bnce and did not know when he tripped over himself from trying to change his direction more than three times in less than three seconds.

    {What fancy moves, he has his marker on the floor} thementator shouted over the crowd��s excited cheers at what Jason had just done to Skriniar, but Jason was no longer paying attention and was already running into the penalty box, feeling very contented with himself but just as he ran into the box, someone collided into him from behind, and this time Jason did not hesitate to drop to the ground, sliding forward a bit after hitting the ground.

    There were about four defenders inside the penalty box and Jason wasn��t confident in getting through the remaining people in his way so he could get a shot away and he was even less confident in holding the ball for long enough for his teammates to get into a dangerous position so he let himself be pushed to the ground.

    *Fweeeeeeeee*

    The referee blew his whistle loudly and ran over, pointing at the spot and calling for a penalty.

    Jason did not bother putting on a face of agony as hey on the ground.

    The tackle was rough enough for the referee to not let it go and it didn��t cause him enough pain to groan in agony over, so Jason did something even more daring and propped his face on his as hey on the ground, staring at the Inter Mn goalkeeper with a look that said, ��You��re finished bro��.

    He wasn��t wrong as the person who would be taking the penalty was guaranteed to punish this guy for giving them a hard time up till now.

    Jason finally turned over and adjusted his socks and shin guards before trying to get up but Chiesa was there to pull him up.

    ��You okay?�� he asked as Jason got up, his eyes not hiding his amazement at what he had seen Jason do to Skriniar earlier.

    ��I��m fine, thanks,��Jason muttered with a smile, dusting himself and ncing over at the Inter Mn yers arguing with the referee about the legality of the penalty.

    Jason didn��t even bother interfering and went to pick up the ball.

    Soon enough, the referee no longer listened to the Inter Mn yersint as he had consulted the VAR and the penalty had been awarded.

    Jason moved towards Ronaldo and tossed the ball to him,

    ��There��s my rent, Mr. LandLord,�� Jason said with a grin and Ronaldo grinned back and threw the ball back at him.

    ��What��s this for?�� Jason asked with a weird look.

    ��You should take it, you worked for it and it will be nice to start your first game with a goal,�� Ronaldo replied with a grin but Jason threw the ball right back.

    ��Didn��t you hear me, that��s rent,��

    ��Don��t make me a debtor�� also, there��s still time for me to score,�� Jason grinned and started walking backward, moving out of the penalty box.

    ��This kid,�� Ronaldoughed in a low voice before he refocused his attention and put the ball on the penalty spot.

    As he stepped back, there was no sign on his face that he was joking earlier with a teammate and he instead looked the very picture of concentration as he took deep breaths and waited behind the ball.

    *Fweeeeeeeeee*

    At the referee��s whistle, Ronaldo began to run at the ball and with a whack, sent it flying.

 Chapter 448: Some Ankle Breaking Revenge II

    Chapter 448: Some Ankle Breaking Revenge II

    Chapter 448: Some Ankle Breaking Revenge II

    Jason watched and waited for the referee to blow the whistle.

    ��Maybe I should have said I want to take the penalty,�� he could not help thinking to himself, but the next second that thought went up in smoke.

    He was a new member of a team that already had a system for how they worked and that involved the set piece takers.

    On the list of penalty takers for the team, he probably didn��t rank in the top five of the penalty takers so by right, he shouldn��t be taking the penalty, however, the real reason why he hadn��t jumped at the opportunity to take the penalty was different.

    It was his first match in a new environment and the team was losing in what was one of the most important matches of the season and the chance to equalize and score his first goal in the Serie A had been ced in his hands, but he couldn��t do it.

    The thought, ��What if I miss?�� appeared in his head and prevented him from stepping up.

    It wasn��t that he doubted his abilities, but, he more than anyone else knew that most of the time, his face was just covering up most of his actual feelings.

    He might look calm, collected, and non-responsive, but he was new to everything that was happening around him. In his previous life, he had failed again and again and again so he still had a psychological shadow from back then, which was why he usually avoided thinking about whether something was possible or not.

    Thus his actions were either involuntary or spontaneous, but whenever he stopped to think, he became too cautious because the fear of failure would oftentimes threaten to drown him and it had happened again.

    He should have grabbed the opportunity to get his first goal for the club, after all he was ying well and had almost single-handedly created that chance, however, the pressure of failing to score had appeared when he had the ball in his hands and he quickly gave it to Ronaldo like it was a hot cake.

    He did not need anyone to tell him that he needed to get over the trauma.

    He knew his own problems.

    One minute he had confidence in his abilities, the next moment he was doubting his abilities.

    Things couldn��t stay that way forever, but for now, he didn��t know what to do with that issue, after all, he couldn��t exactly go talk to a psychiatrist about his past life of constant failure as that was a surefire way to end up in a hospital where tranquilizers and restraints were the go-tos instead of bandages and aspirin.

    Jason was thrown out of his inner monologue by a small section of the crowd erupting in cheers and he realized that the ball had gone in.

    Just as he had expected and silently bragged to Handanovic, Ronaldo had delivered the ball into the back of the with pitch-perfect uracy, sending the goalkeeper the other way in the process.

    ��Hopefully, one day, I��ll have that kind of confidence,�� the thought shed in his head but he smiled wryly and jogged over to the sidelines to join in the team��s celebration.

    {Good penalty!}

    {They��ve gotten their equalizer!}

    {The star man has struck once again from the spot and has shown why he��s at the top of the goal ranking list this season}

    {Ten minutes left in this game and we are back where we started!}

    {Will we see aeback here!? There��s plenty of time left!} thementator shouted excitedly as the Uventus yers and the fans celebrated the equalizing goal.

    The Uventus yers that now had their morale boosted soon began heading back to their half of the field with all to y for in the few minutes that was left in the game.

    The Inter Mn yers had also been incensed that their 2-nil lead had been whittled down to nothing and they immediately charged at the Uventus�� half of the field as soon as they kicked, their intention none other than to take the lead once again.

    With both sides bing more attacking, defenses became a little lessx, but it was a bit more difficult for the Uventus team to attack and they chose to soak up pressurebefore striking quick and fast on the counter attack.

    Jason had a field time sending many passes forward to kick off many counterattack attempts as the defenders around him chose to press but didn��te too close so that he could burst past them in a showy move of conquest, leaving them sprawling.

    This gave him enough space and time to send the ball forward, but despite making quite a few attempts the end of the ny minutes edged closer and closer.

    Jason didn��t want his first game with Uventus to end in a draw so he began pushing forward a bit more and trying to get past the defenders himself instead of passing the ball forward himself.

    Doing that made him more likely to get tackled by the Inter Mn defenders who wanted no part in bing a youtube short, but somehow he managed to escape the tackles of his markers most times before sending the ball forward.

    Whoever said that humans functioned better under duress probably meant people like Jason as the fear of getting tackled put him on incredibly high alert and allowed him to be as slippery as an eel, however despite all his attempts, all they managed was a few more shots on target.

    Due to Ronaldo being tightly marked, the Uventus yers had tried to get the ball to Chiesa who was ying as the second striker, but Chiesa��s shots at goalcked the sting that Ronaldo��s shots had and his shots were easily dealt with by Handanovic.

    The Inter Mn team had also not been idle and had been peppering Sczesny with shots at any chance they got, but Sczesny didn��t betray his teammates trust this time and performed save after save to keep the ball from reaching the back of the one more time in the match.

    On the sidelines, the assistant referee held up the board signifying that there would be an additional 2 minutes.

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 449: Some Ankle Breaking Revenge III

    Chapter 449: Some Ankle Breaking Revenge III

    With the referee signaling that time was almost out, Jason��s moves became even sharper. He was desperately looking for a way to change the game, and luckily, the ball soon came his way.

    Receiving the ball near the halfway line, Jason turned around and took off down the left nk quickly facing off Hakimi who no longer stayed back.

    With time running out, Hakimi wasn��t going to take any chances and he immediately went in for the tackle, but before his leg could reach Jason, Jason flicked the ball sharply in-between the space in Hakimi��s legs and jumped over his tackle before chasing after the ball.

    As he ran after the ball, Jason could hear the crowd��s voice rising slowly, but he pushed that to the back of his mind and quickly reached the ball just before he reached the left side of the penalty box, but he slowed down with the ball as soon as he caught up with it, wanting to cut into the penalty box, however, Skriniar was once again in the way.

    This time he was proving to be more annoying than before as no matter what fancy flicks Jason made around the ball to try and read his likely movement only his eyes moved while his body remained poised and alert.

    Jason couldn��t afford to wait so long for the right opportunity to show up, after all, time was running out and they were already in thest minute of added time.

    With a mind to create a chance from nothing, Jason edged closer to Skriniar.

    Without waiting for a reaction from Skriniar, the moment he got close enough, he grabbed the ball with his two legs and sent the ball flying up and over Skriniar with a smoothly executed rainbow flick. Skriniar wasn��t expecting the ball to fly over his head again for the second time, but he was expecting Jason��s movement and as Jason tried to jump past him, he body mmed Jason, sending him to the floor.

    Skriniar��s face was filled with annoyance and red at Jason that he had pushed down, not believing that this guy was trying to humiliate him again but before he could inch any closer to Jason, Rabiot rushed up and stood in his way.

    yers of the two teams immediately rushed to defuse the situation before it became any worse.

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    {Tempers are rising here and the referee��s running over}

    The referee came running over with his whistle in his mouth and pulled out a yellow card that he held high up to Skriniar before pulling out a small note and pen.

    {The referee��s not letting it off this time. His name is going into that little ck book but it��s only a yellow}

    {Some would argue that it��s a fair trade to block a goal-scoring chance of your opponents and only receive a yellow card and I agree, Uventus were looking dangerous there}

    {Inter Mn aren��t out of danger yet. Uventus have a free-kick in a dangerous area}

    {With how many good headers of the ball they have on their team, Inter Mn will have their hands full defending against this free kick} Thementator did his job while the referee watched over the yers arranging themselves for the free kick.

    The free-kick was just a few meters away from the left side of the box so Jason, Danilo, and Ronaldo stood around, discussing who would take the free-kick.

    With all three of them being able to speak Portuguese, they whispered among themselves the best way to take the free-kick.

    NormallyJason would have just been there to run over the ball, but looking at the angle of the free kick, he suddenly got an idea.

    ��How about using triv to send the ball curling outward instead of inward,�� Jason muttered, doing a little curling gesture with his hand.

    ��Hmmm, it��s not a bad idea, but if I stand that way, it��ll be obvious, after all, I only use my right foot for these kinds of things,�� Danilo muttered after a bit of thought, simting the situation inside his head.

    ��You can take it instead while making it seem like you want to run over the ball,�� Ronaldo said to Jason,

    ��I��ll go to the box and stay on the edge. You can get the ball to reach me right?�� he asked Jason.

    ��Probably, but those guy�� �� Jason muttered, looking at the Inter Mn defenders who were all good defenders in their own right and would probably still be able to react despite their n.

    ��You should be able to out-jump them, right?�� Jason asked with a frown, looking at the burly and tall Inter Mn defenders.

    ���� Where exactly do you n on raising the ball to? The moon?�� Danilo could not help asking as he looked at the tall Inter Mn defenders.

    ���� I��ll reach it,�� Ronaldo said confidently and began heading to the penalty box, not saying another word.

    For him, there was nothing else to be said.

    ��I guess we do what the man wants,�� Jason shrugged to Danilo and stepped back from the ball, positioning himself directly behind the ball.

    ��Okay then,�� Danilo muttered and moved behind, angling himself to the left before raising his hand and signaling the peace sign.

    To the Uventus yers, it meant that the second kicker would be taking the free kick however before they could think and begin wrapping their heads around how Jason nned to kick the ball into the penalty box from the angle he was standing, the referee put his whistle to his mouth and blew hard on the whistle.

    *Fweeeeeeeeeee*

    Jason immediately began jogging towards the ball on hearing the whistle and swung his leg, whipping at the ball with the outside of his foot and sending the ball flying into the penalty box with amazing curl.

    The Inter Mn yers weren��t expecting Jason to be the one to hit the ball, but they immediately sprung into action despite their surprise, running into the path of the ball, but as the ball inched closer, everyone soon noticed that the ball was a bit higher than they expected and the ball was more likely to fly over everyone.

    {Ronaldo takes to the air!!!} Thementator��s shout informed the Inter Mn yers that someone was trying to reach the ball but it was too little toote for them to stop him now and they just barely turned around in time to see Ronaldo at an almost impossible height catching the ball with his head.

    {Ronaldooooo!!!} Thementator shouted again and his words were followed by an outburst of cheers from the Uventus fans as the ball bounced off Ronaldo��s head and flew uncontested into the top right corner of the goal, Handanovic too stunned to even move.

    {GOAL!!!!!}

    {He makes it three for himself and three for the team!}

    {In the dying embers of the game, he has once again made himself zing fire of rebellion and he��s won it for Uventus!}

    {With no time left, Uventus take the lead for the first time in the game and probably thest in the game!}

    While thementator was excitedly zing Ronaldo and the Uventus team, the man of the hour himself had taken off to the sidelines with his arm stretched wide.

    Without surprise, he ran down the sidelines and executed his signature jubtion and the crowd shouted along with him as hended after spinning mid-air.

    *SIUUUUUUU!!!*

    All the Uventus yers ran over to join in the celebrations and even the yers on the bench were celebrating on the sidelines

    The Inter Mn yers looked on, distraught at how they had just fumbled a two goal lead and were now about to lose the game.

    It was difficult to exin what had gone wrong and they didn��t know whether to call it bad luck or not.

    It was already hard enough dealing with the force of nature that was Ronaldo.

    He was like a zing fire that had threatened to consume them if he was given the chance and he already made them pay once, but then that Jason guy came on and began to fan the mes, leaving them no choice but to be swallowed in mes.

    ��Fu*k!�� Skriniar cursed angrily, mming his fist against the post in annoyance as he watched the Uventus yers celebrate their goal.

    However, despite his annoyance, he could do nothing but watch as the Uventus yers finished celebrating and headed over to their half of the field.

    As soon as the Inter Mn team kicked off, the whistle went off again, sting sharply three times to end the game and the Uventus yers began celebrating again, much to the dismay of the Inter Mn yers and their fans.

    While the Uventus yers began celebrating, Jason lowered himself to the pitch and sat down, a smile on his face as the joy from winning the game rushed through his body, however he couldn��t stay seated for long as some of his teammates came to pull him over to join in the celebrations, but even then they kept the celebrations to a minimum.

    After all, this wasn��t their home ground and everyone knew never to anger Italian football fans.

 Chapter 450: Live Interview I

    Chapter 450: Live Interview I

    **18thJanuary 2021**

    *9:48 a.m*

    ��Move the light over there,�� a man holding a notepad said to someone holding up a standing light.

    ��Yes, sir,�� the guy holding the light responded, going to put the light down in the direction that his boss had pointed out.

    It was an early morning at the Continassa after the Uventus team��s win against Inter Mn at Mn and the yers were not even back yet at Turin after the match, but at the media building, preparations for a shoot was taking ce.

    It was meant to be an interview for Jason who was a new member of the club and should have been done earlier, but due to the match, it had been postponed till now and after Jason��s performance in the previous match which had won over most of the Uventus fans, the club had decided to invest more into the interview.

    That was the reason for the slightly morevish than normal set-up for the interview, but Jason who was to be in the interview didn��t know of the changes.

    He was still on the bus heading back to Turin and already feeling mentally tired that he would have to face off against an interview instead of getting some rest after the previous day��s match. It wasn��t that he was too tired which wasn��t possible as he hadn��t even been on the field for a third of an hour, but he wanted to quickly get to recovering from the match��s fatigue so he could delve back into training.

    His new ying style had shown it��s effectiveness and he wanted to get to work perfecting it, but instead had to do an interview instead.

    ��They should have just let me talk to the reporters yesterday,�� Jason murmured inwardly, remembering that the club staff had prevented him from talking to any reporters despite his performance in the match the previous day.

    While it was a bit far off from a man-of-the-match performance whenpared against the others on the pitch, for a new yer, it was a very good performance and the reporters had been itching to interview him, but he had been shielded from all interviews because the club wanted his first interview in Italy to be self-hosted for some reason.

    Not that it mattered much to Jason for the time being.

    About an hourter, the bus was already cruising the streets of Turin and making its way to the Continassa.

    It didn��t take long for the yers to arrive at the Continassa and the yers quickly deboarded with the aid of club staff.

    The club��s next match was in two days and the yers needed to focus on recovery so that they could be ready for the uing match which was the Italy Super Cup finals against Napoli.

    The yers had already begun their recovery process back at Mn the night before by using ice baths to reduce muscle soreness and inmmation and doing some gentle exercises and stretching to reduce heart rate and body temperature, but for yers of their level, that was the barest minumum and as soon as they arrived at the continassa, they were almost dragged away to continue their recovery.

    Nutritional foods and massages were the next in line on the recovery process, as well as a few light exercises like cycling and swimming under the watchful eyes of the trainers to ensure that the yers didn��t stress themselves any further.

    Despite having a scheduled interview, Jason wasn��t subtracted from the recovery session.

    After his showing in the previous match, it was clear that he would probably be a big part of the team��s ns in theing weeks so they could not afford any injuries due to negligence of a recovery period.

    When the recovery session was over, some of the yers began leaving while Jason was whisked away to the media building where he was first subjected to the care of the the cosmetics and dressing staff, but before long, it became apparent that they didn��t need to bother too much on Jason��s appearance which was the least worrisome thing about him in the interview.

    It was only after Jason was seated in the stool-like chair with lights on him that he heard that the interview would be live.

    ��Fu*k, I should have known when they were doing too much,�� Jason wanted to cry inwardly as he knew what a live interview meant.

    Any blunders he made couldn��t be erased and would be broadcasted to whoever was watching.

    The problem was that after the Covid-19 lockdown period, the club had be more media conscious and would be broadcasting the interview live on not just TV, but also on the club��s apps as well as on some of their social media ounts.

    One blunder and Jason would turn from the embarrasser to the embarrassee.

    And they were just telling him that a few minutes to the time for the interview going live.

    At this point, Jason was wondering why they were doing this much for a yer who had merely joined the club on loan.

    ��Is this normal?�� Jason could not help asking himself, but there was no one to answer his thoughts other than him and he didn��t know the answer.

    In the end, he didn��t have much of a choice but to watch the arrangements for the interview continue and listen to the things he should take note of for the interview.

    The person who would be hosting the interview was someone Jason had never seen nor heard of before, but apparently that didn��t matter as the focus of the interview was supposed to be on Jason and was directed towards making him closer to the fans.

    Something about making him an open book so that the fans could be further endeared to him and at some point, Jason started wondering the kinds of question they would be asking, but after a while he stopped paying attention to that part as well.

    In the end, he listened half-heartedly until everywhere suddenly became quiet and he heard,

    ��And we are live in 3, 2, 1����

 Chapter 451: Live Interview II

    Chapter 451: Live Interview II

    On countless digital screens all over Turin and even quite a few worldwide, a dark image of Jason walking into a club locker and walking up to a jersey with his name and jersey number on it.

    *��Not bad,��* he muttered and the scenes began to fly by quickly as he donned his jersey and his other kit.

    *��Let��s see what I can do,��* he muttered as he stepped up and walked out of the locker room and then the screen went dark.

    When it lit back up, a picture of the scoreboard in the Inter Mn vs Uventus match was shown and then the scene perfectly transitioned to a scene of Jason jerking his legs and then running up to the field and dapping the other Inter Mn yers on the way to his position on the field.

    Once again the scene transitioned into Jason breathing hard as he started running.

    *Huff* *Huff*

    Jason breathed hard as he chased after the ball that was flying over to the left side of the field.

    It was a highlight reel from the match that was showing, more specifically the scene where Jason dribbled past Skriniar three times in a row. The people watching couldn��t take their eyes away from the screens as they watched Jason first flick the ball past Skriniar, then flick it over him maliciously after the defender caught up, and then the final cutback that sent Skriniar stumbling over himself.

    The people who were watching fromputers and phones immediately began sending inments that expressed their feelings.

    {Absolute savage, this guy! As if once wasn��t enough, he did it three times! If I wasn��t well-learned, I��d think this was a face-pping novel by those Chinese guys} one user typed out with an extra fiveughing emojis.

    {Isn��t hetoo much of a showboat?} another guymented as Jason ran into the box, only to be fouled by Hakimi who was chasing from behind.

    {Show boat or not, he��s definitely putting on a show and helped the team get a penalty} a third guymented, running to Jason��s defense.

    In the studio, Jason was also watching the movie he was starring in not knowing how or when these Uventus guys put this thing together because he didn��t remember being videoed for any of those things apart from the first two scenes which he thought they had added to the first intro video when he joined the club.

    ��The power of the media is crazyyyyy�� he thought as he watched the scenes and even thementary that he was sure was never in the actual match.

    The video continued and Jason watched a few highlight reels of himself on the ball moving across the field.

    Just when he began thinking it was a bit too much, the screen changed again and showed another cut scene of himself panting a bit with his hands on his knees and then his voice came again.

    *��It��s not enough��* he said and this time, Jason��s eyes went open wide as he knew that he definitely hadn��t said that in any of the previous shoots, yet the person talking sounded exactly like him.

    ��What the fu*k did these guys do?�� he thought amusedly, ncing at the camera guys around him.

    For once he was thankful that the interview was live, otherwise, who knew if he��d find himself in a documentary movie at some cinema next.

    Turning his eyes back to the screen, a scene was showing where he was talking to Ronaldo and Danilo and then the next thing he knew, he was watching himself send a curling cross into Inter Mn��s penalty box that Ronaldo connected with and put into the back of the, far away from the reach of Handanovic.

    {Ohhhhhhhhh!}

    {Impact! Instant Impact!}

    {It��s only been a few days in Turin for the new man and he��s already ying like he��s the biggest dog in town!} Thementary did not resemble what Jason had actually heard at the stadium when the ball went in, but at this point, he couldn��t be bothered to care and was just impressed at their editing skills, but before he could get a hold of himself, the person who would be hosting the show held up three fingers and the fingers began to reduce by the second.

    By the time, Jason had caught a hold of himself, the countdown a light switch indicator signifying that they were live came to life.

    Jason who hadpletely forgot what he was supposed to say when the camera began rolling opened his mouth and said the first thing that came to his mind.

    ��If you guy��s aren��t on the production for the next Batman movie, then I probably wouldn��t watching it,�� Jason said with augh, stunning the reporter who was his partner for the interview, but the guy was a professional and justughed with giving a response and began with an introduction for Jason.

    ��Good Evening people from around the world, and wee to Uventus TV��s first interview with the newest face on the team, Jason Rose,�� the reporter gave a quick opening speech and the interview began with Jason smiling and waving at the camera.

    ��On behalf of all the fans, I wee you to Turin once again,�� the reporter said and Jason smiled and responded,

    ��It��s good to be here,�� he said with augh.

    ��That��s good, that��s good,�� the reporter nodded, keeping the conversation flowing.

    ��How are you finding it here in Turin?�� the reporter asked Jason.

    ��Cold. Being thrown from the warm atmosphere at Porto to the chilly temperature here has been a bit of a surprise, but I��m getting used to it quickly,�� Jason replied honestly, after all, he had experienced winter in the USA quite a few times so this much cold could only make him ufortable for a bit.

    ��That��s good, that��s good, the fans would like to hear that,�� the reporter responded quickly and quickly thought of the next question he would ask.

    ��So, how are you settling in?��

    ��How different are things herepared to back at Porto?�� the reporter asked Jason.

    ��Uh, well, it��s been fun meeting the new guys. Everyone��s so nice and that helped me settle in quickly,��

    ��Thankfully, our chemistry together is also showing on the pitch, you know, it always helps to know your teammates,�� Jason replied after a little thought.

    ��But it��s a little crazy you know, being in the same locker room with yers like Chiellini, Boni, Rabiot, even the manager is awe-inspiring, and then there��s Ronaldo�� I mean, I can��t even say I wasn��t starstruck when I saw them,��

    ��You can literally feel the confident aura that we can defeat anybody with this team�� It��s simr to how it felt back at Porto for the most part, but it��s a little different you know,�� Jason continued.

    ��Well, it��s true that they do have the capacity to have that kind of confidence, with all the big names you just mentioned,�� the reporterughed.

    ��Righttt, I��m d for that as it��s clear that I have a lot to learn from those big bosses,�� Jasonughed as he added.

    ��Oh wow, I��m impressed with your willingness to learn and I��m sure the viewers are as well,�� the reporter said.

    ��Of course I have to learn, I��m still very far from what I hope to see myself be,�� Jason nodded with a smile.

    ��Oh wow, it sounds like you have big aspirations,�� The reporter interrupted.

    ��Who doesn��t?�� Jason replied with a question and sat back a bit.

    ��If I don��t have dreams, then what do I have?�� Jasonughed.

    ��Crazy football skills, a good physique, an unbelievably handsome face, should I continue?�� the reporter replied with a smirk and Jason��s first thought was,

    ��What kind of zer is this dude, bruh, get off my di*k!�� but outwardly, he just had his mouth opened for a second.

    ��You��re saying it like I had a choice in being this much of an eye candy,��Jason first said, then realized that some of what he said was wrong.

    ��I mean, I did put in some work at the gym and on the field to get better physically and tincally, but, it��s not too bad to want more, right?�� he returned the question to the reporter.

    ��I can��t disagree with that sentiment, haha,�� the reporterughed, but internally, he was feeling a bit aggrieved at Jason dismissing his facial advantage that made most men feel insecure.

    ��Anyway, moving on, how is it like at training with the team?�� the reporter quickly moved to the next question, after all, they didn��t have all day.

    ��I love it. Training with guys who have such a winning mentality and good skills is actually quite fun and I��m doing a lot to learn, you know,��

    ��Funny enough how the manager always joins us on the field to show us a lot of what he wants us to learn,��

    ��It��s like training with monsters,�� Jasonughed.

    ��Sounds like you have a few stories at the training ground already,�� the reporter said, wanting Jason to borate to lighten up the atmosphere.

    ��How can I not, the very first day, we were having a training match and I had a bet with Christiano on who could have more goal contributions,��

    ��I was leading after a bit, but this guy literally just kicked the ball from more than 30 yards out and scored, absolute monster,�� Jason reminisced with a wry smile.

    ��That does sound like Ronaldo,�� the reporterughed.

    ��True, but I wasn��t expecting that on my very first day,�� Jasonughed as well.

    ��it must have been quite the shocker,�� the reporterughed.

    ��Yeah, no one even tried something like that back at Oporto,�� Jason said half-mindedly.

    ��Speaking of back at Oporto, a lot of people are wondering why you chose to leave the team in the middle of the season,�� the reporter quickly took the opportunity to move on to the next segment of questioning.

 Chapter 452: Live Interview III

    Chapter 452: Live Interview III

    ��Speaking of Oporto, many people are wondering, even I am wondering why you chose to make a switch mid-season to Uventus on loan, especially when you were doing so well back at Oporto,�� the reporter moved to the next question which was one that had everyone curious.

    ��I mean, Porto is still in the Champions League, and you were doing pretty well, already consistently starting matches despite your young age and all that, ��

    ��A lot of people are confused as to why you would choose to move to another team on loan in the middle of the season, the fans of Oporto are especially confused as to why you would leave,�� the reporter analyzed and Jason immediately opened his mouth to interrupt before the reporter asked too specific a question.

    ��It��s Uventus man, would you have let such a chance slip by you if you were in my shoes,�� Jason said half-truthfully.

    It was true that he wouldn��t have let such a chance slip by him if he could, but he more than anyone knew that it wasn��t the only reason why he flew off the ship called Oporto.

    ��That��s true haha, but still a lot of fans feel like that wasn��t the only reason, especially with the telltale signs happening before the transfer,�� the reporterughed.

    ��What telltale signs?�� Jason asked curiously, wondering if these guys knew something that he didn��t know.

    ��Well, humor me for a bit as this is all spection,�� the reporter began and Jason could feel an inkling of something explosive about to happen. ��Okay���� Jason muttered and sat back.

    ��Okay then, let me first mention our conjectures before I put together what I think happened and you can tell me whether I��m on the right track or not,��

    ��Sure,�� Jason replied, taking a bottle of water and opening it up.

    ��Okay, let��s first start with the news that you had a fight with one of your teammates in trainingst month and while you were seemingly punished by the management as you didn��t y for like three matches after that, the other person wasn��t punished at all,�� the reporter and Jason��s jaws clenched involuntarily, but no one noticed since he had a bottle to his mouth.

    ��That means to say that either you were theplete aggressor and that everything that happened was your fault but we all know that fights don��t happen like that,�� the reporter said with a smirk

    ��Hmm,�� Jason mummed and kept listening, putting the bottle aside for a bit.

    ��I feel like the club management was a bit biased in their actions and maybe that struck you wrongly, causing you not to hesitate too much when the offer from Uventus came in,�� the reporter continued.

    ��Well���� Jason began, wanting to defuse the situation before things became a bit out of hand.

    This kind of questioning route wasn��t even supposed to be happening in this kind of interview as far as he was concerned.

    Uventus and Oporto were pretty much business partners at this point, so there was no reason for an interview that targeted Oporto��s reputation to happen here.

    No matter what he felt like saying, he couldn��t allow something like this to continue as he was the one who would get caught inbetween if something damaging happened and he couldn��t afford that happening at the moment.

    It could happen after he was no longer tied to them by contract, but for now, it could not happen for any reason, but before he could even open his mouth, the reporter opened his mouth to continue,

    ��But, that��s not all, there��s some spection about the actual cause of the fight between you and your teammate,�� the reporter continued and Jason who was about to interrupt paused for a second.

    ���� With an imagination like that, you should be writing novels instead of articles,�� Jason said after a pause and put the water bottle back to his mouth.

    For a second, he had been tempted to allow the guy to continue, especially considering the situation.

    It seemed like this guy didn��t care about holding back and would probably have an idea of what had happened between Jason and Mylo, but after thinking about it for a second, Jason saw no reason to allow the reporter guy to continue.

    What was there to gain from ousting Mylo anyway?

    All it would do was make some people think bad about him. It wouldn��t change anything else.

    It wasn��t the first time something like this had happened in the football world and it wouldn��t be thest so what was the point anyway?

    Admitting what happened would be like personally putting a green hat on himself in front of the whole world.

    Why would he choose the mutual destruction route against Mylo?

    In a month, he would meet Oporto on the field and then, he��d make his grievances known,after all actions speak louder than words.

    ��Are you saying I��m on the wrong track?�� the reporter asked, not happy that Jason had interrupted before he dropped the bomb, but he didn��t show it on his face.

    ��I didn��t say that,�� Jason replied, putting the bottle down again.

    ��Then-��!�� the reporter was about to continue.

    ��But I also didn��t say you were correct either,�� Jason interrupted again, blocking this guy who seemed to have an agenda to put a green hat on his head in front of the world.

    ��Huh? What is that supposed to mean?�� the reporter asked.

    In response, Jason made a gesture of zipping his mouth and then opened his mouth to swallow the imaginary key and then downed it with water like he was swallowing a tablet.

    ��Next question,�� he said after putting the bottle down.

    {Huh?}

    {Zipping the mouth and then unzipping it to swallow the key, genius idea. Why didn��t I ever think of that?}

    {This guy is a clown}

    Thements went wild after Jason��s actions that didn��t make any sense and people wereughing at his actions that didn��t make any sense, but quite a few of the viewers were also watching while their brain cogs were rolling as Jason hadn��t exactly denied the spections made by the reporter and had only deflected them.

    This was like literally telling them that something definitely was up, but he wasn��t going to be talking about it.

 Chapter 453: Super Coppa I

    Chapter 453: Super Coppa I

    ***19thJanuary 2021***

    **10:34 a.m**

    At the Continassa, yers were boarding the team bus.

    The next match up for the Uventus team was the Italian Super Cup finals and they would be going against Napoli.

    The match was scheduled to take ce at the Mapei Stadium at Reggio Emilia.

    Reggio Emilia didn��t have amercial airport and unless the yers had ns to sky dive into the stadium like the Supa Strikas, then they had to go by bus which would take five hours at the earliest, hence they were leaving early.

    The yers who had been selected in the line-up had received a notice and were at the stadium, loading up their bags into the bus before getting on the bus.

    Jason was also at the stadium, lucky to have been picked by the manager though he hadn��t been expecting it, but he wouldn��t argue about whether he was deserving or not. As long as he was called to y, then he would shut up and do exactly that.

    With headphones over his ears, he sat in the bus and his mind involuntarily went back to the previous day��s interview.

    After getting past the annoying segment where the focus was on his reason for leaving Oporto, the rest of the interview was actually quite fun.

    He had answered a few more questions rting to himself and had even yed a few games with the reporter�� selection games.

    Picking out his best eleven among the yers in the world currently, his favorite legendary yer in some specific countries, and the question that was always asked of talented youth footballers, ��Ronaldo or Messi?��.

    There was even a little segment where he interacted with some of the Uventus fans�� indirectly of course.

    It was merely answering some questions in thements�� the light hearted ones of course.

    All in all, it was quite fun and when it ended, it didn��t feel like a waste of his time whiching from someone like Jason, was quite thepliment.

    Well, now it was over and now he had to focus on other things.

    Hopefully, the manager would allow him to start in theing game, Jason thought hopefully, but inwardly he wasuging at himself for even thinking that boldly, after all, the other yers on the team weren��t pieces of cardboard paper.

    While Jason was deep in thought, the bus filled up and soon began moving, shortly after, he fell asleep.

    ***20thJanuary 2021***

    **8:12 p.m**

    In the Uventus locker room, the yers were kitting up for the match after thest tactical meeting with the manager.

    Jason sat in a corner, already kitted up, but over his jersey, he wore a training vest as he wasn��t selected in the starting line-up.

    He was on his phone at that moment, reading a little about some important football news.

    Swiping to check something he missed while reading, he ended up pulling down the notification bar and then he saw a notification he seemed to have missed since early that morning.

    It was a notification about the scores of Oporto��sst match.

    Since he was subscribed to news about Oporto, the notification had been sent to his phone, but he had been too busy to check it earlier.

    His interest roused, he clicked on the notification and saw the scores only to find out that Oporto had lost.

    It was a Taca da Liga Semi Finals match against Sporting CP and they had lost 2 �C 1.

    Looking at the timeline of the goals, Jason��s eyebrow rose in surprise.

    After a tough first half, Oporto scored in the 79thminute of the game, opening up the scoreline only to be trashed in the final minutes by two dying minute goals in the 86thminute and the 92ndminute respectively.

    ��Damn,�� he muttered as he went to check the lineup and found Mylo��s name.

    It seemed the manager had started Mylo over the other strikers and the dumb kid had repaid his manager��s faith by having apletely uninfluential game.

    Jason had to fight off a smirk from appearing on his face as he read rted articles about the match as well as some tabloids about the fans reactions to the match results.

    He didn��t even care about whether Oporto was his team or not, he was currently reveling in Mylo��s bad performance and didn��t care whether Oporto had just lost their chance at yet another trophy in the season.

    What did it matter to him anyway?

    He had nothing against his former teammates, but the club had chosen to oust him instead of a disgusting snake so there was no way he was going to feel sad for them losing the game.

    Jason��s mood that had been a bit dampened by not being selected by Pirlo in the staarting line-up immediately improved and his face lit up in a smile as he threw his phone aside and started heading out of the locker room to go sit on the bench.

    There was a spring in his step as he moved with a smile on his face and walked out of the tunnel.

    The stadium was slowly filling up with fans and Jason waved at a few of them as he moved to the bench.

    Despite how stressful it was toe to this ce by road, taking a train would cut down one��s travel time to two hours which was still stressful, yet there were still fans slowly filing up the stadium.

    ��For the love of football,�� Jason smiled as he sat on the bench with his other bench buddies and began to wait for the match to kick off, his eyes unconsciously flying over to the trophy that had been ced at the entrance of the tunnel.

    ***

    {Today is the day}

    {Twenty days after the new year and these two teams have their chance at their first silveware of the year}

    {They have ambitions and they have effort}

    {Can they have silver? We��ll find out in the ny minutes toe}

 Chapter 454: Super Coppa II

    Chapter 454: Super Coppa II

    {Here is the line-up for the Uventus side} Thementator did his job as the yers of the two teams began to arrange themselves across the field after singing their anthems.

    {What we��re seeing here is the familiar 4-4-2 formation that is favored by the current manager} he continued as the line-up was disyed on the screens watching the game.

    {Standing between the sticks is Woljiech Sczesny and he will be Uventus��s most pivotal member in keeping the ball out of their goal. He��s been in fine formtely}

    {Danilo stands on the right side of the defense and the center is tightly guarded by Boni and Chiellini. Alex Sandro is the left back for today}

    {In the middle of the park, we have a rarely seen partnership between Rabiot and Ramsey. Out wide are Bernandeschi and Chiesa on the right and left respectively}

    {Up front we have a strike partnership between Christiano Ronaldo and Dejane Kulusevski, we��ll be expecting good things from them today}

    {What do you think of this line-up, Fabrizio?} thementator asked hismentary partner.

    {I think it��s a strong team. Strong defense line, a midfield that looks like they can control the ball, pacey and technical wingers who aren��t afraid to make the run, and finally, two danger men upfront who we can almost always guarantee to score goals} {I think we��re in for an exciting game, Guiseppe} Fabrizio quickly analyzed the line-up and gave out his spections.

    {I think so as well, Fabrizio} Guiseppe responded with a littleugh.

    {Moving on to the Napoli side, they seem to be arranging themselves in the 4-2-3-1 formation}

    {it��s Davide Ospina in goal, Mans and Koulibaly standing right in front of him, while Mario Rui and Di Lorenzo stand out wide on the left and right sides respectively}

    {Bakayoko and Demme are ying as holding and defensive midfielders while we have Zielinski, Lozano, and Insigne just ahead of them}

    {In front we have the lone striker, Andrea Pentagna} Guiseppe quickly listed out the yers in the Napoli team��s starting line-up.

    {It seems to be well matched up on paper, though I have to admit, the Napoli side does look quite a bit weaker than their opponents, don��t you think, Fabrizio?}

    {Well, like someone said, it��s Uventus they��re up against. They��re not many football teams all over the world that can im to be equally matched or even surpassing them on paper}

    {However, football is a game of twists and turns and the fans love that. I��m pretty sure that if the Napoli yer can y their cards right, defend well, control the ball, and attack when an opportunity arises, with the right amount of luck, they might just be able to end this with another silverware in their cab despite their strong opponent} Fabrizio analyzed.

    {That��s a very big if against a team like Uventus, but far be it from me to specte so directly. I guess we��ll just have to wait and see how things go in the match} Guiseppe replied.

    {It��s time for kick-off!} he shouted as all the arrangements were finally done and the referee had his whistle in his mouth and ready to blow.

    *Fweeeeeeeeee*

    Without hesitation, the referee sted his whistle and the game kicked off quickly, each side of the field filled with eleven yers in distinct and different colors surged at one another, ready to battle it out for the silverware waiting to be taken if only they ended up on top after ny minutes.

    The match didn��t take long to begin exciting the fans in and out of the stadium.

    The ball moved quickly across the field from yer to yer all with the aim of sending a shot flying at their opponent��s goal.

    The first goal-scoring chance soon appeared in merely the 13th minute of the game��

    The Uventus team had been passing the ball around, but they didn��t have too much control of possession as they couldn��t keep the ball for too long against opponents like Napoli, however, they had been doing well defensively and were severely limiting their opponents.

    Every attempt of the Napoli side to break past the Uventus defense line was met with indignance from the Uventus side who simply refused to be broken down and whenever they retreived the ball, they always burst forward on the counter, trying to catch their opponents off guard.

    Despite trying to catch their opponents on the counter, they didn��t pass the ball recklessly and the ball moved across the field with precision.

    Currently, the Uventus team had just burst forward on another of their counter attacks and this time they seemed to be home free as Cheiesa was making a run from the left and there was no one in his way.

    Just as he began cutting in, he suddenly noticed Ramsey running across from the right side of the pitch just behind thest defender and Chiesa didn��t hesitate to send a powerful grounded pass across the field.

    Seeing the balling his way, Ramsey burst forward with as much pace as he could muster, just barely making it past thest defender and hitting the ball with his first touch.

    {Ramsey!!!} thementator shouted as the ball flew at goal.

    Ospina didn��t need an invitation to lunge at the ball, but he fell short and couldn��t reach it.

    *CLANG!!!*

    The ball mmed against the bottom right post and rolled out of y.

    {Oh my word! How did that not go in!?} Thementator��s loud voice contained all the shock that everyone was feeling seeing such a beautiful goal-scoring chance going to waste.

    {It was a well-worked attack. The pass was inch perfect, the finish was just inches short of a cutoff mark}

    {The yer looks gutted that he��s missed that}thementator continued and as he was saying, Ramsey who was on the field had his hands in his head after watching the ball fly wide after smashing off the post.

    Sending an apologetic look at his teammates, he turned around, covering his face once again in exasperation at having missed such a chance.

 Chapter 455: Super Coppa III

    Chapter 455: Super Coppa III

    #28thminute��

    The match was still a goalless one despite the efforts of the two teams to change the situation, however, with the increasing number of chances at both ends of the field, it was looking like sooner orter, one of the teams would seed in opening up the game.

    Currently, the Napoli team had a corner and after the referee��s whistle, the ball was sent flying into Uventus�� penalty area.

    With the Uventus yers�� height advantage, it didn��t need to be said who was more likely to get to the ball first and the ball was quickly headed out of the penalty box, but Insigne who was standing outside the penalty box soon got his leg to the ball and brought it under control.

    Pushing the ball forward back toward the box, he nced at the yers in the penalty box and knowing that there was no way he could get a better chance than that moment to take a shot, he didn��t hesitate and sent a powerful drive at Uventus�� goal.

    The ball flew powerfully and deflected off a teammate, suddenly changing direction and flying towards the bottom right corner of the goal but shockingly Sczesny managed to reach it and caught it deftly, not giving his opponents any chance to rebound the ball.

    {Good shot, but the keeper was equal to it! Fantastic save from Sczesny} Guiseppe called out loudly.

    The Napoli yers disappointedly began to leave the Uventus�� 18-yard box while the Uventus yersmended the goalkeeper before leaving. Sczesny stood up and with a quick nce across the field, made a decision.

    Moving forward a bit, he sent the ball hig across the pitch woth a high punt.

    #35thminute��

    Half an hour had already gone by which was a third of the match��s duration and there still wasn��t any change to the scoreboard, yet the excitement at the stadium hadn��t dwindled in the slightest as the two teams on the field had been displyaying exciting and attacking football which kept them on the edge of their seats up till now.

    At any moment, a period of possession could turn to an attack and the fans just couldn��t get enough of it.

    Once again, it was Uventus on the attack and they were working the ball towards the penalty area.

    From the right nk, Bernadeschi who was with the ball did a quick feint to escape his marker enough to send a pass towards Ronaldo in the center.

    Receiving the ball outside the penalty box, Ronaldo stopped the ball, pulled it back to confuse the defenders then kicked it forward, sending a pass to Kulusevskiwho had just run behind Koulibaly and was one on one with the goalkeeper.

    Ospina immediately rushed forward on seeing the pass and jumped into the path of Kulusevski who had hit it immediately.

    Spreading himself wide had allowed him to block the shot and the ball flew back outside the box, but Ronaldo quickly jumped in the way of the ball and brought it under control before quickly kicking it at the goal which was empty, however, as soon as the ball flew off at the goal, Koulibaly threw himself in the way of the ball and just barely deflected it with his body.

    The ball bounced off Koulibaly��s body and flew at the goal, but at thest moment, it smashed against the bottom left post and rolled out of y.

    {Saved by the bar!}

    {They were scrambling over themselves there and they just managed to stay afloat!}

    {The scores remain unchanged yet again!}

    {Napoli have to put more effort into shutting down attacks like this or they might not get to stay equal with their opponents for much longer!} Guiseppe shouted with excitement while the Uventus yers began arranging themselves inside the penalty box for the corner kick.

    The corner kick was taken quickly, but was headed wide by Rabiot who got his head to it first and Napoli was given a goal kick.

    The match continued with both teams making more efforts at triggering a change on the score board.

    Shots were sent flying, crosses were sent flying in, attempts at dribbling were made and runs at goal were made, but the end of the first half continued to draw closer and neither team still didn��t have anything to celebrate despite their efforts.

    ***

    {Fweeeeeeeeee!}

    The referee��s whistle blew loudly across the field, bringing an end to the first half of the game.

    The yers began to walk off the field breathing heavily, their breaths forming white mists in front of their faces.

    {It��s the end of the first 45 minutes of the game and despite an excitement filled half, the scores remain as the were at the beginning of the game} Guiseppe began.

    {It was an half filled with exciting football as you said. Shots were sent flying in from all sorts of angles and quite a few chances presented themselves} Fabrizio added.

    {I��m honestly quite surprised that the two teams are still stuck in a deadlock. A score like 2 �C 2 feels more likely with how many attempts those two had taken at each other} he went on to say, his eyes following the yers who were headed into the tunnel for the break.

    On the field, the Uventus yers quickly headed to their locker room for their break, discussing among themselves as they rued their missed chances in the first half and began discussing among themselves how best to advance in the second half.

    Pirlo, the head manager joined his yers and the half time tactical meeting quickly began with the manager addressing what he felt needed to be addressed.

    There wasn��t much to talk about however as the yers were already doing well, they were just a bit unlucky to not be ahead as despite them having a simr number of shots to their opponents, theirs were mostly on target aspared to their opponents who were not even able to take shots infortable areas thanks to the efforts of the defenders.

    After a quick discussion, the yers rested their muscles for the remaining time left in the break and were soon back on their way back to the pitch for the second half of the game.

 Chapter 456: Super Coppa IV

    Chapter 456: Super Coppa IV

    *Fweeeeeeeeeeee*

    The referee blew loudly to kick off the second half of the SuperCoppa Italia and the ball began moving across the field once again.

    It was the Napoli side that kicked off the second half and they patiently began passing the ball among themselves while the Uventus side began to press, wanting to steal possession from their opponents.

    While the Uventus side was pressing them, the Napoli side tried to break through past the Uventus midfield but before long, they lost the ball after a bad pass.

    Uventus quickly pounced on the ball and tried to start a counterattack, but the Napoli yers quickly pulled back and blocked the Uventus yers trying to get past them quickly, causing the Uventus team to slow down their y.

    The match soon settled into a back-and-forth one, with both teamsunching attacks on their opponents at the slightest whiff of a space.

    #64th minute��

    The Uventus side had just retrieved the ball from their opponents who had been on the attack and without needing any extra stimulus, they immediatelyunched a counter attack and began moving the ball swiftly across the field. Soon the ball found it��s way to Rabiot in the middle of the park and he tried to push forward, but his marker started hassling him and he sent the ball towards Ramsey who was nearby.

    Before receiving the ball, Ramsey was already looking for the best way forward and he soon found it in Bernadeschi who was running at top speed down the right nk.

    With his first touch on the ball, he sent a powerful curling pass behind Mario Rui.

    The ball flew powerfully down the right nk and looked like it would roll out of y, but Bernadeschi increased his pace and just barely managed to reach it before it rolled out of y.

    Pushing the ball forward and back to a safer ce on the pitch, he quickly began cutting into the penalty box, ncing behind to check where Mario Rui was.

    Once he was inside the penalty box, he didn��t hesitate and quickly sent a grounded cross into Ronaldo��s path.

    A burst of pace was all Ronaldo needed to outpace his marker and strike the ball powerfully at goal.

    {Can they take the lead!?} Giuseppe shouted expectantly.

    {Yes they do!} He shouted as the ball mmed into the back of the, Ospina unable to stop it.

    Ronaldo immediately took off down the sideline, leaving everyone with no doubt what he was going to do.

    Jumping and turning mid-air, the Uventus fans did their part and shouted *SIUUUU!*

    {What a goal!}

    {We saw iting, and now they��ve done it!}

    {They��ve gone and broken the deadlock and their opponents are distraught!}

    {Something tells me that this match is about to be more interesting!} Giuseppe did not mince his words as he shouted exuberantly while the Uventus yers and their fans celebrated their goal.

    Luckily for the Napoli yer��s frame of mind, the celebrations did not continue for too long and the match soon continued.

    #74th minute��

    Jason wore his training vest over his jersey as he warmed up on the sidelines after being called up by the manager.

    Soon he was done warming up and stood beside Pirlo who was giving him instructions as Chiesa ran over to the sidelines.

    ��Stay alert and ready to burst forward from your nk when we are on the attack,�� Pirlo instructed while Jason nodded as he listened.

    Chiesa soon reached the sidelines and after a double high-five with Jason, he stepped off the field, while Jason ran onto the pitch and headed to his position on the left nk.

    After the substitution, the match quickly resumed.

    Napoli was currently ying as hard as they could, trying to get a goal that would put them back on level terms, but Uventus�� defense wasn��t to be thought little off and they blocked chance after chance of the Napoli team.

    The Uventus team wasn��t only defending though and were also taking the opportunity to put more pressure on the Napoli team that was so eager to score.

    #82nd minute��

    Yet again, another Napoli attempt at scoring against their opponents had been foiled and the Uventus team had burst out on a counter attack, wanting to punish their opponents.

    The ball moved quickly across the field, Uventus breaking through the center.

    The ball moved from Bentacur to Ramsey and Ramsey sent it forward to Morata.

    At this point, they had just barely passed the halfway line and Morata quickly sent the ball to Ronaldo, nning to do a quick one-two pass routine to confuse the opponents, but Ronaldo had a different idea.

    With his back facing the goal, he put out his right foot and flicked the ball with the outside of his foot, sending the ball past him and into the box, but it had changed direction ever so slightly towards the left.

    Before Morata could even mentallyin about what Ronaldo did, he saw the ball moving into the path of Jason who no one but Ronaldo noticed had been running in from the left.

    The ball was still mid-air when Jason reached it.

    Not bothering to control the ball, he angled himself and volleyed it with his first touch.

    {Hits it first time!} Giuseppe shouted as he watched Jason hit the ball.

    The ball rocketed towards the top right corner and curled inwards, mming into the top corner of the goal.

    {Ohhhhhhhh!}

    {What a wonderful goal!}

    {It��s his first goal in new colors and what a spectacr one it is!} Giuseppe shouted loudly, but Jason who had crashed to the floor because of the angle at which he hit the ball, quickly stood up and ran towards the sidelines before jumping into a power slide.

    The other Uventus yers were soon there to celebrate the goal as well with him while the Uventus fans were screaming at the top of their voices because, with two goals in the 82nd minute, the match was quite literally in the bag.

    {Hitting it on the volley after such an unconventional pass from Ronaldo, he didn��t disappoint the trust of his teammates and put it past the keeper!} Giuseppemented.

    {I��m still stuck on that position he was in when he hit the ball, he literally disabled gravity and struck the ball powerfully. Powerful shot, delicious curl, what a stunner!} Fabrizio added as the rey of the goal was being shown on the screens in the stadium.

    The Napoli yers looked on as their opponents celebrated another goal against them and their hope to get anything from the game slowly slipped away, however, they didn��t give up hope and quickly sent the ball back to the middle of the field so that they could quickly kick off the game.

    The Uventus yers also headed back to their half of the field and the game kicked off for the fifth time in the match.

    As soon as the referee��s whistle sted, Mertens sent the ball towards a teammate and the Napoli team immediatelyunched an attack.

    The minutes that followed were filled with desperate attempts by the Napoli yers to get a goal but try as they might, they just weren��t able to get the goal they were after.

    Instead, the Uventus team began to have even more space to attack due to the defenders going forward to join the attack.

    #90 + 2��

    The added time for the game was four minutes and at this point, Napoli had given up on equalizing the game, but they still pressed forward, seemingly trying to get a constion goal but things just didn��t fall in the right ce for them.

    {This Napoli side we��ve seen today, has not been able to do well on the attack} Giuseppemented as he watched the game.

    {Exactly. The wing y has been pretty okay, but the finishing has not been up to par} Fabrizio added.

    {I guess that��s what happens when the main striker of the team is injured. Osimen��s presence is sorely missed by this Napoli squad} Guiseppe continued.

    {It��s Jason on the left, he seems to be looking for a way forward} Guiseppemented.

    Jason was up against Ghom and was trying to get past the right back, but the yer was proving to be a difficult adversary and didn��t want to budge, however, this wasn��t Jason��s first rodeo.

    He suddenly moved towards the right as if trying to cut in, and as soon as Ghom reacted and followed his movements, Jason snapped back towards the left and fed the ball forward before chasing after it.

    Ghom immediately gave chase, but Jason was already a distance away and sent an early cross into the penalty box.

    The ball flew high into the penalty box, but Jason had used a bit too much power because of the urgency of the situation and the ball flew over the face of the goal.

    Ronaldo who was in the box chased after the ball and reached it before it flew out of the penalty box, before turning back and facing the goal.

    Koulibaly immediately came at him but Ronaldo did two step overs and snapped to the left, moving the ball out of Koulibaly��s reach before sending chipping a pass at Morata.

    {He takes to the air!?}

 Chapter 457: First Trophy in Italy

    Chapter 457: First Trophy in Italy

    {Header!!!!}

    Guiseppe shouted exuberantly as Morata��s head connected with the ball.

    The ball flew downward thanks to Morata��s efforts at directing it and it bounced past the goalline before nestling itself in the back of the.

    {Goalll!}

    {Three!}

    {Surely now, there��s no way back!} Guiseppe shouted in joyous excitement.

    {What poise, what excitement, what joy, they have this one in the bag!}

    {Their opponents did not expect this! Just when they thought everything was over, Uventus have put a final nail in the coffin!} Thementator��s words served as a backdrop to the excitement that swept through the Uventus fans at the stadium.

    The Uventus fans were not the majority at the stadium, but with how loud they were shouting, one couldn��t tell the difference between half of the stadium shouting and the whole stadium shouting.

    The whole team was taking their time to celebrate their goal and the Napoli yers could not even be bothered to stop them because there was nothing that would change.

    They were more distraught at losing the game than angry at their opponents for scoring another goal against them.

    The Uventus yers also didn��t mind the chance for an uninterrupted celebration period, but they didn��t overdo it as the final whistle was less than three minutes away.

    They could celebrate as much as they wanted to by then, so they put aside the extravagant celebrations and headed back to their side of the field and the game kicked off again.

    The Napoli team kicked off the match again and began passing the ball around, but there was ack of desperation in their movements that was present in their movements earlier.

    The Napoli yers moved the ball around patiently while the Uventus yers gave chase, but they didn��t chase too hard, however their effects were enough to keep the Napoli team in check and unable to send the ball forward.

    This state of football didn��tst for long and the referee soon put his whistle to his mouth to blow the final whistle.

    *Fweeee* *Fweeee* *Fweeeeeeeeee*

    The Uventus fans who were already singing and cheering for their team entered another gear and burst forth with louder and more excited cheers taking over the stadium in that moment.

    {There��s the final whistle!}

    {It is over!}

    {Despite the excitement that this match brought, there were no twists and Uventus have coasted to victory here!}

    {Their opponents look unhappy, they yed hard and did their best, but their best wasn��t enough against this Uventus team}

    {Swift, precise, and powerful, they punished their opponents for their mistakes and coasted to victory, sessfully earning themselves their first silverware of the season} Guiseppe gave remarks as the Uventus team began the first rounds of celebrations.

    {They��re happy you have gotten it. Look at the joy on their faces as they celebrate their win} Fabrizio added as the Uventus yers, the substitutes and the manager went to celebrate with the fans.

    {You know, it��s especially funny when you think about the new arrival at the club, Jason} Guiseppemented, his eyes falling on Jason who was jointly celebrating with his teammates on the field.

    {This makes it his second trophy this season. He already got his hand on a trophy back in the Portuguese league and now he has a second one while his team lost their chance at another trophy just yesterday}

    {Do you think his absence was a major cause of his home team being disqualified?} He asked hismentary partner.

    {It��s hard to say it��s not as we have seen from just a few minutes of the kid being on the field that he brings a lot of dramatic ir to the game that is not exciting and efficient}

    {He can almost always be trusted to shake things up in a deadlocked game and Oporto was missing that in theirst match}

    {But then, they were the ones who allowed him to be loaned out to another team at this crucial point in the season so there��s no point crying over spilled milk}

    {Uventus will be happy to have thisd and he��s already bringing them returns on their investments} Fabrizio repliedughingly.

    {Right you are} Guiseppeughed.

    {With their first silverware in the bag, this team��s morale must be sky high and they��ll be feeling they can do anything. Their opponents in theing match would have a hard time trying to keep them in check and avoid being swept away by their flooding morale}

    Guiseppe and Fabrizio kept conversing about various topics to entertain the crowd as the award ceremony was being set up.

    Back on the field, Jason was jointly celebrating with the team while they began heading towards where the trophy had been set up.

    As he walked with his teammates with a smile on his face, Jason could almost feel himself drowning in the happiness of the moment.

    He had achieved yet another milestone on his road towards bing the best.

    Despite not having yed any part in qualifying for thepetition, he had yed in the finals and had done his part in helping the team win thus he did not feel like a freeloader.

    Even if he was a freeloader, so what, the right to write history only belonged to the victors, only people who didn��t have an array of achievements had things to prove would argue the mundane matters of whether one was deserving of a trophy or not.

    Other people simply didn��t care that much and would just let the thoughts slide over their mind.

    Now that he had one of the avable trophies in the Italian League within his grasp, his greed was aroused towards the other trophies in the league.

    Quickly recalling that there was only one other domestic cup left in the league, the Coppa Italia, and the League title left for the taking, he could feel his hopes rising up.

    With a team like Uventus, it wasn��t too far fetched for him to dream of taking all the avable trophies in the league that year.

    Of course, it wasn��t going to be an easy endeavor as the other teams in the league would be doing their best to stop them from doing that as they also fancied their chances with those trophies as well.

    Any of those trophies would look good in the cab and every team that was qualified salivated at the chance to take those trophies.

    Bad enough, those teams had enough quality to get in the way of Jason��s dreams to sweep up all the avable trophies.

    However the only thing Jason thought of at that moment was,

    ��Bring it on,��

    There was nothing he could do about the obstacles in his way other than to get past them and if they were proving to be too annoying, then he��d go through them.

    He had a solid team backing him up as well.

    ��Scared�� was thest word that he could think of.

    Frankly, he fancied his chances .

    ��Ah wait, there��s the Champions League too���� Jason suddenly remembered.

    In the heat of the moment, he hadn��t remembered that he was still in a Champions League team.

    ��Do we have a chance at the Champions League?�� he could not help wondering internally.

    The answer was�� yes, they did.

    Uventus had the team quality to challenge for the Champions League and they would, but challenging for the Champions League was a lot more difficult than challenging for a domestic cup in the Italian League.

    The reason why he didn��tpare it to winning the League itself was because they were notparable in a sense.

    The Champions League was against the best football clubs in Europe which was the continent where the biggest clubs in world football were.

    There was a group stage and a knockout stage.

    On making it to the knockout stages, one would have two matches to prove that they were ultimately better than their opponents before they could move on to the next stage.

    Thepetition was the greatest test for a team aiming to be Champions of Europe.

    On the other hand, there was the league title which didn��t seem as impressive as the Champions League to some people, but only people knowledgeable about the football world would know the kind of dedication and consistency needed from a group of yers to get that trophy.

    To win the league title in any league in Europe, one would have to consistently put in good performances all year round in each and every game, outperforming about 19 other teams who were trying to do the same thing.

    It was even harder for a big team as they had topete in domesticpetitions, and continentalpetitions and everyone had big expectations for them to perform to thr peak of their capabilities in every game as if there was no such thing as exhaustion.

    Smaller teams in the leagues did not have such constraints and would have the energy to match their opponents skills this it was just as difficult to win a League title over the Champions League, if not more difficult.

    However, all that thinking didn��t matter to Jason.

    The trophies had appeared on his radar and he was going to try to get them.

    Whether he seeded or not was not an issue to deal with at present.

    ��Thinking about the Champions League�� Uventus next match was against Oporto, wasn��t it?�� Jason recalled and a smile broke that woulr make one confused as to whether it was a grin or a smirk broke out on his face.

 Chapter 458: Teammate or Opponent

    Chapter 458: Teammate or Opponent

    The rest of the night passed by quickly to Jason, but the excitement of the night wasn��t lost on him despite him already setting his eyes greedily on even more trophies.

    After the stage was set, the awards ceremony began and the yers stepped up one by one to receive the award before stepping to one side, and finally, after all the Uventus yers had each received a medal, Chiellini, the team��s captain stepped up to receive the trophy.

    Once he received the trophy, he took it back to his teammates and the air was already bubbling before anything, anticipation already building as the captain and the remaining yers took the cup-lifting pose.

    With one swift movement the trophy was raised the next moment and what followed it was the loud excited shout of Uventus fans at the stadium and those watching the match.

    Social media was already feeling the brunt of Uventus victory as even though it was a small victorypared to all other trophies in the league, the Uventus fans weren��t going to let go of the chance to banter with their rivals who didn��t have any silverware yet.

    For the next day, Uventus winning the Italy SuperCup became a guaranteed trend on social media in the Italian hemisphere, and pictures of them lifting the trophy as well as the highlights of the game surfaced everywhere, showing the efforts the Uventus fans were putting in to spread the gospel of their team.

    Some unfortunate Napoli yers became memes thanks to the expertise of the videographers at the stadium, but that was thest thing on the minds of the Napoli yers who were still down at losing the game, but there was no time for them to stay downhearted.

    The season was just reaching it��s midway stage so this was no time for them to wallow in the disappointment of missing out on a trophy as they were still in contention for others, hence they quickly perked up�� at least on the outside. Jason noticed Osimen on the field with his teammates after the award ceremony and he seemed to beforting some of his teammates.

    Seeing a fellow countryman and teammate, Jason didn��t hesitate to go over.

    Osimen didn��t notice Jason��s presence until Jason was almost behind him and one of his teammates finally called his attention to Jason who was approaching.

    ��My boss, what��s up na?�� Osimen��s ent did a 180 and returned to it��s Nigerian roots as he sighted Jason.

    ��I��m cool, how are you doing? I heard about your injury, when will you get better?�� Jason asked as he dapped the man and they shared a half-hug.

    ��It��s just a sprain man, I��ll be match-fit before the end of the month,�� Osimen said with a smile as he pulled back from the hug.

    ��So, hopefully, I��ll be able to y against you next month?�� Jason asked with a smirk, ying around a bit.

    ��For sure, we��ll see who scores more in that match,�� Osimen took Jason��s words in stride and repliedughingly.

    For most people, this kind of questioning would annoy them especially after their team had just lost a trophy, but the Nigerian bloodline in Osimen would not be triggered by these level of words. He had faced off against even more harsh provocations during normal banter so there was no way he would be triggered by this harmless question.

    It may make one seem like they were brainless, but it was how most Nigerian men were. They didn��t waste their time reading into their fellow��s words during banter.

    One couldn��t say the same about the Nigerian women though as those ones were a special breed of women even among the vast species of touchy women worldwide.

    ��Congrattions on your trophy sef,��

    ��Sharp sharp, you just reached this ce and you already have one medal. It��s not even been a week bro,�� Osimen said to Jason, not a hint of jealousy in his voice

    ��Na sky daddy doings please,�� Jasonughed and raised his hands harmlessly, putting all the me on God like all Nigerians did when they didn��t want to exin or did not know how to exin something that had happened to them.

    ��Nice nice, I also wan tap some of your grace,�� Osimen did not argue andughed along with Jason before he pulled out his phone.

    ��Let��s take a picture together, let me too snap picture with person wey get medal,�� Osimen whispered the second part of his sentence as it might get on the wrong side of some of his teammates who were still a bit down after the loss.

    There wasn��t any need for that anyway as the nearest person in a light blue shirt was far enough away from them that they wouldn��t be able to hear what they were talking about.

    ��Sure sure,�� Jason nodded and got beside Osimen while Osimen opened his camera app and quickly took a few selfies.

    ��Send those to me yeah,�� Jason remembered to say as he dapped Osimen again.

    ��Sure, sure, I��ll send it to your Instagram,�� Osimen replied as he and Jason snapped fingers at the end of the dap.

    ��Ok cool,ter man,�� Jason nodded and turned away and headed back to meet his teammates.

    What followed were a few more joyous celebrations with the fans, some songs Jason didn��t know, a few pictures and videos with teammates, and interviews.

    For individual awards, Ronaldo had gotten the best yer of the award, but since there were three top scorers, that award was postponed and would be sent to Jason, Morata, and Ronaldoter.

    The golden gloves went to Sczesny without much debate, after all, he had managed to keep the opponents at bay for the whole game.

    Of course, a lot of the credit for that went to the Uventus defenders, but the only other contender for the award had conceded three goals in one half so there wasn��t any suspense in the referee��s decision.

    After answering a few interesting questions from the reporters who still hadn��t gotten tired of poking around until they found yer��s sore spots, Jason headed into the tunnel along with the rest of his teammates.

    ��������������������������������������������������������

    The Nigerian tone in Osimen��s speaking is for realism, however I toned it down so that it should be easily understandable, but if there��s anything you don��t understand, just put a paragraphment on it and I��ll exin.

 Chapter 459: Business and Business?

    Chapter 459: Business and Business?

    ***21stJanuary 2020***

    **10:38 a.m**

    The sun was bright and the moods of the Uventus yers who had won a trophy just the day before were a lot brighter, but inside the bus that was carrying them back to Turin, most of that brightness couldn��t be seen on their faces.

    The yers would be on the bus for the next four hours back to Turin and most of them were using that to catch some sleep as most of them had been upte celebrating the newest addition to their des.

    The few who weren��t sleeping were either on their phones or conversing in low tones.

    Jason wasn��t asleep yet, but he nned to go to sleep soon enough.

    As a new member of the team, he couldn��t avoid celebrating with his teammates the previous night, nor did he want to, so he had joined in happily and they had a good time within the restrictions of what could be allowed mid season.

    Of course, Jason joining in the celebration didn��t mean he drank�� rather, he just ate a few delicious foods that he had been avoiding due to their counter effects on his physical training�� Since it wasn��t even Turin, the celebration wasn��t too big and was done in their hotel��s bar.

    He had stayed up a bitte but had still gone to sleep earlier than most at the celebration, but even that wasn��t enough and he still wanted to go back to sleep, however, there were a few things he needed to attend to before then.

    The previous night, he had checked his phone to check the picture Osimen sent to him and after seeing the pictures, he picked the one that he thought looked best and posted it with the caption ��We win together�� get well soon�� and he added the Nigerian g.

    Then he posted a few other pictures with different captions to celebrate the team��s win.

    He also posted a video of his first goal with the caption ��First of many��.

    It was a statement of intent, one that he nned to take serious and follow through with. There was the added benefit of the pressure such a proud statement brought, so he would always be hard pressed to work hard to make ite to pass.

    It was when he was posting that he received a message from Adele and Maya Singh.

    Immediately recognizing it as business, he noted it down mentally and prepared to put his phone down, but another message came flying in.

    This one was from a verified user on Instagram, causing him to take a look and he was surprised to see that it was Big Shaq.

    Wondering what the musician wanted from him, he decided to check the message before calling his aunt and then going to the party.

    By the time he read through the message, he had an amused look on his face.

    It wasn��t a congrattory message from the musician which would have felt weird anyway since they didn��t exactly know each other that much.

    The contents of the message was instead in a direction Jason hadn��t expected as it was a feature request for Jason on a song.

    It was funny to Jason because he was a footballer and not a musician so he had first wondered if the message had ended up in the wrong DM, but after reading further, he understood the reasoning but was still amused.

    Apparently the freestyle he and Big Shaq had done in Nigeria the previous year had be a bit of a trend and some people started using it on short videos and in skits, causing it to be an even bigger trend.

    The problem arose because of how catchy the ��song�� was.

    To Jason and Big Shaq, it had just been a bunch of rubbish they had said while following the beat, and while it had surprisinglye out well, they hadn��t thought much of it and had put it behind them after that day, but some genius had taken it upon himself to take that small bit that they had rapped online and put it together in a way that it felt like a teaser of a song.

    It was that teaser that had then blown up.

    Big Shaq had found out about itter, but hadn��t bothered himself with the trend and had simply ignored it, however, others didn��t and the song had somehow managed to get inside their head and didn��t want to get out so they had taken to social media asking Big Shaq when the actual song would be released.

    Even Big Shaq was surprised by the number of tags he had seen in thest few weeks concerning the song.

    He was someone who made music for fun and not for the career of it.

    After he had made his first hit, he had tried to build off it with another song, but while that song had made the charts as well, it was mostly due to the fame he had amassed from his first song and the song was not that good.

    He knew that much and only focused on music as a side mission, but now people were calling him for a song and he felt like doing it, hence after the tags had became a bit too much, he finally contacted Jason who had been a co-singer in the formation of the song and wanted to ask him about whether he wanted to feature on the song.

    Jason who was on the receiving end of that text was now stuck in an amused dilemma.

    It wasn��t something he could decide that night and he didn��t want to rush to make a decision, hence he had categorized it as business as well and added it to the number of things he would respond toter, yet as he looked at his phone in the bus, re-reading the message with a clearer mind that wasn��t overwhelmed by excitement, he still couldn��t break out of the amused dilemma he found himself in.

    ��I guess we��ll decide thatter then,��

 Chapter 460: Business and Business? II

    Chapter 460: Business and Business? II

    After putting the matter of the song aside, Jason opened Adele and Maya��s message.

    They contained the same thing in essence, the only difference was in their personal view and how they constructed their messages.

    What he needed to be informed about was that the productunch date of Rosember had been set to February 1st and massive campaigning would be done with Valentine��s Day as a target.

    The product was already being produced massively at the factories and would be sent to the countries that were targeted forunch.

    Thepany had already made deals with quite a few malls and beauty houses where the product would be on sale by counter and there would also be a lot extra that would be avable for delivery to a lot more countries.

    Also, thepany had struck an endorsement deal with Georgina Gio.

    Despite properly appropriating the funds Jason had invested, there still wasn��t a lot left, sothey could only settle on a short term deal with possibility of extension.

    For now, it was only an endorsement deal of ten posts on her social media ounts for a million dors. Maya didn��t want to promise ambassadorship at this point because thepany currently did not have the financial capacity to bear such a burden, but she had hopes for it in the future.

    Jason was d to see that everything had been settled on that end so all he had to do now was to wait until the day of it��s projectunch.

    Suddenly he remembered that he had mentioned earlier that it would be nice to make the projectunch be sometime at the end of the previous year because like it kind of tallied with the ember at the end of their brand name, but unfortunately, thepany couldn��t work with such a schedule��

    Unless they wanted to fail absolutely dismally, of course.

    Nobody wanted that so they ended up with February 1st.

    ��Anyway, back to this,�� Jason thought and his focus returned back to Big Shaq��s offer for a feature on the song.

    Honestly thinking about it, there was no problem with doing it.

    Since it was going to be an actual song, it would be done in a professional setting and would be edited appropriately by a producer so there was not much risk of Jason making a fool of himself on the song, not to mention that there was literally already a teaser of the song out and people liked it.

    It also wasn��t a problem with his identity as there was no problem with him singing a song as a football yer, hell, even people like Memphis Depay had songs out�� though one could not say the songs were top-level.

    ��Fu*k it, let��s just do it, maybe it��ll be fun,�� Jason muttered to himself and responded to Big Shaq��s message.

    {Sure, gimme some details and we can work something out on my schedule} he typed out and pressed ��send��.

    Despite deciding to do it, Jason wasn��t going to break his schedule just so he could record a song. His priority was still football and this interesting side quest of music that had popped up was just that for now.

    A side quest�� nothing more.

    He didn��t have time to chase both a music career and a football career at the same time unless he wanted to be mediocre at both.

    If he was going to do something, then he��d rather do it to the best of his capabilities and would always be reaching for the stars and though his passion for music was mostly listening to songs, if he decided to make a career of singing, he��d want to focus more on it and that would affect his football life and if it didn��t affect that, it��d definitely affect his personal health because juggling two such high-intensity jobs was more than dangerous for one��s health and mentality and Jason didn��t have enough health and mentality to go round.

    An unfortunate but sad truth.

    Once he was done replying, he turned off his phone and closed his eyes to sleep, making a mental note to call his aunt and Adeleter in the day when he was less busy.

    ***

    *Ennd��*

    Michael Dapah felt his phone vibrate as hey on his couch watching TV while stuffing himself with some self-prepared popcorn.

    For someone who was supposed to be a music artist, he was a little too free to do anything he wanted with his time and that was the part he loved most about his life.

    He didn��t have to push himself too much, worrying about his ount bnce running out of zeros because he was spending a lot on promotion and all sorts of money sinkholes.

    His first two songs had made him quite a bit of money and they were still making him money because people were still listening to them, not to mention that during the time of their peak, he had also taken the chance to join a few shows and had made a little extra money.

    Of course, there was also his earnings from social media which guaranteed a steady stream of ie.

    Since he wasn��t like most other chocte-skinned artists who blew all their money on diamond chains and designer clothing, he still had a lot of money left.

    He had his parents to thank for his upbringing that was helping him manage his money and allow him to live like a homebody who did whatever he wanted when he wanted.

    He was living the dream life of every man, sleeping when he wanted, waking when he wanted, ying games when he felt like it, traveling when he felt like it, plus the asionalfort of a female whenever he was feeling frisky.

    The lucky one pulled his phone nearer from afar while still focusing on the TV as the show was currently at a suspense-filled part and he did not want to take his eyes off, so despite having pulled the phone over for quite a bit, he still hadn��t checked his phone.

    It was only when the episode showing was over that he finally remembered that his phone was in his hand.

    Quickly remembering why it was there instead of the original edge of the couch where he usually ced it, he opened it up to check a few things before the next episode of his favorite show began.

    He soon found Jason��s message and a smile appeared on his face.

    ��I guess I��m going to Italy,�� he muttered, remembering that Jason was no longer at Porto.

    ���� After three more episodes,�� he added and threw his phone back over to the edge of the couch as the next episode of the show began.

 Chapter 461: Talent?

    Chapter 461: Talent?

    Chapter 461: Talent?

    The days after winning the trophy was filled with high morale for the Uventus yers. They came to training everyday with their confidence boosted by the newest addition to their trophy cab and trained like men on missions because in reality, the were.

    The previous season, the only thing the Uventus team had won was the league title and they had been runner-ups in the two domesticpetitions so now that they had finally gotten their hands on one of the domestic trophies this season, they also began gunning for the rest.

    It wasn��t just Jason who had greedy thoughts.

    It was the whole team.

    They had even started talking about how this was their year to win everything within their grasp and this mood resonated with everyone.

    The Uventus team was a team that had Champions. Both as yers, managers, and as club staff so everyone was feeling bolstered and this frenzied wave of enthusiasm was exciting everyone especially Jason.

    There was also one other person who was especially excited by the mood at the training ground.

    It was Ronaldo. If one had a had to describe the man with a few words, it would be goal hungry, champion, egoist, conqueror�� and a lot of others.

    He had joined Uventus with a mind to dominate, to win, and to be Champion, however, despite being in such a good team, they had only won the League title which was almost a given because the stronger teams were a bit weaker the previous season.

    He wanted more and he had gotten his first taste of that two days ago and his appetite had been aroused.

    Just as he had began putting in work to get more, he was more than pleasantly surprised to find out that not only did everyone think the same as he did, this time, they were actually showing their desire in their efforts and were training harder than ever.

    This was the kind of goal getting team he wanted�� Not that they were not already that, but he had felt that things were a bit morexpared to Madrid where he had spent many years.

    ��This is good,�� he often thought many times as during training with the team.

    On Jason��s side, he had been fully intent on squeezing everyst bit of usefulness out of his body to learn from the well of experience that was his teammates at Uventus.

    He already knew that there wasn��t any well of supernatural talentying somewhere deep inside him.

    He had two lifetimes to find out and he hadn��t found it, so it was safe to say that it didn��t exist, hence, he could only learn from external sources and then hammer it into his body until it became muscle memory.

    However because of his experience, it made understanding easier, and learning quicker, which made people think that he was talented and at one point, Jason himself had to ept it.

    It wasn��t a talent�� but at the same time, it could not be exined that it wasn��t a talent.

    It was almost like a below average student who had gone through the motions of schooling up till the first degree level having to re-do everything.

    His mind was already conditioned to mental stress and he could remain focused for longer.

    He also did not have any qualms with extended learning periods.

    Armed with all that, he was to go through everything again, but this time, he was supposed to be better than average.

    Of course, it would be easy as even though he hadn��t done it well previously, he had already done it a bit and was thus familiar with it.

    He was literally only learning things again, but this time, he was learning it deeper.

    Of course it��d be easier.

    His previous knowledge of what was supposed to be beyond where he was, was an added bonus that made everyone think that he was ahead of his mates, but only he knew that it wasn��t by that far.

    He was just able to make more use of what he had because he had acquired it through hard work and did not have it in-built.

    Things were really not that deep, but he couldn��t exactly exin so he just let it go.

    He was already ustomed to people calling him talented and he had already chosen to ept things as they were.

    What did it matter anyway? He had once questioned himself once but had never found the answer back then.

    That question arose again when Mylo had done that stand off thing just before he left Porto and it brought back all the annoyance he felt when people thought he was proud of his talent and genius mind just because he didn��t talk a lot and stayed away from most people his age.

    It had been a problem back in his school years in this life because as a grown man mentally, being around children was annoying.

    That he was also in a child��s body didn��t matter.

    It was a mindset thing.

    He was an intelligent being with experiences beyond what he looked like thrust into an odd situation, but he had simply kept his head down and did his own thing.

    He worked hard because he knew he did not have many natural talents and he stayed away from people because that was how he normally was.

    Bing a child didn��t help matters, however, to some people it hade off as snobbish.

    Back then, Jason could easily ignore things, but when Mylo said it, it had taken his all not to hit him in the face right there because Jason knew that Mylo had way more natural talent than he did.

    One only had to look at the numbers that season just to see that.

    Jason had a whole lifetime of experience and still couldn��t sweep trophies like he was ying life on easy mode.

    If someone like Ronaldo, Messi, or Neymar were as lucky as he was, by this time, they��d probably have already won the world cup twice, yet here he was at nearly twenty years of age and the only league title he had was the Portuguese League title that the club would have won even in his absence.

    Other trophies were won together with the help of a strong team that did well to cover his weaknesses.

    He wasn��t the talented guy that the media painted him to be or what everyone thought him to be, he was just a guy trying his best to seed because he wouldn��t be able to live with himself if he failed a second time.

    Hell, even Mylo would have achieved more by this time if he was as lucky as Jason was, but that idiot was wasting away his talent on chasing skirts and was getting jealous of someone who didn��t have more than him in anything but looks and luck.

    *Sigh*

    ��It is what it is,�� Jason thought as he woke up from his thoughts as the squad list for the uing match was posted on the board.

 Chapter 462: Starting Line-up Debut I

    Chapter 462: Starting Line-up Debut I

    Chapter 462: Starting Line-up Debut I

    ***24th January 2021***

    The Uventus arrives at their home stadium, the Allianz Arena, for the next step in their season campaign which was against Bologna.

    Having shortened the points difference between themselves and Inter Mn at the top of the table, they arrived with the determination to build off of that and take all the three points from this match as well.

    With strong minds, they walked into the stadium, some of them waving at the cameras as they walked by.

    After a quick warm up on the pitch, the yers went back to the locker room for a finalization of the line-up.

    The manager had already informed the yers of the line up, but these things could change at any time.

    This time though, there weren��t any changes to be made and the bench yers left fiirst while the yers in the starting lineup headed to the tunnel to await their cue.

    A few minutester, the match kicked off and the fans cheered in excitement. Jason watched the match from the bench, his face impassive.

    He had not been selected in the starting lineup and could only ept that the manager did not yet feel that he was ready for that responsibility yet.

    Unfortunately he couldn��t do much to change that other than to keep doing what he was already doing while waiting patiently.

    As long as he kept doing well, then it would inevitably happen, the only thing to wonder was when it would happen.

    On the field, the match continued excitedly, exciting the fans and keeping their moods up.

    The Uventus fans did not have to wait long for their team to give them something to shout about as in the 15th minute, Arthur connected with a pass from Kulusevski and sent a low drive at the the goal from the edge of the box.

    The Bologna goalkeeper immediately burst into action, but he couldn��t reach the ball and it rolled into the bottom corner, giving Uventus the lead.

    The crowd immediately burst out shouting while the thementator did his best to be heard whilementing on the goal.

    The Uventus yers soaked it all in as they celebrated their goal with almost reckless abandon, but the celebrations didn��t take too long and the match soon continued.

    After already getting one goal, the Uventus yers were intent on getting another, almost desperate, and they sent waves of attack at their opponents, but the Bologna yers desperately resisted their opponents whilst also doing their bit to try and get an equalizer.

    However, despite the efforts of the two teams, the match scores remained at 1:0 when the referee blew his whistle for half-time.

    The yers trotted off the field with heavy breaths, but active minds and went to get their rest, already thinking about how they would y to achieve their goals in the second half.

    Fifteen minutes quickly flew by and the yers were back on the field for the second half.

    The referee��s whistle went off and the match resumed.

    Once again, the Uventus teammenced trying to further their lead while the Bologna team had the arduous task of stopping them from doing that all while trying to get an equalizer for themselves.

    In the end, the Bologna team couldn��t keep up with such a tough duty and during a Uventus corner in the 77th minute, they slipped up and gave the Uventus team a chance to rebound a corner kick.

    After the ball had initially been sent flying in, Chjellini had gotten his head to it and sent it at goal, but the Bologna goal keeper had been at alert and had punched the ball back from whence it came.

    But before the Bologna defenders could reach the ball and clear it away from the danger zone, Mckennie got to it first and after quickly controlling it in frenzy, he hit it back at the goal.

    This time, the ball found the back of the and the Uventus crowd went wild again as their yers celebrated the second goal.

    Jason and the other bench buddies also did their own celebrations on the bench as well.

    Considering that it was already the 77th minute and the manager hadn��t even told him to warm up, Jason figured that he probably wouldn��t be featuring in the match at all.

    It dampened his mood a bit, but then, these things happened in football and he wasn��t going to act like a spoilt child over not getting to y every time.

    Even yers like Messi and Ronaldo were on the bench from time to time, so someone like him didn��t even have the right toin.

    He was just a loan yer in the team for now and it wasn��t like the team wascking for yers in that position so it would be weirder if he became a first choice right from the start.

    Havinge to terms with what was happening, Jason supportively watched his teammates y and hoped for them to score even more.

    Fortunately for the Bologna team, they managed to hold out for the rest of the match, keeping the scores at just 2:0.

    When the final whistle was blown, the Uventus fans erupted in cheers as they had won the match and we��re taking all three points, bringing them to the same number of points with Inter Mn in the no. 1 spot on the table.

    Of course, the Inter Mn team hadn��t yed their match yet and as long as they won their own game, they would once again take an advantage of three points.

    Even now, they had an advantage in the goal difference ranking as well, giving them a strong hold on the no. 1 spot, however, the Uventus fans didn��t care that for the moment and were just happy that their team had won.

    The manager took to the field to congratte the yers and also to celebrate with the fans and the stadium was quickly filled with even more cheering for a while.

    Not ying in the match hadn��t gotten to him and Jason also congratted andmended the guys that yed before they all went to the locker room.

    ****

    ***27th January 2021***

    The days had flown by after that day and the Uventus yers who had been bolstered by their win had their morales flying to the sky at the moment.

    The mood at the training ground was good and was usually full ofughs despite everyone training hard and determinedly.

    The solemnity of their goals didn��t affect them and the yers weren��t showing any signs of bucking under the pressure that was the expectations they and the fans had for the season.

    Today was another matchday for the Uventus team and they had a Coppa Italia match against SPAL at the Allianz Arena and they were ready to give their opponents hell.

    The match was still a ways away and the yers were still at the Continassa for the tactical meeting for the match.

    All the yers who would be involved in the squad had already been informed by the list on the notice board the day before and they were now all seated in the meeting room, waiting for the manager to arrive.

    They didn��t have to wait long as Pirlo walked in with his team a few minutester and the slightly rowdy room became a lot less louder immediately.

    ��Good morning, it��s still morning is it?�� Pirlo greeted as he walked, unsure and quickly holding up his watch to check.

    ��It��s 12:15,�� a voice came from among the yers and the manager confirmed with his watch.

    ��Then afternoon,I guess,��

    ��I see you��re all looking springly,�� Pirlo remarked, putting his things down on a seat in front and grabbing a marker.

    ��Good to see you looking ready to give our opponents hell, I��m thinking the same thing, so without further ado, let��s get right into the game n,�� Pirlo said and unplugged the marker in his hands, ready to scribble on the board.

    ��Our team is obviously a weaker side and shouldn��t present too much of a challenge, but I expect you to y against them like you are ying against Manchester City,��

    ��We move fast, we hit them hard, we kill them quickly and we do not!�� Give them any chances ofing back,�� Pirlo said dramatically, emphasizing thest part of the sentence.

    ��Is that clear?�� Pirlo asked the yers and they responded affirmatively, some of them wondering which movies their manager had been watching in his free time.

    ��Let��s get right into our formation,��

    ��Due to certain circumstances, I have selected the use of a 4-3-3 attacking formation in this match,�� Pirlo paused a bit to let that sink in before continuing.

    ��This will feature the usual back four, two central midfielders at both sides and an attacking midfielder who has both attacking and midfield duties, and then we will have three yers upfront aspared to the usual two,��

    ��The yers in the starting lineup are Gigi Buffon as goalkeeper, Demiral and Dragusin as the two center backs and Di Pardo along with Frambotta in the right and left back positions respectively,�� Pirlo stated, most of the yers he called were youth yers who he would be giving a chance in the match due to the circumstances.

 Chapter 463: Starting Line-up Debut II

    Chapter 463: Starting Line-up Debut II

    Chapter 463: Starting Line-up Debut II

    ��In the center midfield, Bentacur will be the left center midfielder while Nicolo Fagiolie will be the right center midfielder,��

    ��Ramsey will stand in front of them, taking the Center attacking midfielder position,�� Pirlo continued listing the yers in the starting lineup, this time using more experienced hands than youth yers.

    There had to be a careful bnce otherwise he��d be risking the game��s results a little more than necessary.

    ��Upfront, Morata will be the sole striker,�� Pirlo gestured toward Morata, and then continued,

    ��Dyb will be taking point on the right wing, and Jason will be ying on the left,�� Pirlo nodded towards Jason and Dyb.

    The yers around the two of them quickly gave a few low toned congrattions to the two yers as they were special cases.

    Dyb was returning from a long-term injury and was finally getting some time on the pitch after a long time, while Jason was receiving his first start from the manager here at Uventus.

    Pirlo did not pay any attention to the silent conversations going on and went straight into the game n. First drawing eleven circles representing his yers on the board, then he turned back to the yers,

    ��Our tactic for this match is the same as always, quick counter, but due to our shape for this match, some adjustments have been made,��

    ��We will be aiming to control the possession in the game, keeping the ball moving,��

    ��If theye at you, you move the ball to another person or you dribble past your opponent, the choice is yours but just make sure you don��t lose the ball in any dangerous areas,��

    ��If you��re not confident in escaping your opponent��s tackle by yourself, release the ball, there is nothing to be ashamed of and there is nothing you have to prove to me other than that you can be a team yer and follow orders,��

    ��If you y shit, then you��reing off,�� Pirlo intoned boldly, everyone clear that he was talking to the youth yers who had managed to find themselves in the starting lineup.

    ��When we��re not in possession, I want you guys to press hard and use zonal marking to push the opponents wide before going in for the tackle, we must do our best to keep them away from getting a clear shot on goal,�� Pirlo instructed, drawing circles on the board in specific ces.

    ��Once we have the ball back,�� He continued and then drew a couple of arrows on the forwards.

    ��I want you guys moving the ball forward immediately and looking to unleash long balls forward. Jason, Morata, Dyb, and even Ramsey must look for chances to run in behind, but you guys must make sure to time your runs perfectly,��

    ��The same goes for whoever is looking to unlock the defense with the ball, keep your eyes open and ready to send the ball forward,��

    ��Dyb, you have an extra role as a dummy runner, your pace is not enough to outpace most defenders so, I want you making dummy runs towards the center, giving Morata a chance to run wide to recieve a pass if needed,�� Pirlo was focusing on doling out instructions corresponding to the tactics he hoped for his yers to implement.

    After a few more minutes, Pirlo was done exining the formation to all the yers, as even those not in the starting lineup needed to know it as some of them would being off from bench to y in the match and thus they needed to be as familiar with the game n as possible.

    Once the tactical meeting was over, the yers were released and told to rest in preparation for the matching up in the evening.

    Luckily, the match would be taking ce in their home stadium, so they wouldn��t be traveling anywhere and could thus focus on preparing their bodies and mind for the match.

    Jason headed to the cafeteria along with Cuadrado, Mckennie, Dyb, and Ronaldo and the yers went to have lunch courtesy of Ronaldo who always took his nutritionist chef everywhere with him.

    Jason was congratted a few more times for making it into the starting lineup and the group went to eat whileughing.

    **8:32 p.m**

    Jason walked to the tunnel at the Allianz Arena along with the rest of the yers in the starting lineup and they quickly lined up while waiting for their cue to head out to the pitch.

    Soon a set of 11 young children wearing mini versions of the Uventus jersey came to stand beside the yers and that really drove home the fact that Jason was in the starting lineup.

    It felt surreal before and he was a bit nervous, but it was happening and he was excited, though his face didn��t seem to share the same sentiment and it remained mostly impassive as he looked down at the child who would be walking out with him.

    It was a young child that looked to be around eight years old at most.

    ��Hi,�� the little girl said to Jason and waves at him.

    ��Hi to you to kid,�� Jason said with a smile and raised a hand for a high five while he lowered himself to her level.

    The girl high-fived Jason and Jason suddenly shook and said,

    ��Brrrrrr, that��s a lot of luck you��ve got around you, mind sharing some with me?�� He asked with a smile.

    ��If I give you some luck, will you score a goal?�� The little girl didn��t seem to find anything strange about Jason��s words and she responded as if it was a normal conversation.

    ��I don��t think that��s how it works,�� Jason thought, internallyughing, but on the outside, he said,

    ��Sure, I��ll score a goal, anything for you, mydy,�� Jason replied and did a mock bow.

    ��And when you score, do the Fun dance!�� The girl quickly added with enthusiasm.

    ��Fun dance? What��s that?�� Jason asked bbergasted at where this situation was going.

    ��It��s the dance SpongeBob did to teach nkton about fun,�� the girl replied excitedly, leaving Jason even more confused.

    SpongeBob?

    nkton?

    Who were those people?

    But not wanting to sound like a boomer, he smoothly replied,

    ��Oh SpongeBob�� I guess I haven��t watched that episode, why don��t you show me the dance,�� he lied smoothly, taking a gamble on whether the show was a one off or a episode type of thing.

    He vaguely remembered hearing about SpongeBob somewhere, but he couldn��t remember where, after all, he was a grown ass man who hardly had enough time to get on his phone and watch girls shaking their a** all over the ce.

    Where was he going to find time for cartoons that weren��t for the millennials like him?

    Luckily it seemed his gamble yed our well and the girl quickly showed him a weird dance that literally only consisted of waving one��s arm all over the ce.

    ��I can do that,�� Jason quickly said before the dance got any more ridiculous.

    He could already almost witness the social suicide he was about tomit if he dared to score a goal in the game, but there was nothing he couls do about it now.

    Who told him to act all friendly with the little girl.

    Even worse was that their conversation had attracted a camera that was probably recording everything he did and said so far.

    ��Hopefully, it��s not a live camera,�� Jason hoped internally.

    There would be a way around escaping that Fun dance thing as long as this video never surfaced online, Jasonforted himself and stood back up as it was finally time for them to head out of the tunnel.

    Walking briskly out of the tunnel with the referees in ths lead, the yers were bathed with the excited shouts of the Uventus fans long before they appeared out of the tunnel, but the visual presentation to the cheers was new to Jason.

    Despite being simr in modernity, the Allianz Arena boasted of much greater size than the Estadio do Dragao and definitely had a bigger visual effect on Jason.

    However, it wasn��t anything too much for him to cope with and he kept his surprise and nervousness out of his face as he walked onto the pitch while holding the hand of the little girl.

    Thementator was doing his job and talking giving an opening speech while Jason and the others arranged themselves on a single line facing the fans and began the pre-match formalities.

    The anthems were quickly sang and the yers moved to quickly shake one another before moving to one side, letting the captains go meet the referee for the coin toss.

    Jason waved goodbye to the little girl as they headed back into the tunnel.

    While waiting for the captains to be done, Jason rubbed his gloved hands and began doing a few warm up routines while waiting, both because of the cold and because he wanted to warm up a bit more.

    He could not afford to mess up today.

    At this point, Jason was finally in the frame of mind to listen to the referee who was at that moment, givingments on the yers formation for the game.

    {On Uventus�� left wing stands the new man. It��s his first start for the club and many people are expectant of what he has in store}

    {If he scores here today, we will get to see SpongeBob��s fun dance! I��m sure a lot of us hope that he does} thementator said harmlessly but inside Jason��s head, he went,

    ��Sh*t,��

 Chapter 464: Starting Line-up Debut III

    Chapter 464: Starting Line-up Debut III

    Chapter 464: Starting Line-up Debut III

    *Fweeeeeeee*

    The referee��s shrill whistle kicked off the game and the ball immediately began moving across the field.

    Quickly putting aside the matter of social suicide that he faced and returning his focus back to the football game that had just kicked off, Jason was in time to receive the ball from Bentacur.

    Before he could even move, a SPAL yer came rushing at him, prompting his instincts to take over in that split second.

    Moving as if he would try to carry the ball in field, Jason tricked the yer into jumping into a tackle in that direction, but the moment the yer took to the air, Jason was already flicking the ball to the left with his left leg and escaping the tackle.

    The Uventus fans cheered in appreciation of such an exciting maneuver from Jason, but Jason paid them no attention as he was focused on the ball.

    With one guy out of the way, Jason immediately made to burst forward, but he soon realized that he was hoping for too much.

    The game had barely started and all the SPAL yers except the one that had flown at him were still in their half, making it too difficult a mission to break past them. However, Jason didn��t want to give up too quickly and still moved forward, only turning at thest minute to send the ball infield to Morata who quickly sent the ball back to the midfielders.

    The attack didn��t blossom like Jason or the Uventus fans were expecting, but with such an exciting start to the game, they expected a lot from their yers going forward.

    #15th minute��

    The match has settled into afortable one for the Uventus side and they had controlled the ball for the most part, leaving the SPAL yers to do most of the chasing and the possession stats for the game so far was 72% for Uventus while SPAL were struggling with just 28%.

    The few SPAL fans at the Allianz Arena were looking at their team with cautious faces as they knew that if the game continued like that for much longer then things would get bad soon for their side.

    Already, Uventus was already making them run all over the pitch while smoothly evading their yers tackles and were already taking shots at the SPAL goalkeeper, but perhaps because the SPAL yer were still very energetic, they were doing enough to keep out the cautious Uventus team.

    Jason had been especially having fun on the left nk with his marker

    Already, he had four sessful dribbles and this was with him not bursting forward on the attack because of how cautiously his teammates were ying, but he couldn��t me them.

    The forwardsprised mostly of yers who could hold their ground, but the back four were mostly youth yers who didn��t have much experience on the big stage and one mistake from them was all that was needed to put them on the back foot.

    It wasn��t like the forwards and the midfielders didn��t trust their defenders either, but they were not too hasty to attack as they didn��t want to risk any problems in the defense.

    Jason understood that, but he had had enough of the cautious gamey and the moment the ball reached him once again, he took the opportunity to burst forward.

    First tipping the ball in-between the legs of his marker before running behind to get the ball, Jason soon found himself surrounded by the SPAL yers since his teammates weren��t drawing them away by making runs forward.

    First moving the ball slightly to the left and then jumping over a yer that came flying in, Jason continued his run towards the SPAL penalty box.

    At this point, his teammates were already making runs forward to support him, but he was no longer able to stop his movements and raced towards rhe penalty box while holding off the third defender that came rushing at him.

    While holding off the defender from the right, Jason finally made it to the penalty box, but with the guy he was holding off in the way, he couldn��t get a clear chance at goal, so he tried faking a shot with his left leg before quickly pulling the ball back and trying to send it behind him and to the right, sessfully cutting back, however the SPAL defender had different ns in mind.

    Then Jason had faked the shot, he had jumped in the way, but when Jason pulled the ball behind him, he realized he had been tricked and his hand instinctively reached out but because he had miscalcted earlier was almost falling and grabbing Jason��s hand, he pulled him down along wirh him, putting an end to Jason��s attacking efforts.

    *Fweeeeeeeee*

    The referee quickly came running over while pointing towards the penalty spot.

    {Penalty!} Thementator confirmed for the Uventus fans a word they wanted to hear very much.

    {The SPAL defender managed to put an end to the Uventus man��s splendid run, but it didn��te without cost}

    Ramsey quickly came over to help Jason up and on rising to his feet, Jason quickly patted himself down but not before giving a stink eye to the defender who had ruined his efforts thus far.

    He had ended up getting a penalty for the team, but Jason already knew that there was no way he was going to take it and that was annoying for him when he had done literally all the work.

    Not that he hated helping out, but that was when his own interests were not at stake and this time they were because Jason had wanted to end that run with a goal, or at least an attempt on goal, not falling on his ass and giving the goal scoring chance to someone who was hauling ass behind but not hauling it fast enough to be of any help.

    ��Tch,�� Jason clicked his tongue as he started walking outside the box while Morata picked up the ball and ced it on the penalty spot ording to the the pre-determined arrangements.

 Chapter 465: Starting Line-up Debut IV

    Chapter 465: Starting Line-up Debut IV

    Chapter 465: Starting Line-up Debut IV

    *Fweeeeeeeee*

    At the referee��s whistle, Morata ran at the ball and hit it hard towards the top left corner of the goal.

    The SPAL goalkeeper followed the ball with his eyes but wasn��t able to do the same with his body and the ball smashed into the back of the.

    {Goal!!!}

    {Well taken penalty! He put it in the top corner and the keeper had no chance} thementator shouted while Morata ran towards the sidelines and did his Spanish archer celebration.

    The Uventus yers went to join him in celebration, even Jason.

    He was already over the fact that he missed his chance earlier, after all, it didn��t matter anymore.

    What ifs were nice to debate and all, but debating a what if for a hundred years wouldn��t change anything and would even keep one static and unmoving. Jason didn��t need that.

    He had missed one chance, all that was left was to try again.

    The match had barely started anyway.

    After less than a minute of celebration, the Uventus yers quickly started heading back to their half of the field, with all to y for in the rest of the game.

    The unfortunate SPAL yers also headed to their positions, now faced with the daunting task of keeping the high-flying Uventus yers from putting more goals past them while also striving to score an equalizer of their own and get the game back under control.

    One thing was for sure though, there were exciting minutes ahead for the football fans at the Allianz Arena and for those watching the game from thefort of their homes or bars.

    #33rd minute��

    {It��s Uventus with the corner!}

    {They��ve been doing all they can to further their lead since going forward, but SPAL have been resisting}

    {How much longer can they resist!}

    {How much longer can they keep Uventus out!?} Thementatormented as Jason sent the ball flying in from the right side.

    The Uventus yers and the SPAL yers leaped into the air, both with the aim of reaching the ball first, but it was a SPAL yer thay reached the ball first and he tried to clear the ball, but couldn��t send the ball too far away and the ball just barely reached the edge of the penalty box when Ramsey reached it and headed it towards a teammate.

    Dyb deftly controlled the ball after receiving it from Ramsey and quickly evaded a SPAL defender as he looked for a chance to shoot, but there were too many bodies in his way and he opted to pass the ball to another teammate instead.

    Frambotta had been standing just outside the left side of the penalty box waiting around to see if his help was needed when the ball came rolling his way.

    Not knowing what to do, the ball seemed to call to him to shoot and he ran at it nervously and just hit it at goal after managing to find a little space in-between the yers crowding the penalty box.

    {He has a go!?} Thementator shouted expectantly, but he has barely finished speaking when the ball rocketed past everyone and somehow found the back of the.

    {Ohhhh! What a hit! What a hit!}

    Frambotta was no longer listening to the referee as he was already running down the sidelines in youthful frenzy at scoring his first senior team goal.

    He didn��t get far before he was hugged by a teammate, but he let out his excitement by shouting instead.

    His teammates soon joined him in celebrating and the joy was not lost on the fans either who joined in the celebration with their excited cheers.

    There was a lot to cheer for after all, but the celebrations didn��t go on for too long as as the match was still ongoing and the Uventus yers were soon back on their way to their half of the field.

    #45+1��

    After scoring their second, the Uventus team had been working even harder to increase their lead even more, but so far they hadn��t seeded and the first half was slowlying to an end.

    The assistant referee had held up the board earlier to signify that there would be two minutes of added time and one minute was already gone.

    With the mind that the whistle to end the first half whistle was about to be blown, the SPAL team rxed for a bit, but that was all Dyb needed to spot Jason making an incisive run behind the SPAL defense line.

    Dyb did not hesitate to send a sweeping through pass over that made it behind the defenders and into Jason��s path as he ran forward from the left.

    Catching the ball on his right leg, he flickedit forward with his first touch and ran straight after it at the goalkeeper.

    {He��s in behind, one on one!} Thementator shouted as Jason faced off against the goal keeper as he ran in from the left front of the box.

    The SPAL goalkeeper had rushed out at Jason and just as Jason was angling himself to take the shot, the goalkeeper had already flown into the way and spread himself wide, but the next moment he regreted his decision as Jason suddenly corrected his body and swept the ball forward past his left, leaving him sprawling on the ground like a fool, grasping at nothing but straws.

    After sweeping the ball past the goalkeeper and facing an open goal, Jason did not hesitate to flick the ball with the front of his foot and begin running to the sidelines as the ball rolled into the back of the.

    As he ran, he added the SpongeBob dance to his running style and ran while ying his arms all over the ce before jumping into a knee slide at the end of it.

    {Promised fulfilled and Uventus have three!} Thementator shouted as Jason��s teammates arrived to join him in celebration.

    It was only at this moment that Jason realized that he didn��t feel embarrassed at all at fulfilling his promise and doing the so called fun dance.

    Rather he was too happy to even care about how the world perceived him at that moment.

    The assistant referee however put a dampener on Jason��s mood and the fans excitement stalled when they saw the assistant referee holding up the offside g.

 Chapter 466: Starting Line-up Debut V

    Chapter 466: Starting Line-up Debut V

    Chapter 466: Starting Line-up Debut V

    {What��s this here, the assistant referee has his g up for offside!} Thementator��s words put a huge dampner on the celebrations taking ce and the celebrations stalled immediately as everyone turned over to the referee.

    Immediately, the referee put his hand to his ear to listen to the opinions of the VAR and everyone waited with bated breath as the referee listened.

    Soon the referee started heading off the field, seemingly not satisfied by what he was hearing and wanted to personally check for himself.

    The tension among the Uventus fans went up another notch as the referee ran off to the little screen on the sidelines, but their apprehension was all for naught as the referee was soon running back to the field while signaling for the goal to be allowed.

    The crowd once again erupted in cheers after hearing that the goal would not be disallowed and they let their joy known in their cheers

    The yers on the field were also happy that the goal would stand as it meant their lead would be further extended which was another step in the right direction.

    Jason was especially happy as he was the one who had scored the goal.

    Imagine if after doing that weird fun dance, the goal was disallowed. How embarrassing that would be. As Jason and his teammates took their positions again in their half of the field, the rey of the goal began to show on the screens.

    The assistant referee had raised the g because of how close Jason was to crossing the offside line when Dyb made the pass, but luckily, Jason was a few inches short of running past the line when the ball came flying in from Dyb��s pass.

    Hence the goal wasn��t offside and wasn��t close enough that it could be considered controversial. It was clearly an onside goal.

    Back on the field, the yers were already heading to the tunnel as the referee already blew for half-time.

    ��Maestro senpai,�� Jason hailed Dyb as they walked into the tunnel, dapping the guy as Dybughed in response.

    It was his first game in a while and he had managed to get two assists already in he first half so he was quite happy at the moment.

    It was already a good performance on his return to the team and now Jason had another person topete with for a spot in the starting lineup, but Jason didnt mind this kind of healthypetition and even hoped for Dyb to y even better.

    This way, it was better for the team and would motivate him to y even better.

    Jason wasn��t aversive topetition.

    As they reached the locker room, the Uventus yers sat on the benches while the managermended their efforts and began to run through the game n again with the yers, fine tuning the ces he thought required some adjustments.

    Fifteen minutester, the yers were heading back to the field, ready to continue from where they stopped and even go further.

    ****

    #57th minute��

    More than ten minutes after the whistle for the kickoff of the second half had blown and the SPAL yers were already sweating bullets trying to keep the Uventus from adding more goals to the ones they already had.

    The Uventus yers were ying with their morale flying skyhigh and even the defense that people thought would be weaker than usual because of the presence of youth squad yers were doing exceptionally well and keeping out the SPAL yers from getting any clear shots on goal.

    What the young yerscked in skill and experience, they made up for in energy and enthusiasm as they worked hard to shut down attacks from every angle as the SPAL yers tried to kick off aeback.

    The Uventus forwards were not just sitting around either and they had also been doing well to keep the pressure high.

    They were doing their own defending from the front, after all, attack is the best form of defense.

    Soon, a chance opened up for the Uventus team on the right with Fagiolie finding Dyb on the right side of the penalty box with a defense-splitting through pass.

    Dyb got on the end of the ball and tried to run into the penalty box, but his path was quickly blocked by his marker.

    Thinking fast, Dyb tried to run a bit forward and then cut in, but the SPAL yer saw right through him and kept up with the Uventus man, continually blocking all his efforts to get past.

    He wasn��t even letting Dyb send the ball past him instead and forced the Uventus yer into turning back and sending a pass back to his teammates, seemingly ending the attack.

    The SPAL yers quickly rushed back out to try and steal the ball, happy that they had killed off yet another Uventus attack, but they weren��t thinking that for long.

    As soon as they rushed out to try and recover possession, the Uventus right back who had received the ball earlier sent a chip pass over the wave of yers who surged forward.

    Dyb didn��t waste time and ran after the ball, managing to reach it with enough time to spare.

    Before his marker could reach him, Dyb controlled the ball deftly and sent a high cross into the penalty box.

    {Looking for Jason!?}

    {He��s all alone!} Thementator shouted as Jason ran into SPAL��s penalty box,pletely alone as he ran into the path of the ball.

    Somehow Jason��s marker was nowhere to be found and Jason arrived in the path of the ball before it reached him and when he was thinking of how to hit the ball, a daring idea appeared in his head and immediately took root.

    Quickly ncing around to see that there was no one near enough to be affected by what he was about to do, Jason lunged into the air, already adding a spin into his motion before taking off.

    It looked like he was going to meet the ball with his back, but suddenly his leg followed a movement and Jason met the ball mid-air with a roundhouse kick.

 Chapter 467: Starting Lineup Debut VI

    Chapter 467: Starting Lineup Debut VI

    Chapter 467: Starting Lineup Debut VI

    {Oh my God!}

    {I��ve not seen that one before, but it��s effective! The ball is in the back of the!} Thementator was in shock at what he had just watched Jason do and so was the crowd.

    In fact the crowd was even more bbergasted but, Jason didn��t care about their thoughts at that moment as he had just scored another goal and only wanted to celebrate in that moment.

    Quickly running over to the sidelines, Jason did a little shadowboxing before falling on his back like he had been K.Oed.

    {That ball should be filing charges of physical abuse against the young yers. Just look at how he hit it!} Thementator shouted in excitement while the crowd was going wild at the goal.

    {What a spectacle of a goal, and with it, he��s sent the opponents even further behind!}

    {Surely now, there��s no way back!}

    The SPAL yers didn��t need thementator��s words to know that the game was already over for them. Despite having more than thirty minutes left in the game, there was almost no hope radiating from any of the SPAL yers.

    How could there be?

    Scoring four against a team like Uventus could only happen on special days when they were in exceptionally terrible form, but it was clear that this Uventus was in anything but bad form and would likely even add to their tally instead of conceding as many as four goals.

    However, that didn��t mean they would give up on trying.

    Doing that much was their job, whether they had hope or not.

    They weren��t being paid a sry for nothing after all.

    ***

    #72nd minute��

    Jason walked over to the sidelines, pping his hands as he walked over.

    Despite his performance in the game so far and the chance of him scoring a hat-trick, the manager had decided to take him off and Jason found his jersey number in red on the board.

    Jason had his own opinions on being taken off and would have preferred to stay on to try andplete the hat-trick, but there was nothing he could say if the manager wanted him off.

    It was already good enough that he had started the game and yed well till now, but he was already quite tired, though he wouldn��t admit it.

    Dapping Chiesa and sharing a half-hug, Jason stepped off the field and waved at the fans before heading to his seat.

    Pirlo patted him on the back and said,

    ��You did good, get some rest,��

    Jason nodded affirmatively, happy at the managers words as they boded well for his future in the team��s lineup.

    Receiving a fewmendingments from his teammates, Jason sat on the bench to watch the rest of the game.

    #77th minute��

    The Uventus team hadn��t given up on adding to their tally and they were currently on a counter attack, racing towards the SPAL half of the field.

    The SPAL defenders quickly raced to intercept them, blocking the middle of the field so the ball was soon thrown over to the right nk where Kulusevski was.

    Catching the ball a few meters from the edge of the box, Kulusevski didn��t need any extra stimulus to rush into the penalty box.

    A SPAL defender gave chase and jumped into the Uventus man��s path as he tried to shoot, but as the SPAL defender flew into a tackle, Kulusevski cut back, escaping the tackle and cutting further inside, evading yet another SPAL defender before firing home.

    The ball flew powerfully at the top right corner and the goalkeeper couldn��t match it in ferocity, only able to watch it fly past his outstretched hands.

    {And they pile on the misery!!!}

    {5 nil! This is an absolute trashing!}

    Thementator��s excited shouts reverberated in the Allianz Arena as the Uventus yers and their fans celebrated another goal in the game.

    At this point, the SPAL yers didn��t react much, they just wanted the match to be over already as no matter their efforts, they were thwarted and punished for even trying.

    ��Fuck!�� One of the SPAL yers cursed under his breath as he headed back to his position for the kickoff for the umpteenth time in the game.

    He didn��t like what was happening, but his efforts to change the status quo was like a fly trying to shake the wall of China.

    Nothing was moving.

    Unfortunately, he didn��t have a choice but to keep wasting energy pushing until the final whistle, hoping for a constion goal.

    ***

    #90+3��

    The match was already at its final moments as the four added minutes were about to run out, but at the moment, the match was still going on.

    The referee had already put the whistle to his mouth, ready to blow once the Uventus attack came to an end, however, the Uventus team had different ns in mind.

    They didn��t want to end the match without hearing the loud outburst of the fans one more time and a cross soon flew into the penalty box, just awaiting the perfect touch.

    Chiesa was the one who did exactly that, fighting off his marker and diving at the ball, head first, he caught it off his head and sent it past the goalkeeper for thest time in the game.

    {Goal! Uventus!}

    {We thought it was over! How many more do they want!?}

    {They have presented their opponents with onest gift but it��s not the gift they wanted!} Thementator shouted as Chiesa ran down the sidelines celebrating while his teammates chased after him in excited frenzy.

    The SPAL yers couldn��t even be bothered to hurry up the Uventus yers celebrration.

    The match was already over anyway and the referee��s whistle went off as soon as the ball was kicked off again.

    {It is over!}

    {Uventus advance to the semi-finals and they have done it spectacrly}

    {6 unresponded goals!}

    {They swept through their opponents and didn��t even present them with a fighting chance!}

    {It was glorious and the Uventus fans are pleased and will be even more pleased if their team can keep up this good form going forward}

 Chapter 468: Studio Sesh I

    Chapter 468: Studio Sesh I

    Chapter 468: Studio Sesh I

    With his training vest back on to stave off some of the cold, Jason walked towards a setup for the post-match interview.

    It was finally his turn to be interviewed and after being called, he walked towards the reporters with his hands tucked into the coat he had put on over the training vest.

    Surprisingly, his hands were empty despite his performance in the match because whoever was deciding to hand out MOTM awards had thought that Dyb��s three assists were more worthy of the award than Jason��s two goals.

    Jason couldn��t fault their logic, but it didn��t feel too good to have been passed over even after his performance in the match.

    The fleeting thought that if the manager had left him on the field, he might havepleted a hat-trick and would have then been more than worthy of the MOTM award, had popped up in his head, but he shook it away.

    The award could still have ended up going to Dyb even if he did score a hat-trick.

    ��Well, it doesn��t matter anyway, I can always try again next match,�� Jason consoled himself internally as he finally reached the front of the huge card thay wouls serve as the background for the interview.

    Less than a minute of adjustmentster, Jason was standing with his back facing the card with a mic in his face and a camera pointing his way. ��Wonderful match it was, how did you feel out there starting your first game for Uventus,�� the reporter holding the mic asked Jason.

    ��I��m err�� I��m grateful for the chance to get out there and y. It��s nice to get the green light from the manager to get out there and err, you know�� Perform,�� Jason replied, choosing his words carefully.

    ��You performed spectacrly many would say, scoring two goals, further adding to your tally, and making this three goals in three games. How much more do you have in store for us?�� The reporter quickly moved on to the next question.

    ��Uh, it��s always good to score goals and I��m happy I could get on the score sheet today as well. As for what��sing next����

    ��Well, we��ll see when that timees, but I��ll always be looking to do my best for the team,�� Jason shrugged.

    ��Coming next for the team after this is a match against Sampdoria. What do you think of your chances against them?�� The reporter moved on to the next question, a friendly smile on his face as he did his job.

    ��Against Sampdoria?�� Jason asked in slight surprise.

    ��Of course, I fancy our chances. They��re not going to be an easy opponent, but I believe more in my teammates than I fear them�� By a great margin, so I think we��re going to win,�� Jason answered smoothly.

    He wasn��t one to downgrade teams that were weaker than his own because he also used to be in their shoes�� Being the weaker opponent, but things had changed and this was already giving them more than enough respect.

    There was no dimension in which Sampdoria ever outpaced Uventus in any aspect�� At least, he hadn��t seen any.

    ��Thank you, that will be all,�� the reporter nodded in response to Jason��s answer and released him.

    ��Thank you for having me,�� Jason replied and walked off heading to the locker room since the interview was over and there was nothing else keeping him on the field.

    *******

    ***28th January 2021***

    The Uventus yers were given a day off to rest and recuperate after their match and Jason was included on that list of yers.

    However, he wasn��t going to be spending his day off recuperating in bed or on a couch, but rather, he would be fulfilling a prior engagement that has been scheduled for today.

    After agreeing to do a song with Big Shaq, he had told the man to schedule something and today was the only day he would be free enough for such an endeavor.

    All his other days were packed full.

    After telling Big Shaq, the man had quickly gotten to work apparently and seemed to havee to Italy, gotten a studio for the session, and done a few other things, only leaving Jason with the duty of showing up.

    Since everything was already seemingly ready, Jason woke up that morning, did a few yoga routines to help with muscle exhaustion and then washed up in preparation to go out.

    ��Thank the Lord for things like Uber,�� Jason thought to himself as the car he chartered to take him to the agreed location drove quickly through the streets.

    It was getting a bit annoying for Jason who didn��t have a car to move around.

    Luckily, he could leave to the training grounds with Ronaldo every morning, but should be have any other thing that required him going out, he would have to settle jt himself and after being used to a car for so long, it was super annoying that that convenience was gone.

    ��Maybe I should get a car?�� he wondered internally as he watched the cars that flew by him.

    He didn��t want to have to borrow a car from hisndlord as that was a line Jason wasn��t willing to cross.

    It wasn��t even about pride. It just felt weird to him though he couldn��t exin why.

    He still had a couple million dors stashed in his ount for emergencies.

    He hadn��t invested all the money he made from his earlier investments into Rosember and had set a little aside for personal use and emergencies, so it wasn��t like he couldn��t buy a car if need be, and with how things were going, it seemed like that was what he would end up doing.

    ��What car should I buy though?�� Jason muttered to himself in a low tone, but the driver in the front seat heard his words and nced at him through the mirror, but didn��t look for long.

    Jason was wearing a nose mask, dark sses, and a hoodie so his face couldn��t be seen.

    He had also made sure to walk a bit of a distance away from Ronaldo��s house before joining up with the car, so at most, the driver would think he was a celebrity hiding his movements, but wouldn��t be able to tell who he was.

 Chapter 469: Studio Sesh II

    Chapter 469: Studio Sesh II

    Chapter 469: Studio Sesh II

    ��We��re here,�� the driver told the weirdly dressed customer in the backseat as he stopped outside Head Studios.

    In the parking space in front of the building we��re a few conspicuous cars that attracted nces from the passerby��s and that sight had the driver nce into the mirror back at Jason again.

    With this, he was almost a hundred percent sure that Jason was a celebrity musician, but he couldn��t remember seeing someone like Jason before despite being someone a bit knowledgeable about music himself.

    ��Could it be Travis Scott? Nahhh, he wouldn��t be in a cab,��

    ��Or ASAP Rocky�� Nah, he wouldn��t go anywhere without Rihanna,�� the driver sank into investigative thoughts, but Jason waspletely unaware and simply pushed open the door, having already paid electronically.

    ��Thanks,�� Jason muttered and walked off in the direction of the building, not giving another nce at the driver as his mind was still on the kind of car that he should buy during his time here in Turin.

    Seeing some of the beautiful cars in front of the studio had triggered his cravings for a beautiful car and now he was calcting how much he had to establish a budget for the car he was going to buy.

    However, his mind wasn��t fully taken over by that and he pulled out his phone to call Big Shaq. From what he knew, this ce was more of an exclusive studio and was frequented by quite a few celebrities, hence not just anyone would be allowed in.

    Jason had done his research on receiving information aboutthe location, and from the thick sized bodyguards standing at the entrance, Jason could tell that his thoughts were correct.

    Not wanting to have to reveal his face just to get in, he decided to call the person who invited him as he walked over.

    One ringter, Big Shaq was on the line and Jason told him he was outside.

    ��Hey guys,�� Jason greeted the guys at the door while he waited for the Shaq to arrive.

    ��Do you have an appointment?�� One of the tough-looking guys asked Jason,pletely ignoring his greeting.

    ��Actually�� Yes, I do,�� Jason responded, not giving in to the temptation to say something sarcastic despite the rude way the guy had spoken.

    Before the guys at the door could say anything else, the door opened from the inside and Jason saw the man who had invited him there.

    ��Sup,�� Jason muttered, doing a two-finger wave at Big Shaq.

    ��He��s with me,�� Big Shaq said in broken Italian to the guards at the door, evidently struggling with thenguage.

    ��Thank you,�� Resisting the urge to act rudely to the guard who had spoken rudely to him earlier, Jason walked into the building.

    His eyes were immediately greeted with the sight of well well-decorated and modern looking lobby.

    ��Nice setup,�� Jason whistled as he walked into the room, keeping his hands in the pockets of his oversized hoodie.

    ��Yeah, it��s an okay ce. It��s got all the facilities and shi I guess,�� Shaq replied and offered Jason his hand.

    ��I guess that��s what counts,�� Jason muttered with a smirk and dapped Shaq, but his expression was hidden beneath the mask on his face.

    ��It is,��

    ��You��re doing well for yourself here man, you were fire yesterday,�� Shaq suddenly changed the topic.

    ��You watched the match?�� Jason asked in surprise.

    ��Of course, how could I be in Turin and not watch Uventus y, but enough about that,��

    ��Let��s talk about you roundhouse kicking that ball into the back of the. That was absolutely crazy man,�� Shaq spoke animatedly, showing his love for football.

    ��I guess it was,�� Jason nodded smugly, enjoying his ego being stroked.

    ��We can discuss thatter though, how about we get this show on the road,�� Jason added before Shaq went on and distracted them from their goal.

    ��Ah yeah, right, about that, there are a two things I want to say,�� on being reminded of their goal, Shaq took the lead and started walking towards the staircase.

    ��And they are?�� Jason asked, suspicious of the way Shaq wes talking.

    ��Well, first, I have another guy also going to be on the song, a friend of mine. Ghanian guy, musician, rapper,��

    ��Name��s Medikal, he��s helped a lot with the song and we already have everything down, so you��ll only have to do your part,�� Shaq said as they reached the steps.

    ��Oh, sure. It��s your song, I don��t have any issues with who you want on it,�� Jason answered half-heartedly but honestly.

    He didn��t really care who Shaq brought on the song and if the person was even someone who helped out, that was even less of a reason to be bothered.

    It was already good that the person had helped withpleting the lyrics of the song that was just a free style previously and had not beenpleted yet.

    ��What��s the second thing?�� Jason asked, moving on.

    ��Uh, well, there will be a dy in our schedule for today,�� Shaq said carefully, his tone worried.

    ��Why?�� Jason already didn��t like what he was hearing, but he still asked in a calm tone.

    ��Did you see those cars outside?�� Shaq answered Jason with a question.

    ��How could I miss them?�� Jason returned a question as well.

    ��I n to get myself something like that,�� he added internally.

    ��Well, only one of them is mine,�� Shaq replied to Jason.

    ��You don��t say?�� Jason replied sarcastically as in his mind, that much was obvious, after all, one couldn��t exactly drive more than one car at a time.

    ��Yeah, the other owners are here as well, and they are also recording a song,�� Shaq replied, ignoring Jason��s sarcasm.

    ��What? Why?��

    ��Didn��t you make an appointment with the studio?�� Jason asked, his left eyebrow slowly rising and his annoyance rising along with it.

    ��I did, but�� It��s hard to exin,�� Shaq replied as they reached the top of the stairs and walked into the recording area.

    Looking around, there were quite a few faces in the recording area all seated in the avable seats while in the studio, someone was singing into the mic.

 Chapter 470: Studio Sesh III

    Chapter 470: Studio Sesh III

    Chapter 470: Studio Sesh III

    ��Are they the ones?�� Jason asked Shaq, his eyes falling on the three women and one man seated on the chairs, all focusing on a guy who was in the booth and rapping in Italian.

    ��Uh yeah, they also had an appointment with the studio which was scheduled forter, but there was some emergency with their schedule or something, so they��re recording earlier,�� Shaq exined to Jason, his hands moving to the back of his head nervously.

    ��So they��re infringing on our schedule because of their own issues?�� Jason asked in annoyance, but his voice was low enough that they couldn��t hear his words from where he stood.

    He was also talking in English so there was an even lower risk of them hearing and understanding his words, but at this point, Jason didn��t care.

    He also had a schedule to follow and would have spent most of his day training if not for this recording session.

    ��I don��t really know, I don��t speak Italian and all, but that��s what they told me,�� Shaq replied hesitantly.

    ��And you just let it slide? Who told you that anyway?�� Jason asked, his brow creasing in annoyance.

    ��One of those women,�� Shaq gestured to the women sitting and Jason��s eyes turned back to them again. ��I get that it��s my fault and sh*t, but I don��t speak Italian and they can��t speak English too well, so there��s amunication problem, innit,��

    ��Also, it��s kinda like their country and we��re just stopping by for a bit. Plus it seems like they��re quite the big shots in the showbiz business over here,�� Shaq exined to Jason, trying to make him understand why the situation ended like this.

    ��Ah fu*k,�� Jason muttered and his right hand flew into his hair, unintentionally knocking away the hoodie as he ran his hands through his hair in aggravation.

    ��Did you at least ask how long it would take,�� Jason asked, his annoyance draining away.

    There was nothing he could do other than going over to go argue their rights, and he wasn��t feeling like getting into a vocal confrontation this morning, he was still drained from the previous match.

    ���� They said it shouldn��t take too long,�� Shaq replied after a pause.

    ��And how long is that supposed to be? I need specifics man,�� Jason intoned sternly, but looking at Shaq��s face, he figured the guy didn��t have the answers he wanted.

    Rolling his eyes at Shaq, Jason stepped forward, walking towards the guests who were using his time.

    He was going to get the answers himself and if the answers were beyond what he could ept, then he was done here.

    Spending his day waiting around in a studio session while watching others work was not how he nned his day going.

    Their being apparently famous in Italy didn��t matter to him.

    He didn��t know them anyway.

    Pulling off his face mask before he spoke, Jason opened his mouth as he stopped in front of them.

    ��Gentleman,�� he began, talking to the man among them,

    ���� Anddies,�� he continued, taking off his sses as he turned to the three women and his blue eyes bore down sharply on them, colder than usual because of his annoyance at having his schedule tampered with.

    ��I just arrived for a scheduled studio session, but I��m hearing that you need some of our time due to your emergencies,��

    ��Could you give me an estimate of how long I��d have to wait?�� Jason went straight to the point, not interested in engaging in any wordy with these guys who were rudely eating into his time.

    ��You��re with him?�� One of the women responded, her eyes turning to Shaq who was just behind Jason.

    She spoke in Italian and sounded surprised that Jason could speak Italian.

    ��Technically, yes, we came here because we have some work to do together, but you��re interrupting that,�� Jason replied, his tone cordial, but his words anything but.

    ��Aren��t you that Jason Bolukale guy?�� A voice came from the side and Jason turned to see the guy in the studio had stepped out and was walking towards him.

    Everyone else in the studio now had their eyes on Jason, but he simply ignored it and stared back at the guy who had recognized him.

    ��I do go by that name, but I fail to see how that has anything to do with my question,�� Jason thought he was cool, but it seemed he was more annoyed than he thought and his words were getting sharper by the minute.

    ��I��m Federico, you can call me Fedez,�� the guy ignored Jason��s tone and put out his hand for a handshake and Jason could see that they were covered in tattoos.

    ncing at the tattoos on his neck as well as what he could see through the open cor shirt he was wearing, Jason had no doubt that the guy was probably almostpletely covered in tattoos underneath his clothing, but that was no concern of his.

    ��I��m Jason�� you can call me Jason,�� Jason replied and grabbed the guy��s hand.

    ��Haha, ok, Jason, I have to apologize, this one is on me,�� Fedezughed a bit, but Jason was looking at him with the words, ��who��sughing with this guy,�� in his eyes.

    Jason��s look quickly made Fedez get to the point and after coughing a bit, he began to exin the situation.

    ��So, I��m supposed to do a song with those guys, we actually already did one before for a movie, but while we were writing that one, we had some inspiration and wanted to do another song,��

    ��So well, we had an arrangement to do it together, but a lot of things havee up in our various schedules and we don��t have much time left to match our schedules,��

    ��I for one have to be at a car show in a few hours, and they others also have schedules that make it harder for us to meet anytime soon,��

    ��I wanted use to quickly get this out of the way so that we can all focus on our own business, I apologize for inappropriately taking up your time,�� Fedez apologized.

    ���� You said you have to be at a car show in a few hours����

    �� What kind of cars will be at the show?��

 Chapter 471: Studio Sesh IV

    Chapter 471: Studio Sesh IV

    Chapter 471: Studio Sesh IV

    ��What kind of cars will be at the show?�� Jason asked, his mind already moving past the original argument point and focusing on the keywords he had just heard.

    Jason was someone who held a special love for cars so hearing a car show was enough to cause all his annoyance to blow away.

    He had even justined about not having a car, and now he was hearing about a car show.

    How could all his annoyance not get thrown out the window?

    ��Uh, it��s a Ferrari car show. You may have heard about it, it��s called Ferrari Racing Days,�� Fedez replied, slight confused in the direction that the conversation was going.

    ��Sounds like a Ferrari exclusive event�� Well, Ferrari��s not bad, just expensive,�� Jason muttered in a tone so low that only he could hear.

    ��I have to be there as I have an endorsement deal with Ferrari and all,�� Fedez continued speaking, seeing Jason��sck of response.

    Apart from having to be there to fulfill his promotional duties, being at the show meant he would meet people who could own Ferraris. Any one of those people was a connection worth having and Fedez would never say no to having too many connections, hence his hurry.

    Unfortunately, he couldn��t put aside the project with the other guys as they were also big guys in the industry as well.

    ��We are almost done and will soon be out of your hair in thirty minutes tops,�� Fedez quickly added, not wanting to offend Jason as Jason also fell into the category of rich and famous.

    Literally everyone in the studio apart from the bodyguards fell in that category so Fedez wanted to resolve the situation in a peaceful way.

    ��Thirty minutes not too much, right, Shaq,�� Jason passed the info in English to Big Shaq who was just beside him.

    The man had been listening in confusion to Jason and Fedez speak all this while and he was happy to know that the situation seemed to have been resolved.

    Waiting for thirty more minutes wasn��t too bad, he thought.

    ��Tell you what, get me into the car show and we��ll be even,�� Jason added seemingly as an afterthought, but inwardly he knew that was just an act.

    ��Oh, uh, sure,�� Fedez agreed without much thought as it wouldn��t be difficult to bring someone along with him to the car show.

    Jason tagging along would probably be weed as he was a potential customer for the brand so he was already fulfilling his duties as an endorsement if Jason went along with him.

    ��I guess, we��re cool then?�� Fedez asked just for confirmation and Jason nodded affirmatively.

    ��Uh, let me introduce you,�� Fedez continued, taking the chance to introduce Jason to hispanions.

    ��That there is a Mahmood, he��s a singer who won the X factor likest year,�� Fedez began, pointing at the only other guy apart from him in the group of five.

    The guy was dressed trendily and had a few piercings and tattoos on his arms, which Jason noticed as he dapped him up.

    ��What��s up,�� Jason nodded to him.

    ��Those three are Elodie, Anna, and Annalisa,�� Fedez continued, pointing at the women one after the other.

    ��So what college do youdies go to?�� Jason turned to them and asked, his smooth lines already causing them to smile at him,pletely forgetting how he had sounded earlier�� Something Jason termed as ��fine boy privilege��.

    ��Don��t let their looks fool you man, they��re all award-winning actresses and singers,�� Fedezughed as hemented.

    ��Man, Billie Eillish won a Grammy justst year. Surely you��re not saying these beautifuldies are not as talented?�� Jasonmented, skillfully using his wordy to escape any ufortable situations.

    Fedez could deal with that himself.

    Thedies turned to Fedez, enjoying how Jason wasplimenting them and irked that Fedez was seemingly against them.

    After a little defusion, some more direct introductions were made, but too much time wasn��t wasted as they were still recording.

    A few minutester, Jason was seated on one side of the studio with Shaq and Medikal who had just returned from wherever he was a few minutes prior.

    With the situation sorted out, Jason and the others only had to wait for a bit while they reviewed the song.

    In the end things ended up working out better than expected because they were now using the time they were dyed to go through the lyrics of the song.

    Soon enough, the invaders were done and it was time for Jason, Shaq, and Medikal to do their own recording.

    Jason went into he studio first as he had to leave with Fedez to the car show and thanks to them properly segmenting the lyrics earlier, there wasn��t any time wasted as he already knew what parts he had to do.

    Quickly recording his part and even doing a few more takes didn��t take more than twenty minutes and after that he was done.

    Saying his goodbyes to Shaq and Medikal, he left with Fedez to the Turin airport.

    On the way to the airport, Fedez told him about the Ferrari Racing Day show and Jason listened intently, especially when Fedez began talking about the cars as the guy had a knack for talking more about the people and the money put into the show than about the cars.

    It was clear that though the guy had a Ferrari himself, he wasn��t a car enthusiast which waspletely normal to Jason.

    Even he wasn��t that much of an enthusiast, he just loved fast cars and needed�� Nah scratch that, he wanted one.

    While they were discussing, the SUV they were in drove into the airport surrounded by a few other cars and they drove up to the Fedez��s private ne.

    Coming out of the car, Jason��s eyes fell on the ne.

    It was a small one but still looked sleek and luxurious on the outside and on getting inside, he realized that it was even more luxurious looking on the inside despite it��s smaller size.

    ��I guess since we aren��t crossing any borders or stuff, I don��t need to have my passport or anything with me, �� Jason said, not wanting to sound like a bumpkin though this was the first private ne apart from Oporto��s and Uventus�� nes that he had gotten on.

    ��Yeah, everything else will be taken care off,�� Fedez replied ans sat in one of the chairs.

 Chapter 472: New Whip

    Chapter 472: New Whip

    Chapter 472: New Whip

    *Fweeeoooo*

    Jason whistled as his eyes fell on the red Ferrari that they would be taking to the show.

    ��That��s a Daytona SP3, right?�� Jason asked Fedez who was walking up to the car without hesitation.

    ��Yeah, apparently-���� Fedez replied and wanted to continue speaking, but Jason interrupted him.

    ��That thing has not even been released yet�� Officially,�� Jason said in shock, his eyes following the gleaming curves of the beautiful car.

    ��I need to get me a Ferrari endorsement deal,�� he almost salivated just looking at the car.

    ���� I was about to mention that, just got it too, and I didn��t pay a single dime,�� Fedez said smugly.

    ��For real?�� Jason asked, even more shocked than before. ��It��s just my endorsement fee for five years,�� Fedez replied and pulled open the door to the car.

    ��I��ve been with them for four years already, get in,�� Fedez added as he entered the car.

    ���� Huh?�� Jason muttered in confusion but didn��t hesitate to open the door and get in.

    ���� So, what you��re saying is that you have a five-year endorsement deal with Ferrari and you haven��t gotten paid for 4 years, just so you can get this car?�� Jason asked Fedez as soon as he got in.

    ��Yeah, that��s exactly what I said,�� Fedez replied as he sent down his window and did a hand signal to his security team that had gotten into the cars behind him.

    Fedez originally lived at Mn so he had his security team had bring his car to the airport to meet them for convenience as they would still be going to Monza where the car show was going to be held.

    ��Back to what I was saying, the total package of the deal was 3 million Euros, but I got them to add the use that I could use that money to get any car under the brand as long as I found one that I wanted,��

    ��The only catch was that if I didn��t find something I wanted, then I would have to wait till the end of the contract to get paid,��

    ��But then I saw this car and told them I wanted it,�� Fedez exined to Jason as he drove the car through the streets of Mn and headed towards Monza, keeping the car at an eptable speed so he didn��t leave his security team eating his dust.

    ��That��s a pretty interesting contract, I��m surprised anyone but a car geek would sign that though,�� Jason worded in a thoughtful manner.

    ��Are you saying I��m not a car geek?�� Fedez asked, sounding a bit hurt that Jason would think that of him.

    ��With that speed?�� Jason��s right eyebrow rose as he nced at the ����.

    ��Definitely not,�� he said with a mocking smirk.

    ��This is just so that I don��t break the speedws,�� Fedez quickly hurried to defend his honor.

    ��Brother�� if you can afford a Ferrari, you can afford the fines thate with it,�� Jason said and shook his head.

    ��I��m aw-abiding citizen,�� Fedez did not give up.

    ��Yeah�� sure,�� Jason replied half-heartedly, but what he really meant was ��pu**y��, and that meaning reached Fedez.

    ��Aw-abiding citizen that would floor you if we got on a race track,�� he added in aggravated confidence.

    ���� !�� Jason turned to Fedez and gave him a once over, not knowing what to think of his im.

    Jason wasn��t one to judge from appearance, but he didn��t need more than one nce to tell that Fedez was the cool-looking tattooed guy and not the dangerous tattooed guy.

    ��But just to be sure,��

    ��How much horsepower are we riding on?�� Jason asked.

    ��Chaveux-vapeur actually, or cv, and we��re riding on 840cv which is just about the same thing in horsepower,�� Fedez replied, sounding smug.

    ��That��s how much power the V12 engine this thing is loaded with can chug out,�� he continued his nose rising in pride with every word that came out of his mouth.

    ���� I guess you��re notpletely clueless,�� Jason replied and turned away, thinking to himself that he was right to have asked.

    Maybe his way of thinking was a bit wed, after all expecting someone who had a car like this to know absolutely nothing about it was just a rude thing to think�� probably.

    ��I would take you up on your offer, but as you can see�� I don��t exactly have a car,�� Jason replied.

    ��There will be cars at the show, you can borrow one�� or buy one, and the show is being held at a race track so���� Fedez pressed on, now wanting to prove a point.

    ��It��s good that I can buy a car as I do need one, but about us racing�� surely you��re not being serious about that, are you?�� Jason nced at Fedez with an unsure look, his eyes literally saying,

    ��Surely you don��t want all this smoke?��

    ��Dead serious,�� Fedez didn��t back down and remained headstrong about challenging Jason to a race.

    Jason stared at Fedez for a few seconds before finally looking away and answering,

    ���� Alright then, we��ll see after I find a car I want.��

    Jason��s words sounded ambiguous to Fedez who was now wondering what exactly he was thinking trying to prove his skills to someone who was more than ten years his junior, though it didn��t feel like it.

    ��You��re a musician, yeah?�� Jason suddenly remembered.

    ��The best,�� Fedez replied, his smug attitude resurfacing.

    ��I��ll be the judge of that, y a song,�� Jason rolled his eyes at this guy who was sounding more smug by the minute.

    Jason spent the rest of the drive judgementally listening to Fedez��s songs, but apart from some of the songs not being to his taste, Jason didn��t have much to be judgemental about.

    ��We��re here,�� Fedez said as soon as they arrived, not wanting to hear Jason destroy his confidence for another second because despite Jason not having a problem with the guy��s songs, his tongue didn��t relieve him of some much-neededshing(in Jason��s opinion).

    ��Oh,�� Jason muttered and looked up as they drove into a wide space where quite a few cars were parked and people were moving around, all of them looking like people of high society.

    Despite the high number of cars that graced the space, the number of people present was a lot higher, letting Jason know that not everyone among the people around owned a Ferrari.

    ��Should have juste by myself,�� Jason thought inwardly, but he soon waved off the thought as he didn��t even know that there was a car show holding here at this time.

    Even if he did, he didn��t have an invite and he wasn��t about to believe that just anybody coulde to a car show hosted by Ferrari.

    The best ticket to the show would be a Ferrari, but Jason didn��t have one so he probably wouldn��t have made it in unless he leveraged his status as a sports celebrity and that was not something he did often or felt inclined to do.

    Their arrival turned quite a few heads as the car Fedez was driving was the only one of it��s kind at the ce.

    There were a few other cars like that there and each one of those cars had turned just as much heads as Fedez��s Daytona did.

    Cameras were pointed their way which let Jason know that the whole thing was probably being filmed, or maybe it was even being shown live.

    Unsurprisingly, the only thing that the car turned was heads and nobody moved closer to the car yet as they didn��t know who was in the car thanks to the tinted sses of the car.

    Even if they did know who was in the car, they were either too high ss to rush towards the car or were faking that much and did not take a step out of the ordinary.

    Once the person or people in the car came out, there would be nothing holding them back from going over though as everyone knew that a show like this where the rich could unt their money was just another business gathering where gaining contacts depended on one��s skill.

    ��Now to help you find a car,�� Fedez suddenly said as they finally came to a stop.

    ��Thanks,�� Jason nodded thankfully.

    ��Don��t thank me yet, wait till after the race,�� Fedez added.

    ��You��re still on that?�� Jason responded with mirth in his voice.

    ��Definitely,�� Fedez smirked.

    In his head, he wasn��t nning to let Jason escape the race, little did he know that Jason was thinking the exact opposite of that.

    Jason wasn��t being proud, but he probably had more experience with cars than Fedez had with music and that said a lot about their chances if they were to race, but Fedez didn��t know that.

    ��Find me a good car then,�� Jason said offhandedly with a sigh, giving up on convincing this guy.

    ��Don��t worry, I know a guy that��ll know a guy,�� Fedez spoke confidently, not noticing Jason give him a weird nce after hearing his words.

    ��Bro, your contact has to contact someone?�� Jason almost facepalmed

 Chapter 473: New Whip II

    Chapter 473: New Whip II

    Chapter 473: New Whip II

    ��Let��s go,�� Fedez said as he pushed open the door of the car, the door opening upward like a butterfly spreading its wings.

    Jason��s eyes instinctively flew toward his pocket to pull out his sses, but then he remembered that the Ferrari Racing Day was a high-ss gathering, which meant even if he got recognized, he wouldn��t be hassled too much because of the security team deployed to keep people away from the venue.

    ��Somehow, that feels insulting to the fans for some reason,�� he thought as his hand left the sses in his pocket and he pushed open the door of the car as well.

    As Jason and Fedez stepped out of the car, the cameras that were focused on them increased as recognition of the people in the car set in.

    The cameramen were especially shocked�� not because of Fedez who was expected, though they didn��t expect the car he was driving as it was supposed to still be in the works.

    The cause of their surprise was the person who came out of the passenger seat, Jason.

    Jason��s appearance at the event was unexpected and was already quite the scoop, but what was even more surprising was that he came with Fedez who no one knew him to be associated with.

    Unfortunately, their jobs as cameramen and videographers were to take pictures and record videos. The reporters who were around were even more aggrieved as they were not allowed to get too close and had been assigned times when they could do interviews so they couldn��t just walk up to Jason and Fedez to interview them otherwise they would be thrown out and then would most probably end up fired by their bosses.

    Seeing that no one came up to them for the time being, Jason heaved a silent sigh of relief, though he could still see that a lot of eyes were on them, however, he ignored that and turned to Fedez,

    ��What now?�� he asked the Italian singer.

    ��We walk, smile, greet people, and stealthily ask if any of these fine gentlemen�� ordies, has a Ferrari they want to sell,�� Fedez said to Jason and adjusted his cor a bit.

    ��Huh?�� Jason sputtered out as that waspletely different from what this guy was saying earlier.

    ��Until my contact arrives,�� Fedez added after seeing Jason eyeing him like he could pump him full of lead in that moment.

    ��Oh,�� Jason replied, still confused.

    He hadn��t been at a car show before and only knew that one could get a car here, but he didn��t know how these rich people did their things.

    ��Though this show is hosted by Ferrari, the car��s sold by Ferrari at this show aren��t that many,��

    ��This car show is more of a social gathering of Ferrari owners,��

    ��Theye around, meet up, race, trade some of their cars to one another, hence most of the cars that end up being sold here once belonged to someone else,��

    ��For supercars like these, that only increases their value,�� Fedez exined as they began walking.

    ��I guess we didn��t need those economics sses after all,�� Jason said wittily, rolling his eyes at the thought.

    ��Haha, I guess you��re right, the rich make educationpulsory, but then turn over and fu*k all the educated ones,�� Fedezughed.

    ��You don��t get to talk, you��re one of the rich guys,�� Jason said, giving him the side eye.

    ��And you aren��t?�� Fedez replied, giving him the side eye as well.

    ���� Good point, but I��m first-generation money and my generational wealth umtion has barely even started,�� Jason huffed because now that he thought about it, he was kind of rich.

    ��Also, I never forced anyone into formal education,�� he added, making sure to validate himself.

    ��I haven��t done that either,�� Fedez said as well, taking the opportunity to validate himself of the self-imposed charges.

    Before they could continue talking, Fedez heard his name being called from behind and he quickly took the opportunity to begin socializing, making sure to drag Jason into it without his consent.

    Being thrust into such a situation, Jason didn��t have any options but to rte well with the people who were acquaintances of Fedez, he didn��t want to mess up his chances of getting one of the cars that could make it to a show like this.

    Mid socializing, Jason was able to feast his eyes on Ferraris of all kinds and he soon started understanding why most Ferraris came in the red color.

    The red color fitted the boldness of the Ferrari as a vehicle no matter how aesthetically strange it appeared. Any other color would make the car look horrible and Jason could already see quite a few cars that he would willingly set on fire if not because they cost a few million.

    The most difficult part of socializing was praising such cars and praising the choice of the owners of those cars when in reality, Jason wanted to whack them across the head for their choice of color and body modifications.

    ��Rich people just do whatever they want,�� He scoffed inwardly.

    ��I��m surprised one of them hasn��t just taken a piss and called it a masterpiece(masterpiss),�� he thought and then smiled at his own joke.

    On the outside though, that smile sent the heart of someone��s wife fluttering and when no one was paying attention, she pressed a piece of paper with her number into his hand, surprising him.

    Jason had enough tact to not react at that moment, but as they walked away from the ce, Jason looked at the piece of paper and seeing its content, he could not hold back a smile.

    ��Be careful with that thing, stay unseen, don��t get attached, or you could be in a lot of trouble,�� Fedez said, ncing over at the piece of paper.

    He had seen when the woman pressed it into Jason��s hand earlier but had also not said anything.

    Without a word, Jason turned to Fedez and smoothly slipped the paper into the breast pocket of his shirt,

    ��You seem to need this more than I do, seeing as you have experience and all,�� Jasonmented, patting the breast pocket after slipping the paper in.

    ��Ah, I forgot you��re still a kid,�� Fedez replied smugly,ughing at Jason victoriously, but Jason just internally shook his head.

    He had probably slept with more women than he cared to count�� in his previous life, of course�� and whether Fedez had done worse didn��t matter to him as he didn��t see such a thing as an achievement.

    It was fun at first, but despite the pleasure it brought, it slowly got boring.

    It was almost like a drug.

    The more one did it, the less satisfying the feeling of satisfaction there was and it would make one want to chase a new high, which was why the so-called yers became kinkier and kinkier until they developed certain fetishes if they weren��t careful enough at reigning in themselves.

    They would never openly admit to this though.

    ��Where is your contact?�� Jason suddenly asked Fedez as he wasn��t interested in reminiscing that part of his previous life.

    ��I see him already, that��s where we��re going, �� Fedez replied as they walked towards a vintage Ferrari that Jason didn��t recognize.

    ��Mr Patino, how are you doing?�� Fedez greeted a man who looked to be in his early sixties with a head full of thinning gray hair that was carefully styled as he stepped out of the car.

    ��Ah? Fedez my boy, how is business,�� the man turned around and hugged Fedez, an amicable smile on his face.

    ��And who��s this new face?�� Mr Patino asked Fedez as his eyes fell on Jason who was quietly standing behind Fedez.

    ��Ah, wait, I��ve seen you before,�� Mr. Patino suddenly had a sh of recognition in his eyes for a second, but a secondter, it was gone and the ma still looked confused.

    ��This is a friend I met today, he��s a new member of the Uventus team back at Turin,�� Fedez quickly took the chance to introduce Jason, seeing as the old man didn��t recognize him.

    ��Yes, now I remember, you were-���� Mr Patino began speaking to Jason but was interrupted by a voiceing from the other side of the car.

    ��Papino, I want to go look for Esmeranza,�� a young girl who looked to be about sixteen said to Mr. Patino as she got out of the car.

    ��Come over and say hello first my dear,�� Mr Patino said to the girl with a loving tone.

    Jason looked over at the girl who had called this man ��Papino�� which was an endearment term for ��father�� in Italian and if that wasn��t enough to determine their rtionship, the clear simrities in their looks were the icing on the cake.

    The girl did not seem to be paying much attention to them as her eyes were constantly scanning around the area instead, probably looking for ��Esmeranza,�� Jason supposed, but when she had walked around the car, she finally turned towards them.

    ��Hello, Mr. Fedez, and wh���� The girl started speaking, but when she finally got a good look at Jason who she hadn��t noticed earlier, her words stopped in her throat and she fell in love at first sight, teenage girl style.

    Jason who didn��t know this attributed her silence to ack of knowledge about him and he held out his hand,

    ��I��m Jason beautifuldy, what is your name?�� he spoke coolly and at ease,pletely unaware of how his little actions had further thrown the young woman further down the pit of no return.

 Chapter 474: New Whip III

    Chapter 474: New Whip III

    Chapter 474: New Whip III

    ��H-huh!?�� the girl stammered as she looked at Jason��s hand, confusing him a bit.

    Just as he was about to take away his hand thinking that she didn��t want to shake hands with him, her hand lunged out and grabbed his hand.

    ��I- I��m- I��m D-Donna,��she stammered out as she took his hand, her brain beginning to unfreeze.

    ���� A beautiful name for a beautifuldy,�� Jason said after a pause, beginning to understand what had happened, but there was nothing he could do about it other than to continue being polite and acting like he didn��t notice.

    ��S-so, are you like an actor, or a model, or���� Donna began to ask questions the more of herposure she regained, but Jason quickly interrupted before she listed out all the jobs in the entertainment business.

    ��Actually, Jason here is a footballer, quite the talented one too,�� Mr, Patino interrupted before he began to feel more like a third wheel and his eyes that were fixed on Jason now had mixed feelings.

    ��I suppose the youngdy doesn��t have much interest in sports,�� Jason nodded in understanding, looking at her face that showed her cluelessness.

    ��No she doesn��t and I gave up on trying,�� Mr. Patino sighed exasperatedly like a man who had truly given up. ��I can learn!�� Donna suddenly cried out, surprising her father and his lips twitched as he instantly understood what was happening.

    He, her father hadn��t been able to make her gain an interest in the world of football for the seventeen years she had been on this earth, but a guy she had just met today already had her interested?

    ��Pah!�� Mr. Patino scoffed internally and he suddenly had an urge to send Jason flying, but he reined his feelings of jealousy in.

    ��Don��t let us take too much of miss Donna��s time, she still has to find her friend,�� Fedez finally interjected because as much as he was enjoying the show, he could not allow Mr. Patino to have bad feelings towards Jason because some of those feelings would end up in his direction.

    Fedez already knew not to underestimate the over-protectiveness of Italian father and his body shuddered as he remembered an incident with Mr. Patino that caused him to shiver, but that was a story for another day.

    ��Of course, of course, Donna, you run along and let Papa talk with this gentlemen about some business,�� Mr. Patino immediately took the chance to send his daughter away from the walking chick ma that was Jason.

    ��But Papinoooo,�� she drawled and turned on her pitiful eyes that immediately made the old daughter-con change his decision.

    ��Alright, alright, I��ll take you to find Esmeranzater,�� Mr. Patino gave up the moment he saw his daughter��s teary eyes.

    ��So what was it you needed, Fedez?�� Mr. Patino turned back to Fedez after he saw Donna calm down and lean against the car.

    ��It��s a favor for my friend here, he��s looking to buy a car�� a Ferrari. And I told him you��d know a few people that would want to pass on their cars for a good price,�� Fedez quickly spoke up as he knew not to waste any time in situations like this as the old man was someone who preferred to go straight to the point.

    ��Oh, that��s quite the coincidence since I��m looking to sell one, it��spletely new too,�� Mr. Patino��s eyes lit up as he heard Fedez��s request.

    ��Oh, what type of Ferrari?�� Jason butted in, his interest already roused.

    ��It��s one of the new ones, the SF90 Stradale,��

    ��Came out just over a year ago and I had made an order and also got them to make a few modifications to the body and its performance,��

    ��It was supposed to be a gift for my little girl on her 17thbirthday, but when it finally got sent over, she just wouldn��t drive it, she wouldn��t even get inside it,�� The old daughter-con sounded heartbroken as he recollected the events that had led him up to choosing to sell the car but unknowingly he had gotten Jason worried as Jason was now wondering why the girl wouldn��t even want to step inside a Ferrari.

    ��This guy couldn��t have done some embarrassing things to the body kit all in the name of modifications, did he?�� Jason wondered internally, but he kept his words to himself and didn��t let it slip out but the old man��s next words almost had him turning away.

    ��She said it was too ugly and that she wanted a Mercedes instead,��

    ��Broke this poor old man��s heart,�� the man continued, sounding emotional and sneaking nces at his daughter in hopes to see her rushing over tofort him, but the girl just acted like she couldn��t hear anything he was saying and looked away, the clouds seemingly more interesting than the conversation going on in front of her.

    Seeing that his daughter wasn��t biting the bait, the old Patino continued his story,

    ��I ended up buying a Mercedes for her instead, but the Ferrari had already been paid for and it has been sitting in the garage for a few months now,��

    ��I couldn��t bear to leave such a beast of a car just gathering dust in my garage so I decided to bring it over for the racing show in hopes of finding a buyer,��

    ��It��s quite lucky for this young friend to also want a car, I��m sure he��d like it,�� Patino said, patting Jason on the shoulder, but Jason was already about to run off and try his luck somewhere else.

    ��If I may,��

    ��What kind of modifications did you have them make to the car?�� Jason asked in a very serious tone as he wasn��t going to buy a car that had been weirdly tuned and terribly modified.

    He could correct any issues with the car given enough time, but time was something he didn��t have much of at this moment.

    Jason knew about the Stradale and had seen pictures of it online and just the thought of a horrific body modification being made to the car already made him want to give up on the purchase.

    ��See for yourself, that��s it being brought over now,�� Mr. Patino gestured behind Jason, causing the young footballer to immediately turn around and as his eyes fell on the car, his mouth dropped open.

 Chapter 475: New Whip IV

    Chapter 475: New Whip IV

    Chapter 475: New Whip IV

    ��You called that ugly?�� Jason asked as he turned to Donna in absolute disbelief, disappointment and disgust shing in his eyes at her for a split second, but it quickly disappeared as he turned back to look at the beauty that had arrived in front of him.

    Unlike the red color of a Ferrari that he had been half expecting, his eyes met with the gleaming ck beauty of a car with red highlights that were part of the car��s modified body kit.

    Mr. Patino wasn��t joking when he said that he made some modifications to the body of the car as Jason could see that the modified differed quite a bit from the original Stradale.

    This one had a spoiler that was ck and red and it had added air vents and other modifications to help aid the car��s aerodynamics, unlike the original design.

    Overall, it still looked quite simr to the original, but Jason could tell that the additional modifications to the body weren��t just for aesthetics.

    The modified Stradale was definitely going to be better than the original, performance-wise, as long as the other modifications weren��t messed up.

    The gleaming red-colored no.17 on the car��s doors was another enjoyable sight that had Jason almost gawking.

    ��After the modification, what are the specs?�� ��Somebody did a test drive, right?�� Jason asked almost hurriedly as he watched the car amble down towards where they stood.

    ��Not really, I didn��t want anyone to touch my baby girl��s car, but a simted test showed it to have almost a five percent increase in its performance,�� Mr. Patino said as he also watched the car slowly drive over.

    Whoever was driving the car probably had his heart in his throat as he drove the car.

    ��Speed-wise and maneuverability as well,�� Mr. Patino added, not knowing the concerns of the driver.

    ��Isn��t she a beauty?�� he asked Jason and Fedez.

    ������ Jason stared at the car for a few more seconds as it drove towards them and finally parked beside Mr. Patino��s car.

    If the car had a ten percent increase in performance, then that was more than enough reason for him to purchase the car.

    It had to be said that five percent wasn��t as unimpressive as it sounded.

    Most supercars had a top speed of a particr number because they were electronically limited by their ownponents, not that they couldn��t hit higher speeds.

    Going at higher speeds wasn��t rmended because at those speeds, the safety of the driver couldn��t be guaranteed�� which was quite ironic as going at less than the top speed was enough to kill anyone, but that wasn��t the matter up for discussion.

    A five percent increase in its capabilities meant the car was now capable of going five percent above its original limit without ��endangering the driver��.

    ��How much?�� Jason asked, his mind already made up.

    ��Well, I bought it for about 850 and an additional 200 went into modifications, so I��ll let it go for 1.2 million,�� Mr. Patino went full business mode, not willing to take a loss even though he was the one who wanted to get rid of the car.

    ��1 million,�� Jason countered immediately.

    Despite his fondness for the car he wasn��t going to allow himself to be finessed even though he could easily pay for it.

    He was already dipping into his emergency funds so he didn��t want to overstretch as Oporto and Uventus weren��t paying him enough to buy such a car.

    ��1.1 million,�� Mr. Papino shot back, reducing his asking price a fair bit as he didn��t want to spend all day arguing about the price.

    Fedez just watched the whole thing y out as the matter was beyond him at this point.

    ��Done, give me your ount details and I��ll get the money sent over within the next hour,�� Jason replied, taking the deal as it was already good enough at this point.

    ���� That was easy, I guess they��re paying even the young yers a lot these days,�� Mr. Patino said, a hint of surprise in his tone at Jason��s swiftness at closing the deal.

    ��Hey, that��s true, how much are they paying you, young footballers, these days that you can already afford a million-dor Ferrari just a year into your career?�� Fedez interjected, his toneced with curiosity, but he didn��t directly ask the source of Jason��s which was a rude thing to do.

    ��My contract with Oporto has me take home a wage of 10k weekly, but it got increased to about fourteen at the beginning of this season,��

    ��You do the math,�� Jason said as he pulled out his phone and started tapping in numbers on his phone.

    On hearing Jason��s words, Fedez, Patino, and Donna all began doing mental calctions while Jason maneuvered around his phone��s contacts.

    ��There are 52 weeks in a year and you��ve only been ying for a year, so how?��

    ��The math isn��t mathing bro,�� Fedez said, suspiciously looking at Jason.

    ��You don��t happen to be doing some shady dealings on the side, do you?�� he asked Jason in a low tone.

    ��No, I��m actually a business genius who made a few million in investment while you were sitting on your ass and enjoying the COVID lockdown period, now I own apany and am a secret boss,�� Jason said half jokingly, but somehow, everyone listening to him wanted to believe him but before Fedez could make a wittyment, Jason spoke into his phone that he was holding to his ear.

    ��Hey Maya, I need you to do something for me,�� Jason said on his phone after Maya Singh picked up the call.

    ��What do you need?�� Maya asked immediately, her voice low.

    She was probably busy, but she couldn��t exactly ignore the owner of thepany, could she?

    ��I need you to make a purchase from thepany ount,��

    ��File it under thepany expenses,��

    ��I��ll get it back to you with another investment,�� Jason spoke directly.

    Maya immediately understood his intention in contacting her instead of Daphne who was his ountant.

    What other reason could it be other than to evade Uncle Tom��s taxes?

    ��How much?�� Maya asked, no change in her tone.

    ��1.1 million, I��ll send the ount details in a few minutes,�� Jason said and hung up the call before Maya could scream into his ear.

    ��So, where were we?�� Jason asked as he put his phone back into his pocket, but Fedez, Patino, and Donna just stared at him in shock as the phone call he had just made proved part of his sentence earlier, if not all of it.

    Despite their initial shock, the three of them quickly got over their shock as they had experienced many of such shocking situations in their lives before.

    Mr. Patino gave Jason his ount details and Jason sent them to Maya along with a few extra instructions.

    As Jason stared at the car that was about to be his, he suddenly remembered something.

    ��Fedez�� about that race, you��re not backing down now, are you?�� he asked the Italian singer with a wicked grin spreading on his face.

 Chapter 476: Race I

    Chapter 476: Race I

    Chapter 476: Race I

    ��Backing down? You wish,�� Fedez scoffed at Jason��s words.

    ��My Daytona would smoke this thing any day,�� he said confidently, holding up his nose up to the high heavens, but all that did was let Jason know that this guy wouldn��t be anypetition.

    While they wereing over to the car show, Jason��s curiosity about the car he was riding in had prompted him to check the Daytona��s proposed specifications even though the car wasn��t officially released yet and while he was at it, he had checked the specifications a few other Ferrari vehicles with the Stradale being among them.

    It was because he knew the car��s specifications that Jason had been especially sold on buying the car because despite the Stradale being less than half of the proposed price for the Daytona, the car was better in literally every important aspect apart from helping one to flex his wealth.

    The Daytona had a 6.5L naturally-aspirated V12 engine that could generate 840 cv which was almost the same number in horsepower.

    It also had a 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox for transmission.

    The Stradale on the other hand was a hybrid powertrain that had a 4.0L twin-turbo V8 engine as well as 3 electric motors.

    Despite the confusing numbers and what most people would think, the Stradale could generate 1000 cv which was equivalent to over about 985horsepower. Of course, both cars were electronically limited to 340km/h as the maximum speed, but the Stradale had better eleration than the Daytona which was twice its price.

    Now with the modifications on the Stradale as well as a driver like Jason going up against Fedez, there was only one reasonable oue.

    Unless Fedez could somehow drive like Lewis Hamilton, all he would get from the race was Jason��s dust, but he didn��t know that and had the thought of ��Expensive is better�� just like a lot of other fake car enthusiasts.

    *Ding*

    A sudden notification brought Jason out of his reverie and he awakened to see Mr. Patino picking up his phone to check the message that just came in.

    ��Your people work fast,�� he said to Jason, ncing up from his phone, where he was checking the notification of a credit alert from his bank.

    ��In business, one can��t keep a partner waiting,�� Jason nodded confidently, trying to y the part of a confident business when internally, he was feeling the heart wrench of more than a million dors leaving his ount.

    No matter how he felt that the purchase was worth it, he still felt the stabbing feeling of losing money and wanted nothing more than to grab the car keys from the old man��s hands to give his heart some peace and security, however, he could only be patient.

    He didn��t need to be patient for long as the old Patino threw the key of the car to him the next moment and Jason caught it deftly, his heart almost flying out of his mouth despite the cool look on his face.

    ��You can take the car along with you, I��ll have the transfer documents ready within the hour,�� he said with a smile to Jason, happy to have concluded a business deal just as much as Jason was internally unsettled.

    ��Yo Fedez, ready to lose your car?�� Jason turned to Fedez with an evil smile.

    ��Woah woah woah, lose my car? How? Why?�� Fedez hurtled out in confusion.

    ��What? Did you think I��d race you for free?�� Jason scoffed with an evil smirk.

    ��Hand over the pink slip,�� he continued, his tone sounding serious even though he wasn��t actually serious about taking Fedez��s car.

    ��Pink slip?�� Fedez repeated in confusion.

    ��What are you? A street racer?�� he asked with a strange look at Jason.

    ��Noment,��Jason replied, not going to admit to a crime, but then he remembered that he was only a racer in his previous life and hadn��t engaged in it during this lifetime so technically he wasn��t ever going to be guilty.

    ��Stop acting all mysterious and let��s do this,�� Fedez didn��t take the hint and maintained his confidence.

    ��I��m not putting my car up for anything though,�� he remembered to add, not even wanting to think of his car being out of his hands for a second.

    That was four years of hard work even for him.

    ��Pu**y,�� Jason said with his disappointment at Fedez��sck of balls apparent in his tone.

    ��Whatever you say, kid, I��m not putting up a car worth over 2 million up for contention,�� Fedez wasn��t budging.

    ��What��s all this you��ve been talking about a race?�� Mr. Patino whose interest had been aroused for a while finally couldn��t resist his curiosity and asked about the situation between Jason and Fedez.

    Fedez quickly exined the matter, making sure to add a few extra touches to a story, earning him a few side eyes from Jason.

    ��Oh, this sounds interesting, let��s do it,�� the old man was very open to the idea as he didn��t want to spend the next few hours just talking and walking around among other wealthy colleagues.

    There had to be a little entertainment!

    With Mr. Patino getting interested, he quickly started pulling strings for a race to be arranged.

    Since that was in line with what usually happened at the car show, it didn��t take long for an arrangement to be made.

    Apart from Jason and Fedez, there were quite a few other people who wanted to test their mettle on the race track as well and a race was quickly being organized that would have every one of them participate.

    While Mr. Patino was away dealing with things regarding the race, Fedez had also left to go do some more socializing, leaving Jason with his new ��baby��.

    Donna who had seemingly left to go find her friend came back to where Jason was her friend in tow, but Jason was too engrossed in checking out the new car to care about the underage guys who were checking him out.

    He first got into the car and started up the car��s electric mode before starting the actual engine, wanting to listen to the car��s actual engine.

 Chapter 477: Race II

    Chapter 477: Race II

    Chapter 477: Race II

    As he sat in the car, his eyes scanned the interior of the car and he began to recognize which controls were for what.

    When he had recognized all that needed to be recognized, he put his leg on the throttle and pressed down a bit, revving the engine.

    A loud roar immediately tore out from behind him, sounding a bit muffled and Jason could not help but wonder if there had been some modifications made to the exhaust sounds as well because it sounded less like a hybrid car and more like a V12 car.

    ��Now that I think about it�� isn��t this car probably the highest-performing Ferrari for civilian use?�� Jason thought to himself as he suddenly recalled that the La Ferrari which was touted to be the highest performing Ferrari was only a 950 horsepower car, yet this one had 985 horsepower.

    ��Nah, I need to check that,�� Jason couldn��t hold in his giddiness and immediately shut the doors before putting the engine into sports mode as well as turning the ESC to track.

    He had barely put his foot on the throttle when Fedez��s Daytona suddenly drove into his path and blocked the path, causing Jason to immediately m on the brakes.

    Suddenly it looked like a standoff of cars between the Daytona and the Stradale and cameras immediately turned in their direction to take pictures of this epic scene.

    Donna and her friend who were on the side suddenly seemed to have an agreement with each other and they moved forward, splitting up and going towards the passenger doors of the two cars. Donna ended up with Jason and pulled open his car door before jumping in, prompting Jason to look at her, wondering why she was there.

    ��You��ll need a navigator for the race,�� Donna said in a matter-of-factly tone and it was only then that Jason remembered that he didn��t know much about the track so a navigator was imperative.

    �� Or a map, but Jason doubted if he could focus on a map at the speeds that he would be driving at in theing minutes.

    ��I��ve never had a navigator before though,�� Jason muttered, ncing over the girl.

    ��Have you done this before?�� he asked.

    ��A few times,�� Donna replied honestly.

    ��Ok cool, strap up,�� Jason said without hesitation, not doubting her.

    In his Daytona, Fedez also finished talking with Esmeranza and shed Jason a smug grin as he revved his engine loudly, filling the air with a loud noise.

    Not willing to be outdone, Jason also revved his own engine loudly in response.

    Their actions caused a lot more attention to be drawn towards them, but the people watching the situation had enough sense to not move any closer.

    After revving his engine a few more times, Fedez turned the steering and started driving towards the race track��s starting line.

    ��This guy,�� Jason muttered as Fedez drove off and he decided to do something wilful.

    Stomping on the brakes and the elerator at the same time, Jason��s back tires started spinning while the front tires held the car in ce.

    With a sharp turn of the steering, he released the brakes and maneuvered the car into a drifting turn, sessfully manipting the car into a burnout.

    Donna squealed in the passenger��s seat at Jason��s sudden move, but Jason didn��t let the car spin more than once as he didn��t want to damage the tires of the car, especially not with a raceing up.

    However, what he had done was already enough to get more eyes on his car than ever before as despite most of the cars here being of high grades, even the ones with the best skills on the wheel were hardly able to pull off a drift�� apart from the professional drivers at the ce of course.

    The professional drivers were probably even more impressed as they more than anyone else understood how difficult it was to manipte a car that had as many electronic parts as the Ferrari Stradale.

    Electronic cars had all sorts of electronic restrictions to ensure the safety of the driver and this usually ended up making the cars more difficult to maneuver and use for tricks like the one Jason just did, but Jason had gone and done it with ease so how could they not be impressed?

    However, they didn��t have any chance to say anything as Jason was already driving to the starting line just behind Fedez.

    As the car ambled over to the starting line, Jason nced over at Donna who was now grabbing tightly to her seat belt.

    ��If you��re already this scared from just that, you might want to get down before the actual race starts,�� Jason said with a slightly mockful tone.

    ��W-Whowould be your navigator then?�� Jason��s driving tricks had brought the stammer back into Donna��s speech.

    ��I��ll jut find another navigator����

    ���� One that probably wouldn��t puke all over my seats,�� Jason replied without much thought, but he left out thetter part of his sentence.

    ��I��ll do it, I was just surprised earlier,�� Donna said, regaining herposure once again as she thought to herself that at most, Jason would just drive quite fast and that there would be nothing to worry about.

    Little did she know that this race less of a race to Jason and more of a test drive for the car so he nned to push the car as far as the car itself and the track would allow.

    He was actually being helpful when he had told her to get down as he didn��t really care about winning the race so a fewte turns wouldn��t do much to him.

    ��Are you sure though? I��m serious when I say things may be a little rough,�� Jason turned to her again as he stopped at the starting line.

    ��I��ll be fine,�� Donna reiterated.

    ��*Sigh* Before your old man begins to send some mafia after my a**�� Jason muttered and leaned over to help her secure the seat belt as best as he could.

    He could not stop himself from driving as he wanted, but at least he could do a little to make sure he didn��t scramble her brains while he did it.

    Donna on the other hand could only focus on how close Jason was to her as fastened her seat belt.

 Chapter 478: Race III

    Chapter 478: Race III

    Chapter 478: Race III

    *Fwoooooo rttrtrrtrt*

    At the starting line, six Ferrari��s, all of different makes revved loudly as they waited for the lights to turn green.

    Six cars with their engines rumbling made for quite the spectacle and the cameramen were frantically taking pictures of the array of Ferraris.

    In the front row was Fedez��s Daytona and a La Ferrari side by side while Jason��s Stradale was at the back of the line, by his choice of course.

    For Jason, there was no fun in a race if he started in the lead as he would probably lead the line all the way thus he had chosen to start from behind so he could at least enjoy the thrill of overtaking at high speed.

    *POooooooonnnnn*

    The a loud sound sted loudly as the lights turned green and every body behind the wheel mmed down hard on their elerators, taking off from the starting line with great enthusiasm.

    With the first stretch of road ahead of them, the cars eleration were the ones making a statement and Jason��s Stradale quickly pulled ahead of the car that had started the race beside him. Jason wanted to use his car��s initial eleration to burst the third and fourth cars, but they were still abreast of each other and taking up most of the space on the road, leaving no space for Jason to get past so Jason settled for following behind them and solidifying his position in fifth ce.

    In the lead, the La Ferrari had taken the lead with Fedez��s Daytona trailing just beside it, but as they came to the first turn, Fedez had no option but to give up thepetition for 1stce at that moment and he settled behind the La Ferrari to wee the turning.

    On reaching the bend, all the cars followed after each other in a straight line and the car��s soon made it past the turn, however they weren��t done as there were still a few more curves in the track before the next stretching path on the track.

    With Donna calling out the turns before he got to them, Jason could focus on just driving while paying attention to the way his new car handled itself.

    Before long, Jason saw an opportunity to move up the ranks. The car in front of him of curved a little too much inward as he rounded a bend and this gave Jason enough space to m down on the throttle, swiftly change gears and sped past the car on from the outside and cing himself into the fourth position.

    On noticing Jason��s actions, the now 5thce car tried to increase his speed as they came out of the turn and burst past Jason and take back his position, but the Stradale��s 985 horsepower wasn��t for show as Jason also mmed down on his elerator and burst forward, leaving the car behind him with no chance and before they reached the next turning, Jason smoothly intersected himself on the inside so as soon as they reached the turning, he increased his speed quickly once again and burst the guy in third ce.

    The guy in third ce was just as surprised as the now 5thce, but he didn��t dare to try and take back his ce as he was scared for his life and did not want to cause an ount.

    Jason who had been leveraging his actions on that assumption smoothly made it past the third ce car and settled behind Fedez��s Daytona.

    Fedez already had a headache because of the guy in first ce doing all he could to stop him, but when he nced in the mirror and saw Jason��s Stradale on his a**, his headache grew manifold.

    One had to remember that Jason was on thest line and was potentially thest car in the park, yet in just over a minute,he was already behind Fedez in thrird ce.

    Donna who was in the car with Jason was equally as surprised as the other people watching the race, but since she had any duty to hang on for dear life inside the car, she couldn��t focus her attention on Jason and thus she was more focused on ensuring she end Jason reached the end of the race track in one piece.

    The guy in the La Ferrari hadn��t realized what was going on behind him because he was more focused on maintaining his lead over the Daytona and finishing first, but as they rounded a corner and came to a smooth stretch of straight road, Jason took action once again.

    This time, his goal was to get past both the Daytona and the La Ferrari, and he had been setting up himself for that moment.

    Prior to the corner, he had turned on Launch control, switched to the most optimal gear for the speed he was going to be as he rounded the turn, and then finally, he took his foot off the elerator, relying on only inertia to make it past the turn.

    As he made the turn, he smoothly and stealthily moved towards the edge of the track a bit instead of moving closer to the edge to make the corner, allowing himself enough space to drive past and the moment they came out of the sharp turn, Jason kicked down.

    The engine roared loudly in response and shot forward, swiftly moving past Fedez��s Daytona before he could even begin elerating and before long, he was right beside the La Ferrari which had noticed him at thest minute and had also burst out under encouragement from it��s driver.

    The La Ferrari matched Jason��s actions for a second, but it��s driver had not been as prepared as Jason and one gear switch from Jasonter, it had begun to fall behind.

    The La Ferrari driver had also quickly made a gear change, but his car��s power and skills couldn��t match up and Jason pulled further away until he finally took the lead, however, the La Ferrari��s bad luck hadn��t run out as Fedez had stealthily used the chance when it waspeting with Jason for speed to get on the inside of the track.

    With such a skillful insert, the La Ferrari had no choice but to settle behind the Daytona once they came to the next turning since he wanted to avoid a collision.

 Chapter 479: Race IV

    Chapter 479: Race IV

    Chapter 479: Race IV

    With such sudden changes in positioning, the race got a lot more interesting and the drones that were following the racers with their cameras were doing their best to capture everything going on.

    Of course, people��s response to Jason taking the first ce was that of shock and surprise as he had handled his car like a pro even toyman eyes and it had almost seemed like downright bullying right from the starting line.

    To all the spectators, it was clear that whoever was driving the Stradale had skills behind the wheel, and the people who didn��t know about the person in the car, or that didn��t know about Jason began thinking that he was probably a professional racer.

    Donna heaved a sigh of relief as Jason firmly settled into first ce, thinking to herself that now that they were in first ce, Jason would settle into a rythmic pace to stop his opponents from getting past him.

    Oh how wrong she was.

    With no other car in his path, Jason was now free to perform further tests on the car��s performance.

    He had already tested it��s eleration ability earlier when he took first ce and the handling of the car hadn��t been bad so far.

    He still had some tests for the car on those two aspects, but first, ��Top speed test,�� Jason muttered and before his words could register in Donna��s brain, she was mmed back into her chair as Jason took off again, intent on pushing this car to the limit on the straight stretch of road that he was on.

    Before long, the Stradale was moving at frightening speeds while everything passed by in a blur, but Jason kept his focus on the road while ncing at the speedometer every other second.

    Fedez tried to match up with Jason��s pace, butafter reaching 280 km/h he began to let go of the elerator as he didn��t want a speedy meeting with King Yama at this point of his life.

    Jason however still dashed forward with Donna being pressed hard into her seat, but with a nce at the map, she suddenly noticed a turn at the end of the smooth stretch approaching them.

    The turn was a particrly sharp turn as it was in a U shape and at the speed they were going to achieve by the time they reached the turning, she didn��t have any doubts about their survivability if they took the turn at that speed.

    It would be 0%.

    ��2! sharp turn!�� she screamed to Jason, but Jason merely nced at her with a nod and pressed down on the elerator even more.

    ��Ahhhhhhhhhh!!! Are you crazy!?�� she screamed, but Jason wasn��t about to get into an argument with a woman while he was driving at over 300 km/h.

    He ignored her frantic screams and kept elerating till he saw the turning ahead,

    ��Now for the brakes,�� he thought inwardly and put his foot on the brake pedal, slowly reducing his speed till it was enough for him to control and with a sharp twist of the steering wheel, he maneuvered the car into a drift at an almost impossible angle, the front of the car facing the inside edge of the track all through the turning.

    ��Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!�� Donna screamed all through the turn, unable to keep herposure no matter how hard she tried to.

    Luckily for her, Jason was skilled enough behind the wheel to not pose any threat to her life, but she didn��t know that and screamed for her life, much to Jason��s amusement.

    As they came out of the drift, Jason didn��t hesitate tounch another eleration and top speed test, once again bursting forward.

    He no longer cared about or remembered that he had opponents because they were no longer able to keep up with his reckless driving(in their view).

    Of course, they internally admitted that Jason had real skills as reckless driving with a car like his would only lead to one oue and so far Jason wasn��t dead yet, proving his skill at controlling his car.

    The spectators were just as dazed, but Jason remained ignorant of all this as he continuously pushed the car to his limits as he wasn��t sure if he could handle the car��s limits.

    He was a driver, not a pilot, so even for him, there were speeds he didn��t dare touch except for when he was on straight roads, and even on the straight roads, he had a limit.

    However, his limits were a bit more than what anyone expected of him, so he was in the lead of the race, while continuously wowing the spectators with his skillful control of the car.

    Added with the fact that he didn��t want to damage the tires of his car too much, Jason didn��t do too much(in his view), however, to Donna in the passenger seat, she had screamed till she almost passed out, but at some point, she had stopped screaming.

    Jason couldn��t tell whether it was because she had regained herposure or she now had confidence in his driving ability, but he didn��t care too much and smoothly coasted to the finish line.

    Soon he crossed the finish line and Fedez��s Daytona only crossed the finish line more than twenty secondster when the apuse for first ce was already over.

    Jason was waiting for him at the finish line, leaning against the car while Donna regained her sanity inside the car and as soon as Fedez came out his car, he turned to Jason,

    ��You�� you are crazy,�� he spat out in shock.

    ��Does the word, ��Joker�� ring a bell,�� Jason said smugly, with a confident shrug.

    Fedez just shook his head at him, unable to get angry with Jason and d that he hadn��t put his car up for contention.

    While Jason and Fedez were talking, Esmeranza had gotten down from Fedez��s car to go meet Donna whose heart had finally calmed down enough to talk.

    She still could not get on her feet and had to talk to Esmeranza in hushed tones about something Jason didn��t care to find out about.

    The rest of the racers had also arrived and everyone engaged in conversation, with everyone speaking freely.

 Chapter 480: Vs Sampdoria

    Chapter 480: Vs Sampdoria

    Chapter 480: Vs Sampdoria

    A ck Ferrari Stradale slowed down as it neared the gates of a big mansionpound, but just as it was about to turn and drive up to the gate, it suddenly came to a stop because a car wasing out of the gates at that moment.

    Luckily they had seen each other early enough that they had stopped before any idents could happen.

    Due to the non-tinted nature of the Bentley in front of the Stradale, Jason could see hisndlord andndy in the front seat of their car while he couldn��t be seen at all since his windows and windshield were tinted ck like the color of his car.

    Jason could see the confusion on Ronaldo��s face as if he was asking himself whether he had bought a car like the Stradale and forgot it was going to be delivered or if someone was visiting.

    Georgina looked just as surprised as her husband at the car in front of them, but Jason first put the car into reverse and backed out into the main street.

    He was breaking a driving rule, but he didn��t expect hisndlord to allow him into thepound without knowing who was in the car.

    Once he had backed out and turned till he was at a side of the road, his window slid down to reveal his smiling face and he gave a two finger salute to his patrons.

    Recognition shed on their faces followed by more confusion. ��That��s a Stradale, isn��t it?�� Georgina asked her hubby.

    ��Stradale?�� Ronaldo asked in confusion as all he had seen so far was the Ferrari logo which he recognised because he had been interested in a particr Ferrari that he had already ced an order for before it was even released.

    As luck would have it, it was the Ferrari Daytona that Ronaldo had made a pre-order for, but that car didn��t look like the one in front of him.

    ��It��s one of the three Ferrari hybrid cars released so far and it��s said to currently be like the fastest Ferrari right now, though it��s quite cheap,�� Georgina exined as she had more experience in these kinds of things thanks to her job as a model.

    ��Cheap? How cheap?�� Ronaldo asked Georgina immediately as he was quite taken by what he saw.

    ��Originally only supposed to be about 600k, but since it��s rare, it��s hardly ever sold for under 800k and could even reach a million,��

    ��That one looks to have been modified�� a lot, so it could cost a lot more. You can ask him how he got one,�� Georgina exined, already understanding that Ronaldo wanted something like it.

    ��I��ll ask�� but wait, 1 million?�� Ronaldo paused for a bit, wondering where Jason managed to get enough money to buy something that expensive.

    ��He owns a cosmeticspany, remember?�� Georgina reminded him.

    ��Oh,�� Ronaldo thought and put the matter behind him.

    Waving at Jason as he drove past, he and his family headed out while Jason drove into thepound after they had left.

    Finally able to make use of the garage that came with the house he was living in, Jason parked the car and exhaustedly dragged his tired legs into the house and took off his clothes first, nning to sleep for the rest of the day.

    The actions of the day had already exhausted him quite a bit and the driving he had done for the day could easily take the ce of any training he had been nning to do today.

    With that thought, he took a light shower and jumped into bed, ready to sleep the rest of his day away.

    ****

    ***30thJanuary 2021***

    Jason watched the match between his team and Sampdoria from the bench as despite his performance in the previous games, the manager still hadn��t decided to make him a regr name in the starting line-up.

    At least that was what he thought when he was being a bit biased towards himself, but rationally thinking, he could understand a little of why he wasn��t yet a regr in the starting line-up yet.

    Apart from the manager��s game n, most of it boiled down to squad rotation as well as managing his exhaustion levels.

    Jason might have been a bit used to these kinds of schedules from Oporto, but the Serie A was a much tougher environment.

    Jason himself knew that he was still adjusting to ying under such cold conditions with a lot less oxygen due to the higher altitude levels aspared as back in Porto.

    He was also receiving a lot of tougher tackles these days and ording to the medical specialists at the club, he was very close to getting a knock after thest game so the manager was paying attention to his physicality.

    Luckily, thanks to the arduous training he had put himself through since his weird reincarnation, his body��s physical condition couldn��t bepared to his previous life, otherwise, he would probably have already been injured.

    Injuries was something knew that he had to avoid at this young age as his experience told him that getting a major injury at a very young or much older age could have a very big effect on his career going forward.

    Injuries when the body was still growing could potentially lead to one being injury prone which would further lead to recurring injuries that could hamper or even destroy a yer��s career.

    As for getting a major injury at a much older age�� well, one would be lucky that he would even be able to get back on the pitch.

    While Jason was deep in his thoughts, the match was progressing and with the strength and high morale of the Uventus team, the Sampdoria yers were suffering for it as the Uventus team was doing everything to get a goal and had already pushed them as far back as defending from inside their penalty area.

    Bad enough for the Sampdoria team, only fifteen minutes had passed since the game began.

 Chapter 481: The Ramsey Curse Strikes Again!

    Chapter 481: The Ramsey Curse Strikes Again!

    Chapter 481: The Ramsey Curse Strikes Again!

    With Uventus pressing that hard, there could only be one reasonable oue and that oue didn��t take long to be seen as a cross flew into the penalty box, heading towards Ronaldo.

    Ronaldo took to the air, but he had jumped a bitte and couldn��t reach the ball with his forehead to perfectly the direction, however, he still managed to send it at goal.

    The ball flew powerfully at the goal and the Sampdoria goalkeeper flew at it, just managing to reach it with the tip of his fingers and pushing it towards the right just enough that the ball looked like it was going to fly out of y but the ball ended up smashing against the right post and bouncing back into y.

    Before the goalkeeper could react a second time, the ball that had bounced near Chiesa was sent flying into the back of the by the Uventus man before anyone could stop his actions.

    {Ohhhhhhh!}

    {Sampdoria won��t like that!}

    {It��s their park and they��re already behind!} thementator shouted as Chiesa ran to the sidelines in celeberation followed by his teammates.

    The Uventus yers and fans were totally uncaring that they were far from their home ground as they celebrated the goal, but luckily for the Sampdoria yers�� morale, they didn��t celebrate for too long and soon headed back to their half of the field so the game could resume. The game soon kicked off and the Uventus team immediately tried to pick up where they left off, but this time, they were resisted almost desperately by the Sampdoria team who did everything possible to make sure the football was almost never in their half.

    Their actions gave the Uventus team more control and possession of the ball, but it also made scoring just as difficult as they couldn��t score if they couldn��t reach the Sampdoria team��s goal.

    With their actions, the Sampdoria managed to escape a danger period and the game soon settled into an exciting but slightly mundane one with no more goalsing for either side.

    Of course, both teams constantly made attempts at each other, keeping the game exciting, but there was nothing for the fans to scream at the top of their voices for until the first half ended.

    The second half began shortly after with Jason still on the bench desite the manager already making a substitution.

    The match continued with both teams looking for a goal.

    The Uventus needed a goal to get to safety while the Sampdoria team needed just one goal to get back on level terms so the match became even more exciting with both teams doing everything in their power to get through their opponents while also ensuring to stay sturdy at the back to prevent any idents.

    Of course, with them having the lead, the Uventus was more at ease than the home owners, however, that didn��t stop them from giving their all to further their goal difference which was something they needed in more positive numbers.

    As the game slowly drew towards its ends, there were many close calls with the ball even bouncing off the bar a few times, however the score remained the same until the final minutes of the game when Ramsey got on the end of a low cross and trickily used his heel to hit it at goal surprising everyone, even his own teammates.

    With everyone being surprised at Ramsey��s attempt, all the ball had to do was be on target, which it was, and less than a secondter, it rolled past the goalline in the Sampdoria team��s goal.

    {Goal!}

    {Beautiful attempt! It was a fancy attempt and it fancily rolled into the back of the!}

    {What a goal! What a time to score!} thementator shouted exuberantly as the Uventus team celebrated their goal.

    {People are shaking in their seats!}

    {Whether it was from the goal, or from wondering who the Ramsey curse would take tonight, no one can deny the ssy finish} the comentator��s voice also rang out as well causing a a lot of people tough at the absurdity of hisment.

    A lot of people knew about the Ramsey curse but most people believed it to be coincidence, after all, how could it be that every time he scored a goal, a famous person would be dead the next day?

    That was too eerie to be possible so people just attributed it to be coincidence despite the fact that it always happened.

    Luckily for the famous people though, Ramsey was a midfielder who didn��t score many times, hence they only lost a few numbers to the Ramsey curse.

    Of course, there were some people who would be looking to see who the Ramsey curse would take, however that was a matter for another day.

    For the time being, the focus was on Uventus��s dying minute goal.

    The match ended shortly after with a win for the Uventus team and no minutes for Jason who wasn��t too pleased about it, but the slight ache in his legs from all his training did more than enough to knock sense into his head that it was better for him to not have yed.

    The Uventus team celebrated their win all the way till they left the pitch and headed to their locker room.

    After the match was the post match press conference that the manager attended while the yers who were influential in the match did short interviews.

    Once that was all over, the Uventus yers were taken to the hotelwhere they would spend the night before they would be heading back to Turin the next morning.

    While the Uventus yers and their fans were still basking in their win, no one knew that the Ramsey curse was already working overtime to find it��s next target and by the time the yers were headed back to Turin by ne, a notification sounded on some people��s phones informing them of the death of a legendary Italian football yer, Paolo Rossi.

    Paolo was someone who had yed for Uventus, AC Mn and a few other clubs managing to amass 103 goals in 251 appearances.

    He had been even more impressive for the national team, leading Italy to winning the FIFA World cup in 1982 with his 6 goals in the tournament that earned him the golden boot in thepetition.

    He was also Italy��s joint highest goal scorer in the FIFA wold cup along with Roberto Baggio and Christian Vieri.

    As the Uventus yers heard the news, everyone��s eyes turned to Ramsey , looking at him suspiciously and wondering whether they needed to stop him from sending one of them to build a house in the skies.

    Jason who was nearby snatched the ball that Ramseywas holding,

    ��I��ll be taking this for safekeeping for now, we��re still in the air,��

    Everyone immediately burst outughing.

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 482: Coppa Italia Semi Final; First Leg I

    Chapter 482: Coppa Italia Semi Final; First Leg I

    Chapter 482: Coppa Italia Semi Final; First Leg I

    The next step on Uventus�� path was a match against Inter Mn once again, but this time, it was a Coppa Italia match.

    The stakes could be said to be higher considering that it was the first leg in the Coppa Italia��s semi-finals, hence it was a match everyone was looking forward to, the yers included.

    This time, the two teams would be facing off at Inter Mn��s home ground at the San Siro stadium in Mn.

    Before the Uventus yers even arrived, the Inter Mn yers were already on the field, warming up in preparation to unleash hell on their opponents.

    They had lost at theirst sh and this time, they wanted to make sure that their opponents were on the receiving end of the goals.

    The thought of doing that while cutting off their chances at the Coppa Italia trophy this season was enough to make the Inter Mn yers drool internally.

    The Uventus were notpletely unaware of this line of thought from their opponents, but what did it matter?

    They also nned to trample on their opponents to continue marching on towards the Coppa Italia trophy. That their opponents thought the same thing wouldn��t matter, only their actions on the pitch would determine anything.

    Anyone can fantasize, but only winners turn their fantasy to reality.

    With strong and determined minds, the Uventus yers arrived at the San Siro stadium for the match.

    As usual, they quickly headed to the locker rooms first to change, but this time, the manager decided to hold a tactical meeting first and announced the yers in the starting line-up.

    Sczezny would be the goalkeeper for the match and he would have the assistance of Cuadrado, De Ligt, Chiellini, and Alex Sandro forming a back line to help him defend the goal.

    In midfield was Jason on the wide right, Bentacur and Mckennie in the center of the park, and Chiesa on the wide left.

    Ronaldo and Dyb were the two strikers who would be looking to put a few balls past the Inter goalkeeper.

    Unlike the previous match in the Coppa Italia where the manager had opted for younger yers, this time, he had put out a more experienced team as he knew that the Inter Mn team would do the same since they were already at the final stages of thepetition.

    Jason was more than pleased to be named in the starting line-up and he quickly ran out with his teammates to the field to warm-up in preparation for the game.

    Despite wanting to crush the Uventus yers on the field, the Inter Mn defender was a relieved to note that Jason didn��t pay any attention to him while he did his warm up activities with his teammates on the other side of the field.

    ��What am I even thinking?��

    ��Am I scared of that brat?�� Skriniar was a bit annoyed to find himself relieved that Jason looked like he wouldn��t be gunning to embarrass him on the field once again.

    ��No no no, I��m not scared,�� he quickly shook his head to clear distracting thoughts and with another nce at Jason, resumed his own training, but inwardly, he had made a decision to be as rough as possible as long as he could stop Jason from getting past him.

    ��Yeah, whatever it takes,�� he muttered to himself.

    The time quickly ran by as the yers warmed up and soon, they had moved off the field and were nowing back onto it with their faces the very pictures of seriousness, and the crowd cheering loudly for the yers.

    Unsurprisingly, the Uventus fans were in the minority at the stadium, but they didn��t allow themselves to be outmatched in energy after being outmatched in numbers.

    Under the crowd��s loud and mboyant cheers, the pre-match formalities were swiftlypleted and the game soon kicked off at the st of the referee��s whistle.

    The game kicked off with the Inter Mn striker, Lukaku sending a pass back to the his partner up front, Martinez.

    Martinez didn��t hesitate to send the ball to another teammate as soon as the Uventus yers came running at him to try and steal the ball.

    His credentials included scoring goals and not dribbling through opponents so he wasn��t going to outstretch himself stupidly in such an important game and lose possession for no reason.

    With the ball moving around quickly, the game got off to a quick start with both teams looking to get the first goal against their opponent.

    The Inter Mn team seemed to have the upper hand for a little while, but their advantage seemed to disappear as the match wore on and soon, it was a back and forth between the two teams with both of them pushing hard.

    With such swift movement of the ball, it remained to be seen who would buckle first.

    The Inter Mn seemed to adopt a possession game and they were content with passing the ball around patiently in their half whenever they couldn��t seem to find a way past their opponent.

    The Uventus yers on the other hand were a bit more impatient and would always try to break through their opponent whether a clear chance showed up or not as they knew that currently, the Inter Mn team had the best defensive record.

    They couldn��t afford to wait around for the perfect opportunity to show up as there was the slight possibility that such a perfect opportunity would not show up.

    Thus they surged forward into the Inter Mn team��s half increasing the pressure to try and get the ball back quicker whenever they lost the ball��

    How were they to know that that was exactly what the Inter Mn yers wanted?

    #9th minute��

    The Uventus yers surged forward into the Inter Mn��s half of the field, trying to recover the ball after they lost the ball while trying to break past their opponents, but suddenly, Eriksen who was with the ball shot his leg back and hit the ball powerfully, sending it above and past the Uventus yers who were rushing out to press.

    Before the Uventus yers could react, the ball had already flown past almost everybody and was dropping in behind their back line.

    Their faces turned even uglier when they saw Lukaku running into the ball��s path like a freight train, holding off De Ligt like it was light work.

    De Ligt did all he could, but he couldn��t stop the Belgium-born striker from getting to the ball first and pushing forward at goal.

    Seeing that he could not easily push him off the ball, he tried to move a bit quicker and get his leg in for a tackle, but he moved a bit toote as Lukaku suddenly sent the ball forward into the path of Martinez who controlled the ball with a touch and moved with it into the penalty box.

    Sczesny rushed forward, but he was no match for the striker��s nerves of steel and the ball was curved around his outstretched body.

    {GOAL!!!}

    {What a quick start to such an important game!}

    {I��m sure the manager must have emphasized how important it was to get on the front foot against their opponents and it��s clear that the Inter Mn yers have heeded to instructions!}

    {A well-worked goal it was, they soaked up the pressure and unleashed it all back at their opponents with a resounding bang!} Thementator didn��t need anyone to tell him to do his job and he quickly burst out with all he could.

    Hismentary served as the perfect backdrop to the San Siro stadium that celebrated wildly to their team��s striker doing his job and striking down their opponents with a shot.

    It was just one goal, but the fans�� excitement wasn��t diminished because of that.

    None of them was pessimistic enough to think that their team would end up losing the game when they were already in the lead this early in the game.

    The Uventus yers watched with gritted teeth as their opponents celebrated one-upping them, but they didn��t lose theirposure because the pessimistic thoughts that their opponents would never choose to think about were the optimistic thoughts they were thinking.

    They weren��t out yet.

    *****

    The match had continued after the goal and the Inter Mn team had tried to build on the momentum of their first goal get another, but the Uventus yers put a stop to those thoughts quickly, shutting them down whenever they were within sight.

    They moved quicker and with more determination than before, aiming to equalize the game soon, but unlike before, they paid more attention to their defense and this functioned well enough against the opponents.

    All they needed was a chance to breakthrough and Jason had taken it upon himself to try and create the breakthrough that the team needed.

    As he received the ball on the right nk, he first tried running down the nk toward the right side of the penalty box, but Skriniar was in his way.

    He couldn��t turn back either as someone was behind him as well so he did a few stepovers to try and confuse Skriniar, but Skriniar stayed in ce and tried to tackle him instead.

    With himmitting to the tackle, it was easy for Jason to slot the ball through his leg with a reverse stico and then jump past him before passing the ball infield to Dyb.

    Once he sent the ball to Dyb, he continued his run forward, intending to get on the end of the return pass.

    Dyb didn��t disappoint and sent a chip pass over to Jason before he ran past the offside line.

    Catching the ball on his chest and pushing it down as towards his feet with his knee as he stepped into the penalty box, Jason looked at the goalkeeper, ready to hit the ball, but before he could, Skriniar came flying in from behind him with a sliding tackle like a nuke and crashed hard into Jason��s leg, sending him off his feet like a ragdoll.

    A sharp, numbing pain shot through Jason��s leg before he even hit the floor.

 Chapter 483: Coppa Italia Semi Final; First Leg II

    Chapter 483: Coppa Italia Semi Final; First Leg II

    Chapter 483: Coppa Italia Semi Final; First Leg II

    Jason crashed to the floor and grabbed his right ankle instinctively because of the pain coursing through it and it was clear from the look of pain on his face, that it wasn��t just a mere sting.

    Despite seeing the tackle at thest minute, Jason had managed to jump a little bit, ensuring that Skriniar��s tackle didn��t meet his ankle while it was firmly nted on the ground, but the force of the tackle was still enough to cause him a lot of pain and he rolled around on the ground in pain.

    The Uventus fans had already burst out in outrage, unleashing curses on Skriniar��s eight generations, and also not leaving out his ancestors.

    The Uventus yers were also not happy with such a rough tackle and the nearby yers rushed at the Inter Mn defender, but other Inter Mn yers got in the way, giving the referee enough time to reach the site of the sh.

    The referee chose to quell the situation first, preventing a fight from breaking out before finally turning to Skriniar and showing him a yellow card and warning him sternly.

    While the referee was doing that, some Uventus yers were standing over Jason while a couple of medics were already running over.

    The medics arrived a few secondster and quickly started attending to Jason, quickly checking his situation.

    After determining that it wasn��t a break, they quickly pulled down his socks and started applying painkiller spray to his leg. At this point, the pain had lessened enough for Jason to sit up and look at his ankle and he gave a sigh of relief when he saw his ankle.

    It wasn��t swollen or out of shape, though there was definitely going to be a bruise.

    There was a little bit of difort when he moved it, but that feeling was fading quickly as well.

    Whether it was due to the painkiller spray or not, Jason didn��t know, but he felt that all he needed was a little rest to get rid of the winded feeling and he would be able to continue.

    He quickly told the medics and carefully got to his feet before the manager started thinking of subbing him off.

    ��Can��t have that,�� he thought to himself while ncing at Skriniar from the corner of his eye as he walked off the field to rest for a few minutes.

    He owed this guy another ankle breaking moment and he wouldn��t leave the field until he got his revenge�� on substitution, he remembered that he was already walking off the field.

    While Jason sat on the sidelines to rest, the medics went to meet Pirlo to tell him Jason��s condition, while on the field, Ronaldo was already stepping back to take the penalty.

    Without a doubt, the experienced Portuguese star-man sent Handanovic sprawling and grasping nothing but air while the shook as much as the Uventus fans in celebration of the goal.

    With the ball rolling into the back of the, Ronaldo ran towards the sidelines where Jason was and hugged him just as he was getting ready to get back on the pitch.

    {The goalscorer goes over to hug the man who everyone has to thank for that goal}

    {He seems to be alright now and his teammates will be happy to have him be able to continue. The fans will be even happier to see that as they can be guaranteed exciting football from the youngd} thementator said as the Uventus team had a group hug before beginning to walk back to their half of the field together, ready to unleash hell on their opponents now that they were back on equal terms.

    The yers of both teams quickly took their positions on the field and the game soon continued with both teams now doing whatever they could to get a head in front of their opponent, however, it was clear which side had the higher momentum and it didn��t take too long for the crowd to start bursting out in excited cheers once again.

    #35thminute��

    Jason was waiting on the right nk for the ball toe his way and, now he felt almost no difort from moving around.

    ��Guess all I needed to do was run it off,�� he thought to himself as the ball finally came his way.

    Once the ball began moving towards Jason, Skriniar once again took off in Jason��s direction, seemingly going after the ball.

    While keeping his eyes on the ball, Jason also paid attention to the Inter Mn defendering towards him.

    Since Skriniar already had a yellow card, he was out of chances and could not afford to tackle Jason recklessly unless he wanted to be sent off and that made his ability to threaten Jason less than half of what it was before.

    A chained bird was easy enough for anyone to get past.

    As Skriniar finally stepped into a one-meter distance of Jason, the ball reached Jason.

    He waited for the ball to roll past him before flicking it with his left heel towards the right before following after it, leaving Skriniar lunging forward to his previous position where neither he or the ball remained.

    Because he was charging over at full speed, he couldn��t react to Jason��s swift and sudden change of position, but he managed to push his leg out and catch Jason��s ankle a bit, almost sweeping him off his feet, but Jason managed to catch himself after stumbling a bit, however, the time he spent stumbling gave Skriniar enough time to recover and begin chasing.

    The referee blew for an advantage to the Uventus team, but Jason wasn��t paying attention and had started running down the right nk while Skriniar gave chase.

    While the Uventus yers began fanning out while following Jason to give him options for a pass, the Inter Mn yers weren��t just going to stand by and watch.

    The Inter Mn yers started chasing after their markers to try and shut off Jason��s passing options while Asy Young, Inter Mn��s left midfielder started running into Jason��s path.

    As he got near enough, he jumped into a slide tackle to try and clear the ball, but after what had happened with Skriniar, Jason��s spatial awareness had been forcefully tuned to it��s peak and he saw the tackleing.

    Before Asy Young reached him, Jason chipped the ball forward toward Dyb while he jumped over the tackle and kept running forward.

    Dyb caught Jason��s pass on his chest and lobbed it back into Jason��s path on the right nk.

    Jason advanced towards the ball with as much speed as he could muster while Skriniar somehow managed to stay within a two meter distance range behind him.

    When Jason finally reached the ball almost at the right side of Inter Mn��s box, he caught it on his left foot, trying to control it, but Skriniar took that opportunity to get in between him and the penalty box.

    The man��s unrelenting efforts to hinder Jason were beginning to get annoying to Jason and in a burst of annoyance, Jason flicked the ball back up instead of bringing it down.

    While the ball was in midair, Jason swung his leg at it as if trying to send the ball into the penalty box as fast as possible, even if it was by doing so with a mid-air volley.

    Skriniar immediately jumped into Jason��s path, but his eyes widened when Jason��s leg somehow went under the ball instead of hitting it and he pulled it back towards himself while Skriniar had literally jumped out of his way.

    While Skriniar was scrambling back to his feet and gathering himself, Jason had alread moved past him, but instead of cutting into the box like everyone expected, Jason didn��t bother getting into the penalty box where more than three Inter Mn defenders were waiting to cut him off.

    Instead he moved towards the center while his eyes seemed to be looking for someone to pass to, but unknown to the Inter Mn yers, he wasn��t looking because he already got a look in previously.

    Skriniar had already recovered and was once again chasing Jason from behind, but just as he was about to catch up, Jason��s left leg suddenly hit the ball towards the penalty box while he looked elsewhere.

    {No look-pass!}thementator shouted as he saw the ball rolling forward.

    {Ronaldo��s already bursting forward, can he get on the end of this!?} thementator continued.

    {He does! And it��s gone in!!!}

    Thementator didn��t need to shout anything else as his voice was instantly drowned out by the Uventus fans shouting excitedly.

    {It happened in theirst sh, and it��s happening again!}

    {Uventus started from behind, and once again, they��re in front!}

    {What amazing powers of recovery! In this blistering run of form they��re in, who can stop them!?}

    {Skrinar made a fool of again, this is bing a repeating urrence and it always ends in his team going behind} Thementator said this bit with a littleugh.

    {Can��t me the guy who wants a little revenge, can we?} The comentatorughed as well.

    {He��s also always made sure to satisfy everyone after, so we can��t call him out for show-boating, smartd!} The comentator seemed to be having augh at Skriniar��s situation.

    {I think it��s a little bit more than smartness} thementator said.

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 Chapter 484: Roma is for Romantic Pain

    Chapter 484: Roma is for Romantic Pain

    Chapter 484: Roma is for Romantic Pain

    *Fweeeeeeeee*

    {There it is, the final whistle!}

    {The first leg of the Coppa Italia Semi Finals between these two teams hase to an end and Uventus end this leg with them in the lead!}

    {They��ll have an away goal advantage in the second leg and Inter Mn will have their work cut out for them if they want to get through them to the final stage of thispetition!}

    Thementator��s voice brought Jason out of his thoughts and he stood up from the bench where he had been seated and thinking of the game.

    After the team��s second goal that put them in the lead, the game had continued with both teams now trying more than ever to get the next goal.

    Uventus needed another goal to secure their lead while Inter Mn needed a goal to get back on level terms with their opponents.

    Despite this however, both teams also knew that they could not afford to concede another goal as that could take them beyond the point of no return. With that thought at the back of their minds, they didn��t go too crazy while they tried to get a goal and the back lines of the two teams stayed disciplined and they continuously repelled attack after attack from their opponents.

    In this manner, time quickly went by and the first half came to an end, allowing the yers to get their rest.

    During the Uventus yer��s half-time tactical meeting, the manager decided to take Jason off and allow him to rest on the bench.

    The manager��s reasoning was that despite there not being many physical signs of a bad injury, continuing to y may aggravate any hidden injuries that Jason couldn��t be diagnosed with at the moment.

    From the manager��s point of view, the pain killer sprays might be causing Jason to not feel any pains so he was quite literally ying through the pain which the manager respected, but he wasn��t going to allow any of his yers to y in such a condition.

    As a professional footballer himself, Pirlo knew the threat of small hidden injuries.

    With big and obvious injuries, medical action could be quickly taken to take care of it, but hidden injuries don��t receive that sort of treatment until they caused an injury which was usually worse than a normal injury.

    With all that said and done, Jason didn��t have any choice but to put on his training vest and give up his ce on the team to Kulusevski who would be getting on the field in his ce.

    The second half begun shortly after and it was an exciting game, however, neither of the two teams managed to score another goal for the rest of the match.

    They continuously canceled each other out and the few clear chances they had didn��t somehow didn��t fall for them so the game ended with the scoresInter Mn 1 : 2 Uventus.

    With that, Uventus would go into the second leg of the game with a one-goal advantage, as well as an advantage on away goals, so the Uventus fans had a lot to look forward to in the second game while the Inter Mn had a lot of work to do if they had any ns of challenging for the ticket to the next round.

    Unsurprisingly, the man of the match award went to Ronaldo who scored a brace while Jason had gone yet another game without a Man of the Match award, but he didn��t have any time to be concerned about that as the manager had him wheeled off for a check up despite it beingte at night.

    He didn��t want to take any chances and Jason didn��t disagree with checking for any issues as the tackle was actually quite fierce and it wouldn��t be surprising if he had gotten seriously injured.

    After a check-up and an x-ray, it was determined that he didn��t have any breaks.

    A few other checks revealed that was a bit more muscle tear around that area and that there was a bit of worn cartge around the area as the shock to the area was a lot.

    In other words, while he wasn��t seriously injured to the point that he couldn��t move around or y, it was very rmended that he avoided ying and allowed the muscle and cartge to recover.

    Further intensive shock to the area could lead to a serious injury and it was best if that was avoided.

    In other words, Jason had picked up a knock and ording to the estimations of the medics, he needed to heal for at least ten days.

    That was not what Jason expected to hear, or what he wanted to hear.

    ��That��s two whole games?��

    ��Fu*k!�� he cursed internally and suddenly felt like punching Skriniar a few times as dribbling him no longer felt enough.

    This was the second time that bastard would send him to the hospital for crying out loud, so how couldn��t he be angry?

    Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done to the guy, but Jason felt like the next time they met, someone would have to tear him off of the guy��s face to stop him from raining down punches.

    Jason��s medical report was passed to the manager and Jason left the hospital as well because his injury was more internal than external.

    Though Jason could now feel a slight sting in his leg now that the painkiller spray had worn off, but he had been given some pills that he would taketer which should numb that too.

    *****

    The following days for Jason were one of training, training, and more training.

    ording to the medics and the training staff, he started with light training first, but as the days progressed, he began to increase his workload.

    Since he wasn��t scheduled to be in any matches for at least ten days, that meant he could train as he liked, though he had to keep his injury in mind and avoid aggravating it, causing it to worsen instead of heal.

    Since he was still training at the Continassa with his teammates, Ronaldo helped him with his training efforts and kept an eye on him to make sure he didn��t do too much. The others also encouraged him as well and were very helpful, making Jason feel like the injury was more than what it was.

    At one point, he had to tell them,

    ��Guys, I can still walk!��

    The Uventus yers had just burst outughing at him and continued what they were doing.

    And so, the days passed by.

    ***6thFebruary2021***

    Uventus faced off against Roma at the Allianz Arena and the game got off to a quick start when Ronaldo got on the end of a curling cross from Cuadrado and headed it home, sending Uventus into the lead in the 13thminute of the game.

    The Uventus fans burst out in excitement at the stadium and the stadium shook as they celebrated with Ronaldo, a resounding ��SIUUUUUUU�� echoing through the stadium as the Portuguese man hit the iconic celebration with style.

    His teammates came to join in the celebrations secondster, but Jason could only watch the match��s proceedings from one of the sky boxes, though he also did a mini celebration by himself in the room.

    Of course, the room wasn��t empty and there were a few other people in the skybox since it was designed for arge group and Jason wasn��t going to pay fifty thousand Euros to rent the entire skybox when he could sit in one free of charge.

    The only disadvantage would be that there would be other people in the sky box, but this time, he was seated in a room with some of his teammates family members so apart from having to give a few autographs and taking a few pictures, he didn��t have to deal with anything else.

    While Jason watched the game from the skybox, the game continued and at the dying minutes of the first half, Dyb received a pass just outside the penalty box, weaseled himself between two defenders and skillfully put the ball past the Roma goalkeeper.

    The stadium erupted again in cheers, drowning out the disappointed groans of the Roma fans in an instant while the Uventus yers celebrated.

    Shortly after that, the first half ended and soon enough, the second half began.

    Right from the start of the second half, it was clear that the Roma team seemed to be doing all they could to get back in the game, both attacking and defensively.

    They were especially aggressive in their attempts to retrieve the ball whenever they were not in possession, however, they could only do this for so long till it had a repercussion.

    In the 69th minute, Ronaldo was brought down roughly in the penalty box when he was trying to take a shot at the goalkeeper.

    The referee immediately ran over while pointing to the spot and a minuteter, Ronaldo sent the goalkeeper the wrong way, and the ball into the back of the.

    The stadium erupted once again in excitement and the Roma fans couldn��t be bothered to even try and motivate their yers who were ying like absolute sh*theads(from their point of view).

    Unfortunately for the Roma side, three wasn��t the end of their misfortune and the ball soon ended at the back of their once again, and this time it was due to an own goal.

    While trying to block a cross from reaching the Uventus forwards, a Roma defender had mishit the ball and sent the ball into the back of his team��s by mistake, giving Uventus yet another goal.

    At this point, the Roma fans wanted to nothing more than to get up and leave the stadium as an own goal at that point stung like a p to the face, making them feel even worse than when the third goal had gone in earlier.

    If not for the love, the yers had for their team, they would storm the stadium and grab the idiotic defender by the neck.

 Chapter 485: Coppa Italia Semi Finals; Second Leg

    Chapter 485: Coppa Italia Semi Finals; Second Leg

    Chapter 485: Coppa Italia Semi Finals; Second Leg

    The trashing of the Roma team came to an end at the referee��s whistle and the dejected Roma yers walked off the field, their dissatisfaction with their own performance clear to see on their faces.

    The manager and the fans weren��t happy either, but there was nothing that could be done about the results of the game now and they could only do their best to make sure it didn��t happen again.

    The Uventus fans on the other hand didn��t n on letting the Roma yers or their fans just leave the stadium without at least ��peppering�� up their eyes with this loss and jeering chants were sung for a little while.

    The Uventus fans only stopped when the Roma yers began to leave the field, allowing for another stage of celebrations to ensue on the field.

    Jason also headed out to join the yers on the field.

    ****

    ***9thFebruary 2021***

    The next match for the Uventus team was the second leg of the Coppa Italia finals against Inter Mn and unfortunately for Jason, he still wasn��t cleared by the team��s medical team to y, much to his utmost displeasure. He wanted nothing more than to get on the field and make a few rough tackles on Skrininar and see how he liked it.

    Yes, tackles, and not dribbles. It seemed that Skriniar was one of those guys who fear of being dribbled would only make them more aggressive, so Jason nned to show him that he couldn��t only retaliate by dribbling past him.

    Unfortunately, there wouldn��t be a chance for that as Jason was scheduled to miss the match, however, Jason gave some of his teammates some suggestions and arrived at the stadium on time to watch the game.

    The match didn��t take too long a time to kick off and Jason sat back to watch the game, pulling out his phone and nning to check a few things.

    He had been at the tactical meeting for the game earlier and he knew that the manager wanted the yers to y defensively, doing their best to hold on to their lead from the previous game so the game wasn��t one that would have too much-attacking efforts from the Uventus side�� at least, not until something unexpected happened.

    For that reason, most of the yers in the starting line-up were defensive yers and the manager kept the yers with the ability to change the game waiting on the bench so as to avoid wasting their energy prematurely.

    As the match picked up the pace, it was clear that the Inter Mn team had caught the drift and were doing their best to get a goal that would change the game��s situation a little bit.

    Because of the away goals rule, they would need at least two to nil to outrightly win the game and that only made their job more difficult because the Uventus team was prepared to do all they could to make sure the Inter Mn team didn��t even get to leave the starting line.

    Since he already knew what to expect, Jason decided to spare himself the tension of watching and focus on something else, like reading the annoying-looking file from Maya Singh.

    It was a report of the numbers that thepany had made in sales since the product��sunch at the beginning of the month and made it clear that she would send it to him every week so he could see how his ��investment�� was doing.

    Jason who wanted nothing more than to leave all the work to her could unfortunately not find a way to escape this chore even though he wasn��t sure what he would be looking at.

    But as he finally opened the file and started looking at the numbers, he didn��t need to be a genius to notice that thepany seemed to be selling quite well, especially considering that the product released was a new product that didn��t have any presence previously on the market thanks to the heavy re-branding that Rosember had undergone.

    ��If these numbers keep up or rise even further, wouldn��t I be at least a billionaire by the time I��m in my thirties?�� Jason suddenly wondered as his eyes ran through the list of numbers with five digits mostly, as well as a few six digits.

    While the grand total of the sales hadn��t even reached a fortieth of the amount Jason originally invested, the numbers he was seeing, as well as the fact that it was still the first week since the product��sunch made Jason have a lot of hope for the future.

    The internal math he had quickly done told him that the math checked out.

    *WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!*

    The sudden eruption of cheers threw Jason out of his thoughts and caused him to refocus on the match where it seemed like something happened.

    His eyes fell back on his pitch where he saw a group of yers in white and ck running down the sidelines to celebrate.

    Jason nodded in approval of what he was seeing, but the assistant referee on the sidelines was saying a no to everyone��s yes.

    The g was up and the goal was quickly reviewed only to find that the goal was to be disallowed for offside.

    The Uventus fans were disappointed with the referee��s decision, but there was little that could be done and the game soon resumed.

    Despite the goal having been disallowed, the shock from the ball having gone put the Inter Mn team on high alert and reminded them that they could not afford to be too careless and concede another goal as that would set them back even further than they already were.

    Thus they became more cautious with the ball which was exactly what Pirlo wanted and he silently watched from the sidelines, making eye contact with his yers from time to time to remind them of the game n.

    In this manner, the game continued and time continued to run down, the first half sooning to an end and the second half kickstarting shortly after.

    The second half was reminiscent of the first, but this time the Inter Mn yers were beginning to get a lot bolder on their attempts as time was slowly running out.

    They didn��t need anyone to tell them that the earlier they scored their first, the easier it would be to equalize, however, the Uventus team wasn��t going to make it easy for them to get back into this game and they were no longer hiding their intentions.

    tantly ying with ten yers behind the ball, and only leaving Chiesa up front in case of a counterattack.

    At this point, Jason knew there was nothing to see unless he was an Inter Mn fan who would willingly subscribe to such a tension-filled half of football.

    His team was already leading and unless Inter Mn managed to score one goal, there would be nothing to see��

    ��Unless someone smacks that Skriniar guy,�� Jason muttered under his breath.

    ��What?�� the person sitting next to Jason asked, seeming to have heard something.

    ��Nothing,�� Jason said without even ncing in her direction as he pulled out his phone once again.

    Quickly searching for a very familiar phone number, he tapped the green button to dial and put the phone to his ear.

    *��Hello,��* Adele��s voice graced Jason��s ear a ringter.

    ��What��s up, how��s my baby?�� Jason asked, smirking to himself.

    *��Your baby?��* Jason could hear the confusion in her voice but he wasn��t going to rify anything.

    *��Your baby is tired, it��s been meetings upon meetings with all the work you left behind, also, I��ve finally found another yer to sign,��* seemingly epting the name, she began to talk.

    ��That��s cray and all, but I was asking about M�� you know, the amazingly beautiful blue BMW i8 I left in your care, �� Jason interrupted, doing his best to hold back a snicker.

    *���� Oh M����* the sarcastic shift in her voice was clear enough to any listening ear and it let Jason know that his teasing tactics were working.

    *��She��s gutted that you didn��t even spend a few weeks in Italy and you��re already cheating on her with a high-maintenance girl,��*

    ��Wha!?�� Jason was surprised to have his whole teasing game turned back on him.

    *��She said I should tell you and your new side-piece to enjoy your honeymoon!��* Adele continued, on a roll and not giving Jason any chance to get a word in.

    ��No no no, it��s not like that, I needed another car for convenience as there are things I need to be lotive for,�� Jason began exining like a cheating bastard, ying along with whatever was going on.

    *��Well M said, you can take your lotive needs and shove it down your side ride��s throat!��* Adele said sternly in an excited tone.

    *��And her a**!��* she added in an even louder tone.

    ��Whoa whoa whoa, damn girl,nguage,�� Jason couldn��t stop himself fromughing out loud.

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!